Get great footage by knowing your gear!
“A well-placed cheap microphone will get you better audio than a poorly placed expensive microphone.” - My sound professor at Los Angeles Mission College uttered does words, more or less, during one of his always entertaining and informative lectures. And he’s 100% right. Just because you have the best, most expensive equipment doesn’t mean your film is automatically going to be great.
What good does your shiny, new Panasonic HVX200 do you if you don’t know how to use it? The most important thing for any film maker out there is to KNOW YOUR GEAR. Know its potential and its limits. And please, read the manual! Video and audio gear is more complicated than simply hooking up a DVD player to a TV. To really know and understand what your equipment can and can’t do, read the manual and check out the manufacturer’s website. After you have done that, and you still have a problem, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Leave your ego at home and learn to interact with your crew and fellow film makers. Remember, there will ALWAYS be someone better than you. And there will ALWAYS be someone better than that person.
The camera is only part of the equation, however. To really get great footage you must have good lighting. The camera can only do so much. A well-lit scene shot on a good DV camera can some very close to film look, especially if you’re shooting on an HD camera that supports 24p. I’m pretty sure that 90%+ of you budding film makers out there are shooting on DV and not on the more expensive film.
Last but not least, and tying it back to my intro, the audio is “half the battle.” — To quote my professor again, “People will forgive bad picture, but they won’t forgive bad audio. They may not notice the bad quality footage but they will instantly notice bad audio.” So don’t forget to try to get the best possible audio while filming. Don’t rely on post production Pro Tools tricks to try to save the day. It’s always best to take good audio and make it even better in post, than to try to take bad audio and make it “good enough.”
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