DV Filmmaking

Chapter 7. Recording Audio, an Overview

In this chapter

Sync-Sound Field Recording and the Birth of Cinema Verite

The Impact of the Camcorder

Current Recording Options

Film doesn’t record sound. Just like audio tape doesn’t capture images, 35 mm and 16 mm film simply don’t capture any audio. Unlike working in DV, which captures images and sound together, directors shooting film have always captured picture and audio separately, using multiple pieces of equipment. Although digital video now enables filmmakers to record images and sound to the same tape, many filmmakers still use specialized audio-recording equipment, because it provides greater control and flexibility.

In addition, directors often record a scene, and then after viewing the footage, decide to record additional audio to augment the sound design of a sequence. The sounds of daily life aren’t always as dramatic as a director would like them to be, so the idea of sound design is to construct an audio environment that matches the emotional content of a film. This has been done since the earliest days of modern film production, and is such an effective technique it’s still widely used today, even by people who shoot DV (for more detail, see Chapter 17). At the same time, recording images and sound separately adds layers of technical complexity to a production.

If picture and audio aren’t recorded at precisely the same speed, they won’t look right when played back for an audience. Slight differences in recording speed become ...