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What would Star Wars be without the iconic intro song? Or a scene in a restaurant without the clink of cutlery, strangers talking wonderful banalities, and plates knocking on wooden tables. The sound of things makes them alive and connects us with the environments, people, and stories we're trying to show. Therefore, the quality of our audio greatly influences our final product and the effectiveness of the storytelling.
That's why we separated the three factors that will transform your audio into your video's secret weapon:
Shall we go?
It all starts with where your sound is in terms of environment. Most of the time, the easiest ways to improve your audio is to be aware of and careful about the environment you record. Some basic tips are:
When it comes to equipment, you can opt for condenser, dynamic, cardioid, unidirectional, bidirectional microphones, and many others. (To learn about all these microphones and their functions, click hereto.)
Here, however, we want to give you tips about your equipment, from purchase to edition, so that you don't leave here thinking that you need 15 different microphones.
It's very important to know what to buy and what isn't worth it.
For example, to record the noise of a restaurant, you don't need to record the noises of your set from every possible angle, but record the dialogue with quality and then add other more delicate noises in post-production. So you get a More controlled sound design and Do you still save money with your equipment, which is something that we cannot disregard.
(To learn more about equipment purchases and promotions, click here.)
Another consideration is to remember that not all of the noises in your movie need to be recorded by you. From the soundtrack, to the resources you can find in free soundbanks, such as Epidemic Sound, Tracklib or Big Sound Bank. Everything that will be part of your film must be consistent with the story and with the sound design that you planned, and the sooner you learn how to do this with ready-made resources, the faster your production process will be.
Because of these ready-made resources, The post-production island may be much more important than your recording studio. Learn how to discover and archive free internet resources in an organized library, such as the one from Wolkie or Google Drive, and learn how to incorporate those resources into your video. Play, learn, and practice with scenes with many layers of sounds, such as restaurants, parks, and schools.
Finally, as stated before, we must consider the role of sound in the storytelling of our video. That's because when we go anywhere, we are faced with a soundscape. This is a concept used by Murray Schafer in the book “The Thinking Ear”, which draws the reader's attention to how sound influences our daily lives and our global perception.
Use this Influential power of sound For:
In short, make the most of the potential that sounds and noises can give you, because, in the words of Murray Schafer: “when you listen carefully to the soundscape, it becomes truly miraculous”.
