Sound is often forgotten in film projects. We focus on our camera work without realizing the entire project can fall into pieces if don’t spend the same amount of effort into the sound design.
A while ago we made a video about using music in films. In that example, we opened our film with silence. But even silence can be heard. What was done in the beginning is called sound design.
Although this introduction only covers the basics, it are the essential techniques. And as a beginner it’s already a very big leap forward when you would just record your sounds separate with the microphone as close as possible to the handling.
This doesn’t have to be a special microphone, just use what you have! If that is an on-camera microphone, perfect! Just like in the video, we’re using the Rode VideoMic Pro+.
Rode VideoMic Pro + (Plus)
I’ve never been a big fan of on-camera microphones. Usually I would bring a sound guy with me or record no sound. The Rode VideoMic Pro has always been very popular, but I can’t say much about it as I never used it before. But since Rode send me their latest product, I thought I do take it for a spin.
I’ve been using the VideoMic Pro+ for 2 weeks now and honestly it became part of my camera rig now! This has a lot to do with the auto-power function of the microphone. When turning on/off your camera, so will the microphone. So I don’t have to pay any attention to it.
Quality wise, it’s superb! I can’t tell much difference between my Rode NTG-2, which has always been my go-to microphone to stick on a boom. Of course, just like we saw in the video, we need to bring the microphone close to the subject. When we do that (like close ups), the audio is actually perfect!
For an entire review I can only recommend Max Yuryev’s video about this mic. He has done a great job to show all the features and its quality in-depht!