So I helped my friend film some interviews on Saturday for his documentary on a coast guard cutter. The video came out great, but some how, the sound got messed up.
Which really pisses me off, especially because that was one of the things I was supposed to take care of. It was a new camera for me, and the data I had was that you could record 2 seperate audio tracks (2 mikes). We only wanted to use a boom mike to capture the interview, so I hooked up the boom mike and thought I turned the camera mike off so we would only have one audio track to worry about keeping clear.
We do the shoot, the sound is fine on all of the play backs, but some how, when we transfered the audio, the camera mike, which is a piece of crap, and was supposed to have been turned off, was transefered onto the same track as the boom mike!
in laymans terms, worst case, we should have had two seperate recordings, one for each mike. All we should have had to do was turn one off, and the other would be fine. somehow they got mixed and the sound is screwed.
So now I feel horrible and helpless, because my friend now has to do a whole bunch of remixing to try and clean up the sound.
And the worst part is not knowing what I could have done differently to fix it. It shouldn't have happend, yet we have fucked up audio which proves that it did happen.
*sigh* To use a popular phrase, this blows. The only good part is that the video all came out well, the lighting and all of that went as planned. but I can't shake this gloom about it, because without the sound, the video is worthless and we wasted a day of filming.
Ever want to crawl under a rock because you let someone down? Thats how I feel...
Indiefilm posted on Aug 28, 2006
| views: 471
Comments
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secretlife said on Aug 28, 2006....
I can't see anything!
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Indiefilm said on Aug 28, 2006....
Thats because I hid the text, its there...
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Indiefilm said on Aug 28, 2006....
dragxyourxcursorxover xthisxtext.
;)
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secretlife said on Aug 28, 2006....
LOL!
That's so clever Indie!
I'm sorry you feel bad about the sound in your film.
You know, sometimes we just fuck up without even knowing it or meaning to.
I'm going to bet your friend will fix this.
Chin up!
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Indiefilm said on Aug 28, 2006....
Thanks SL,
It just sucks messing up a friends stuff on accident. I know it's one of those 'happens to everyone sometime or another' type of things.
I'll get over it.
not that I'm completely bent out of shape about it. not happy, but I'm not looking for a bridge to jump off. lol ;)
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JadeLondon said on Aug 29, 2006....
That really sucks when you invest time & effort into something and it turns out contrary.
I hate making mistakes, and I have an even harder time letting them go.
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Lovethebeach said on Aug 29, 2006....
This was really clever. I am sorry you are so sad. I tend to take things personally too, so I feel your pain. I hope today is a good day for you!
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Expendable said on Aug 29, 2006....
You never used the camera before and I guess no time to try it out before the interview so you got a bad recording. Maybe you should check with whoever made/sold the camera to find out why it didn't work the way your data said it would.
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secretlife said on Aug 29, 2006....
Was your friend able to correct it?
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Indiefilm said on Aug 29, 2006....
Jade & Lovethebeach, thanks for comiserating. ;)
Expendable, I checked it prior to using it, the bad sound didn't show up on the play back, But i only had it set to listen to the channel I wanted. I'm going to be looking into it to try and figure out what the problem was and how not to do it again. Hopefully I'll be able to get to it this weekend or next. (It was a rental camera)
SL; Not sure yet... I haven't spoken to him since Sunday, which isn't unusual for us. We generally only talk on the weekends or just prior.
Also, I almost don't want to call him. Which is a bit of cowardace on my part, mostly because I don't know what I could do to help fix it.
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joeyo said on Sep 21, 2006....
its a part of the learning experience dog,
dont take it too hard
next time u gonna be sure to get a good audio
bad sound is the #1 indicator of an amateur / first time film apparently.
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Indiefilm said on Sep 21, 2006....
Absolutly, sound so much more critical than most viewers think. You only notice the sound quality when you are either looking for it intentionally, or its really bad. I know this, which is why I was kicking myself. Fortunetly, on our next project we have a guy who loves sound and has been doing it for tv for quite a while who will be taking care of that.
I plan on picking his brain on the sound end of things as much as possible, but honestly I'm glad that all I've really got to worry about are the visuals for this next project. Which, is far less touchy than the sound, and easier to get right. Which is saying something since we are shooting film, not video or digital.
(we might back it up with an HD camera or two, but the primary shooting is being done on film)