1. Sound is half the film
People watch a soft image but leave a video with bad audio. Never rely on the camera's built-in mic for voices.
Lav placement, levels and backups: viewers forgive picture before sound.
People watch a soft image but leave a video with bad audio. Never rely on the camera's built-in mic for voices.
15–20 cm below the chin
Centred, capsule up, hidden under clothing; tape a loop of cable to stop rustle.
15–20 cm below the chin, centred, capsule pointing up. Hide it under clothing with a loop of cable taped to stop rustle.
Aim speech peaks inside the green box (−12 to −6 dB). 0 dB = clipping.
Set gain during a 30-second test chat, then don't touch it. Turn auto gain off and use a limiter if you have one.
Sony: set Audio Rec Level manually so peaks sit around −12 dB. Digital Multi Interface shoe mics (e.g. ECM-B10) send clean digital audio with no cable.
Lav + shotgun, or a transmitter that records internally, or a 32-bit float recorder. Vows and key answers happen once.