Every department of video production companies in LA has its own jargon, terms, and unwritten rules when it comes to their particular field of expertise. Audio is not an exception to this rule either. Finding out what goes into audio production might be a challenge until you become familiar with it. Hopefully, we can save your future audio engineers some trouble by giving you a crash course in the audio industry now.
Acquire Quality Audio on Location
If a shot has an error, you may be able to clip away, crop in, or even completely eliminate the fault with some clever After Effects wizardry. An audio flub, on the other hand, may not be so forgiving in this regard. Cropping or rotoscoping out the A/C humming in the background is not possible with audio recordings.
A location sound engineer’s ears are honed to listen for anything that could compromise the audio quality of a shot. There are situations when doing so may delay your shooting until an ambulance or a barking neighbor dog passes, but you must be careful not to attack the messenger in this scenario. Rest assured, the location sound engineer is not purposely delaying the following shot.
If the worst happens, you may have to invite the actors or other talent back in for ADR (Automated Dialog Replacement). This is where the actors are brought in to re-record their lines and a studio is brought in to match the words they uttered in the take. The use of ADR to solve a problem, on the other hand, can be time-consuming and expensive. Getting it right on-site will eliminate the need for ADR.
Sound Design Can Help Your Project Succeed
When it comes to other aspects of filmmaking, such as production design, lighting, and cinematography, the audio design might be overlooked. Even so, audio, like other areas with greater exposure, can be an art form by itself and be just as significant. It’s easy to overlook the importance of audio until it’s gone, yet without it, everything falls flat. Consider a horror film without the eerie droning or creaking of the floor or a sci-fi film without the distinguishing laser effects and beep-boops.
Having a clear vision of how your project will sound can elevate its quality to new heights. Having no notion how sound effects should function might also cause problems for your project.
Give your sound engineer a say in how things sound, what sounds to utilize, and how the project should be recorded. I’m sure they’d be delighted to share their creative insights and see their plans come to life. The approach taken by a real audio specialist to a theme or the new life given to your concepts may surprise you.
Various Applications Require Various Microphones
Each microphone has its optimal application, whether it’s the frequency range it covers, the pickup pattern it employs, or even its robustness. Let the audio engineer provide recommendations on how your production should be recorded and the gear they prefer. A professional recordist may use a variety of microphones to capture outdoor talk, indoor conversation, interviews, music, poor weather, and sound effects.
Takeaway
While it’s tempting to believe that audio will never be as essential as clips and that if the visuals are exceptional, the audio cannot possibly ruin them, those are both mistakes. If you want to create truly amazing videos, you must treat audio editing with the same level of treatment as you do with the video portion of the footage.
At Brandefy, we have the experience, equipment, and expertise necessary to produce the best quality audio for video projects. As one of the most reputable video production companies in LA, you can count on us to avoid any audio or video production blunders. We’ll be there for you every step of the way! Do you have any concerns? Get in touch with us – we would love to hear from you.
