Re: Need Advice On a Cheap Setup

Great idea for a doc!

You’ve ordered the G2 so try out the lav. You’ll either think, “Sounds fine,” or you’ll get out your credit card and order the countryman or ask Ty which lav to get. Either way, I’d have a wired back up. I believe you can order a countryman that will work either way with the right connections.

The group scene can either be done the way Ty suggests or you’ll need a sound person to ride the levels with a mixer that can handle 4-6 inputs. You can probably rent the Shure FP410 automixer as well. But I wouldn’t rent just for the day of the shoot. I’d practice with it first.

Again, it sounds like you plan to edit sound bites from the group scenes over stills of the real subject which is the art. If that is so, I'd consider getting a good hand-held ENG mike and a plug transmitter for your G2. The same mic can then be used wired if the G2 is having problems. Either way the group is sharing memories with each other and it becomes a fun thing to pass the mike around to whoever wants to talk. This is not at all the way a news interview would look.

A student of mine shot a reunion of grads, now mostly seniors, exactly this way and it came out fine. The angle: we are taking turns documenting our memories for posterity.

You can zoom in close enough so the mike is out of the shot if you don’t like the look.

You ever notice on talk shows with a full crew, in a studio setting, and lots of experience, the boom pole/operator (when audience members talk) will often drift into the shot? As an alternative, the host will hand the audience member the mike or point the mike at their mouth. There is no affordable way to mike all those people. Hewell Howser uses the mike-in-shot style and it clearly feels like a documentary rather than news show.

I’d run a second mike to an MC who can introduce the speakers and direct the event. You might never use their voice in the final mix but at least the event will run smoothly and you’ll capture their interaction and names.




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