Fri, November 13, 2009 at 12:22 AM Audio, the Unsung Hero
When I'm shooting video, I've got a finger on the zoom ring, a finger on the focus ring, a finger on the iris ring... I'm checking white balance, the shutter speed, the framing... so you see, it's easy to forget the invisible, but most important element: audio.
I know, it sounds a little strange, doesn't it: the fact that sound is so important to capturing what seems like mostly a visual thing. An instructor once told me: "Sound is the world beyond the frame." I'll give you a moment to appreciate that as much as I did.
I recently acquired a Zoom H4n audio recorder and it has changed the way I shoot events and interviews. By having the full audio, it allows me to be more creative with the camera without having to worry about missing anything. Video I can fake - it's a lot harder to fake sound.
Another great reason to have the Zoom H4n is that it's an integral part of the VDSLR (video dSLR) shooting setup. In a previous post, I mentioned how DSLRs are combining their awesome optics to create amazing videos. However, as good as their pictures are, their sound is lacking. This is the perfect companion to help round out the shooting package. In fact, there's a great article by Graham Law on using this audio recorder with the Canon 5D MKII on Ken Stone's site - a good read if you have a few minutes.
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