Christian Film Production Tips :

Hello everyone, hope you had a great weekend? When last did you go to cinema? They are really common these days, so when last did you visit one? Do you take yourself to be too religious to visit a cinema? Can you please drop all those dogmatism and legalistic (Christianity by laws) Christianity and enjoy yourself a bit. Don't be too hard on yourself, take time to cool off and relax your nerves with a soft drink and popcorn in the cinema hall.

If most of us have been to the cinema to see a standard foreign film we will know that most of our sound can only be appreciated by our local audience home and abroad. The fact that people call to tell you that your movie has been a blessing does not mean that it is good enough because there is room for improvement.

Today I can temporarily conclude the discussion we started weeks ago: Lapel microphone. I said temporary because all the topics I have taken so far will be reviewed over and again because I am still learning and growing, so the more I give, the more I learn from those who are better than me and the more I share it. Remember, we know in part and we prophecy in part.

Lavalier microphone have great advantages and disadvantages.

1. Your talent can freely move with it.

2. A one man band operator can shoot without any problem since he doesn't need a boom swinger.

3. It get the microphone closer to the talent.

4. Clear signal can be achieved from low frequency and high frequency (depends on the quality of your microphone)

5. It can be easily hidden from the camera.

And some other advantages I can't think of right now.

Now the disadvantages

1. It can restrict your talent. Since your actor will be conscious of the mic, it may affect him psychologically.

2. It can limit the creativity. If there is a fight scene, lapel is definitely not an option.

3. It can easily generate noise through the rumblings of the cloth. If you are to use lapel microphone, you can only wear cotton or wool since linen and other fabrics will generate noise.

4. It can give fake sound. Imagine someone inside the room talking to someone in the sitting room, and the shot is on the person in the sitting room, the sound from the lapel mic will be completely fake and Un acceptable by cinematographers.

5. The sound sample from lapel microphone is not as strong as that of a boom microphones and that is why some cinematographers don't use it for film.

And some other disadvantages I can't remember for now.

Please note, I am talking from the view of a filmmaker.

Lapel microphones that are good for good production are few and really costly. The Sony ECM-77, Sennheiser MKE-2, and the Sanken COS 11 are tiny barrel mikes that aren't a whole lot bigger than the diameter of the mike cable. Specialty mikes like the TRAM, Crown GLM series and Millimic have flat capsules which make them much easier to hide without losing high frequencies. They can cost more than $300 apiece, but their usefulness and durability often justify their price. If you want quality sound and you want to use lavelier microphone, try to incorporate boom with it, hardly will you see a cinematographer use lapel microphone alone for a film project but several times they use boom alone.

Sorry it is this long, we go into another aspect of sound production next week monday though I will quickly touch how to properly fix your lapel. Thank you for your time.

Remember, you can share and feel free to ask your questions. If you have missed any of my past post please go to Christian Film Institute page and like our page. Or you check my blogxtianmovie.blogspot.com, till next week Monday when I shall be coming your way again, keep your God-given dreams alive and remain blessed.