Hi. I'm a first time video camera owner and I would like to know what's the best way to get good quality sound with only a home movie camera.
Brenton
Ah, home movies! Where would the world be without them? The first thing to know, Brenton, is whether you're making films or videos. If it's 8 mm film it probably doesn't have a sound track in which case you'd have to have a sidekick who can follow you around with a microphone (mic) capturing sound onto a cassette or reel-to-reel tape recorder, which you can then edit and play alongside your film. Some of the earliest talkies were presented with a record player and pianist providing accompaniment. If you're shooting on video, things are a lot simpler and a lot harder. This is life, what do you expect? A straight answer?
Video cameras record sound from an onboard mic straight onto the video tape. Your VCR reads this information and plays it along with the images. That's one of the joys of the point-and-shoot lifestyle. One day soon they'll have point & shoot nukes, then everyone will be happy.
There is a problem with onboard mics, and that is that they are generally omni-directional. Check the instruction book that you didn't read when you took the camera out of the box (Who does?). On the main diagram, somewhere at the front of the camera, there will be a microphone. If it is a tiny grille in the body of the camera then it is omni-directional. If your microphone is larger (about the size of an egg) and covered with a (probably black) foam rubber "sock" (or "condom") then it is uni-directional.
Say what? Omni-who? Think of it in terms of light, but backwards. The light from a light bulb is omni-directional, spreading out and illuminating the entire room, except for dark spot immediately behind it which is lit by reflected light; the light from a torch is uni-directional and illuminates a much smaller area in the direction the torch is pointed. Similarly, an omni-directional microphone picks up sound from a large area, including louder sounds bouncing onto the mic from behind; a uni-directional mic picks up sound mostly from the direction the camera is pointed. (FYI, a shotgun mic is mono-directional as it is constructed to pick up sound from a very small area directly in its line of sight, much like the long barrel of a shotgun focuses the shot into a small area.)
If you have an omni-directional mic you will be getting a lot of extraneous noise, including you talking to the subject, cars passing in the street and some fool mowing their lawn two blocks over. Check with the dealer who sold you the camera and see if you can get an upgrade to a uni-directional mic. If you already have one you are doing pretty well, picking up the sound of your daughter blowing out the candles on her birthday cake and the sound of your foot standing on her brand new Malibu Barbie dune buggy. Go to the same dealer and see if you can get an even more uni-directional mic. The smaller the field of focus of your mic the less background noise you will get in your recording. Don't try to get a shotgun mic as it will give you bizarre recordings without any ambient (background) noise. In professional films, a special recording is made of the ambient and played under the dialogue to make it sound more realistic, so you don't think it's been recorded in a sound booth.
The best way to improve your sound recording is still, unfortunately, to get a helper to follow you around with a directional mic pointing at whatever you're shooting. (There are a lot of gun metaphors in film-speak, in case you hadn't noticed.) An expensive alternative is to buy lapel mics, either radio or cable, and put them onto the lapels of whoever is talking. This gives you great sound but can limit the motion of the camera (if by cable) and reduces spontaneity, a problem at fun events like bar mitzvahs and commitment ceremonies.
Of course, you could always carry a real shotgun (especially if it's a wedding) and tell everyone to shut up so you can shoot the happy couple in peace and quiet. Hmmm... on second thoughts, that might not be such a good idea.