Instructors: Dianne Ballon, Jude Kampfner

Description:

Dianne Ballon will cover the art of field recording. Whenever we record outside the quiet of a sound studio — whether on a busy street, in an office building, or in a real field with songbirds — we are faced with many decisions. How to record optimal sound in less-than-ideal situations.

Jude Kampfner will cover the craft of playing with sound in nonfiction. How do you use sound in a documentary? A producer must make many decisions when considering the soundscape. How to use music or conceptual sound to enhance an interview. When to create live sound effects and use natural sound versus Sound Library Effects.

Together they will introduce you to techniques they have employed to achieve high quality sound in their nonfiction productions.

You will listen to sound-rich audio excerpts from stories about a cowboy’s bedroll to the sound of boats creaking at a dock in Iceland. With humor and hindsight, we’ll explore the difficulties of field recording and the balance of mixing canned sound effects into your production. Topics include acoustics and interviewing techniques, microphone handling and placement, recording in stereo, trusting your ears, and balancing voice and field sound.