Why Sound Matters

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Why sound matters

Quick quiz question, which part of the body is more sensitive, your eyes or your ears? I will leave that one hanging for a moment but sound is something we all take for granted, especially when we watch TV. Its always clear, crisp and that’s just the way it is. Its 50% of any production at the end of the day so it should be afforded the same amount of care and attention as the images.

In my eyes it is definitely worth paying it that attention because sound is the big advantage us videographers have over photographers. Sounds can stimulate the senses to bring out much more emotion in people than images alone ever will.  I always tell my potential clients when they are looking to book a videographer to watch examples on websites with the sound off. By doing that you take more notice of camera movement and the imagery, is it in focus? is it steady? sounds often mask imperfect camera craft because **Quiz answer** your ears are more sensitive than your eyes.

Adobe Audition is a great tool I use for enhancing the audio captured on the day.

Speeches, vows and other ambient sounds will actually bring the day back into your consciousness more than images will. Things like the wedding car arriving along a gravel drive, that crunch of the tyres compressing the stones, the trees rustling gently, they stimulate the senses and are the soundtrack to the day. I often say that with a photograph you can see the smile but with film you can hear the laughter and that’s why I give the recording of these sounds my utmost attention because they enhance the quality of the film.  The skill is to know what ambient sounds to add and what to leave out to create the right balance and feeling.  

Good audio requires close microphones so during the ceremony I would place a lapel mic on the groom and one on the celebrant and then mics on anyone who is giving a reading and the reason for this is levels. As we have established, our ears are sensitive so if the groom speaks and its super clear, then the celebrant and again its super clear guess what we think when the reader steps up without a mic…yep….I cant hear them…now take the mic off the groom and the celebrant so everyone’s the same level you don’t notice so much. Committing to good audio means you need to see it through so speeches for example, everyone must have a mic etc..

I do a lot of post production on the audio I record from the day. If for example there is an air conditioning unit in the ceremony room I can see that frequency on my software and simply remove it so that annoying background hum disappears. A groom who is overcome with emotion can sometimes be overcome with Snot 😊 so the constant clearing of his nasal passages can be a little off putting to say the least so I will go into the audio track and try and remove as many of them as I can, babies crying, someone dropping a hymn book mid vows etc…They can all be manipulated to be either removed completely or made to be less noticeable. Good imagery + good sound = An amazing wedding film 😊