sound for single camera drama

Techniques that we used

For our single camera drama we wanted crisp but realistic audio, to do this we had to use several different methods, the first method we used was ADR, (Automated dialogue replacement), this is where a voice over is recorded separately to the shoot and then added back in during post production, this gives crisp audio, a common problem with ADR is that it sounds too crisp and 'studio' like that it just looks unrealistic when added to the footage, to make the footage more realistic a 'room tone' has to be recorded, this is where a microphone is placed into the room where the footage is being shot and the sounds of the room are recorded, when the room tone is combines with ADR it makes the audio sounds  like it was recorded on the shoot, which is the intended illusion. We recorded our ADR on a Marantz sound recorder, but for reference we record all of the footage sound on a RODE video mic, this makes the audio easier to decipher in post production.

Sound effects/ music

For our production we are using several different sound effects and music tracks, throughout the interview scene there is a constant low tone ambience sound, almost like a drone, this adds tension to the sequence. For our music we used two songs, ghosts and stuff but deadmau5 and into the house in a heart beat, the theme from 28 days later, both of these tracks appear several times throughout the short. In industry we would've needed to get permission to use the music tracks.
For our sound effects we done a lot of foley, but sound effects we couldn't create we used royalty free sound effects from an online website, royalty free sound effects mean that once purchased you have permission to use them for personal/ cooperate use, depending on hat licence you purchase from the creator.

Foley

Foley is the act of creating your own sound effects, for our production we used a fair amount of foley, we recorded our foley on the Marantz, the main effects we recorded were footsteps, a body being dragged, doors opening and closing, a water bottle being thrown and caught and heavy breathing, foley is a imagination heavy task, there are endless methods of making sound effects; in industry foley is a great way of saving money, making your own sound effects rather than paying out for royalty free sound effects.

Equipment

We used several different pieces of sound equipment, these included a RODE video mic, this is is directional microphone, this means that it picks up audio in the direction the microphone is pointing and cancels out any noise in the background, (depending on the quality of the microphone will depend on how well it cancels out background noise). For our ADR we used a marantz PMD 661, this is a audio recorder with a built in condenser microphone, a condenser microphone gives really crisp and clear audio and is what is used when recording ADR; the audio recorder allows for manual audio level control, ( the sensitivity of the microphone). For our test recording we used a zoom h4n, this is also an audio recorder, personally i feel that the zoom offers better quality audio, although it it difficult to differentiate the overall quality of the audio there is a noticeable difference, as well the zoom is a lot more convenient in terms of size, controls and interface.