Church Echoes « Videomaker Community Forums

Buttercup1
Member

Hi all.

This may have been asked and answered before, but I didn't see exactly what I needed when I did a quick search.

I've done two weddings so far. The first was in a very old, very large church. The second was in a smaller, more modern church. I have very little audio experience (which I realize is a huge problem). I was lucky with the second wedding's audio coming out pretty well. Not so lucky with the first. Thankfully, it was family and I think they will forgive me.

So, my question is, what's the best plan of action for capturing CLEAR (read: little or no echoes) in a large church? The problem with the audio on my first wedding was that the audio on readings and homilies was loud, but hard to understand. There was so much echo going on that you have to strain to understand the individual words. Needless to say, I'm very disappointed in myself, but there's only so much I can do about it now. I was, however, smart enough to mic the groom, so the vows came out loud and clear.

Any advise is, as always, appreciated!

Posted 6 years ago #
compusolver
Member

As you discovered with the groom, a mic that is close to its source will minimize echos and distortion.

I mic the groom, minister and father of the bride with lavs. We also use separate mics for music (often a shotgun), other speakers (more lavs or handheld clamped to a stand), singers, etc.

We are in the process of producing a training video for wedding videographers - stay tuned.

Posted 6 years ago #
Buttercup1
Member

Thanks, Compusolver.

Makes sense, of course. My major problem is...I just do not have the funds to purchase all that audio equipment. It's very frustrating.

I will definitely keep a lookout for your video! I'm sure it will be very informative, as your posts here always are. I'm sure you've mentioned it before, but how long have you been in the wedding videography business?

Posted 6 years ago #
compusolver
Member

I started with motion pictures (8mm) when I was fourteen years old. Had my own editing equipment, etc. Later, I studied for three years in L.A. under a teacher who's name, unfortunately, I've forgotten - but he also taught at Brooks Institute of Photograhy. Got out of it when I went into the Army. Got into video in the mid eighties. Had the best prosumer cam that Sony made ($3000) and did animations and editing on Commodore and Amiga computers. That's when I started shooting weddings. Divorce divested me of all my equipment several years later and I just got back a couple years ago.

Posted 6 years ago #
castostarlight
Member

compusolver Wrote:
I started with motion pictures (8mm) when I was fourteen years old. Had my own editing equipment, etc.

How in the hell did you get these things?! I would kill people for an 8mm. I just use the DV cam and Premiere Pro at school. I would love to get that genuine film look. How were you so fortunate to obtain an 8mm camera?

Posted 6 years ago #
compusolver
Member

Nothing to it! But keep in mind that this was 1961. I had a pretty good set of gear for a fourteen year old. Editing gear (you had to splice and tape), lighting gear, fake sets, etc. My grandfather was shooting 16mm back in the twenties!

Posted 6 years ago #
castostarlight
Member

My god, there's no way to descibe how envious I am. 8-O I'm just a poor high school student waiting to go to L.A. and become a feature film writer/director. To get a camera that shoots onto film.... oh how I love the film look... each frame is like a developed photograph. sigh. And that magic frame rate (24 frames per second). You think you can hook me up, lol.

Posted 6 years ago #
compusolver
Member

Thanks to the Internet, books and videos, computers and cheap hardware & software, there's a lot you can be doing right now to start your video education. Best of luck to you!

Posted 6 years ago #