Media Gatherers

In a series of articles taking a closer look at the building blocks of Multimedia Journalism, these articles will look into all of the elements that make up a multimedia piece.

In it’s true sense Multimedia consists of three elements – still images, audio and video. The series intends to break down each of these individual elements hopefully highlighting the importance of understanding each process separately in order to produce an effective and powerful piece.

PART 2: The Audio

In the last post I covered the basic building blocks of putting together a photo essay from a photographic point of view, in this follow-up piece I’m going to look at capturing Audio.

Now I’m not a Radio 4 journalist or a qualified sound engineer so this is based on what I have learnt, picked up and become aware of during my experiences with capturing audio and some of things that I am now more aware of.

Take from it what you will, learn from your own mistakes but don’t underestimate just how important capturing good audio is and how, once dropped in with images it can raise the quality of a finished piece.

The first thing I learnt about audio is that just when you think you have enough audio for your purpose the chances are that you don’t! Make sure that you have enough because once you have done an edit and run it along side the images I found in the beginning that I never had enough and in your need to complete the piece it is easy to try and ‘make the audio fit’, this results in a less polished piece and can actually reduce the impact.

Let your audio breath – don’t always rush into filling the spaces between pauses in an interview, more on interviews later, but if there is a natural pause during the interview then let it be. It will be more believable and natural if they are left in.

Record the ambient – or as they say in radio speak the ‘actuality’, sixty seconds of actuality may prove beneficial later, especially when you need to include a break in your audio edit or in the interview or as a means to move to another part of the story. Thinking in terms of video, a good video cameraman will always shoot some ‘cutaways’, images that can be dropped into a piece and used on occasions to cover an edit. I see actuality as serving a similar purpose.

Ambient versus narrative? Does the piece need only ambient audio or does it need a narrative overlay, in other words someone speaking over the images? This could be in the form of a voice over, although a word of caution here because unless it is done right by someone who can speak well it won’t work – Think about David Attenborough talking about dolphins or gorillas or something then replace him with Chubby Brown – ain’t gonna work!!

A combination of the two may be needed, what I think is strongest is what is called ‘Character Driven Audio’ – A story that has some ambient (actuality) but is primarily led by a narrative from the main character in the piece. If this is what you want to achieve of course, if your doing a story about a farmer for example then this could work, if your story is on a place or an activity then it may not be the way to go.

When you record your audio consider…
1 – What is the essence of the Story?
2 – Does the audio provide the information that the viewer needs to know?
3 – What will the viewers learn from the story?

A word of caution on audio – in multimedia it forms a key part of the story, don’t treat it is an afterthought or an add on, it plays just an important a part as the images. Work hard to get it right and practice.

Ensure the microphone is held close enough to the person your interviewing – this ensures good, ‘rich’, audio quality from your subject and less chance of unwanted ambient sound being picked up – we’re talking about a couple of inches from their mouth. Remember to look at THEM not the sound recorder.

Know your equipment – the strangeness of having a microphone shoved in their face will be reduced if you listen to what they say and look them in the eyes. It will help build that rapour and reduce any discomfort they might feel initially.

Remember that anything you say will also be recorded, ask them to repeat your question in their answer. For example, Q: How long have you lived here? A:2 Years. Instead try, Q: How long have you lived here? A: I have lived here for 3 years. This second answer can stand alone if required. Also, when interviewing try and avoid the ‘Umms’ and ‘Arrs’ and ‘okay’s’ that you would normally use during conversation. It does seem strange and a little ignorant at first to do this but your audio will be better.

Even say to the subject before the interview that your not going to respond as it will mess up the audio, I sometimes tell them that I don’t want my voice on the piece and that it is more important to hear what they have to say.

Interview or pictures first? – No default answer here, whatever works on the day. Sometimes photo ideas will come from the interview, sometimes questions will arise from the pictures. A combination of both will usually work.

Audio is difficult to do well, when combined with stills there are other considerations but when done well it can  go towards a strong and powerful piece.

Give it a go and get some audio.

As someone completely new to audio, at first glance the market seems overwhelmingly daunting.
It’s worth pointing out at this moment, that I do not own an audio recorder yet.

I’m going to be using my research into devices as a basis for this post and subsequently buy the recorder which I feel will suit my needs as a future multimedia story teller.

Below are some pre-requisites which I consider to be important features that I require:

• Excellent audio quality (obviously).
• External mic input – will the mic be powered separately or by the recorder?
• Tough build quality – it may need to withstand some harsh environments (within reason).
• Small enough to be stored in a pocket/pouch but big enough to ‘know its there’.
• Records to removable media – Will fit in with my work flow as a photographer (e.g Remove card, upload, edit…)
• Removable batteries – it will not be practical to have to charge via USB/Laptop when in the field.

Your features may differ – I would recommend you sit down and list some of your requirements, these little devices can become quite expensive.
But more importantly, audio is a crucial tool for getting your story across – can you really afford for your equipment to fail at that crucial moment?

An initial google search brings up various companies, thoughts and devices. I found this post over on Lightstalkers – which guided me to some manufacturers I had never heard of (as it turns out they are some of the biggest audio manufacturers in the world!).
After digging around each manufacturers product pages, using my requirements – the following five items are the best suited and typically the most expensive recorders on the market:

• Edirol – R-09HR
• MicroTrack – MicroTrack II
• Marantz – PMD 660
• Marantz – PMD 661
• Zoom – H4N

Between these five recorders the price varies from approximately £150 for the Microtrack II to a whopping £500 for the Marantz 661!

Audio Recorders

There is no doubt that one of these four machines will be the perfect audio recorder for me – in part II of this post I will be breaking down each device into there pro’s and con’s.

The eventual aim will be have a final choice of two device’s, I will then get a hands on with these two devices before purchasing it.