How to Mic a Documentary Style Sit Down Interview To Get Incredible Audio
If you’re reading this post, you undoubtedly already know that getting high-quality sound for documentary-style sit-down interviews is crucial and that on-board (on-camera) microphones are inadequate. In general, there are two popular methods for recording a documentary interview: either with a lavalier microphone (scroll down to this section) or a shotgun microphone positioned above the interviewee (skip directly to that section).
Both of these strategies have advantages and disadvantages and have the potential to function incredibly effectively. We’ll go over each technique in depth below, with links to all the equipment you need to set each one up, to help you pick which microphone to use for an interview. Let’s first examine how to use a lav mic to record a documentary interview.
Please take note that while this article is about getting amazing sound for sit-down interviews, our other article is about getting a reporter-style handheld interview for stand-up interviews.
Related Article: The top Vlogger, Podcaster, and Filmmaker Microphones.
How to Record a Sit-Down Interview in Documentary Style
How to use a wireless lav mic to record an interview for a documentary:
How to Mic a Documentary Style Sit Down Interview To Get Incredible Audio
By attaching a cordless lavalier microphone to the interviewee, you may likely capture sound for a sit-down documentary-style interview in the most typical method. A lav mic, also known as a lapel microphone, is often fastened to the interviewee’s collar, shirt, jacket, or tie, as shown above.
Benefits of utilizing a lav mic: If you’re shooting an interview subject who will be moving around and performing duties in addition to a sit-down interview, it can be convenient to leave a lav on them all day. It is also convenient to utilize the same microphone if you intend to conduct some “walk and speak” interviews. Additionally, using a wireless lav mic lessens the number of cables that set personnel may trip over.
Cons of utilizing a lav mic: They require your subject to spend some time setting up correctly and running the cord up their shirt. A person could be difficult to rig up depending on the style of apparel they are sporting (women’s gowns are a typical example.) Lav microphones can be considered based on the design of your film or video because some filmmakers believe them to be tacky.
Tips for utilising a lav mic: Always tuck the cable between the microphone and transmitter pack out of frame so it doesn’t look tacky or unprofessional. Give your subject the transmitter pack with the cord and microphone disconnected so they can put it in their pocket or belt, then reattach it and give it to them to put in their shirt or let it fall down through their shirt.
Although depending on the type of shirt or fabric the interviewee is wearing, it may result in scratchy clothing sounds or muted sound, it is sometimes feasible to conceal the microphone itself.
Remind interviewees to avoid hitting their chests because doing so frequently causes a loud thud to be heard on the microphone.
Suggested wireless lav microphones:
The tough workhorse of the documentary film industry is the Sennheiser G3. For good reason, it’s currently the most often used wireless lav mic among independent filmmakers, documentarians, and broadcast journalists.
With an easy-to-read display and menu navigation, it has a wide range of frequencies for interference-free, crystal-clear audio reception up to around 100 feet away. Additionally, the transmitter pack has a “Mute” switch that enables your subject to mute the recording when they use the restroom or leave the room to answer a phone call without having to remove the toilet entirely or fuss with turning it off.
Two AA batteries are used to power both the transmitter pack and the receiver pack, and they normally last for several hours before needing to be changed. The clip-on transmitter, a receiver with a camera mount plate that fits on top of your camera’s hot or cold shoe mount, and adapters for both XLR camera inputs and 1/8th (3.5mm) jack inputs are all included in this set.
If the Sennheiser G3 is too expensive for you, the Movo 70 wireless microphone system is a better option.
It supports both professional XLR input cameras as well as 3.5mm inch jacks on DSLRs and other prosumer camcorders, and it has a wide range of adjustable working frequencies. comes with a cold shoe insert to place the receiver on top of your camera and a belt clip for the transmitter.
Two AA batteries are required by both the transmitter pack and the receiver.
How to use a shotgun microphone for a documentary interview:
How to Mic a Documentary Style Sit Down Interview To Get Incredible Audio
For a documentary interview, employing a shotgun microphone suspended on a boom pole or jib arm just out of frame is a little more difficult, but it can provide excellent results and has some unique benefits over using a lav in specific situations.
For starters, if your subject is rushed for time, having a shotgun microphone fully set up and suspended above the interviewee’s chair before the interview even begins might reduce the amount of setup time needed and free up more time for actual interviewing (like a CEO or politician).
Benefits of using a shotgun mic include shortening setup time while the interviewee is present and removing any chance that the subject may feel awkward about inserting a cord down their shirt. Using a shotgun mic for an interview also means you don’t have to attach anything to your subject or conceal any microphone connections, therefore it doesn’t matter what kind of clothing they are wearing.
Finally, if you have a “hot seat” in the same location and need to record numerous interviews in a short amount of time without rigging and re-rigging everyone for sound with a lav, employing a shotgun mic also enables you to rotate in and out several interview subjects in the same space extremely rapidly.
A jib arm and a stand are required to suspend the microphone above your interview subject, which is a drawback of employing a shotgun microphone. This means you’ll need to purchase more equipment, pack it, and transport it if you’re going to the interview site. It may also indicate that you have another cable that someone could trip over if you’re not careful (the XLR cable).
Use wide gaffer’s tape to secure cords to the floor when utilizing a shotgun mic so that no one trips over them. To lessen the chance that your lighting stand may topple over, be sure to weigh it down with film sandbags as well.
To record interviews with shotgun microphones, the following equipment is advised:
Rotatable boom stand for microphones
The first thing you’ll need is a sturdy platform from which you can hang the microphone using a boom pole or jib arm. With an arm that can extend up to 6.9 feet in length, this stand has a maximum height of 13 feet. It also includes a sandbag, however, you might wish to use more around the base of the stand.
Adjustable shockmount for a shotgun microphone
Additionally, a mount is required to keep the shotgun microphone in place on the stand at the tip of the boom arm. This straightforward shockmount will do the trick, and since it is adjustable, you may alter the direction your microphone is pointed. It is extremely strong and wide enough to accommodate most microphones.
Super-Cardioid Shotgun Tube Condenser Microphone Sennheiser MKH416
If you use the boom pole technique, you’ll also need a high-quality shotgun microphone to get superb documentary interview sound. The Sennheiser 416 is a well-known shotgun microphone that is frequently used in movies, reality TV shows, and documentaries if you don’t already own one. Because of its exact pickup pattern and super-cardioid shape, background noise will be largely reduced.
The Audio Technica 897 should be taken into consideration in its place if the 416 is out of your price range. The 416 is an industry-standard and fantastic documentary interview microphone. You’ll also need an extra long XLR cable if you don’t already have one to attach this microphone to your camera.
Frequently asked questions about how to get sound for documentary interviews:
No one other than the director can provide an answer to that artistic query. However, we advise properly micing the interviewer if you intend to incorporate audio of them asking questions throughout interviews (often with a simple lav microphone). Poor audio can pull a spectator away from a movie faster than anything else, and it also comes out as very unprofessional.
Although there are wired lapel mics, they are fairly antiquated and a holdover from the time when the cost gap between wired and wireless devices was greater.
Filmmakers of documentaries utilize wired mics more frequently in the past since they were far less expensive, but they have a number of disadvantages today. First, even though there won’t be any issues with wireless frequency interference, their range is still constrained by the length of their connection.
Second, it adds yet another cord that the subject of your interview might trip over or overlook, leading them to start walking away with your camera or a light stand in tow.
Finally, using a wired microphone would limit your versatility, which we believe is a mistake even though you might save a few dollars.
Even though a wired microphone might be perfectly adequate for a sit-down interview, you might not be able to utilise it for later shoots that call for a wireless option, such as walk-and-talk interviews or covering events.
There are remedies for this, indeed. See our post on boom pole-mounted wireless shotgun microphones. They might add a little extra weight to your shotgun microphone, so if you’re hanging it from a boom pole or jib arm above your subject for an interview, you’ll want to make sure your counterweight is substantial enough to prevent it from falling on their head in the middle of the conversation.
For a variety of reasons, two-person or group interviews are notoriously challenging to film. However, if you must do one, we advise having a sound operator manually move a boom pole from person to person in order to record whoever is speaking at the time. Using two dual lav microphones—one for each interviewee—might also be feasible and cost-effective when there are just two interviewers.
We advise capturing sound for both the interviewer and the interviewee in the same manner in movies or videos where a presenter or reporter is seen on screen interviewing people. We advise that you utilise a shotgun mic mounted on a boom pole positioned above the interviewee’s head if you intend to record their audio. We advise doing that with both of them if you’re going to lav mic one of them (which is actually more typical for TV-journalism type two person interviews).
If both the interviewer and interviewee talk a lot and are visible on screen, it could be off-putting to have two very different sounding mics for each of them, making it appear as though they are not even in the same room together. This is why you want them to sound as similar as possible.
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About the author: Trent (IMDB | Youtube) has spent 10+ years working on an assortment of film and television projects. He writes about his experiences to help (and amuse) others. If he’s not working, he’s either traveling, reading or writing about travel/film, or planning travel/film projects.
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