Video Response: "How to Record Great Sounding Natural & Ambient Audio In-Camera"

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    Imagine watching a film or video with, say, a scene with a person walking outside in the woods, lacking in background noise. The unnatural silence would make the scene a bit strange and uncomfortable, right? That's why having ambiance present in a film is crucial to making it sound more natural and realistic. But, what's a good way of recording ambiance in-camera so that it sounds professional-like, even when you don't have the expensive equipment needed to create it? This video, created by Story & Heart gives a tutorial on how to capture great audio for your films.

    Natural sounds, or more commonly known as "nat sounds", are the best way to add realism to your films. However, there are three different types of sounds that can be heard naturally: Transient Sounds, Evolving Sounds, and Speech Sounds. Transient Sounds are sounds that happen quickly, for example, footsteps, breaking glass, or a high five. Evolving Sounds are ones that are persistent, like the humming of a florescent light. Speech, however, does not actually involve dialogue. It's actually just background conversations, for instance, while sitting in a coffee shop, you can hear others around you talking.

    So, how to you go about recording these sounds? First, you'll need to figure out the distance at which you need to record them. Recording from farther away will make the audio sound more distant and less important. Also, combining sounds and layering them can also help a scene come alive. For example, if you're filming a pro-basketball game, you'll need to have sounds of the squeaking of sneakers on the gym floor, crowds cheering, the ball bouncing, and the ball going through the hoop. Blend all of the sounds together to in post to provide multiple perspectives.

    I really enjoyed watching this video! Anything that has to do with applying sounds to a video is really interesting to me, as it's one of my favorite things to do when creating my own films! I learned a lot from watching this, so I'm really glad it was one of our weekly responses!