our thoughts
3 Keys to Finding the Perfect Song
Music is an important component of every video production; conveying a subconscious message from client to audience on a level that can’t be said with all the other parts of a video. Music tells the audience what to feel, if anything at all. Some of my favorite moments in film are based on the music cues, from the use of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in Tarsem’s ‘The Fall’, to the church fight scene in ‘Kingsman’ set to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Free Bird’. There are 3 keys to finding the perfect song, and it all depends on the purpose, audience, and client.
Purpose
Knowing the purpose of the video you are working on will make countless selections and decisions much easier than working in the dark. Picking music for a wedding film is a completely different beast than a corporate identity film. If the purpose of your film is to convey the strong emotions of family, love, and fun, you already have a starting point to your search. Is it supposed to be informative or emotional, are you supposed to be absorbing all of the words, or feeling the weight of the final one? The purpose of your video starts the process of finding the perfect song by starting with a broad selection of factors to consider.
Audience
The audience of your video is also indicative of what music to layer in your timeline. The CEO of a event planning service is going to be looking for something completely different than a mother watching a birthday video. Staying close to your audience’s tone and emotional level will make the video personable and unique to the audience. It sometimes helps to visualize your project as the audience, asking whether this particular song is supposed to evoke certain emotions. Are you supposed to be pushing back tears or learning how to use wordpress? The music will inform these feelings with the most direct method.
Client
And finally, the most important thing to keep in mind while picking music is the client. The purpose of the video might evolve, and the audience may fluctuate in size, but the client will always be the core of your music selections. The best thing an editor can do to pick the best music is to know the client inside and out. Personality, preferences, past work, particularities (I’ll stop now), are all ingredients to the perfect song.
arcpoint studios is a commercial film production company
based in dallas-fort worth offering branded storytelling and content creation
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What Audio Equipment is Best for Your Project
Audio is an essential key to video production and serves as the heartbeat of a well crafted piece. While there are many options that lie in the realm of audio, it’s important to know what tool is best to use during your project.
Shotgun Mic
A shotgun mic is a microphone that sits on top of your camera usually fastened in a hot shoe and attached via a mic cable. In professional cameras it is usually attached via a holder on the camera and attached via XLR. both are effective and used for the same things. A shotgun mic is great for close interaction to the camera usually within 3-4 feet to have optimal recording. This however is somewhat subjective as it depends on your positioning and what is around you. For the most part however it is an effective mic for on the go audio capture and is super popular amongst vloggers and filmmakers shooting in a run and gun situation.
Lapel/lav Mic
A lapel mic is a seamless way to capture quality audio by allowing the subject to move about freely and has the ability to be concealed for extra production value. This type of mic is generally used as a primary source of audio in production from testimonials, interviews all the way to reality tv. You can run these wirelessly, or as a wired stand alone set. We have experience with both and depends solely on what works best for the production situation that you are in.
Boom Mic
Ever see a BTS (behind the scenes) photo or a video of a person with headphones holding a long pole over their head? That’s mostly likely a boom mic. A boom mic is used in addition or in replacement of a lav mic. Typically, a boom mic is used to capture or pick up sound a lav mic cannot. Because it’s so large, it’s typically hard to conceal so the boom operator has to be conscious so it doesn’t fall into frame of the camera. Talk about a arm workout!
Handheld Mic
Ahhh yes! The handheld microphone the most nostalgic of them all we reference these back to the glory days of news television where the journalist is on the scene interviewing the subject at hand. These microphones are best used in practice at live events and on productions that have a host. These also can be used wired or wirelessly.
Testing.. 1.. 2.. 3..
While there are many forms of microphones, these are the most commonly used. Utilizing audio to its fullest potential will take your production to the next level. It’s no easy feat but with practice, patience, the right tools and some good ears, you’ll be an audio expert in no time!
