Sound for Low-Budget Feature

[sebs2112]

Ok, so this July my friends and I will be shooting a feature length movie, and we are trying to make it as legitimate/professional as possible. It's going to be a very ambitious project, and we figured that the most important thing to focus on in order to make our film look and sound professional was sound quality. Last summer i made a feature length movie that was crippled by poor sound throughout, and i don't want to repeat that.
I'm looking for the best audio setup that is versatile enough for indoor, outdoor, and car scenes, and that is also within our budget: around $500-$700. Would it be better to have several lapel mics or one boom mic? Any recommended models?
Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Bob Kessler]

Sound is half of the experience - Steven Spielberg

First, you may want to increase your budget somewhat. That's the problem most younger filmmakers make - trying to get away cheaply on the sound.

With the assumption that you will be recording the audio directly to camera, you will need a shotgun mic (outdoors), a (non-shotgun) cardioid condensor mic (indoors), a boom pole, a shockmount, a windjammer and mic cables. If your camera goes not have XLR inputs you will also need adapters. You can probably do it on your budget by purchasing carefully selected used gear.

PM me if you would like more info.