Price £255
Get all the skills needed to capture excellent sound and create a great soundscape, whether you’re making a documentary solo or looking to work as a sound recordist.
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This course usually runs 1 time per year; in Winter.
- If you have questions please consult our new FAQs page before contacting us.
We have also updated policies for course costs/concessions and bursaries, please see our Terms and conditions.
If you would like to:
- Find out more information about UCL Public Anthropology Short Courses
- Be updated with info such as future course dates and prices
- Be the first to know when new courses go online
- If you have questions please consult our new FAQs page before contacting us.
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WHAT: This popular course returns this Winter. An in-person course offering the basics to sound recording for film shoots.
WHERE:UCL East Marshgate Building, in Stratford, East London, 7 Sidings St, London E20 2AE.
WHO: Run by filmmaker & creative director Will Davies.
WHEN: Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th February 2025.
HOW MUCH: Full Price:£255.00 | Students/Concessions: £235.00 | UCL Students: £225.00
COSTS & BURSARIES: Bursary places are available. Please see our Terms & Conditions for information on our rates & concessions.
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Open City Course – 8,9 Feb 2025
Sound Recording for Documentary Film CLASS NOW FULL.
Sound is half the story. Sound helps build the atmosphere of a scene and helps your audience empathise with the emotional journeys of your characters. Recording great sound is crucial to making a film project as good as it can be.
From time to time, sound’s importance is neglected and it’s not until the rushes hit the editing room that the consequences of bad sound are really felt. This course will give you the skills to deal with problems on set and capture great sound.
The task of capturing excellent sounds starts before you even touch a microphone on set and doesn’t end until your rushes are safely in the edit room. In this weekend course, we’ll examine all aspects of this journey.
We’ll discuss what we’re trying to achieve in our sound recordings, look at essential kit, as well as cover recording techniques such as booming and radio mic setting.
This course is pitched at all-comers and delivered with the understanding that documentary films can be produced under a range of conditions and budgets. Whether you are making a film solo and need specific advice to improve the sound on your project, or want to start your journey towards working as a sound recordist, this course has plenty for you.
The course will include:
- Some inspiration! Watch and analyse some great examples of sound recording in documentary film.
- What are we trying to achieve as documentary sound recordists? What constitutes a ‘good’ sound recording?
- Before you’ve picked up your kit: understanding the requirements of a specific job, locations, relationships with crew and contributors, being prepared.
- Working as a solo/guerrilla filmmaker (operating camera and sound) and working as a sound recordist: kit options. Discuss mixers/recorders and their various features.
- Working on productions with a range of budgets, including how to achieve good sound on no/low budget shoots.
- Working effectively with other crew members.
- Booming technique.
- Radio mics: frequencies, settings and placement.
- Microphones: polarities and uses of each.
- Dealing with wind.
- Recording non-sync sound: wild tracks, atmos tracks, sound effects and other types of field recordings.
- Making your editor happy: what can we provide to our editor to make sure that the sound is as good as possible in the edit?
- Tips for filming in specific scenarios including public locations, locations which require discretion and noisy locations.
- Plenty of practical exercises that allow you to get your hands on the kit and learn by doing.
- Q&A: an opportunity for participants to present specific situations which we could discuss the best approach to.
By the end of the course, participants will understand the kit and techniques required to achieve high-quality recordings for their documentaries.
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If you would like to:
- Find out more information about UCL Public Anthropology Short Courses
- Be updated with info such as future course dates and prices
- Be the first to know when new courses go online
please subscribe to our mailing list.
If you still have other questions relating to a specific course or request, please get in touch with us via emailing shortcourses@opencitylondon.com
or call us at +44 20 3108 7586
(Image: Still from -22.7°C, Jan Kounen / Molécule / Amaury La Burthe, France, 2019)
Tutors
Will Davies
Tutor
Will Davies trained in sound recording at the National Film and Television School (NFTS). As a freelance sound recordist he has worked on a large range of projects, from feature films to reality TV. In 2014 he co-founded Whalebone Films - an award winning documentary film production company. Working as part of a small production team means that he works in many disciplines within filmmaking. As well as recording sound, he has co-directed, produced and edited a number of documentaries which have had success at festivals around the world. This breadth of experience across the process of documentary filmmaking makes him well placed to teach sound recording to others who anticipate working as part of small teams, or those who want to appreciate how a documentary sound recordist can work in a way which is of greatest benefit to their director and the project.