Documentary Sound

When filming a documentary, there are many different techniques to use. One important aspect of documentary film is the sound. Of course, it would make sense that we need sound in everything we do (film wise), whether that be Hollywood cinema, documentary film, simple youtube posts, etc. In documentary film, we deal with many different types of sounds. One specific type of sound is voice overs. They are an important element of documentaries, because in between music and interviews, verbal sound should be presented, to sound more professional. With almost all documentaries, shots are taken of the area the presenters are covering and discussing. Usually, while covering that (literal) ground, voice over technique works really well in describing the area, so the audience is on the same page the presenters are as well. Another important aspect of documentary sound is the music. Unless you have written consent, it is illegal to present recorded mainstream music in a documentary. Therefore, usually the music shown is created by someone working on the project. Someone who is maybe playing random chords on piano or guitar works well, and it's created then and there for the intended use of the documentary. Another important aspect is the sound from the interview. That should be the most pristine sound quality possible, because the interview is one of the most important essentials to a documentary. Without audible interviews, the documentary is pointless.

An interesting thought is that documentary sound is different than cinematic sound. With cinematic sound, Hollywood for example, the sound is absolutely perfect. An example could be a song in the movie "The Hangover" When Stu (a lead character in the movie) sings a little one minute song, it sounds beyond perfect. The sound quality was unmatchable. However, later hearing his song on the Tonight Show and Ed Sullivan show, the sound quality was much worse, and at times, even hard to understand. I learned that Hollywood sound shoots for perfection. However, documentaries are much different. Sound isn't meant to be absolutely perfect and probably couldn't be if it tried. The reason is because the documentary is real. In the documentary world, locations are just locations, people stutter and say "um" and lighting might be difficult. With people sometimes being hard to even understand and location terrain being unpredictable, sound is a rather unstable element for a documentary. Cinematographers and editors will do the best they can with sound, but most of the time, they wont get close to as clear as Hollywood, because their movie is real. It deals with real people and locations and ideas; of course sound will be unclear at times.