I'm in a significantly small-budget movie production group taking care
of all of the sound duties. We're making a movie where a good 3/4 of
shots are outdoors in a rather noisy area. I figure, unless there's
some other alternative, that a shotgun mic would be my best choice for
booming. Unfortunately our budget prohibits us from buying anything
much past $250 ($300 is really the limit). Quality is not a huge issue
here, however time is, and we don't have enough time to do all of the
voice overs (the movie is 90 minutes long).


If you guys (and gals) could recommend some shotguns keeping in mind my

said limitations that would be great. I've been looking at Azden's
mics, as well as the more budget-priced Audio-Technicas. Any recs
there? Any brand I'm overlooking? I also saw some at
www.soundprofessionals.com, who apparantly have their own brand of
shotguns. It's a long shot, but has anyone tried these? Thanks as
always for any help.--Matt

Again, see rec.arts.movies.production.sound for a recent thread titled
"Shotgun mic + Boompole."

Matt wrote:
I'm in a significantly small-budget movie production group taking
care
of all of the sound duties. We're making a movie where a good 3/4 of
shots are outdoors in a rather noisy area. I figure, unless there's
some other alternative, that a shotgun mic would be my best choice
for
booming. Unfortunately our budget prohibits us from buying anything
much past $250 ($300 is really the limit). Quality is not a huge
issue
here, however time is, and we don't have enough time to do all of the
voice overs (the movie is 90 minutes long).


If you guys (and gals) could recommend some shotguns keeping in mind
my

said limitations that would be great. I've been looking at Azden's
mics, as well as the more budget-priced Audio-Technicas. Any recs
there? Any brand I'm overlooking? I also saw some at
www.soundprofessionals.com, who apparantly have their own brand of
shotguns. It's a long shot, but has anyone tried these? Thanks as
always for any help.--Matt

The Sennheiser K3U/ME80 shotgun system is cheap, decent sounding
and is lightweight if you're buying, but the boom and rycote windblimp
are what will cost you. Really with a $300 budget, look around and
rent a mic and blimp.