Research into Recording Ambient Sounds and Dialogue:

Ambient Sound:

Ambient sound is sounds that can be picked up by a recording camera or microphone. The sounds are in the background and haven't been recorded on purpose. For example, people talking in the background of a school sequence would be ambient sounds. Other ambient sounds may include, birds tweeting, the sound of as busy road or the sound of  building work being carried out. 

Ambient sounds can be recorded by using a microphone such as the 'zoom mic' or can be recorded when filming using the film camera. Using a microphone will mean that you will get clearer sounds. 

Why a microphone will get better results:

1. The microphone can get up close to things such as the actors mouth which will produce a crisper sound. 
2. You can record several times with a mic to get the sound, instead of filming over again. 
3. On a mic you should record at least 30 seconds of ambient sound to get a good result. If doing this on a camera you may use up more space on your storage card. 
4. If the sound you want to record is a little way away the microphone can get up close to it where as the camera may not pick out the sound you require. 

Why 'hard cuts' are ill advised for ambient sound mixing.
In film hard cuts is a change from one scene to another without any sort of transition. They are mostly not recommended if they are not used for a certain effects. This is because they can ruin the atmosphere that the audio creates in the scene beforehand.

When filming shots for a film you will be using a film camera. But when it comes to ambient sounds it is advised to be using a microphone. There are advantages of recording at your required location rather than relying on a sound library such as freesound.org. If you record on site you will get better results as the sound is there and will be what you want to be in your film. If you rely on a library the sound may be of bad quality or not what you want. Also an advantage by recording on site is that you can record for the amount of time you require. A download online may only be for a short period of time and you cannot extent it. So recording on site will mean you can record for as long as you require. 

The Hunger Games: 

When recording sounds for the Huger Games Movie the sound director will go out and put two large mics out on the jungle floor and place another seventy ft away. He will then record the sounds that come from the jungle. They also use a piece of software called Atmos. It is a professional piece of software for sounds. If you had a standard tv with normal resolution it would be basic but Atmos is described as a tv with very high definition which means that it the best of the best when it comes to sounds programes. 

 Recording Dialogue
It can be hard recording dialogue when out on site but there are a few tip that can help:

1. When recording dialogue the microphone should be placed as close to the actors mouth as possible. This will mean that the dialogue will be clear and crisp. 
2. Getting several takes of the speaking. This will mean that you will get a good recording out of the takes that you have recorded.
3. You should record at least thirty seconds of sounds. This is useful so that you have a good variety of sound to choose from when you import it. 

Looping: 

Loop recording is when a sound is recorded continuously to an endless tape or computer memory. The process is a never - ending one and the process continues to record at the beginning and erases the previous recorded material and then replaces it with the new material. 

When recording a conversation ambient sound is important as it can break up the conversation with background sound. For example, when a conversation is happening the main focus is on the people talking. To make the shot seem a bit more natural the shot could have natural background sounds in it. Such as:

Others talking, birds tweeting, traffic sounds, cars. 

When on site it may become difficult to record dialogue. It may become difficult if the weather is bad. For example, the wind may be very strong and you may not be able to hear the dialogue that is being said. It can also be difficult if it is a nice day but the actors are too far away from the mic. To resolve this the shot may need to be reshot in a different way so that he sound can be heard.