good setup idea?
 

Hi all,

I'll be shooting a project next weekend using 2 Canon XL-2s. It is a mock group meeting for a therapist who will sell the class on the net. So we're thinking a group of maybe 6 or 7 plus two therapists sitting around on couches. I'm planning on using a samson studio condenser mic in the center overhead for room noise and group response, two stationary senheiser 416 shotguns (actually 415ts with 12t to 48p converters) for the therapists, and one sennheiser me66 on a boom pole for participants to ask question/make comments. I'll be plugging all these in directly to the cameras. Any suggestions?

peace.
-Jonathan

Will you be shooting on a stage or in a conventional office? Normal interiors that haven't been acoustically treated are not kind to shotguns due to pickup of the reflected sound from the walls and ceilings with a lot of colouration resulting. Hypers are usually more effective and natural sounding. But why use either type for the locked-off mics on the two therapists? Unless you have three boom operators almost any body movement at all from them is going to put them off mic with stationary highly directional mics. Since they're seated and not walking around, how about putting hard-wired lav mics on them instead and not have to worry about booming, aiming, or reflections? Put one therapist lav on each track in one camera, the audience boom and ambient mics on the two tracks in the other camera. For the audience boom, drop the ME66 and go with one of the better mics using lavs will free up, or even better, get a good hypercardiod for the boom.