Never let someone else record your sound.

This week, I was filming a report for a news package. The people I work with don’t know how to operate the camera extremely well, but they know the basics. We had everything recorded except for the stand-up (the part where the reporter sums up what event is being covered). We had to have it finished by the next day so I stayed back and starting editing the video while two others went and recorded the stand-up. They got back and dropped the camera off so I could get the footage and went on their way. I uploaded the footage and found the sound was horrible. They had the mics hooked up, but it was plugged into the headphone jack instead of the mic line… So you could hear the reporter talking a little bit but there was so much wind in the background you barely understand them. So the next morning we scrambled to get everything together and made it sound right. However, the whole thing could have been avoided had I been there or they paid attention to what they were doing. Long story short, don’t let someone else record your sound unless you trust the immensely.