96% of marketers view video as an important part of their marketing strategy. Because of this, it’s important that your branded content has the production quality to stand out.
Enlisting experts to help you means accessing professional tools and knowledge to get the best possible video product. A soundstage is one of the most important resources they can help you access.
But what is a soundstage and how can it help you create a great atmosphere? Read on to learn how a soundstage can impact your video’s mood and how you can set up a good one.
What Is a Soundstage?
A soundstage is a filming location for video productions. It’s soundproof and generally very large.
Some soundstages are single rooms with high ceilings and wide doors. Others are complete buildings. Soundstages are located on premises that specialize in filming videos for theatrical productions, television shows, or business promotional videos.
While silent stages aren’t soundproof, soundstages are. This means that the video and audio can be recorded at the same time. You don’t need to worry about outside noise bleeding into the video, and you and the production team you’re working with can manipulate acoustics within the stage.
Generally, soundstages are used for scenes with dialogue in the video. If someone is talking in the scene, you will need a soundstage to pick up their voice. It will be clear and clean since the room is specifically designed to pick up speech.
What Role Does It Play in Creating Mood?
There are several ways that soundstages (and the sounds produced on them) impact your video’s mood. Some core ones include:
- A clear sound makes the video easier to understand
- Clean, well-developed audio makes the video seem professional and credible
- Crisp dialogue helps actors best portray different emotions
- Sound effects can surprise viewers and change their moods
- Background music can invoke various emotions (happiness, sadness, romance, purpose, urgency, etc), which gets people in the mood to accept the message of the video
- Sounds and music can cue people to laugh or cry
- Sound effects can build suspense and tension
- People will associate the emotions from your audio with your brand, experience stronger emotions regarding your business, and better remember you
How to Make an Effective Soundstage
If you’re creating a video campaign to showcase the best parts of your brand, you’ll need to ensure that your soundstage is effective. When it is, you can reach your target audience with high-quality video that shows you care about your image and services. This will position you as a trustworthy brand and industry leader.
The first step to creating a good soundstage is planning. This is going to be challenging, so it’s important to enlist the help of an expert. A production company in Kansas City knows how to position top-notch equipment in the best possible way so you can have a clear production.
There are two dimensions of stage sound: left/right placement and distance placement.
Our studio already contains a functional kitchen, living room, green screen, and streaming set. However, we’ll reposition things as you need to, working with both left/right and distance placement of sound sources.
We’ll look at a diagram of the sound stage and try to establish balance, contrast, and more depending on your goals.
How to Use the Soundstage Effectively
At this point, you and your creative experts will have a plan for your soundstage. Positioning will begin with left/right equipment placement.
The pan pot is an important part of a mixing board. Panning happens when experts adjust the output level on their board’s left and right channels.
Delay panning is a great way to pan. The sound professional manipulating the mixing board creates a time difference between the left and right representations of your sound. This gives the noise some complexity and makes it sound more professional.
Spectral planning is also possible when we create a frequency difference between the left and right sound representations. A video production expert can help you determine which method is right for you.
Once your left/right dimension is settled, it’s time to use distance to create the best possible sound quality. You may need to make a sound appear closer or further from the soundstage. This happens in two general ways:
- Reverb, or the ratio of direct sound to reflected sound
- The presence/absense of low-level and high-frequency sound information
Spectral and spacial processing applies to sounds throughout the soundstage. Equipment meant for this can push sound closer to actors on the stage to make it sound close to the viewer. It also can push it away from the actors to make it seem further away.
Contrast and sound diversity are important to keep your target audience’s attention. It’s also critical for businesses that want to showcase that they can produce high-budget, high-quality videos. Listeners expect to hear closer sounds more loudly and distant ones as though they’re further away, and it will be weird if you don’t meet this expectation.
Work With a Professional Production Company
So, what is a soundstage? At its core, it’s what makes the sound in a video high-quality, relevant, clear, and crisp. Now that you know this, it’s time to get started with the top production company in Kansas City!
Our experts are committed to helping large businesses film video content to build a better brand. Contact us with any other questions you have and to get started with your next video campaign.