492 Cafe

Central to our philosophy is a commitment to the idea that your event should be optimized with media in mind. This might mean facilitating the making of videos to share your ideas.

Our clients may choose hire a videographer or video crew, or to invite Cable Access Producers and mainstream press.

As a trained and experienced Moviemaker and Video Producer, 492 Cafe Founder Freeman Z knows the value of soundtrack in visual media. We can improve videos in several ways. The two most import of these are audio feeds and post-produced soundtracks.

Particularly in complex situations, those with lots of microphones, for example, a multitrack mix is the best way to get good sound. Basically, we record everything, including the audience, and mix the tracks later in the studio. Where feeds are subject to surprises and errors, a post-production approach can solve most problems gracefully.

Of course, we can also add narration, music and other sounds as we desire. Note that video soundtracks must synchronize with the video. Therefore, editing of umms and ahhhs, stutters, and errors (routine in our radio edits) is a special process, usually requiring video "B-Roll" of the audience during the corrected bits of speech.

Examples

Here's some of Freeman's soundtrack work for video...

Boston Katrina Rally Video

Sound for this video comes from two sources which are subtley mixed. The first is the sound board attached to the microphones on the sound truck, and the second is the camera's built-in mics. Weaving between these, we can create an emphasis audible toward the video's end, as the woman shouts "people power."

Boston Peace Rally and March Video

Sound for this video comes from several sources, among them, the live event and two stetements from Carlos Arredondo, one English, and on Spanish. The two are superimposed. They were recorded in a march, and the fast rhythm lends an unusual energy to the scene where we see Carlos sitting on the grass.

Saved from Death Row (Ron Keine) Video

In this first video in the series, Keine walks off-mic a few times. At these points, the camera's mics are brought in to cover the gap.

9-11 truth Conference at Faneuil Hall

Freeman finished this very long soundtrack of an all-day event. The video is in production elsewhere. The stereo soundtrack fixes several problems in the presentation, and brings in boisterous audience participation.