Re: [ARSCLIST] Advise sought on portable recorders

[Allinaday@xxxxxxx]

Having done this all of my life as a documentary filmmaker, and using  
students before, I would recommend that the most important things are the  
microphone and the training of students in how to provoke valuable and  meaningful 
responses.  The tape recorders I have found most successful are  actually old-time 
cassette recorders using full-size analog audio  cassettes.  We use Marantz 
portables which are not small, are inexpensive  and of high quality.  The 
microphones used are wired lapel microphones, not  wireless.  Placing the 
microphones properly makes a big difference.   Most important are the kinds of 
questions the student asks the student asks to  provoke powerful answers, knowing when 
to interrupt and where not to, helping  the presenter to understand that this 
is an important moment and that their  reflections are valuable rather than 
trying to  "make them not  nervous."
David Hoffman
Varied Directions International
_www.thehoffmancollection.com_ (http://www.thehoffmancollection.com)