This one’s for my fellow indie directors out there looking to work smarter with sound on set. With a personal background in music, location audio, and sound design, I think about sound constantly. As one of my audio professors used to say, “sound is fifty one percent of a movie”. However, sometimes capturing it isn’t worth slowing down. So when is it better to let your sound mixer take a break and pick up a take without sound? Let’s talk about it.

Chances are, you’ve either heard the term MOS thrown around, or maybe you've shouted it yourself on set without totally understanding why. Shooting MOS (without recording sound) can feel like a clever way to speed up your day. But too often, it just pushes more work into post-production and leads to compromised storytelling.

Let’s break down when it makes sense to shoot MOS, and when you’re just creating problems for future-you.

First: What Does MOS Actually Mean?

MOS stands for “Mit Out Sound,” a throwback to early Hollywood and German-accented set lingo. It simply means the camera is rolling but the sound recorder is not. It’s not just for silent films, it’s a common part of modern filmmaking. But it has to be used intentionally.

When It Makes Sense to Shoot MOS

1. Silent Inserts
Close-up of a knife entering a cutting board. A key turning in a lock. A character looking at a photograph. If there’s no important sound in the shot, and the moment is better covered sonically in a different angle or scene, then yes, save time and shoot MOS.

Just make sure your editor has the proper audio reference somewhere else. Sound design still needs something to build from.

2. Slow Motion Shots
Most slow-mo is captured at higher frame rates (60fps, 120fps, etc.), which often precludes synced sound recording anyway. Even if your recorder could run, the resulting audio would be unusable. If you’re capturing dreamlike action, floating dust particles, or a stylized fight beat, go MOS and layer sound later.

3. Drone Shots & Establishing B-Roll
Aerials of a city skyline. Tracking shots of a landscape. A slow pan across an empty hallway. These shots tend to live under music or ambient beds in the final cut. As long as no sync sound is needed, go ahead and shoot MOS to streamline your day.

*Slating for MOS: Don’t forget to still slate properly for your MOS shots! If you aren’t recording sound, you still want to slate the shot with the clapper board for your editor. Because syncing sound and video is not an issue with MOS shots, you don’t need to actually clap the clapper. Instead, bring the clapper into the frame with your fingers already between the clapper board and the clapper. This shows the editor quickly that the shot was done MOS.

**When You Shouldn’t Shoot MOS**

1. Just Because There’s No Dialogue
This is one of the biggest rookie mistakes. Just because nobody is talking doesn’t mean there’s no important sound. People breathe. Footsteps echo. Jackets rustle. And the room itself has a sonic character. Just like how all water tastes a little different, every silence has its own character based on the environment. That’s why sound mixers like to get room tone. So basically, if something makes sound in the scene, record it.

Recording even a rough production track gives your post team options. Without it, your sound editor has to rebuild everything from scratch. That’s time-consuming, expensive, and never as organic.

2. Noisy Location? Record Anyway.
We get it. You’re filming a park scene and the leaf blowers, jet engines, and howler monkeys are in full force. You might think, “What’s the point? We’ll ADR it later.”

But here’s the secret: capturing even “bad” audio is still useful.

It helps your actors match their delivery in ADR.
It preserves the natural timing of dialogue and movement.
And sometimes a skilled sound designer can even salvage parts of it you thought were unusable.

3. Emotional Moments Need Breathing Room
Even if you don’t plan to use the production sound, recording it gives your editor emotional texture to work with. Heavy breathing, sobs, or footsteps during a long take for example. These might not be dialogue, but they’re essential storytelling tools.

Final Advice for Indie Directors

Sound doesn’t have to be a mystery. It just needs respect. If you approach your audio decisions with the same intentionality you bring to camera and lighting, you’ll make everyone’s life easier in later phases of the edit.

So next time you’re tempted to yell “MOS” just to shave a minute off your take, ask yourself: Is this truly silent? Or am I just underestimating how much work my sound team does?

When to Shoot Without Sound: A Guide for Indie Directors

Let’s break down when it makes sense to shoot MOS, and when you’re just creating problems for future-you.

First: What Does MOS Actually Mean?

MOS stands for “Mit Out Sound,” a throwback to early Hollywood and German-accented set lingo. It simply means the camera is rolling but the sound recorder is not. It’s not just for silent films, it’s a common part of modern filmmaking. But it has to be used intentionally.

When It Makes Sense to Shoot MOS

1. Silent Inserts
Close-up of a knife entering a cutting board. A key turning in a lock. A character looking at a photograph. If there’s no important sound in the shot, and the moment is better covered sonically in a different angle or scene, then yes, save time and shoot MOS.

Just make sure your editor has the proper audio reference somewhere else. Sound design still needs something to build from.

3. Drone Shots & Establishing B-Roll
Aerials of a city skyline. Tracking shots of a landscape. A slow pan across an empty hallway. These shots tend to live under music or ambient beds in the final cut. As long as no sync sound is needed, go ahead and shoot MOS to streamline your day.

**When You Shouldn’t Shoot MOS**

Recording even a rough production track gives your post team options. Without it, your sound editor has to rebuild everything from scratch. That’s time-consuming, expensive, and never as organic.

2. Noisy Location? Record Anyway.
We get it. You’re filming a park scene and the leaf blowers, jet engines, and howler monkeys are in full force. You might think, “What’s the point? We’ll ADR it later.”

But here’s the secret: capturing even “bad” audio is still useful.

It helps your actors match their delivery in ADR.

It preserves the natural timing of dialogue and movement.

And sometimes a skilled sound designer can even salvage parts of it you thought were unusable.

3. Emotional Moments Need Breathing Room
Even if you don’t plan to use the production sound, recording it gives your editor emotional texture to work with. Heavy breathing, sobs, or footsteps during a long take for example. These might not be dialogue, but they’re essential storytelling tools.

Final Advice for Indie Directors

Sound doesn’t have to be a mystery. It just needs respect. If you approach your audio decisions with the same intentionality you bring to camera and lighting, you’ll make everyone’s life easier in later phases of the edit.

So next time you’re tempted to yell “MOS” just to shave a minute off your take, ask yourself: Is this truly silent? Or am I just underestimating how much work my sound team does?

When to Shoot Without Sound: A Guide for Indie Directors

Let’s break down when it makes sense to shoot MOS, and when you’re just creating problems for future-you.

First: What Does MOS Actually Mean?

MOS stands for “Mit Out Sound,” a throwback to early Hollywood and German-accented set lingo. It simply means the camera is rolling but the sound recorder is not. It’s not just for silent films, it’s a common part of modern filmmaking. But it has to be used intentionally.

When It Makes Sense to Shoot MOS

1. Silent Inserts Close-up of a knife entering a cutting board. A key turning in a lock. A character looking at a photograph. If there’s no important sound in the shot, and the moment is better covered sonically in a different angle or scene, then yes, save time and shoot MOS.

Just make sure your editor has the proper audio reference somewhere else. Sound design still needs something to build from.

3. Drone Shots & Establishing B-Roll Aerials of a city skyline. Tracking shots of a landscape. A slow pan across an empty hallway. These shots tend to live under music or ambient beds in the final cut. As long as no sync sound is needed, go ahead and shoot MOS to streamline your day.

When You Shouldn’t Shoot MOS

Recording even a rough production track gives your post team options. Without it, your sound editor has to rebuild everything from scratch. That’s time-consuming, expensive, and never as organic.

2. Noisy Location? Record Anyway. We get it. You’re filming a park scene and the leaf blowers, jet engines, and howler monkeys are in full force. You might think, “What’s the point? We’ll ADR it later.”

But here’s the secret: capturing even “bad” audio is still useful.

It helps your actors match their delivery in ADR.

It preserves the natural timing of dialogue and movement.

And sometimes a skilled sound designer can even salvage parts of it you thought were unusable.

3. Emotional Moments Need Breathing Room Even if you don’t plan to use the production sound, recording it gives your editor emotional texture to work with. Heavy breathing, sobs, or footsteps during a long take for example. These might not be dialogue, but they’re essential storytelling tools.

Final Advice for Indie Directors

Sound doesn’t have to be a mystery. It just needs respect. If you approach your audio decisions with the same intentionality you bring to camera and lighting, you’ll make everyone’s life easier in later phases of the edit.

So next time you’re tempted to yell “MOS” just to shave a minute off your take, ask yourself: Is this truly silent? Or am I just underestimating how much work my sound team does?

1. Silent Inserts
Close-up of a knife entering a cutting board. A key turning in a lock. A character looking at a photograph. If there’s no important sound in the shot, and the moment is better covered sonically in a different angle or scene, then yes, save time and shoot MOS.

3. Drone Shots & Establishing B-Roll
Aerials of a city skyline. Tracking shots of a landscape. A slow pan across an empty hallway. These shots tend to live under music or ambient beds in the final cut. As long as no sync sound is needed, go ahead and shoot MOS to streamline your day.

**When You Shouldn’t Shoot MOS**

2. Noisy Location? Record Anyway.
We get it. You’re filming a park scene and the leaf blowers, jet engines, and howler monkeys are in full force. You might think, “What’s the point? We’ll ADR it later.”

3. Emotional Moments Need Breathing Room
Even if you don’t plan to use the production sound, recording it gives your editor emotional texture to work with. Heavy breathing, sobs, or footsteps during a long take for example. These might not be dialogue, but they’re essential storytelling tools.