Tips of laving actors

robmneilson

robmneilson

Veteran
Hey all,

So I just invested in some Countryman B6 lavs, and I still had a few pops from clothing in contact with the mic. Can you please offer me any advice on where to lav the mics on the actor, and anything that could be usefull.

We've just been using topstick to tape to the collar of the actors cotton shirt. Should we take precautions with the cable running to the xmiter?
 
You'll get more natural sound if you lower the lav to around mid chest or sternum area. You should be careful about positioning the mic head around clothing as you don't want it to rub against anything. Secure the wire near the mic head and also the wiring at the waist line but you want to make sure to leave amble slack to allow for free movement without pulling on it and causing noise or repositioning the mic.

I would recommend getting the Sound for Film and Television DVD that Barry, Matt, and David put out -- link here .... http://dvxuser.com/articles/dvxshop/SoundDVD/

I hope that helps :)
 
I've been using b6s indoors and out for a few years now, both indoors and outdoors. The shows I work on are very active home improvement, do it yourself types. The wardrobe has a lot to do with how quiet the mic installation is. Soft fabrics are good. Stiff starchy fabrics are bad. Soft fabric over soft fabric is helpful too, especially on male talent with hairy chests. Jackets over stiff shirts are very noisy.
Here's some things that have worked well for me.
Indoors: if its a stiff button up shirt hide the mic behind a button hole. Be sure and secure the mic near the head with some mole skin or 3M Nexcare tape. I go for the top button if possible to avoid breath pops. Its a little more awkward but I've routinely been running the cable down the back. Its less likely to make noise when people touch themselves when gesturing or working and puts less stress on the wire. I also secure the cable at a few places around the neck line till it goes down the back. Be careful to not place the mic underneath a layer that has a layer on top of it. The mic will pick up the noise of cloth on cloth that way. It should go between the layers. I never put the mic on the skin because it seems to make more noise that way.
Outdoors I use the same techniques but I try not to expose the mic because even a small amount of wind is going to be trouble. Hiding it under clothes helps but if there is a stiff breeze I will use my little throw away wind screens. These are the tips of eyeshadow swabs that fit nicely over the mic head. About two dollars for twenty four. Takes some finesse to get them off of the stick without destroying them.
I put the mole skin or Nexcare over the whole mic head and wind screen if I'm using one. It takes practice to tape the mic under the clothes without its shape showing through the cloth. I have three different colors for those times I have the mic exposed. Black, Gray, and White. Always be sure there is enough slack on the unsecured section of cable as it will pull on the area that is taped down and make noise too.
Since the shows are so active I also use elastic belts to secure the transmitters on the back of the talent in the little space of the small of the back. I hate seeing the transmitters especially if I'm going to all the trouble to hide the mic too. If I'm sure its going to be hidden under a layer of wardrobe and isn't going to get popped off during the work I won't use the belt. Putting the transmitter in a pocket is very hard on the connection into the box, especially when someone is kneeling.
Practice on someone before you get to the shoot to see what works if you can.
Hope this helps,
Bernie
 
Thanks guys, these tips will help me a lil on my shoot this weekend. We don't have the space to travel cross country and shoot with a sound man, so we've taken it upon ourselves to learn during our pre-trip shoots. We've stumbled a bit, but our sound has been decent thus far.

Thanks again all.
 
the single biggest tip that i always tell people but NEVER do enough myself, practice! practice practice!

wire you wife or girlfriend or whatever and have them just do stuff around the house or even go out shopping or to dinner and have a recorder like a SD 7 series running and then listen to it objectively later on...

there are two basic ways to go: Lav on skin or undergarment, or attached to outer clothing layer...

lav attached to clothing, either the b6 with the appropriate colored cap and have it tucked into a buttonhole, tiny hole through wardrobe or even in actor's hair!

or you can tape the mic directly to the actors skin or bra in the case of an actress.

if you have are lucky and have an actress with a moderate amount of cleavage, you can mount the lav to her bra right in the center...

i personally have a policy where i will either have the wardrobe person do this or at the very least have the wardrobe person or another woman right there...

as far as what to use to attach/enclose the actual mic in...

the little felt things that have the hypoallergenic (skin friendly adhesive) from Rycote are great!

the undercover is just a simple double sided disc die cut out of a sheet of 3m hypoallergenic tape and they have an assortment of colored very thin felt discs.

there are also the PSC "Hush Lav's that i got from Trew Audio...they are basically made out of hypoallergenic makeup sponge material with a hole in the center to put a lav.

some people have amazing results just using Transpore (medical tape that is semi-breathable), fairly inexpensive at a pharmacy but much more expensive if you get it from a "sound house"!

my wife's office is in the hospital and i got a case of the stuff (24 rolls!) for what a handful of rolls would have been from a sound equipment dealer.

some people make a triangle of sorts and put the mic inside of that and the triangle attaches to both the outer layer of clothing and the inner layer or the persons skin.

as a safety backup i keep a couple of sterile single use prep-razors in my kit, they are meant for shaving a small area to either do first aid/sutures or to run an iv and then be able to tape it on.

they let you easily shave a small patch without being like a regular razor up against dry skin.

great for (male) actors with overly hairy chests, just make sure they don't have a scene without there shirts coming up later and you wound up leaving a crop circle in the middle of their chest!

i had the incredible opportunity to spend time with a Hollywood sound guy (won't drop names but he won a gold statue for location sound on a movie about a big boat that might be famous for sinking!)

and i had a lot of questions about lav's and he basically said the same stuff i already said and already did, he also had a good arsenal of tools...

by that i mean he had the cos'11 and b6's but he also had a good number of tram's and he said that quite often the tram's were the best tool for the job because their design lets you point the active element away from what you don't want to pickup...i keep meaning to pickup a TRAM.

sometimes we get hung up on brands and personal preferences but in the end they are all tools and it was interesting to see what someone at the very top of the profession uses and doesn't use!

he had a bunch of schoeps stuff but he also had the sanken cs3e and when i had the amazing experience to visit on the set last year he was using that mic as the primary boom mic for a huge movie that JUST came out based on a Marvel Comic character!

if it is a big enough movie and there is a wardrobe person make friends with that person! they can make your life a LOT easier!

same thing with the lighting person, they can save you a lot of hassles if they are savvy as to boom shadows etc.

matthew
 
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