Hidden mike

Al MacLeod

Al MacLeod

Well-known member
My wife and I have been watching the Rick Steves
traveling Europe PBS show and for the life of me I cannot
see how the participants are miked...anybody know?
 
They used one of the many hiding techniques. If you can't see the mic and it sounds good, the soundies did their job.
Yes, who is Mike?
 
Good sound guys will use a combination of mics and techniques to hide them. For run & gun stuff with medium to wide shots, there are really good, very tiny mics like the Countryman B6 that are so small, and have different colored caps that you can stick them through a button hole on a shirt and they are all but invisible, even when in the shot. What makes you think they are not booming with a shotgun outdoors, and a super cardioid indoors?
 
I notice the backs of the shirts are nicely bloused, probably to hide the transmitter. Rick's mic seems to be behind the third buttoned button down, in a couple of places you can see a tiny black dot in the button hole just above the button. What I could not figure out is how they mic'd those guys wearing tee shirts, taped to their skin under the tee?

Just to show that I am trying to think, another way would be to simply use a camera mounted shotgun, then use that track to sync a voiceover track in post... Not that I believe that is how it was done.

The few of those I watched made me wish I was living in Munich.
 
ric8138 said:
What makes you think they are not booming with a shotgun outdoors, and a super cardioid indoors?
Click to expand...

Lack of unintended background sound. Remember, they are filming in big active cities in most of those. Also the sound comes trough as pretty much the same where ever their are.
 
We have a couple of the cast miked (fine as we are in the UK and can used that word rather than the rodent version) with Countrymen, and with a little colour matching to suit the costume - we use them happily in one scene where their faces get wet - virtually impossible to see poking out.
 
mic-e6.jpg
I took a quick picture of an E6 I had handy, and the B6 is the flexible version - they're very small. If it had been the black version, you'd never have seen it at all against my shirt.
 
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You guys might look up the DPA discreet slim buttonhole microphone. Just a tiny tube sticking through the button hole next to the button. If you need more concealability than that, I guess the option is a lav taped to the skin under your clothing.

dpa_dscreet_Slim_button_mounted_960.jpg
 
graywolf said:
What I could not figure out is how they mic'd those guys wearing tee shirts, taped to their skin under the tee?
Click to expand...
I don't know what they did, but I generally tape a mic down at the sternum or use a vampire clip on the tee shirt's collar. On movie shoots (if it's ok w/ wardrobe), I'll sometimes cut a hole in the rear and slip a B6 inside the collar to the front. 100+ ways to hide mics. In theater, it's common to hide mics in the talent's hair or elsewhere on the head.
 
I've always had problems with clothing noise or
rustling sounds unless I stick the lav on a clear
unobstructed space on a shirt. The buttonhole
location seems an invitation to unwanted noise.
 
Rick R said:
... In theater, it's common to hide mics in the talent's hair or elsewhere on the head.
Click to expand...
I have seen a few Hungarian operetta productions and they tape the mic to the performer's forehead. It looks odd on camera but, when you have to do some serious dancing, the forehead mic doesn't move.
 
Al MacLeod said:
I've always had problems with clothing noise or
rustling sounds unless I stick the lav on a clear
unobstructed space on a shirt. The buttonhole
location seems an invitation to unwanted noise.
Click to expand...

That buttonhole mic is designed for that use. It is an attachment that clips to the button under the flap, and the mic designed for it clips to the attachment. While I have never seen one in the flesh, much less used one, I understand that they work pretty well.

Taped to the skin under the clothing is a nifty setup. You use something like a mohair patch on the skin, and surgically tape the lav to that with nothing but the tip of the mic outside the tape so the shirt only rubs on the tape. Works pretty well.

Hair mic's wouldn't work on that show because they show the talent from all around and the wire running up the neck would show. In stage theater the mic is usually in a wig, that covers the collar too.

All this information is out there on the web. Google is your friend (at least sometimes).
 
Al MacLeod said:
I've always had problems with clothing noise or
rustling sounds unless I stick the lav on a clear
unobstructed space on a shirt. The buttonhole
location seems an invitation to unwanted noise.
Click to expand...

I haven't used the DPA buttonhole mic, but I own a few Countryman B6 (and E6, and EMW) lavs. With a touch of tape, etc, I don't really have much of a noise problem.

That said, I do like using a little sleeping bag made out of half of a Hush Lav and some Moleskin, along with a Sanken COS-11. Stick it under the shirt or if it'll work for camera, between the layers of fabric just under a button. A mount I learned from another mixer.
p-767-520.jpg

I also use hair, ear, glasses, hat, and other spots to attach a B6... And for a couple theater things, a short E6 (with an arm that exends just a few inches from the ear) taped down to a cheek works really well, can be easier to mount (and more likely to survive quick costume changes), than hair mic'ing. And it's not really visible from (or at least not distracting to) the audience.

If I have time (and remember) later, I'll post some pix.

Hiding mics isn't that hard. Hiding them without inducing noise is trickier. But there are so many different ways to do it.

Hey Paulears, thanks for your pix. So did/do you work with Steves?
 
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