Sick of hiding lavs, changing my way of doing interivews, is that do-able?

H

Hiro Nakamura

Active member
Hi guys,

Your opinions and advices are highly appreciated.
I have been recording lots of corporate works and documentaries, there are lots of interview sections that I have been requested to hide the lavs, which most of time, I make a gaffer triangle and stick either under their shirt and side of the suit or behind of their ties, I have been trying lots of technics and ways of preventing the rustle noise coming from people's clothes and their fabric
I've read lots of threads from here on how to prevent the rustle
However, I have realized that it is not the way I mic , lots of time is because the fabric that wear, especially man with suit and shirt, if they move, there will be rustling sound, which is always there.
..but you see... documentaries and corporate interviews...I am not always in control of what they are supposed to wear, most of time, the decision of micing people is on the spot.
I am still not 100% satisfy with audio which sometimes still with rustling...
because of the rustling, I am using shotguns to avoid the rustling. I have two NTG2, so...if it is a two people interview, I will clamp two guns on two stands, hanging on top of their heads.
Do you guys think it's good idea to boom in the interview like this , I think lav's quality is much better, especially the room is a bit echoi but I can afford to have an audio with rustling ....
IF you were I, how you mic an two people's interview.

Thanks

Hiro
 
Booming is fine, but shotguns aren't necessarily the right choice for interiors... especially if the room is small and reverberant. A hypercardioid (Oktava MK012, Audio-Technica 4053b, AKG CK93) will behave a bit better.

As for hiding the lav mic, there are several ways to do that. Which lav mic do you use? For a suit, you can hide it in the knot of the tie. If it's a small lav like the Countryman B6, you can actually have it poking out through a button hole an the camera will never see it.

But even for taping the mic down, I have found that the old gaffer tape triangle method isn't terribly reliable. Get some moleskin (in the foot care aisle at your drug store or supermarket). It's much better for securing mics under clothing.
 
C2V,
Thank you very much for your helpful suggestions.
Hyper cardioid mic is really a good idea.
Currently I am using Countryman B3, I think mainly the rustling come from the cable, but anyways I will give a try on the moleskin method.

Thanks a lot

Hiro
 
Hiro Nakamura said:
Currently I am using Countryman B3, I think mainly the rustling come from the cable, but anyways I will give a try on the moleskin method.
Click to expand...

Are you making a strain-relief/decoupling loop in the cable? Whenever you place a lav on a person, make a small loop in the cable a few inches below the capsule and tape the loop down to the clothing. That will help absorb any noise created/transmitted by the cable. It also provides strain relief: in case something suddenly tugs on the cable, the mic capsule won't be affected.
 
C2V said:
Are you making a strain-relief/decoupling loop in the cable? Whenever you place a lav on a person, make a small loop in the cable a few inches below the capsule and tape the loop down to the clothing. That will help absorb any noise created/transmitted by the cable. It also provides strain relief: in case something suddenly tugs on the cable, the mic capsule won't be affected.
Click to expand...

Yep. And also C2V mentioned moleskin, I've found that actually taping a tiny strip of moleskin around the outside tip of the microphone also helps with rustling.
 
I did that too, make a small loop like two or three figures from the capsule. I will test again.
Regarding to Oktava MK012, if the room is a bit echo-ee, would Hyper-cardioid pick up the echo?
By looking at the pattern of hypercardioid, I can just boom it in the middle of two people talking, if they are sitting or standing very near to each other, how far is the hypercardioid reach, for instance, a conversion shot, two people sitting face to face over a table like 35CM wide, so... I can boom the MK012 in the middle of their head. but if the table is 80CM wide, ...I can only move my boom to the person speakers first, .... if they speak at the same time, one of them 's sound wont be as clearer as another one....
 
A hyper, or any mic will pick up room reverberation. But a hyper sounds more natural than a shotgun. The closer you get the mic to the voice the better. Most times 2 mics are necessary with 2 people.

Try to arrange for a room with carpet, a couch, bookshelves etc. You can bring a moving blanket from Uhaul to help if the floor is not carpet.
 
You might ask the interviewee to sit still. I notice quite often in sit-down interviews that the person being interviewed doesn't move much at all.
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
You might ask the interviewee to sit still. I notice quite often in sit-down interviews that the person being interviewed doesn't move much at all.
Click to expand...

I did last time, but i made the director really upset. hahaha.... he thought I was messing up with his shoot.... because he wanted the interviewee to be natural .


THANKS GUYS FOR YOUR VALUABLE INPUT.

Hiro
 
Hiro Nakamura said:
I did last time, but i made the director really upset. hahaha.... he thought I was messing up with his shoot.... because he wanted the interviewee to be natural .


THANKS GUYS FOR YOUR VALUABLE INPUT.

Hiro
Click to expand...
Yes you can not ask someone being interviewed to "be still".
They are more than likely nervous as it is, and we should be trying to make them more comfortable not make it worse.
I do think its ok to tell them not to lean forward so much that they are in front of the microphone, but even then I dont think this is something that needs said every time. You'll get a feel for when it needs said.

Microphone placement is critical and you need to prepare for small movements
sometimes actually moving the mic a bit farther in front of the person than you'd like but covering yourself.

Obviously tough to do if you're the only person but be prepared at a moments notice to take the boom pole off of the stand and handhold it if the person is moving too much. Just be as invisible as you can be when you do it.

Just a couple days ago I was doing interviews and had the mic on the stand for a number of them. One of the last people was moving around a bit too much
so between questions I just quietly took it off the stand and handheld it and no one actually even noticed I was standing there till the end. (helped that I was hidden behind a piece of foamcore)
Point being is be as non intrusive as possible.
 
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