Hiding Microphones: The Beach

In order to get the best audio possible, you need the microphone as close to the actor's mouth as possible. This can prove difficult in certain locations. In film school, I heard about a boom mic operator who would hide his microphone shadow on the beach by digging a small trench in the sand with his heel.

Nifty.

But if you don't have a clever boom operator and are sticking with body mics, you have to hide them on your actors. But where? While watching a movie this afternoon, I discovered one option:


Body Microphone Taped to the Leg

The microphone is only visible under her blowing dress for about three frames, but I noticed it because the wire flapped around for two-thirds of a second. Most people probably didn't even notice, which is why--again--little blunders and foibles are fine to leave in.

Taping a microphone to your leg isn't going to work for a beach scene where you're wandering around in a French cut Speedo, but it does work if you're wearing a skirt.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Your Media Production Mentor