it's Robert Macfarlane here and today we're going to be going through how to hide a mic not like this
badly wrapped microphone that's my fault ah oh look at that it came apart we've got our lav mic
we're about to shoot your interviewee arrives and they are wearing some strange ass outfit
and you don't know what the hell to do where to shove this mic to get the best possible sound
so with that in mind thought i'd share a couple of tips and tricks i'd come up with over the years on
how to make sure that your mic is in the right spot getting the right sound but is absolutely
invisible to give you the best production value most of you are going to be in a situation or
a corporate film or a documentary where someone's going to come in and they're
going to be in a full suit and tie so their shirts done all the way up you can't clip the
microphone there you've got a nice big jacket so you can't get too close to that otherwise you're
going to hear rustling and they've got a tie on now the tie is one of the best places to clip
a microphone on however most of us end up just using the normal tie clip and clipping
it onto the side of the tie and that's kind of it but we can do better than that
there's actually a secret little tube that you can send your microphone
up and get the perfect sound without anyone knowing that your microphone and cable is there
another fantastic place to put your microphone is the collarbone right here so you see the divot
in the collarbone and you can go either below or above is generally the best place and you tape
your lav mic into the collarbone what's great about this place is there's very little movement
here even if they are a very chatty talky person and it will actually be a great place to avoid
rubbing on any fabric because again it's inside the hollow of the collarbone now obviously for
some people they have less of a collarbone divot than others so this is going to have to be on a
case-by-case basis but that's a brilliant place a little gaff tape over the top put that in place
run the cable down the back and bob's your uncle you've got great sound another fantastic place to
put the microphone is actually in the center of the chest the reason for this is because well i
mean the chest actually resonates quite a bit of the sound obviously in certain situations
you can't put the microphone in the center of the chest and tape it on one maybe you're dealing with
a female interviewee and that's not appropriate however don't forget you can always pass the mic
to your interviewees with the tape on and they can put it on themselves in this case what you would
do is you would pass the end of your lav mic down the top with the microphone with its tape ready to
go you pass it to them and they secure it in place just at the middle of their cleavage or just above
the sternum by about three or four inches a little side note don't forget when you're taping into the
collarbone or the chest take the wind muffler off that can actually poke out slightly and it doesn't
look good this is a much easier and smaller device to hide in the collarbone or on the chest
once it's underneath a shirt or a jumper it doesn't need the wind muffler anyway because
you've got one on so generally you also have a slightly wider shot and you have to find somewhere
to not only hide your lav mic but you also have to hide the actual transmitter pack itself now i
use the Rode Wireless GO's they are so small so light they really really make a big difference
in just hiding it somewhere so one of the favorite places that i know a lot of sound guys
a lot of interviewees tuck the transmitter pack for your audio kit is in their back pocket but
we all know that's not where you want your transmitter pack when the person sits down
because the last thing you want is a squashed transmitter so instead if they have a dress on for
instance and they don't have any pockets or even if they're wearing a jacket you can actually clip
this to the bottom of their dress or the bottom of their coat which overhangs the side of the
chair or if they're standing it would be out of the way of the shot and be much less noticeable
this is also a great way of not ending up having a big bulge in someone's pocket be a chest pocket
or a side pocket and seeing the wire looped in it actually keeps the wire inside their clothes and
you're more likely to have a more seamless look finally the last place if you end up putting the
mic on someone and you still have to hide the mic pack somewhere well one last place that i
think is a fantastic place quite often obviously we're not going to see the back of the interviewee
so you can actually clip this onto the back of their top or jumper a little lower down
and you're not going to see it now the tricky part here is how do you get the wire around to the mic
pack what you can do there for is you can actually run the wire around and underneath their collar
over their shoulder and into the wire pack there it's a really great way especially if someone has
long hair this can be a really easy way to hide the wire and make sure that it also doesn't get
tangled in anything and you're not having to send the wire down someone's top or dress
to do it which for some people is fine but for others can be a little awkward maybe maybe they
don't really want you to be sending stuff down their dress if they don't know where it's been
so in review use the inside of the tie tube itself to not only hide your microphone but
hide the wire from view you can use the divot just above someone's collarbone to again tape
and hide the microphone in a brilliant place next you can also take the microphone to the center
of someone's chest on a side note microfiber tape that you might actually use for bandages
is great because even with a little bit of sweat a little bit of claminess it won't
release the microphone this is a fantastic way to ensure that your microphone stays in position
for the entirety of your shoot if you have nowhere to put it don't forget
you can use these mic packs and actually clip them to the underside of a jacket or dress to
keep it out of the way so it's not obvious while you're filming finally if you're in a real bind
try and use the neckline of the person's suit or dress or whatever they're wearing
and hide the mic pack on their back thank you so much for joining me today if you enjoyed today's
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