DPA Microphones played an integral part in recording the audio for the film version of the hit musical Les Miserables. Nominated for nine BAFTA Awards, including one for Sound, Les Miserables used a technique that involved recording vocals live on set with the cast singing to a live piano accompaniment played to them through earpieces. “When judging different lavaliers I had always considered the differences in sound between various brands of lavalier to be a matter of taste rather than a clear cut situation of one brand being superior,” said Production Sound Mixer Simon Hayes, who was responsible for capturing the film’s entire audio content. ”That was until I listened to a DPA up against the competition. In my opinion the DPA is better, more open sounding, less chesty and sounds more like a boom mic than any other lavaliers I have heard.” Hayes had 50 DPA 4071 lavalier microphones at his disposal during the filming of Les Miserables, all of which were supplied by Richmond Films in conjunction with DPA’s UK distributor Sound Network. “Normally when I am recording a film I prioritise boom mics, especially if the scene is being shot with a single camera. But with Les Miserables, Tom [Hooper, director] wanted all the angles covered from all sides to capture the perfect performance. This meant we couldn’t rely so heavily on the booms because the wider angle coverage would stop them getting close enough. Our solution was to come at the recording from a different angle and make lavalier microphones our priority.” Hayes’ next task was finding a way of using the lavaliers that gave the best sound but still allowed them to remain invisible to audiences. “We collaborated with the costume designers to conceal cables within the clothes and to disguise microphones that were positioned on the outside of the costumes,” he says. “DPA’s mini concealers allowed us to mount them perfectly so they were virtually undetectable. This solved the problem of clothing rustle and, on the rare occasions when they were in shot, we were able to paint them out afterward using post production techniques.”www.dpamicrophones.com
