Pro Moviemaker May/June 2023 - Web

BUBBLEBEE ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Solo filmmakers are turning to Bubblebee Industries’ versatile range of sound recording tools to capture awesome audio F or award-winning photographer and filmmaker Tom Price, Bubblebee Industries’ accessories have proved to be a game changer, “Bubblebee concealers for my lav mics are Bubblebee: the mic accessory company that’s blowing up

especially when he is working outside on location where he has to contend with external factors such as wind noise, clothing rustle and unwanted ambient sounds. Price works for numerous NGOs and charities around the world covering social and environmental causes. He recently returned from the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he was using Bubblebee concealers with miniature DPA lavalier microphones to help capture interview footage. “When I’m shooting video, my motivating principle is to be as immersive and authentic as possible. I also want to do

justice to my subject matter. The dignity of the person I am interviewing is really important to me and I want them to sound as rich and clear as possible.” Price uses Nikon Z 6 and Z 7II cameras in conjunction with a recorder. He also has a small Rode shotgun mic for his camera, as well as DPA 4060 lavalier microphones. “The Bubblebee concealers for my lav mics are absolute magic and I haven’t found a quicker or more straightforward way of mic-ing someone,” he explains. “They are so simple and straightforward to use and the best thing I’ve found for reducing clothing rustle and vibrations. They are also a very robust way of fixing a mic to someone without it being visible.” In some areas of the world, using a lav mic can be difficult because it involves touching the subject and putting your hands inside their clothing. “Most men are OK about it, but I always get another woman to mic up my female interviewees,” Price says. “Mic-ing up a sweaty person or someone wearing a stiff waxy fabric can be difficult. People do accept a degree of intrusion but sometimes it is hard to get through layers of clothing and longer robes. Luckily Bubblebee has plenty of accessories to solve these problems, including, if all else fails, really strong tape. absolutely magic and I haven’t found a quicker way of mic-ing”

“No kidding, I once had to use this tape on someone because his chest was covered in thick, tightly curled chest hairs. Taking it off was awful. He was very macho about it, but the guy was nearly in tears!” Another Bubblebee product Price uses is the Windbubble, which fits over his lavalier mics and cuts out any wind noise. “I was recently filming a UK government minister in London, outside the Department of Health and Social Care,” he says. “The wind was howling, and she wanted to have it blowing at her, so her hair wasn’t in her face. I used a lavalier with Windbubble and the result was fantastic, despite the wind blowing directly onto it. You couldn’t hear it at all. It was a relief to have equipment I could trust.” Danish freelance TV camera operator and editing technician, Thomas Michelsen,

BUBBLEBEE BRILLIANCE The Big Windbubble has made a real difference to sound recorded by Thomas Michelson

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