Wireless lavaliere microphones (“lavs”) have become ubiquitous on any film set. While I always try to capture dialogue with boom microphones, I understand that current workflows and shooting schedules practically mandate the use of lavs.
What does this mean to me and my team? That we must be very good at placing lavs on talent, quickly and reliably. You would be surprised to see the selection of tapes, accessories, straps and various other disparate articles that we use to make sure we can have a solution for every situation, every individual, and every wardrobe.
Not only do we choose different lavs for different actors (some mics are better suited for booming voices, some for reed-thin hushed tones, yet others work best under layers of clothing, and so on) but we also adapt our mounting techniques to the talent’s wardrobe or even each specific scene.
Mounting a lav on an actor is, by definition, an invasion of privacy. Lavs are typically mounted in the chest area and, in order to hide them, the Utility must often reach into the shirt or tuck a wire along the waist, or even down a pant leg! Some people are, understandably, uncomfortable with such close contact.
Knowing how to put talent at ease before placing the lav makes things go smoother, which yields better results. I find that small talk (if appropriate) while the lav is being mounted works well, as well as “narrating” every step of the process to the talent.
It’s not uncommon to have female Utility persons. It’s arguably a milder, more nurturing presence, less intimidating to a woman or a child. Which is not to say male Utilities can't do this job well, of course.
To make matters more… interesting, we often deal with celebrities, minors or, simply, difficult talent. Those are the times when a good Utility person is worth her weight in gold: knowing when to be a chatterbox –or crack jokes– rather than quiet and clinical; knowing when to efficiently work alone, rather than requesting the help of the Wardrobe department; choosing her battles when time is of the essence, and a celebrity’s patience is wearing thin… Just as there isn’t a “perfect” lav mounting technique, there is no single recipe to ensure the talent will be fully at ease with the process.
Often, when working with celebrities, we’re asked to go to the talent’s trailer or dressing room to mount the lav. We try not to encourage this practice for two reasons: first, it’s not practical for the Utility to bring every possible accessory that might be needed; second, the actor’s trailer is usually out of range for my wireless receivers, so I can’t tell how it sounds or whether there’s any unwanted noise - which means we may have to fiddle with the talent’s lav when they arrive on set.
When it comes to children, I usually avoid laving actors younger than ten. Young children tend to want to “play” or otherwise fiddle with the lav or the transmitter, which compromises the sound and may even cause costly damage.
If we have to lav a minor, I always ask a parent or the on-set teacher to be present during the process. This means someone they trust will be around if they’re uncomfortable, to help route the wire, if needed.
When we’re capturing sound with a boom mic, the sound team is in control of every component involved, and is therefore responsible for the final result. When lavs are involved, though, we have no control of what the actors do once they step on set, or any RF issues that might crop up. if all goes well, nobody notices; but if there are problems with a lav, it’s assumed to be our fault. Understandably, that’s not a particularly fun predicament to be in.
This is why we prefer not to be rushed, or have our process compromised in any way, when mounting lavs on talent - there are simply too many things that can go wrong. We just want to increase our chances of success.
Do you have any horror stories involving lav mics? Do share!