DPA Microphones would like to extend its congratulations to Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes for their recent success at both the Oscar and BAFTA Award Ceremonies where they carried off the top accolades in the Sound Mixing categories for their work on Les Miserables.
DPA’s 4071 Lavalier Microphones played an integral part in recording the audio for the film version of Les Miserables, which features an all-star cast including Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Samantha Barks and Sacha Baron Cohen.
The Les Miserables sound team used an innovative technique that involved recording vocals live on set with the cast singing to a live piano accompaniment played to them through earpieces. The orchestra was recorded later in post-production, with the musicians taking their lead from the performances of the cast. This break with tradition enabled director Tom Hooper to create a truly emotive experience for audiences watching the film.
Production Sound Mixer Simon Hayes, who was responsible for capturing the film’s entire audio content, says it was a truly unique way of working and one that would not have been possible without exceptional microphones, in particular DPA 4071 lavalier microphones.
Hayes had 50 DPA 4071 lavalier microphones at his disposal during the filming of Les Miserables, all of which were supplied by Richmond Film Services in conjunction with DPA’s UK distributor Sound Network.
“They are the only lavaliers that could cope with what we were trying to do,” he says. “In my opinion the DPA 4071 microphone is better, more open sounding, less chesty and sounds more like a boom mic than any other lavaliers I have heard.”
Hayes adds that he is honoured to have won both an Oscar and a BAFTA for his work on Les Miserables.
”These awards celebrate the collaborative effort of the cast and crew to bring live musical sound to cinema audiences," he says. “Lots of people thought what we did wouldn’t be possible, but we pulled it off and I am very proud of what we achieved.”
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Editors’ information:
DPA Microphones is the leading Danish Professional Audio manufacturer of high quality condenser microphones and microphone solutions for professional applications in studio, broadcast, theatre, video/film and sound reinforcement environments. All DPA microphones and components are manufactured at the company’s purpose-built factory in Denmark.
For more information on DPA Microphones, please visit www.dpamicrophones.com
