The task of putting together the audio coverage for the show has once again been handed to experienced broadcast engineer, Oliver France, and because of the reliability and sound quality exhibited during Series 2, he has once again specifed A-T mics to occupy every single wired position in the Elstree complex. Inside the house ES933 hanging mics are positioned throughout the bedrooms, kitchen, dinning area, the bathroom of the ‘Poor house’ and above the toilets in both sections. The wet room of the ‘Rich house’ features two AT871WR water resistant boundary microphones and a further ES933. Out in the garden six AT4073a shotgun microphones cover the pool, the sun-spot and the chicken coop. The Diary Room, meanwhile, is fitted with an ES915QMRX gooseneck, the voice of Big Brother being delivered on an AT4050, whilst an AT835ST stereo shotgun microphone covers the ‘Walk of Shame’ featured on the main Friday show.
We caught up with Oliver during week four of the show, and he explained the unique requirements of the show. "Ordinarily placing a mic over a toilet would be a little bizarre, but for this programme to work we have to make sure that we have audio and video coverage in every square inch of the house, on a 24-7 basis. Having so many A-T mics positioned throughout the site allows us to do just that. The ES933s above the beds are particularly important, as are the AT4073as around the pool. These are areas where housemates are inclined to take their radio mics off and they often think no one can hear them, but thanks to the A-T mics we get every single word."
France has specified Audio-Technica microphones for a number of high profile TV shows since Big Brother 2, including Richard & Judy, The Mark Thomas Project and Remotely Funny.
(Lee Baldock)
