Danish Film Recordist Uses DPA 4017 on New Susanne Bier Movie

posted:

03/11/2010

Allan Holmberg with his DPA 4017 shotgun microphone

Danish film location recorder Allan Holmberg has been using a DPA 4017 shotgun mic for Susanne Bier’s new film, The Revenge (Haevnen).
“I’d used the 4017 on a documentary I’d worked on, called Blekingegadebanden,” explains Holmberg. “The clarity and natural sound of the 4017 was a huge success on the documentary, so I decided to try the mic on this feature film.

“My only concern was that the mic pattern may be too wide, resulting in extra background noise and ambience, but after a short talk with Eddie Møller, the film’s supervising sound designer, we both agreed to give it a try. The film contains some improvisation, and we wanted to avoid dubbing as much as was possible, so that was another good reason for using a wider mic.”

Once on set, any misgivings Holmberg had were quickly dispelled. “The 4017 performed excellently, and the ‘extra ambience’ I’d been concerned about wasn’t a problem at all,” he says. “In the film’s more silent scenes, with sensitive dialogue, it was a thrill to hear how lifelike and crisply the mic performed. Every breath and change in the voice was recorded, and has made it into the film, making the dialogue and overall feel of the film a nice experience.”

After making English-language film Things We Lost In The Fire in the US, director Susanne Bier returned to her native Denmark to work on The Revenge. Bier also directed Oscar-nominated Danish film, After The Wedding.

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DPA Microphones A/S is a leading 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.

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