In The Wild

Hawk-Eye Innovations has found a game-changing ally in Bubblebee Industries and their flagship product, The Sidekick 3. With its lightweight design and exceptional audio quality, The Sidekick 3 has become an indispensable tool for umpires in global cricket events.

With over 60% of the country in the Alps, it’s likely that anyone choosing to shoot a film or TV programme in Austria may find themselves in a mountainous location. This could present difficulties for an inexperienced crew, but fortunately Austria has an established film industry with crew that are used to dealing with extreme conditions. Production sound mixer Herbert Verdino is one of them.

Jono Cary, one of the UK’s most in-demand Sound Recordists and Production Sound Mixers, has switched to Bubblebee Industries’ Sidekick In-Ear Monitors because they are so comfortable that they can even be worn underneath headphones. We also hear from presenter Andi Peters on their comfort, sound and reliability.

The Production crew captured all performances live to tape using 8K Red cameras, DPA microphones, the Sound Devices 833, Lectrosonics R1b IFB wireless and Sidekicks. McCoy used Sound Devices NoiseAssist and ran Dugan Automix so that the director and producers (who were watching via Zoom in different locations) could hear a more robust mix back.

In the most detailed user insight so far on the Bubblebee Sidekick IFB, we talked to production sound mixer Chris Welcker (www.catgutsound.com) about the audio wizardry behind the film Bill and Ted Face the Music. Chris first heard that the show was in pre-production around January 2019 and jumped at the chance at working on the film, which was finally released August 28th, 2020 in the USA. 

The sound recordists responsible for delivering this year’s ABB FIA Formula E coverage to the BBC made good use of our Spacer Bubble microphone windshields and The Sidekick in-ear IFB monitors helped the sound crew deliver safe, intelligible audio for the completion of its sixth season in Berlin.