I worked with Cavalier Camera to provide production sound for Certified Angus Beef’s “Best Beef” commercial. It was a challenging production, but we delivered clean, usable dialogue for the campaign.
Recording in an Active Parade
About half of the spot was shot in the middle of the NFL’s 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Parade, with an estimated 200,000 attendees. Filming during a live event is always a challenge. Filming inside the actual parade adds another layer. We needed a clean way to:
- Cue our on-camera talent while he walked with the balloon
- Capture solid dialogue from our “broadcast commentators” on camera using branded stick mics
Cueing Talent Remotely
To cue talent on camera while marching through a loud parade, we used a dedicated walkie channel, with a receiving walkie routed into a channel on my Sound Devices Scorpio mixer/recorder. That channel was not routed to the mix, but it was routed back out to a Lectrosonics IFBT4 IFB transmitter. Our talent wore:
- Wireless lav (DPA 4060 with Lectrosonics SMDWB)
- Lectrosonics R1a IFB receiver paired with the Halter Technical Pico
The Pico is a subminiature earpiece with an ultra-thin cable, designed to be extremely low-profile on camera. We ran the earpiece on his right side since the cameras favored his left, then discreetly routed the cable down to the IFB receiver on a double-pouch Viviana strap worn under wardrobe.
Branded Handheld Stick Mics
As part of the ad’s creative, we discussed in preproduction having our “broadcast commentators” hold stick mics with custom “Certified Angus Beef” mic flags. It helped sell their role within the script and the broadcast vibe. Dynamic handheld mics also solved real-world problems:
- Reinforced the “TV-broadcast” sound and visuals
- Reduced background noise through close working distance and less-sensitive dynamic capsules
Contending With Extreme Wides and the Technocrane
Much of the spot lives in extreme wides so you can see the “Best Beef” mascot balloon in the parade. Other shots used a Technocrane, which made getting a boom close to talent largely impossible, outside of a few moments in tighter coverage. A well-placed boom almost always sounds best, but sometimes the frame just does not allow it. We still needed clean dialogue in uncontrolled environments, so we leaned heavily on wireless lavs and on-camera handhelds to get it. DPA lavs deliver exceptionally transparent, high-fidelity audio for a lavalier, so the 4060 was the perfect choice for our balloon-wrangling talent.
