A series of highly unusual live political interviews has seen Denmark’s TV2 using DPA Microphones d:screet 4080 Cardioid Lavalier Microphones on its live 24-hour news channel. The interviews are conducted inside a Tesla electric sports car – a mobile studio that is operated remotely from the broadcaster’s studios in Copenhagen and left entirely unmanned by TV2 technical staff
‘We introduced the Tesla mobile studio during last year’s election coverage because we wanted to present political candidates in a different environment,’ says News Technology head, Morten Brandstrup. ‘Initially it was used for the programme Udfordringen (The Challenge), which ran every day during the three weeks prior to the election. On each day we paired politicians of different political persuasions and had them talk to each other live to air while they drove the Tesla around the country. They knew that every word they said could be heard, but being in a car rather than a studio made their conversations much freer and more unexpected.’
To capture the conversations, four d:screet 4080 Supercardioid Lavalier microphones are used in conjunction with a Wisycom wireless system. The microphones are fitted to the politician’s clothing so that they can still be heard when they step outside the car. However most of the conversations take place within the Tesla.
‘We carried out some acoustic testing with DPA consultant Eddy B Brixen and the Tesla turned out to be a great environment for recording voices,’ Brandstrup says. ‘Thanks to the directional quality of the microphones the audio was perfect, which was really important because Udfordringen is a talk show and we wanted audiences to hear the politicians clearly without the distraction of background noises.’
The Tesla SP85C, which was chosen for its green credentials as well as for it overall looks, and is fitted with four cameras, internal lighting, four transmitters and 16 4G modems, as well as the DPA microphones. Although the director is able to control the technology externally, the car is also fitted with a small live production set-up consisting of a video and an audio mixer, which was located in the boot.
‘Using the Tesla as part of our election coverage allowed us to push technology in a new direction,’ Brandstrup adds. ‘Our aim was to show how much we could do with an IP and 4G connection.’
The studio in a car concept was so successful that TV2 has kept the Tesla on the road for its weekly political programmes: ‘Creating a studio in a car and letting politicians drive around without any journalists or technical crew present takes reporting to an entirely new level,’ Brandstrup says. ‘When you have two people sitting in a car they naturally start to talk to each other and that’s what makes this space so special for interviews and debates.’
