Re: Super-clean audio - how do they do it?

I have come up thru the audio industry and migrated my way over to the video side of things. I worked at a post production house in Boston, and learned a lot about workflow. Don't be so sure that on some movies they may ADR everything. We spent 3 days recording the telephone message system for Logan international airport. If someone has the time and money, they will do anything!

Lav mics are definitely the way to go. Boom mics are good, but they are going to always give you the problems that you talked about. Even the best mics will pick up room sounds around them. They don't know what they are supposed to be picking up, so they get anything that is in the vicinity. If done properly, they can be very natural, because that is how you hear things in real life. A lot of those "reality" shows use lav mics. You frequently see them on the characters' belts when they bend over. There are no deep dark secrets being hid from you, just a lot of experience by the engineers working through problems they see day in and day out.