# How does Britain's Got Talent isolate an audience member talking/reacting to an act? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2020, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-britains-got-talent-isolate-an-audience-member-talking-reacting-to-an-act/853619 "2020-05-12T02:54:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TheSundial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@TheSundial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSundial)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-britains-got-talent-isolate-an-audience-member-talking-reacting-to-an-act/853619/1 "2020-05-12T02:54:03Z")
At 11:51 in this video an audience member is talking to his friend or partner and his voice is heard over the noise of the large theater. I can’t remember if this also happens on America’s Got Talent. How is this done without the audience member having a microphone? ---
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-britains-got-talent-isolate-an-audience-member-talking-reacting-to-an-act/853619/2 "2020-05-12T03:19:12Z")
Easy, he does have a microphone, it is all staged. Why do you think the camera was pointed at him at that time? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-britains-got-talent-isolate-an-audience-member-talking-reacting-to-an-act/853619/3 "2020-05-12T03:34:31Z")
**Moderator Action** Moving thread from GQ to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![TheSundial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@TheSundial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSundial)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-britains-got-talent-isolate-an-audience-member-talking-reacting-to-an-act/853619/4 "2020-05-12T04:14:31Z")
If he does have a microphone then why aren’t the people next to him turning to look at him? or are you saying that he works for the show and the people sitting near him too? ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-britains-got-talent-isolate-an-audience-member-talking-reacting-to-an-act/853619/5 "2020-05-12T06:06:48Z")
You can do it using a boom microphone (which was the traditional way), or a directed microphone array, or a very directional microphone (I don’t know any, but I’m sure they exist), but I notice in those shows that they don’t seem to be able to pick up anybody in general from the audience. So I think they have something pointed at one spot in the audience, and they get whatever is sitting at that spot. So they might have a local microphone, or a fixed directional microphone or array, or they might have talked to those people beforehand, and miked them. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-britains-got-talent-isolate-an-audience-member-talking-reacting-to-an-act/853619/6 "2020-05-12T10:56:14Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > … or a very directional microphone (I don’t know any, but I’m sure they exist), Yes, they are interference line microphones (aka ‘shotgun’ microphones), like [this one](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/405353-REG/Schoeps_CMIT_5U_CMIT5U_Shotgun_Microphone_Blue.htmlhttps://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/405353-REG/Schoeps_CMIT_5U_CMIT5U_Shotgun_Microphone_Blue.html). Good, but pretty expensive. You can also use a microphone with a [parabolic reflector screen](https://www.amazon.com/Sound-Shark-Long-Range-Microphone-Equalized/dp/B07KGHKCDG/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=parabolic+microphone&qid=1589280341&sr=8-6) to pick up sound at a distance, but those have poor bass sound quality, so not very good for human voice pickup. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-britains-got-talent-isolate-an-audience-member-talking-reacting-to-an-act/853619/7 "2020-05-12T12:23:08Z")
The British House of Commons, which seats around 430, seems to be rigged with a bunch of suspended microphones that allow individual members to be heard and recorded without them having to move from their seats, and without picking up too much noise from elsewhere in the chamber. Perhaps these live talent shows have a similar arrangement with their audiences? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-britains-got-talent-isolate-an-audience-member-talking-reacting-to-an-act/853619/8 "2020-05-12T13:01:55Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > The British House of Commons, which seats around 430, seems to be rigged with a bunch of suspended microphones that allow individual members to be heard and recorded without them having to move from their seats, and without picking up too much noise from elsewhere in the chamber. Perhaps these live talent shows have a similar arrangement with their audiences? I suspect it’s more efficient for them to individually mike-up pre-chosen audience members. If you watch an episode closely, you’ll see that they return frequently to the same few audience members. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-britains-got-talent-isolate-an-audience-member-talking-reacting-to-an-act/853619/9 "2020-05-12T13:26:42Z")
Ah, so you are saying they do a _The Price is Right_-like pre-screening of audience members, where the staff chats with people as they come in in order to identify the most vivacious and expressive. Though unlike in TPIR, the people who are selected to appear on camera get notified in advance and miked up, and maybe even coached to exaggerate their reactions. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-britains-got-talent-isolate-an-audience-member-talking-reacting-to-an-act/853619/10 "2020-05-12T14:09:47Z")
I always assume that almost everything on these shows is staged. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-britains-got-talent-isolate-an-audience-member-talking-reacting-to-an-act/853619/11 "2020-05-12T14:19:41Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I always assume that almost everything on these shows is staged. Well, yes, this is Simon Cowell we’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2020, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-britains-got-talent-isolate-an-audience-member-talking-reacting-to-an-act/853619/12 "2020-05-13T02:10:03Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > Yes, they are interference line microphones (aka ‘shotgun’ microphones), like [this one](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/405353-REG/Schoeps_CMIT_5U_CMIT5U_Shotgun_Microphone_Blue.htmlhttps://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/405353-REG/Schoeps_CMIT_5U_CMIT5U_Shotgun_Microphone_Blue.html). Good, but pretty expensive. That microphone can be used to reduce background noise, but it won’t separate one person from the people around him, if they are speaking, unless it is close to him. If you look at the pattern, at best it’s going to be a 15 degree cone, which is going to catch a fairly big group of people unless there are close microphones, which I don’t see all over the audience. In the house of commons, a microphone has to be good enough to not pickup the opposite side of the house. People sitting close to the speaking member know enough not to talk, and if they do talk, it’s their own fault. And microphones like that are often used to catch audience sounds, while blocking stage sounds. Look up and you’ll see an array of shotgun microphones in the rigging. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2020, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-britains-got-talent-isolate-an-audience-member-talking-reacting-to-an-act/853619/13 "2020-05-13T03:58:33Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I always assume that almost everything on these shows is staged. Pretty damn close to it. More like a lot of very, very heavy creative editing post filming. Coaxed audience reaction shots, dubbed in cheers/laughter/crickets, performers doing multiple takes of their acts, edited in judge reactions, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-britains-got-talent-isolate-an-audience-member-talking-reacting-to-an-act/853619/14 "2020-05-22T03:05:22Z")
I am so glad to see this post. My family has been watching BGT quite a bit and I told my wife that the the #1 most annoying thing about it is the obviously setup people in the crowd who make ridiculously on-point comments.