Blimp

Last Updated 3 days ago

Table of Contents

Definition

In film and television production, a blimp is a cover or housing designed to reduce unwanted noise. The term has two common uses:

Camera Blimp: A soundproof enclosure placed over a film camera to dampen its mechanical noise.
Microphone Blimp: A windscreen housing for a shotgun microphone, used to block wind noise during location recording.

Both uses serve the same purpose—protecting clean sound recording on set.

Purpose: Film cameras, especially in the pre-digital era, produced noticeable mechanical noise from gears and film movement. A blimp enclosed the camera to muffle that sound.
Design: Large, padded housings often custom-fit to specific cameras. Some had viewing windows or access ports for controls.
Usage: Common in the early sound era (1930s–1970s), when cameras were too loud for sync sound recording.
Blimping Today: With modern digital cameras being quieter, full blimps are rare. On smaller productions, crews may improvise by “blimping” with sound blankets, jackets, or other materials.

Purpose: Reduces wind noise that can overwhelm a shotgun microphone during exterior shoots.
Design: A rigid, perforated housing (often oval-shaped) that surrounds the mic, usually combined with a layer of acoustic foam and an optional furry windjammer (“dead cat”).
Usage: Standard for location sound crews when working outdoors in windy environments.
Effectiveness: Maintains audio clarity while minimizing wind rumble without overly coloring the sound.

[Dead Cat] ? A furry windscreen placed over a microphone blimp to further reduce wind noise.
[Room Tone] ? A recording of the ambient sound of a location, used to smooth out edits.
[ADR] ? Automated Dialogue Replacement, used when location sound is unusable.