AMPAS honors DPA with a Technical Achievement Award
 

The Academy’s Board of Governors voted to bestow a Technical Achievement Award to Jens-Jørn Stokholm and Ole Moesmann for the innovative development of miniature high-performance DPA lavalier microphones. 

The Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation, a virtual event, will be held on Saturday, February 13, 2021 at 10 CET. Watch here.



 

DPA’s contribution to audio is shrinking our larger mics into miniature versions while keeping the original properties –  clarity and accuracy. This has given the sound engineers in the film industry amazing possibilities. 

– Kalle Hvidt Nielsen, CEO DPA Microphones 

Development of DPA’s miniature lavalier 

Jens-Jørn Stokholm is an expert in the miniaturization of electronics and electro-mechanical devices. He started as an R&D engineer at the Danish hearing-aid company Oticon, but soon set out to form his own company together with a colleague. The company was named Microtronic A/S and Jens-Jørn developed logarithmic potentiometers and switches aimed at the hearing aid business. Within a few years, the company became the market leader and it still exists today under the name Sonion.

DPA’s contribution to audio is shrinking our larger mics into miniatures while keeping the original properties – clarity and accuracy. This gives new possibilities to the film industry.

Jens-Jørn left Microtronic in 1984 and while early retirement would have been the natural step, as a true entrepreneur he decided to tackle a new mission – to make a miniature microphone. He achieved this task with his new business partner Dan Ingemann Jensen, in a company called Muphone.  

When the founders of DPA Microphones, Ole Brøsted and Morten Støve, approached Muphone to develop a miniature microphone for the professional audio industry, an important partnership was started. Jens-Jørn tweaked his hearing aid microphone into DPA’s first miniature microphone. In 1996, the 4060 Omnidirectional Microphone was launched. This microphone is still used and loved by many film sound engineers today.  

Not only did Jens-Jørn design DPA’s first miniature microphone, but he also mentored DPA’s current head of R&D, Ole Mosemann, ensuring that subsequent DPA miniature microphones would be based on the design heritage of the 4060.   

Ole came to DPA to work on his final university project about interference tube technology, which is used to improve the function of directional microphones. He worked together with Jens-Jørn for more than a decade and contributed to all the miniature microphones that DPA manufacturers and sells today. His work on interference tube technology has helped design some of the best miniature directional microphones on the market. He also led the R&D team to design the unique CORE by DPA technology that reduces distortion, expands dynamic range and increases clarity in miniature microphones. Most recently, he was the lead designer for the 6060 Subminiature Microphone, which is only 60% the size of the 4060, yet retains the main specifications of the original, featuring uncolored sonic character, low noise level and high SPL handling.

Technical Achievement Award history 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has honored science and technology in the movie making process since the very early years of the organization. The Academy established the category of Scientific or Technical Achievement at the (4th) Academy Awards back in 1931. The awards at that time were: 

• Class I: For basic achievements which influence the advancement of the industry as a whole. 

• Class II: For high level of engineering or technical merit. 

• Class III: For accomplishments which are valuable contributions to the progress of the industry. 

First recipients 

CLASS I (STATUETTE) 

• Electrical Research Products, Inc., RCA-Photophone, Inc., and RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., for noise reduction recording. 

• DuPont Film Manufacturing CORP, and Eastman Kodak Co. for super-sensitive panchromatic film. 

CLASS II (CERTIFICATE) 

• FOX Film Corp. for effective use of synchro-projection composite photography. 

CLASS III (HONORABLE MENTION) 

• Electrical Research Products, Inc., for moving coil microphone transmitters. 

• Rko Radio Pictures, Inc., for reflex type microphone concentrators. 

• Rca-Photophone, Inc., for ribbon microphone transmitters. 

Starting with the 1978 (51st) Awards, the “Class I” Scientific and Technical Award became the Academy Award of Merit, “Class II” became the Scientific and Engineering Award and “Class III” became the Technical Achievement Award. 

https://www.oscars.org/sci-tech/about 

Numerous films each year use DPA miniature microphones hidden on actor’s bodies, in hair and costumes. Here are a few more recent films that use them.