Microphones

Types of Microphones

• On-Camera - this is the simplest to use; is good for picking up audio from a wide space; not good for focused speech is background noise is present; the on-camera mic will also pick up the ambience of the space in which recording is being made.
• Lavalier - these are small clip-on microphones; very good for dialogue but can be hazardous as they pick up any rustling of the aparel or papers closeby, etc.
• Handheld - good audio control by the holder but always visible.
• Shotgun mic - held far away by an operator, this mic has a highly focused pickup and is often a preferred choice. These are often held on a boom stand outside the frame of view of the camera.
• Wireless - no cables to trip over, subjects can move about as they wish however radio signal interference can be a problem.

Microphone Pattern

• Omnidirectional - hears equally from all directions
• Cardoid or Unidirectional - hears well from one direction only
• Hypercardoid - hears well from one tightly focused directions.