Good audio is a critical element for any promotional or commercial video to be taken seriously.
Having too much background noise or lacking of voice clarity from your speakers will end up with disappointed viewers who won’t even sit through your whole video. While background noise may sometimes be hard to avoid, capturing crisp, quality audio begins with the selection of an appropriate microphone suitable towards your production goals.
Different scenes call for different mics which is why it is really important to know the situation or environment you’ll be shooting in before you choose your microphone.
Here are our top 2 options when it comes to mic selection (including how they are best used):
Lavalier Mics
Also called a lapel mic, this one is a small microphone that can be clipped onto shirts. Lavs are a great option if your actors are expected to be moving around or if you would like to capture a crisp sounding interview.
Often the best option for a small video production, this type of mic has wired and non-wired version available and requires minimal prior setup, providing you have time to spend with the subject on camera.
The only downside to these would be that capturing good audio on these mics greatly depend on getting the perfect placement. Ideally, you should be aiming to place the lav approximately five to six inches below the talent’s chin, making sure that the mic has a clear path to the mouth.
Shotgun Mics
Shotgun mics are good for several things on a production set. When aiming the tip of a microphone directly at a sound source, it will pick up that sound, and capture any other surrounding sound which is why they are quite often used for capturing foley sounds and ambient room tone.
Unfortunately, shotgun mics alone won’t be able to capture the quality audio you want on its own. One of the other things you may need to consider having to be paired along with this would be a good quality boom pole.
There are heaps more options out there for filmmakers to choose from. Have a look at the directional recording patterns of some other microphones that are available to decide what you need for your project.