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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

This Article Features Photo Zoom

One of the major benefits of the digital revolution compared to production 20 or 30 years ago is that with the proliferation of inexpensive cameras, editing gear and software, there also have been huge strides in the variety and types of microphones available. There’s a microphone for every job, and within each of the most popular categories of mics, there are dozens of choices available. How do you determine which type of microphone to use, and which model to consider buying or renting for your project?

A popular mind-set not applicable to microphones is “one-size-fits-all.” Many of us, unless we work at a larger production company or facility, only own one video camera, one field monitor and one editing system. Logic dictates that when we survey the market to determine which mic we should buy, we look for the ultimate “all-around microphone.” Wrong. There’s no such thing as an all-around microphone. Just like golf clubs, there are only specialized tools that are best for achieving a specific result in a given situation.

Most experienced sound professionals approach microphone choice considering several different parameters. How many talent need to be heard in the scene? Will the talent be moving or stationary? Will there be a boom operator or a stationary microphone boom on set? What’s the ambient noise environment in the location? Shooting interior or exterior? How close can the boom operator place the microphone to the talent? Does the microphone need to be hidden out of view from the camera?

To advise you on the correct microphone for every project would take far more space than we have available, but here are some general guidelines when choosing which microphone(s) you should use in a given video or film production situation. I’ve included some industry-standard choices for each category, which represents a broad selection of microphones that seem to be consistently used on feature, television and non-broadcast sets.

Shotgun
Shotgun microphones are the most commonly used type of microphone in production. Shotguns are popular because they have a relatively narrow angle of acceptance, meaning that they reject more off-axis noise from where they’re pointed than other types of microphones, allowing for the subjects to be heard clearly while noise from the sides is attenuated. Usually, shotguns also are somewhat isolated from handling noise, making them popular for use at the end of a boom pole.

One common caveat when using a shotgun microphone is that because of the nature of the pickup pattern, shotguns often pick up some sound directly behind the microphone, undesirable sounds like room reflections and echo. Because of this effect, shotguns are generally relegated to exteriors or interiors with little or no reflective surfaces like stone, glass and wood.


Shotgun microphones are condenser microphones, meaning that the microphone diaphragm is powered by either an internal onboard battery or by the camera’s or recorder’s phantom power supply. There are longer versions of shotguns available from all of the major microphone manufacturers that are useful for attenuating even more off-axis sound than a regular shotgun microphone.

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