Not knowing what to call the different Mic types on set pretty common occurrence – especially now with brands, stakeholders and team members in attendance at so many shoots.
In this article we’ll help you tell the difference between the different mic types – so you can confidently refer to them on your shoot.
- Boom Mic
This is a long thin microphone that sits on the end of a boom pole or telescopic pole. The boom pole could be held by an operator or mounted to a stand. The mic may be boomed in from above the talent or sometimes from underneath out of shot. Boom mics are ideal for capturing dialogue and are highly directional. There is additional setup time required and the audio must be monitored constantly – as the direction of audio is so precise.
2. Shotgun Mic
These mics are short and thin and often sit on top of a camera. The most common use for a shotgun mic is in a smaller production where the camera operator is moving around and must also capture sound at the same time.
Shotgun mics are directional but not as pinpointed as a boom mic. They are good at capturing the sound from the direction that they are pointed without having to be perfectly focussed. The advantage of using this is that they can capture a good range of audio without too much resource being utilized on managing it.
3. Lapel Mic
A lapel or Lavalier mic is the small clip on mic that you’d find on talent. These are small, elegant and brilliant for capturing just the spoken sound from the talent on which the mic is setup on.
Read more about lapel mic’s in this article also.
4. Interview Mic
Just as the name suggests, this mic is for interview style shoots or vox pop style content where a presenter is holding the mic in their hand and speaking into the mic. These mics can be used solo or can be used as the presenter questions another person in shot, by holding the mic out for them to respond and speak. Interview mics are good at capturing broad audio projected into the mic but will also gather some background sound along with it.
5. Wireless Content mic
This is somewhat new and definitely a style of mic we’re seeing more and more of on social content videos. They look like a small square block of a mic clipped onto talent, and often clearly visible. Although these mics weren’t exactly designed for this particular usage – they can be used in this method. The little blocks are actually a wireless transmitter and used either out of shot or with another mic plugged in (like a lapel mic). But they do work as described above and suit content creators – as their fast and easy to run. You do see a black block of plastic clipped onto talent and a flashing light but if you’re not precious about the look of your content – this will do the job.