It is the oddest thing to me that people will be willing to spend several thousand dollars for a high quality HD video camera and not even consider their audio needs. A video is not just about the picture, it’s also about the sound. People will endure poor video but they will not endure poor audio.  Remember the surprising smash hit “The Blair Witch Project.”

Television and Movie houses spend millions of dollars a year just to produce the right sound for their presentation. The Academy Awards honors Oscars to sound editing and sound mixing because audio is essential to quality video. The professionals know that in order to keep the audience around for the length of the program, it not only needs visually impressive shots, it also needs audio that puts the audience in the picture.

For the low budget videographer, church, or organization that is just starting to produce video, you must consider how you will capture your audio.  You have several options, but I want to suggest that you consider hand-held, shotgun/boom, or wireless lav mics for you audio needs. 

The hand-held microphones are the least expensive and provide quality sound.  They generally require that you be tethered to your camera or field audio mixer, but also come as wireless.   Many television news reporters have this type of setup.  The advantage is that you can purchase a mid quality hand held with cables at most any electronic store.  They are easy to acquire and use.  They are plug and play and simple to use for the audio novice.  The downside is that the microphone will most likely be in the shot because it needs to be close to the talent.

Shotgun mics are long microphones designed to acquire audio from a few feet away.  They allow the talent to speak and not have a microphone stuck in their face.  They are generally omni directional and will pickup sound 360 degrees.  The way around this is to purchase a shotgun mic that is directional and you can get better focus on the talent.

The best option, in my opinion, for the majority of audio needs, is wireless lav microphones.  The small lav microphone can be hidden under clothing, along your hair line, etc., so that it virtually disappears.  You have much more control over the audio and will generally get a nice feed from your talent.  You can use multiple microphones if you have multiple persons speaking and mix each feed individually.  They tend to be the higher priced of the three, but you can find good deals online or at your local audio/video store.

Videography is not just about pictures.  You must have good audio to keep your audience interested.  It is the combination of the picture and the audio that makes for a captivating and emotionally driven piece.  So, when you look to purchase equipment, make sure you consider your audio needs as well.