Tech Highlight #2 Lav vs. Boom

Sound is an easily overlooked aspect of video production, but can be vital for drawing people into your work. It’s an incredibly important part of story telling in narrative film, but regardless of what medium you’re working in, if your audio is inaudible and/or hard to listen to, people probably aren’t gonna watch for very long, so achieving crisp, clear audio is truly a must. The challenging part comes with achieving good audio without creating distractions on screen. In fiction, much the same as you’d want viewers to forget the cameras/lights exist, it shouldn't be obvious the characters are talking into microphones. And in a piece of non-fiction, such as a documentary, while hiding your mics isn’t essential, you may want to spare your subject the hassle of carrying around a corded microphone. Built-in camera mics can work for specific situations, but most times, they sound pretty bad, so you’ll likely want to spring for an external microphone. The two most common types used in video productions are lavalier (lav) mics, and shotguns, commonly called boom mics. In this tech highlight post, we’ll cover some of the basic info, along with pros and cons of using either type to help you decide how to record your future projects.

Lavs are small microphones designed to attach onto clothing, making for a quick, discreet way to capture voices. They can come fully wireless, but even corded ones are light on wires and connect to the sound recorder via a transmitter/reciever that can easily be hidden in clothing. Lav’s are great for wide shots where cropping out a boom mic is impossible, or in live, unpredictable situations where it could be difficult for the boom operator to keep up with everything. They’re also excellent for small budget projects as they completely eliminate the need for a boom operator. With that said, where the lavs fall short is their need to be closely attached to the speaker. While lavs are very resistant to wind and other background noise, it’s common for the rustling of clothes, jewelry, and hair to be picked up by them. Plus, being so close to the speaker's chest, voices tend to sound more bassy which may sound less natural than what you want. 

As for shotgun/booms, they’re cylindrical microphones designed to block out sound coming from the sides. They’re directional mics, meaning that they must be pointed directly at the noise source (i.e. the speaker’s mouth), whereas many lavs are omnidirectional and pick up sound in a circle around it. They can be directly wired into a sound recorder via an XLR cable, or connected using a wireless transmitter and the same receiver you’d use for a lav. It can attach to a stand for stationary shots, on top of a camera for when the subject is speaking directly to it, or mounted to a boom pole that an operator holds just out of frame allowing for a much larger range of movement from the subjects. Shotguns are natural sounding as they’re great at capturing the sounds of the space they're being used in. This, however, can lead to indoor recordings sounding echoey if not used in a super controlled environment. Conversely, they’re excellent at capturing audio outdoors as there’s much less for sounds to bounce off of. That being said, shotguns are incredibly susceptible to wind, meaning accessories like a blimp and windshield to diffuse unwanted noises are a necessity. 

 While both lavs and booms have their advantages and set backs, if your resources aren’t severely limited, it is best to use both types to give yourself greater odds of getting the cleanest audio possible. Even if money is tight, audio is not something you want to skimp on, so you may want to save yourself the headache and invest in both. We hope you found this informative. There’s far more detail to go into on this subject, but we hope we’ve given you enough basic info to help build your next audio package. For booking information, please e-mail Info@filmpei.com, or call (902) 892-3131 between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.