Don't think just visual. Think sound. Try watching TV with your eyes closed but listening to the sound. Then watch TV with the sound turned off and only watch the action. Sound is huge. Without good sound quality, clear and articulate voices and music that enforces and inspires, the visual has a hard time standing on its own.

The best projects are a perfect marriage of video and audio.

1. Environment: In most cases you want to eliminate as much of the ambient (background) noise that you can. Sometimes you may want the crowd or the water of a river or other natural or man-made noises to be in the background. You need to make that judgment. The sound must compliment the video but usually never over-takes it. Use one mic for the speaker and one for the background noise so you can deal with them separately with editing.
2. Figure-Ground: This is difficult to explain but think of it like this. If you want to bring out a specific sound or group of sounds louder and more distinct than the ambient sound, you will make that sound either louder or very different than the other sounds.
3. Perspective: This means that close-up pictures are matched with "close" sounds, and long shots are matched with sounds that seem to come from a distance. The trick is to get the microphone as close as possible to the source of the scene. Close up sounds need to have more presence - a quality that makes us feel we are very near.
4. Continuity: When you film close ups, you get a certain sound quality. If the scene changes to a far shot, the sound quality can change. Different microphones will sound different. Sounds recorded indoors will sound much different than sounds recorded outdoors. Different rooms make people sound different. People will sound different from one scene to the next. This is getting complicated!!! Music from a CD or live recording will add another quality of sound. How to blend these so when sound changes with scenes there isn't a noticeable difference is tricky.
5. Energy: How loud should sound be in a scene? How soft should it be? If you have two tracks of sound how loud or soft should each be? You need to match the "energy" of the scene to the energy of the voice or music.

How you use quality sound can become a very personal quality of aesthetics.

Types of Microphones - Microphones convert (using a diaphragm) sound waves into electrical energy which is amplified and reconverted into sound waves by speakers. Below are the basic types of microphones.
1. Dynamic	2. Condenser
3. Shotgun	3. Lavaliere/clip-on)

1. Dynamic - These are the type held by on-camera talent or used for on-location interviews. They are rugged and usually have a Pop Filter and/or a Windscreen. They have no battery and need a phantom power source to boost the signal for broadcast.

2. Condenser - They are more sensitive and are used indoors. They use a built in battery to amplify the sound signal. They produce a better quality sound than a dynamic mic.

3. Shotgun - These are used for on-location production to pick up sounds a moderate distance from the camera. They are very directional. They are often at the end of a boom and called boom mics. Most are Condenser type and use a battery to boost the signal. This is often referred to as a pre-amp system.

4. Lavaliere / clip-on mic - Whether hung from a cord around the neck or clipped to clothing, these are all referred to as personal mics. They can be wired or wireless, dynamic or Condenser type.

Link to Microphones, Part 1 to study more about microphones.

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XLR connectors are "balanced" connectors. They have a ground wire in them (the third pin/hole) which doesn't allow interference (humming sound) from electrical equipment.

Phone Plugs are also referred to as 1/4" plugs.

Mini Plugs are also referred to as 1/8" plugs.