The Truth About Microphones

Even the most expensive and sensitive microphones pick up what is closest to them most clearly.  Although the shape and type of microphone makes a difference, for the most part the sounds in between what you want to hear and the microphone (like noises in the environment) are going to be recorded along with the audio you are trying to capture.  For example: if you are in the middle of the audience in a large theater and you hold a up a microphone to record the sound of the actors on stage but the person sitting in right front of you is talking, what you will get on your recording is the talking person near you loud and clear with the actors on stage barely audible in the background.  So a good rule of thumb is - get the microphone as close as possible to what you want to hear most clearly.

Sound Good First

Sound quality is the primary indicator of professionalism in videography.

The thing that is more noticeable than poor lighting or sloppy camera work is noisy sound.  This is because bad sound really distracts the viewer from getting the message you are trying to relate with your video.  I believe that you could possibly have great success communicating without any picture, if the audio is great (like radio) but a video with lousy sound is just annoying and amateurish.  Of course there are exceptions and sometimes professionals intentionally distort audio to make it seem less polished for effect but, most of the time sound people are working toward making pristine audio recordings or (unfortunately) attempting to repair or salvage faulty audio tracks.