Hyper vs Shotgun

[Vampiresoup]

I have searched the forum. And, well, feel free to burn me but I couldn't find out the definition of a hyper mic. I've seen the pics and I'm assuming they are like a shotgun mic but, um, what is the technical difference?

Once again, I appologize for the ignorance. I've worked infront of the camera for many years as a professional actor and I've just now decided to get behind it. Funny, I've spoken into these things for so many years and, yet, I have no idea how the hell they work.

 

[Barry_Green]

Hyper is short for Hypercardioid, and refers to the mic's polar pattern (i.e., the envelope of space where it's receptive to sound).

Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microphones and scroll down about 1/3 of the way and you'll see a diagram of various mic polar patterns, including shotgun and hyper.