How Did That Dark Club/Bar Shoot Go?

Rock Punk!

Rock Punk!

New member
We are following two punk bands touring from Washington DC to Las Vegas and will be attempting to get footage of the action inside of the clubs.

I want to use on-camera lighting for mobility and safety reasons - no moshing into my c-stands please!

I've read every thread regarding lighting for a dark club and bar and the on-camera lighting suggestions but what I haven't heard is how it turned out. So, spill your guts!

Thanks!
 
I just happened to be watching a band a few months back and I had my camera in the car so I went and grabbed it to give it a whirl in a club. The band had a lot better lighting than probably 99% of tiny local club acts, but it was still very dark. I did not use any gain, and I believe I was on 1/48 shutter. It would have been a good idea to switch to 1/24, but alas, I didn't think of it. No on-camera lighting, DVX100a. You can really see where the 4:1:1 color freaks out a bit because of the red and blueish lighting in various places.

I was just standing in the crowd so occasionaly drunk people were bumping me around a bit, and I didn't try to get any really get in and get good shots because I didn't want to freak out the band.


http://2629.com/v/LoversInTransit-Cities.mov
 
Thanks for the reply! I couldn't view your file though - some error about required compressor could not be found.

I've shot the bands in two clubs already (The Black Cat-Washington DC and Ottobar-Baltimore.

The Ottobar has a fantastic lighting setup - for major acts. This turned out ok but was still super dark. I was shooting 1/48, iris open and wasn't getting much. So, I switched to 1/24 - this was better for filming the band but still not good at all for crowd shots (cause they aint standing under stage lights). I then *gasp* reached for the gain switch and with gain up and in the dark, you get a lot of noise so... it looks like... well it doesn't look good.

Then at the Black Cat, they played the backstage - a much smaller stage with maybe 12 spots. And, still at 1/24, iris wide open, I had to put the gain to M just to get a decent shot - and I know that is going to be too dark. Forget about crowd shots! It was then I decided I needed an on-camera light.
 
Looks great! Some questions if you don't mind:

1. Did you shoot in squeeze mode?
2. Did you do anything in post?
3. How did you white balance (always a challenge in low-light)
4. Did you use the 24p scene file (f5) straight-up or did you change any of the settings?

Thanks!
 
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