How Did That Dark Club/Bar Shoot Go?

Rock Punk!

Rock Punk!

Well-known 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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