Shooting live band on stage for scene in short film...

M

MemphisMourns

Active member
Well, the title says it all...

I have a scene in my short where I am shooting a friends band at The Avalon, which is a good sized club. Has anyone done this before?

Do I need to post location release signs everywhere (which the band would hate), or can I just go up to the mic and announce what I am doing?? It is only for one song, I'm going to bang the tambourine with them, and be an idiot.

Also, for the best sound, do I need to go through the mixer/pa? I am using an xha1, I know the on camera mic stinks... but I will be editing in their cd through final cut. Obviously, I want organic audio as well. Has anyone filmed a live band from the stage?

Sorry for the questions, it's coming up and I haven't prepped nearly enough.

I love you guys!!
 
Posting notices or even announcing on the PA won't completely cover you. Someone could say they didn't see the notices, or they can't read. Someone could be in the rest room when you make the announcement, or could just not be paying attention. Someone could enter the club after you've made the announcement. Someone could even be too drunk or stoned to be able to give informed consent.

What's the solution? I don't know -- I only know the potential problems. :)

As for the sound, you can pull from the mixing board -- but don't let that be your only sound source. The board is mixed for the acoustics of the building, not for a straight feed to a recorder. Chances are it's going to be mixed all wrong. It might be useful to have the board feed to enhance your music track, but you're going to want multiple mics placed to pickup the main sound. Again, this isn't something I know how to do, but there are lots of folks on the board who do.

Good luck!
 
if the band use a particular sound guy they have a relationship with he might be able/willing to do a 4/8 track recording and then remix it (or make it available to someone else to remix it) later.

in my experience this is more likely to be the case if they are a good band who are going places.

as for the ambient sound, you probably would want to get some location audio from a decent mic if you want to have the crowd noise..... otherwise the ambient can be faked pretty well with a good remix.
 
Will the band be doing a sound check? If so - see if you can film then, get some extras for the crowd.
 
Thank you so much for the responses. Joops, you're probably right. Is it just impossible to film a live band for a no budget? I just wanted to have the full hype and energy - and well, you know how sound checks can be...

Also, anybody have any equipment names of what, specifically, I might need for the mixing board and pa? Like, are we talking straight to dat?
 
Having done a few live bands, I agree with DArcy. The house board is always wonky, so I like to send instruments and vocals to separate tracks, and mix down later. This way, you can dial down that blasting bass and drums, and actually get clear vocals and back up singers, etc.

As far as the announcement, post a notice right on the door too, in large print. It also wouldn't hurt to have someone at the door in case there are some inbred illiterates.
 
Capt Quirk said:
Having done a few live bands, I agree with DArcy. The house board is always wonky, so I like to send instruments and vocals to separate tracks, and mix down later. This way, you can dial down that blasting bass and drums, and actually get clear vocals and back up singers, etc.

As far as the announcement, post a notice right on the door too, in large print. It also wouldn't hurt to have someone at the door in case there are some inbred illiterates.
Click to expand...

Problem is, there's more ways into a club than through the front door. And invariably you're going to have some people get by who were talking, laughing, whatever -- and will say later that they didn't hear your announcement.

Bottom line is the ONLY protection is signed release forms, and that's virtually impossible to guarantee unless you've brought the whole crowd in yourself specifically for the shoot. Public venues are risky at best.

Of course, you can just shoot so you don't SEE the audience, only the band -- or you get the audience only in silhouettes. As long as people can't be identified, you're safe. But that, too, is tricky.

Memphis, if you can afford a DAT recorder, great. If not, I've had good results using the Zoom H4 digital recorder -- costs $299.95 at Sam Ash. I understand its younger brother, the H2, is also good.

Good luck!
 
Incidentally, if you're interested in a Zoom H2, I'm going to have one for sale shortly. I have to buy 2 of them for a 2-day shoot. Once the shoot is finished, I'll be selling them to recoup the investment. Just FYI.
 
We shot scenes of a music video at a live club event.

Since it would be impossible to get everyone to sign a release form, we just posted a few release forms on entry doors that didn't require signatures. The forms stated that by entering, people were waiving their rights to be in the video. Take pictures of these forms for proof that you indeed put them up around the location. Also have the DJ or someone make an announcement that if you don't want to be in the video that you should leave or make your way to the back.

That should hopefully cover it.

As far as audio, I agree with what people have said already and don't think there's much to add. Just do the best you can.
 
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