Shooting video in a night club?

M

Mark-P

Well-known member
Someone wants me to shoot some video in a dance club and edit the video into a web based commercial.

1. How do you white balance the camera when shooting in a dark environment that I can not control for lighting, and the lighting will constantly change?

2. Is there any real reason to shoot this in DVC PRO HD or would you just do it in SD? Will DVC PRO HD respond better or worse to this type of lighting environment?

Thanks.
 
go to the bar or foyer and balance on a white card. what happens from then on isnt going to ruin your shot.

the recording format wont change the lowlight performance. thats a "feature" of the camera itself. i've shot the hvx in clubs. there is generally enough effect light to get decent results. if youre worried. just use a DVX. its one of the better low light SD performers. and if its only used for web. most folks wouldnt notice anyway.
 
I have shot at least 6 videos in night clubs over the past year or two and I used my own lights and white balanced when ever we switched up shots. Of course these were big "MTV style" videos (at least they thought they were).
I have to agree wgzn, if you don't have a nice lighting set up just go to the bar or foyer and white balance. and use a DVX if it is going straight to the web.
 
What type of lighting do you set up in the night club? I will be moving around a lot and taking shots all over and will not be able to have anything setup. I am trying to blend in with everyone as much as possible with the intention of not being noticed by everyone there. Would some type of on board light work?

Thanks.
 
Hi Mark,

If you want your shots to look like anything but a news cast - do not use an on-camera light.

I have shot a number of live concerts. No matter how many times I have pleaded with the lighting operator to keep the ambient light level from going below a certain level - they invariably forget.

The good news is, if you set your camera right and compose correctly, blackness is your friend. It actually doesn't matter that shadows fill most of the frame, if you compose with a few highlights in each shot, your footage will look intentionally stylistic.

DVCPRO HD will give you more resolution and better color sampling than DVCPRO, but the HVX is light hungry. If you must shoot on the HVX - set your shutter angle to 350degrees, your master ped to -1 or 0 or +1, use B.Press, Normal matrix and lower the color saturation a bit. Do everything you can to avoid +12db of Gain!

Just as important - what are you doing for sound? Are you using any sync audio from the club? if so, don't rely on anything good coming from your onboard cam mic.


J
 
I am not sure what we are going to do about audio -- I think we are going to edit in some audio. later

1.) What do you mean by "...compose with a few highlights in each shot, your footage will look intentionally stylistic." How do you compose with a few highlights in each shot?

2.) How could I synch my video with audio from the club? How is this done?

Thanks!!!!

AwakenedFilms said:
Hi Mark,

If you want your shots to look like anything but a news cast - do not use an on-camera light.

I have shot a number of live concerts. No matter how many times I have pleaded with the lighting operator to keep the ambient light level from going below a certain level - they invariably forget.

The good news is, if you set your camera right and compose correctly, blackness is your friend. It actually doesn't matter that shadows fill most of the frame, if you compose with a few highlights in each shot, your footage will look intentionally stylistic.

DVCPRO HD will give you more resolution and better color sampling than DVCPRO, but the HVX is light hungry. If you must shoot on the HVX - set your shutter angle to 350degrees, your master ped to -1 or 0 or +1, use B.Press, Normal matrix and lower the color saturation a bit. Do everything you can to avoid +12db of Gain!

Just as important - what are you doing for sound? Are you using any sync audio from the club? if so, don't rely on anything good coming from your onboard cam mic.


J
Click to expand...
 
Wow, you're asking a lot here. First things first... composition... club lights have patterns in their movement, even intelligent lighting that claims to be random. If you figure out the pattern then you can kind of predict where the light is going to shine. If your subjects are silhouetted in front of the light it looks like they are dark intentionally and thus stylistic.

Syncing sound... the only way to do this is to have a recording of the DJ's set from the mixer on the exact night you are shooting. DJ's use pitch control to speed up or slow down music, they also use other elements to change the qualities of the sound coming out of the system. If you try and match up pre-recorded music to the footage from a live DJ/ performance, chances are that your crowd is going to be dancing off beat and look odd. So, if you have the recording from the DJ, then all you have to do is pick a moment in the song you want to match up with and synch it by ear. Everything else until you hit pause/ stop should line up. Even if you are not planning on using the audio you record in the club... you still should have your mic's on. Ambient sound is a useful tool to find your place in the night when all the shots look similar. It is also vital if you intend to match up the "soundtrack" of the night with the footage shot.

Good luck with all of this. Post some of your footage when you're done. I'm curious to see how it all turns out.
 
Night club crowds make it very hard to shoot around, in any traditional production manner that is. I think it is safe to assume you will be buttoning on and off at random as you hunt around for those glory shots. One solution I found was to hire a radio mic put the transmitter end next to the DJ's desk and connect it to one of the desk's outs. Talk with the soundy or DJ that is setting up the desk to make sure they are cool with it. Most DJ's will be glad their music will have a second chance to be heard so they should not have a problem with it. Some desks have a 3/4 inch plug out some have an XLR make sure you bring along your adaptor case to the shoot. Then when ever you button on or off you'll have sync sound. Also don't forget to set your input levels correctly good chance the desk will send you line levels.

You can probably get away with leaving the camera on the 3600K pre set and touch up with a bit of cc after, for web purposes. If you really want to whit balance then yeah foya or entrance white paper with a fairly natural (not colored in any way) tungsten light.
Enjoy the shoot.
.
 
All good technical points... Personally I don't think it hurts to have a light as long as you can adjust the brightness. I use the VIDLED (with diffuser gels) and it works well. I'll take it up to 70% max, but only use it when the house lights are down..

The technical mojo is only half your battle... the other half is the social aspect which I think can make or break your video. Since this video will be used to promote the club you will need to get close to the action. Not necessarily Girls gone Wild, but on the dance floor, in the middle of the more outgoing groups, behind the DJ, etc..

It also seems that I get my best footage after 11:30 pm.. after people have had a few drinks, loosen up, and start feeling comfortable with the camera. Anything before that and you're just the creepy guy with a camera. Around 1 AM is when you'll have people chasing you so they can get ON camera.. lol. (like moths attracted to the light..)

Finally if you can have an attractive female sidekick/assistant that will help break the ice. Sometimes the people you "want" to get on film need a little jump start and she's the one that will make it happen.

This is usually how my club shoots go:
  • 9 to 11 pm Get establishing shots (outside of the club, signage, etc), close-up/artsy shots of DJ, turntables, lighting, smoke machine, bar, etc..
  • 11 pm to Closing: Dancing and party footage.
** I've never worried about this before.... but you might want to make sure there are signs posted at the entrance letting people know that filming with be taking place and that their image might be used on the club's website, etc..


For audio I'm recording the DJ sets with the Microtrack II... With a 4 GB card I can record 4+ hours of 48 Khz 16 bit audio (.wav) It works great for DJS, but sucks for band performances because your relying on the sound guy to give you a clean mix of all the channels. Don't expect the DJs to record their sets or expect to get music later on... It never seems to work out. That's why I got the Microtrack because at the end of the night, I have what I need.

Like Coldpizza said.. DJs will be stoked that you're recording their set especially if you can provide them with a copy.
 
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