Discussion panel w/audience

F

finchy

Well-known member
Hello guys,

i have had one of our clients ask me for a quote for us to shoot a discussion panel/debate that will include 6 people on a platform facing an audience who will be asking the questions, much like the BBC's Question time in the UK.

I don't feel that there is a large budget for this so i am trying to keep it as basic as possible but i understand that this kind of shoot does require a certain amount of equipment.

I am basically wanting to get some opinions on what kit to get quotes for... So far have decided that we will need about 4 cameras (EX1/3) standard ( 3 aimed at the panel and one reverse looking at the audience/roaming), 6 wired Lav mic's for the panel, two booms(Wired or wireless) for questions from the audience and a desktop mixer to take all of the mic's into.
We may have access to a mixer that we could use to mix between cameras so does anybody have any opinions on what is the best way to record the footage that is coming from the cameras and through the mixer... baring in mind we would like to keep it as higher quality as possible (720p upwards)

Lighting should be sorted by the venue so that shouldn't be a problem.

As you can probably tell, my multi camera / live event experience is limited so any input with the best way to tackle a shoot like this would be great!

Thanks for any input!


Tom.
 
Where abouts is this going to be filmed as i would love to come along and help you through with this personally, this is a big project. Also what date.

The Best way IMO is to let each camera record individually onto its own card and then capture + edit at a later date. this will reduce any technical complications such as audio mixing and camera mixing and it will give you more freedom.
 
Thanks for your input mate!

Unfortunately we need to get an ideas of the costs and logistics before our client can confirm the job... i think TC sync'ing the cameras and then cutting the next day is the best route....

We will still need to put all of the audio through a central mixer and then back out to the cameras...
I believe the venue has an audio mixer in the same booth as the lighting so that should save some cash and stress.

Cheers

Tom.
 
Ideally one would record each mic to a separate track on an audio multi-track recorder. Or alternately, use an automatic mixer on the panel members, but have a human mix between the panel and the audience mics.

Do you know how big the audience is? Can you adequately cover it with two boom mics? Alternatives include passing around a couple of hand-held wireless mics for audience questioners, or putting some fixed mics on stands in the aisles so audience members can come to the mics (or queue up behind them) for questions.

Or having a moderator repeat questions from the audience (for the tape and also so other audience members know what the question was). Repeating the question also gives the panel member(s) time to formulate an answer. Of course some of these options may be completely unworkable but we don't know any details of the event or venue.

It is good to have an MC or moderator who selects the next questioner, which allows the audience camera operator time to get the shot
 
Each presenter should have their own lapel which will be split of to a PS system and to a multi-track recorder, if if budget is a problem, have a feed go into each camera.

I would let each camera have its onboard audio r3ecording all the way through, this would help with syncing, and for the roaming audience camera, a dedicated boom and boom op would be feed straight into the camera, and then split off from the camera to the PA.

Tom, If you tell me the dates, i would love to come and help first hand.
 
Thanks to both of you for your input!

Smifis, i believe it is likely to take place on the 11th of March, but i will post confirmation of that for you. Unfortunately it is likely that there will be a limited budget so i don't know what people will be getting paid, i'm quite sure myself and my business parter will be working for free because it is our business... and we have a few close friends/colleagues who don't mind helping us out. I will let you know what we end up sorting out!

I assume you are sound based Smifis?

Thanks

Tom.
 
Richard Crowley said:
Ideally one would record each mic to a separate track on an audio multi-track recorder. Or alternately, use an automatic mixer on the panel members, but have a human mix between the panel and the audience mics.

Do you know how big the audience is? Can you adequately cover it with two boom mics? Alternatives include passing around a couple of hand-held wireless mics for audience questioners, or putting some fixed mics on stands in the aisles so audience members can come to the mics (or queue up behind them) for questions.

Or having a moderator repeat questions from the audience (for the tape and also so other audience members know what the question was). Repeating the question also gives the panel member(s) time to formulate an answer. Of course some of these options may be completely unworkable but we don't know any details of the event or venue.

It is good to have an MC or moderator who selects the next questioner, which allows the audience camera operator time to get the shot
Click to expand...

I agree, an MC would be very useful but itll be up to the client as to how she wants the event to flow...
Some handheld mics's within the audience could be useful but i have learnt never to trust the public to record their own sound with any degree if success!
Im not positive on the size of the audience yet, it may be a few as 50 but either way, i think two booms should work okay, as long as the boom swingers have a running order of who is asking the questions and when....

I was lucky enough to be able to sit in on two different recordings of BBC's Questiontime which was very useful for me! Obviously that was on a different scale but it was very interesting! The steadicam Op is unbeleivable...

Tom.
 
I have some sound knowledge and know all the technical side of things but i couldn't sugvgest stuff like which microphone.

Primarily, I have been taught in a Camera and Post Production based environment but i have gone out of my way to learn sound production.

11th of march is quite a close date, especially while it's still in its planning stages with nothing confirmed, unfortunately i am extremely busy on that date and cant make it in person BUT i will be able to contact you via IM. I dont know why, but i get a nice buzz from helping people out.
 
Thats cool man, cheers for your interest!

The date is very close, unfortunately our client is quite disorganised and is trying to do a million things at once... hopefully by early next week, we will have things confirmed either way...

Tom
 
When I have done this in the past, I've used PZM mics on the panelists and run to a separate recorder. The mic in the aisles is a decent option depending on seating and crowd capacity. A boom will work if the crowd is small enough.

The real logistical nightmare will be coordinating the audience part. I MUCH prefer the idea of having 2-4 "reporters" in the audience with wireless microphones repeating questions for the panel.
 
PerroneFord said:
When I have done this in the past, I've used PZM mics on the panelists and run to a separate recorder. The mic in the aisles is a decent option depending on seating and crowd capacity. A boom will work if the crowd is small enough.

The real logistical nightmare will be coordinating the audience part. I MUCH prefer the idea of having 2-4 "reporters" in the audience with wireless microphones repeating questions for the panel.
Click to expand...

Cheers man!

How do those PZM mics perform?? I have always learnt that getting the mic as close to the mouth as you can is best practice so id be interested to find out what they are like.
From what i have heard of things like boundary mics, they are really best suited for example, a larger group of people sitting around a table where it may not always be possible to individually mic them up... and they don't capture the best sound but still good enough for the situation....


Cheers

Tom
 
I used to have a sample of this online. I'll see if I can put one up tomorrow from something I shot last summer. Should give you a good idea.

-P
 
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