Doing a music video shoot in a night club...some questions I have.

S

stateofmind

Member
We will be able to bring in lights (not sure where I will get them from yet, may have to borrow from a friend)...but how should I do the lighting? I obviously want to keep the night club feel, but dont want to be shooting at iso3200 (I have the neat video plug in, but it still leaves some noise at an extremely high iso).

Do any of you have example work of t2i or 7d's in a video shoot in a night club?
 
stateofmind said:
We will be able to bring in lights (not sure where I will get them from yet, may have to borrow from a friend)...but how should I do the lighting? I obviously want to keep the night club feel, but dont want to be shooting at iso3200 (I have the neat video plug in, but it still leaves some noise at an extremely high iso).

Do any of you have example work of t2i or 7d's in a video shoot in a night club?
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Your over thinking yourself here. No matter how many people are in the club there is always only 1 focus you will be directing your audience too. So with that said a simple 3 point lighting setup will light any scene you have directly in front of your camera just fine. Also use a led light or two on your camera to always have the lighting on your artists face.

A nice fast lens would work great as well, I recommend the Canon 24mm 1.4. You might want to stop it down a bit though so you can have a larger dof area though, something like f/2.0 should be fine.
Remember to light your talent from the back, side and front. This will give you a great image. If you want super clean image never shoot above iso 800 as well

good luck
 
stateofmind said:
We will be able to bring in lights (not sure where I will get them from yet, may have to borrow from a friend)...but how should I do the lighting? I obviously want to keep the night club feel, but dont want to be shooting at iso3200 (I have the neat video plug in, but it still leaves some noise at an extremely high iso).

Do any of you have example work of t2i or 7d's in a video shoot in a night club?
Click to expand...


There are a few ways to approach this. You don't give us any idea of your budget, the size of the space, or any other particulars, so my answer will need to be generic.

First order of business is to examine the existing light in the club. Where is it coming from. Most club lighting is VERY toppy. Also deternine if it's hard or soft. Primarily I'd expect it to be hard. With that established, determine what light levels you NEED. You can do this with a light meter, or with the actual camera. Put the camera on ISO 200, set the shutter to 1/60 or as close as you can get, Set your aperture to F4, and read the level meters. Increase the light in the club until that is about 1 stop below center. That is about how much light you need as a base level. Then you need to set your movie lights to replicate the real club lights and they need to be at least 3 stops hotter. This will give you nice contrast. It will also give you room to move both in ISO and F-stop should you need more or less light in a particular shot.

I would not shoot above 400 ISO. I would also not shoot below F2.8 if I didn't have to. Pulling focus in dark, with a small F-Stop challenges the best in the business. Don't go there if you can help it.

You likely will have to make many compromises, but approach your lighting with these things in mind, and you'll be well ahead of most.
 
Having just recently shot in a very, very dark nightclub, I can attest to the fact that it is certainly not easy. Even with lenses that open to 1.8, you might be in situations where you have to shoot at higher ISOs (1250+).

Thankfully, if it is web delivery, such footage is typically viewed in a small window that hides most of the grain. The 3200 ISO footage that I shot is acceptable, especially to someone who simply wants to get their club and its atmosphere seen.

A camera mounted LED can do wonders, just make sure you match the color temperature and probably throw some diffusion on it. Yes, it can draw some attention, but one of the benefits of shooting at a nightclub is the fact that people are typically a few alcoholic beverages deep, dancing, and not really caring what is being shined in their faces. Some people will shy away, but I have never experienced anyone genuinely upset by a being hit with a small light in such an environment.

It also really helped me to have a partner. One of us would take a second light and use it as a backlight or fill. It really helps to have flexibility with lighting angles. Hard backlight makes for great silhouette effects, and it usually draws less attention.

Of course, if you are not shooting a live crowd, this information is probably not really what you are looking for.

Hope I was of some assistance! Good luck.
 
Folks, if we can avoid texting style writing (like "ur") that would be great. It makes posts much harder to read (and is inappropriate) here! Help others here, don't punish them by making them translate! Thank you!


jambredz said:
watch out for the laser lights...if they have any. it seems it can fry ur sensor.
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PerroneFord said:
There are a few ways to approach this. You don't give us any idea of your budget, the size of the space, or any other particulars, so my answer will need to be generic.

First order of business is to examine the existing light in the club. Where is it coming from. Most club lighting is VERY toppy. Also deternine if it's hard or soft. Primarily I'd expect it to be hard. With that established, determine what light levels you NEED. You can do this with a light meter, or with the actual camera. Put the camera on ISO 200, set the shutter to 1/60 or as close as you can get, Set your aperture to F4, and read the level meters. Increase the light in the club until that is about 1 stop below center. That is about how much light you need as a base level. Then you need to set your movie lights to replicate the real club lights and they need to be at least 3 stops hotter. This will give you nice contrast. It will also give you room to move both in ISO and F-stop should you need more or less light in a particular shot.

I would not shoot above 400 ISO. I would also not shoot below F2.8 if I didn't have to. Pulling focus in dark, with a small F-Stop challenges the best in the business. Don't go there if you can help it.

You likely will have to make many compromises, but approach your lighting with these things in mind, and you'll be well ahead of most.
Click to expand...

Wow, thank you!
 
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