One-camera shoot of live performances

S

ShBm

Member
I am going to be filming several concerts in the coming months and I have a few questions. I'll start with what I know. First, I'm doing this on my own for my college's online newspaper (I'm the web producer and want more content so I'm going out independently to get it--I am the only one who judges this extra stuff.

Anyway, I went last week and the stage is about 100ft., probably under 100 people in attendance. They only use maybe 25ft. of the stage, dead center, pretty good lighting in that spot and they're very stationary (last week was flute, piano and cello, this week will be piano and cello; they aren't moving much).

I am using an HMC150, only camera I have. What I did last time was get some shots of the audience, cu's of performers, various b roll. Then I got a master shot from the back with everyone in frame while I recorded audio from front row with H4n. Sounded WAY better than I expected and is very suitable for my needs.

The problem I ran into was I didn't like how my b-roll fit with the master. Basically, I had this semi-wide shot synced with the audio, and other shots you could tell it was a different song. I am anticipating this problem for the next shows. Last time I ended up using just the master with audio, but it looks very boring.

Does anyone have tips for shooting this type of event on a single camera?
 
How often do you do this? Weekly? Are there any funds for second camera or maybe a rental? That's the obvious solutions to your problem. Set the second camera to roll wide.
 
I am filming every week using my equipment, and I can't afford anything else right now. The school has cameras, but they're very limited and it's hard to get them when I need them.
 
Cut together different several performances of the same concert, if there's more than one show. But make sure the performers are dressed identically for each show.
 
It's actually a different performer each night. I have only that night (concerts last about an hour and a half or a little more) to get the footage I need. Has anyone had luck with one-camera shoots like these? Maybe some example footage?
 
ShBm said:
It's actually a different performer each night. I have only that night (concerts last about an hour and a half or a little more) to get the footage I need. Has anyone had luck with one-camera shoots like these? Maybe some example footage?
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Hey,
Check this out.

http://whatweseeiswhatyouget.com/thetouch/three/Entries/2009/4/30_The_Dears.html


The other thing is, if you only need like 2-3 songs for the video then you'll get plenty of footage to edit in together to make it look like there are several cameras.

Check this video out - (live music scenes only)
http://whatweseeiswhatyouget.com/thetouch/three/Entries/2009/8/2_Eagles_of_Death_Metal.html
There is an extra cam there for the interview but check out the live footage-

Hope this helps
 
I have done several one-camera shoots for live events and it is a challenge to be sure! Just a suggestion: Go to the hall early and find out what pieces they will be performing. Ask one or two of the performers if they would sign a release and play a couple of measures of one or two of the songs while you film their hands playing. Then drop the clips in to break up your live wide shot of the actual performance. This will give the look of a two (or even three) camera operation.
 
Another trick is to shoot closeups of playing during a song you won't use as B-Roll, like it sounds like you did I guess, gets lots of close shots, of hands, feet, drum sticks, etc. Then, here's the TIP, use that as cover/B-roll in your real edit of a full song in SLOW MOTION. If you're shooting 60i, then slow it by half, if you have a 7D, then shoot 60p and conform it to 30 or 24. Anyway, the point is, people will automatically see that it's slo mo, and they won't expect it to match with the audio, they will expect it to NOT match actually, so it's not as jarring or noticeable in my opinion. That can work sometimes, but give it a try and see what you think for yourself. Anyway, just another option.
 
ShBm said:
Does anyone have tips for shooting this type of event on a single camera?
Click to expand...


Check out Tainted's site baytaper.com

I've been a fan of his work for several months now, and before even reading this thread, I had always marveled at what a slick job he does with just single camera coverage.
 
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