Shooting a recording studio commercial

[lxjordanxl]

Hey guys,
I am shooting 0:45 commercial for a friend of mine who owns his own recording studio. I am very amateur with my knowledge of lighting and I'm kind of scared about going into shoot and not delivering on what he is envisioning. The owner is envisioning a high tech, clean commercial with very smooth movements throughout. (using a slider to pan through the sound board, maybe a dolly on a track to go through the lobby, crane shot of the artist performing on the mic, etc). He told me that he wants the overall video to be high tech and I'm thinking that means a lot of light. I went to his website and pulled a couple of photographs he had of a studio and wanted to get your input on how I can recreate the look on these shots to give it that high tech, overall clean product. (attaching 3 images). I am shooting on a Canon 7D and I have a 50mm 1.8, a Tamron 10-22mm 3.5, and a regular Canon Ultrasonic 28-135mm. If anyone would could help me out and tell me what kind of lighting or equipment I woud need to achieve this look it would be great!! THANK YOU!

 

[PraverbDotNet]

It appears that you have a lot of natural lighting. You can buy some inexpensive work lights from Home Depot or Lowes to enhance the lighting...I would use the mastering suite to interview the studio owner...you definitely want to highlight the equipment, recording rooms, and mastering suite.

Patrick

 

[lxjordanxl]

Thanks for the reply Patrick! The reason those lights are so bright is because the photograph was taken on a tripod with the shutter speed set at like 5 seconds that allowed him to get the perfect exposure. With the 7D, shooting video, I will not be able to get so much light in. Any ideas?

 

[ErikTande]

Go for the work lights Patrick mentioned, and bring along some translucent material to diffuse it with. (A white sheet might work well, just be careful not to set it on fire).

 

[lxjordanxl]

Thanks for the reply Eric. Don't those lights get quite hot?

 

[ErikTande]

Yes, they do. El Director has a really good example of an inexpensive worklight lighting setup here:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?278692-I-wanna-see-your-BTS-Lighting-Setups!

 

[Allan Black]

Looks like a nice (expensive) studio set up.

I'd look at the other end of the job, find out what kind of clients he wants to attract and aim the spot at them. That might dictate what type of lighting you need, which could be a low mood look, you can get a high tech feel with that.

Other things to consider .. the narrator, corporate or rock etc. Also where will the spot be aired? Who is handling the scheduling and bookings?

For TV scheduling cost wise, it might be better to have shorter spots, say 3x30 secs so you could have a different theme for 3 different types of clients
for which you could vary the lighting for each one. Air each one in the relevant programs and time slots.

There's the delivery end too, find out what format the TV outlets require before you start shooting.

All this might seem too much at this stage but I'd get some help. If you call around the TV companies, they'll be some kind soul who'll help and you'll
learn heaps and heaps.

Cheers.

 

[PraverbDotNet]

Great advice Allan...never thought of the angle that you presented.

Patrick

 

[lxjordanxl]

Amazing perspective sir, thank you so much!

Looks like a nice (expensive) studio set up.

I'd look at the other end of the job, find out what kind of clients he wants to attract and aim the spot at them. That might dictate what type of lighting you need, which could be a low mood look, you can get a high tech feel with that.

Other things to consider .. the narrator, corporate or rock etc. Also where will the spot be aired? Who is handling the scheduling and bookings?

For TV scheduling cost wise, it might be better to have shorter spots, say 3x30 secs so you could have a different theme for 3 different types of clients
for which you could vary the lighting for each one. Air each one in the relevant programs and time slots.

There's the delivery end too, find out what format the TV outlets require before you start shooting.

All this might seem too much at this stage but I'd get some help. If you call around the TV companies, they'll be some kind soul who'll help and you'll
learn heaps and heaps.

Cheers.

 

[Allan Black]

Thinking more about this project here's how I would go about it. Ask the question, why would clients, whoever they may be, come and record in this studio, knowing that there are studios with similar equipment.

Well the rates for a start, but they can be adjusted to fit the duration of the job.

What attracts clients is the in house atmosphere and the experience and attitude of the engineers. So that's what I'd push in my ads, keeping in mind the hi-tech feel.

I'd get some happy clients and have them relate their experiences with the gear and the engineers, quoting the quality of the sound.

But if the studio is brand new, some good demos are needed and by some local name artists.
Might be good to tie up the adv spot and the production of 4 colour brochures and the making of the demo.

Some name clients have their own engineers so if the studio owner will let other engineers work there, I'd approach some and work out a deal to get a demo produced, then have the engineer record an endorsement.

Another area of business is the ethnic music scene, don't under estimate that. 30yrs ago I found that once you build a good reputation there, it'll last a very long time. We used to get European stars come to Sydney for an ethnic club engagement, fall in love with Sydney, the Opera House and the harbour and want to record a CD here with local musicians, to be released in Europe.

It doesn't relate to the local economy and it built into a huge business when other studios first scoffed at it. And you get other jobs from that, eg: a local feature film wanted Greek bouzouki music tracks and we knew who to book to play them.

So you can make ethnic TV spots to play to the relevent market.

Cheers.

 

[lxjordanxl]

Allan, thank you so much for your time. You are THE MAN!

Thinking more about this project here's how I would go about it. Ask the question, why would clients, whoever they may be, come and record in this studio, knowing that there are studios with similar equipment.

Well the rates for a start, but they can be adjusted to fit the duration of the job.

What attracts clients is the in house atmosphere and the experience and attitude of the engineers. So that's what I'd push in my ads, keeping in mind the hi-tech feel.

I'd get some happy clients and have them relate their experiences with the gear and the engineers, quoting the quality of the sound.

But if the studio is brand new, some good demos are needed and by some local name artists.
Might be good to tie up the adv spot and the production of 4 colour brochures and the making of the demo.

Some name clients have their own engineers so if the studio owner will let other engineers work there, I'd approach some and work out a deal to get a demo produced, then have the engineer record an endorsement.

Another area of business is the ethnic music scene, don't under estimate that. 30yrs ago I found that once you build a good reputation there, it'll last a very long time. We used to get European stars come to Sydney for an ethnic club engagement, fall in love with Sydney, the Opera House and the harbour and want to record a CD here with local musicians, to be released in Europe.

It doesn't relate to the local economy and it built into a huge business when other studios first scoffed at it. And you get other jobs from that, eg: a local feature film wanted Greek bouzouki music tracks and we knew who to book to play them.

So you can make ethnic TV spots to play to the relevent market.

Cheers.