Video of a local Philly Band

Here's a video is did of a local band here in Philly.




The quality stinks and I'm trying to figure out how I could upload a better quality vid under 100mb.

I'm using a Canon HV20. Stayed in one spot for this song.
Zoomed in for close ups of each person.
I guess it's not much in terms of content but, oh well...

Not bad. Even the audio was above average. The only observation I'd make is, if you were the only camera, then you needed to "edit in-camera" -- should have gone in closer sooner. That master played itself out very quickly, and without coverage, there's no point in doing a shot where you see all four members.

And I would have picked another font for the titles. But, this is a good example where simplicity is good. I don't think the font necessarily fit the band, but it was simple enough that it also didn't look bad, just a little plain.

One more note: When you were varying your shots, you seemed to go only for extremes -- either an ECU of the band members, or right back out to the master. Next time, try adding in some angles in between -- rack focus between the drummer and the lead singer, for example, or the bass player with the singer. When you're shooting a live event with a single camera, it's always better -- in fact, necessary -- to play it less safe.

The band wasn't too exciting visually, but there isn't anything you could've done about that. But you should show the band members the video. It'll help them see that they need to cut back a bit on standing still and looking down at their instruments.


www.derekmok.com

Hi Derek, I follow this forum and like your comments. I know there are many ways to record live music, but in your opinion what is the best way to record a small band in a bar setting, IE not plugging into a sound board. I use both GL-2s and Xl-2s using the meters on camera the music still seems to clip. Thanks for any info.

Rick

> in your opinion what is the best way to record a small band in a bar setting, IE not plugging into
> a sound board

That *is* the best way! But if you don't have access to that, you can get a better microphone for the camera. The most important thing is to tailor your sound levels to make sure they don't blow out, remembering to allow for the loudest points of the music. Low-ish sound levels are easier to fix than blown-out sound levels.

I use the GL2 as well, and I've been shooting a monthly open jam where I also play and sing. The jam is mostly blues and rock, and it's very loud, and my camera is only about seven feet from the stage. I can't plug into the PA system either because this jam is so small that the PA system is behind the band, to the right of the drum kit. I pretty much have to set the sound inputs on my GL2 very close to the bottom -- nudge the scroll wheel a smidge and it's at zero. But that way, I'm able to keep the sound from blowing out.


www.derekmok.com

Thanks Derek, "nudge the scroll wheel a smidge" those wheels are touchy and the slightest bit too high clips. I did buy a Rode NTG-2 with a sock on it better but as you say a smidge goes along way. When I use my XL2 plugged in to a sound board it's effortless, don't like that cam at small venues.

Rick

Not Bad but as derek says very plain.

Even if you have only 1 cam you can move around more. Dont stop the cam or your audio is screwed. there were people there and you could have capture some crowd or in bar stuff as b roll to cut into the band on stage.

nopt to sy that this is great but here is one that i did 2 years ago with 2 panasonic gs220 consumer cams.

MUSIC CLIP

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

> there were people there and you could have capture some crowd or in bar stuff as b roll to cut
> into the band on stage.

Couldn't disagree more. Why would you want unrelated "crowd" shots to cut into the music performance. Now, if you were shooting the crowd while another band plays, or during another song, then you can fake it. But even then, crowd shots are some of the most overrated devices in a live music video (watch Michael Jackson's concert films and you'll see -- endless shots of MJ fans fainting get tired about 30 seconds into the first song), especially if you're just shooting the bar when the crowd isn't actually watching and reacting to a performance. And there are 50 seconds of the band playing in the beginning -- what're you going to do, 20 seconds of crowd shots?

Crowd shots are only okay (and just barely) if you have, say, three other very good, very responsive cameras covering the actual show. Otherwise, useless. Especially in a one-camera shoot.


www.derekmok.com

I have never done it with one camera. The video i did the b-roll cuts were based on what was in the lyrics. we also had 2 cams 2 operators. Most of the b-roll shots are filmed while the band was playing the song.

But if i were to do a one camera shoot for a band i would move more than that. I may have found an obscure angle thru the crowd to show crowd reaction while they played.
I may have tried to get get an onstage angle out to the crowd.

But all of those shots would have required some type of cut to to hide the frantic movement of the camera from angle to angle. This is where i would incorporate the other shots. A guy obviously hitting on a chick, friends in a grung dance cu,. or someone dancing as example.

I do feel that on stage performances need 3 cams minimum to really get the feel captured. At least 1 static and 2 hand held left and right.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

> I have never done it with one camera.

Which means he couldn't have done it here. This is obviously a single-camera shoot.


www.derekmok.com

Correct Sir! LOL

It was this band's first ever performance on stage and I had brought my camera to videotape them. I recorded the entire performance, about 20 minutes or so, and changed angles on different songs.

I would definitely use 3 cams if I wanted to capture the essence of a performance and keep it interesting.

I was using a Canon HV20 and even though I was about 15-20ft from the stage and loud it recorded the audio pretty good.

mok,
Would my premise for 'how to' have applied in a multi-camera shot? I was just wondering your opinion.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

yeah the audio was very good and it was pretty good for one cam.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

> Would my premise for 'how to' have applied in a multi-camera shot?

Opinions differ here, but I've never liked crowd shots. In a typical four-minute song I find that five to 10 seconds of crowd shots are enough, if they were going to be used at all. Unless something extraordinary happens in the crowd. The average live music video tends to overvalue crowd shots. Think about it -- if a person buys a music DVD, is s/he trying to look at the artist and the show, or is s/he looking at the crowds?

The coverage choices increase with the number of cameras. If I were directing, this is how I would prioritize cameras, if all angles were available:

Camera #1: Roaming, emphasis on mediums and medium-closes, assume "in-camera editing", assume there's no other coverage
Camera #2: Roaming, emphasis on medium-wides and close-ups, assume "in-camera editing", favour the lead singer (aka "the person you can always cut to"
Camera #3: Steady, focusing on mediums and medium-wides (the "insurance" angle)
Camera #4: Crane
Camera #5: Roaming, C-Us only, emphasis on performers usually neglected (drummer, keyboardist, backup singers, orchestra etc.)
Camera #6: Wings (shoot from side of stage, performers in f.g.)
Camera #7: Roaming, in crowd
Camera #8: Wide on entire stage

Honestly, if camera operators would do their homework more and watch some classic music shooting (eg. Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz) and learn their craft better, we'd all have a better time. Modern camera operators are so obsessed with trying to get "virtuoso" shots (big dollies, huge pans, speed zooms, rack focus, all the hip-hop toys) that their usable-not raatio is way down. So few of them understand that people are watching the action happening, not the damned camera and editing.


www.derekmok.com

Ah, corbett...

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Quote
Derek Mok
Honestly, if camera operators would do their homework more and watch some classic music shooting (eg. Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz) and learn their craft better, we'd all have a better time.

You are 1001% correct.
I have seen some operators talking about cameras, what they do, one brand better than other, etc, etc...
But the truth is showned in the shots.... Man, is the focus to dificult to manage or the tripod to heavy?

Derek, with a little more info, what a good tutorial you could write to the fórum.

Philly, you can use one camera shot, as sequence shot like this one


"Unfinish Symphaty" M.A.
just do a small plan of the space along with the band rehearsal.

I've enjoyed it.

Rui Barros
Editor Colorist Trainer
Lisbon, Portugal
RTP Post-Production
Apple Certified Trainer FCP 7
Apple Certified Pro FCP 7

> I have seen some operators talking about cameras, what they do, one brand better than other,
> etc, etc..

Ha ha. How true. And now with the advent of HD, it's yet another trap the camera people can fall into -- getting far too obsessed about technical quality and throwing craft to the wind.

The main problem is that too many modern camera operators don't understand editing. They don't know why their shots don't cut well. And producers who love cheesy hip-hop effects think that a bouncy, undecisive camera is "energetic". And when it comes time to shoot something informative, intimate or delicate, where the camera has to be invisible rather than manic, they're like deer caught in headlights. And then they clamor for things like Smoothcam and post-production effects to fix, at the editing level, what should have been human muscle, sinew, and judgment at the camera level.


www.derekmok.com