How Do You Shoot? Digital Video for Live Performance

[Folkmusician.com]

Mike very nice!

To me, multi-angles makes such a big difference.

[mikeonthemandolin]

Thanks

[Folkmusician.com]

I guess this brings up a question for all of you?

How important is multiple angles and keeping the video popping, vs getting a good clean shot as in a static wide angle with proper focus, exposure?

Obviously having both is ideal, but assuming it is one or the other, which is more important?

I guess my example would be the disaster of a video I posted (which I do find entertaining), vs. the same video if it were a high quality static wide angle shot?

[Dave Bradford]

Not state of the art, but this was recorded on an iPad Air 2 using a Caddy Buddy attached to a sign in the center of the room we were playing in. Nothing was done to enhance the audio or video, but I was pleasantly pleased with how it captured this song that night.

[BradKlein]

I shot the video below with a Canon 70d. Natural light coming in from my window. The key for me was to install the Technicolour Cinestyle colour profile in the camera and then use the LUT for colour correction...

Thanks for posting, Mike. Your post really brings home how much I have to learn about color correction and postproduction image processing. I'm really quite seat of the pants, relying only on the most basic color correction tools in Final Cut. But since I'm almost never shooting in daylight, I don't try that hard for 'natural' results. This is another typical, low light indoor club shoot. But I suspect I could learn a lot about drawing out better skin tones and generally making the footage more vivid in post.



As for iPhone footage and 'action cams' like the zoom units - there's no doubt they work fine for documenting a performance and of course that's the great bulk of what's up on youtube. But that's the background that the artists I'm working with are trying to stand out from. There's plenty of room between fully produced music videos and fan produced material. Some of that get's done by commercial performance television, think Austin City Limits - but there's still a need for documenting live performance on a tight budget, with the highest production values one can manage.

[foldedpath]

I'm really quite seat of the pants, relying only on the most basic color correction tools in Final Cut. But since I'm almost never shooting in daylight, I don't try that hard for 'natural' results. This is another typical, low light indoor club shoot. But I suspect I could learn a lot about drawing out better skin tones and generally making the footage more vivid in post.

I think getting a natural (or at least not weird-looking) skin tone is important, unless there is stage lighting that is obviously colored. And then of course you want to preserve that look. In the clip you posted, there is a magenta cast that might be stage lighting color, but because it's uniform across the band, it doesn't read that way. If it were me, I'd try to correct that in post.

This is one reason my instinct is to always try to light things myself, but that's from a former career in still photography (with a touch of film/video on the side). I know with live stage situations you don't usually have that option and have to work with what's there. However, if you're looking to work with the band, instead of just doing a live capture of an event, you might see if they can arrange a dedicated video shoot where you can provide lighting indoors, or an outdoor situation that looks good.

Another side to this is similar to having good monitor speakers for audio editing, and that's the need for a reasonably color correct monitor. You might not need one of the pro versions that can be calibrated if it happens to fall within a tight enough range out of the box, but a pro version does help eliminate guesswork. Otherwise you're sort of shooting in the dark with color correction. I use a BenQPG421 calibrated monitor for some of the graphics work I do (I don't do enough video to justify it). It's an example of the kind of monitor that can help with color correction.

Just what you needed, more ways to spend money, right?

[Folkmusician.com]

Have guys seen this?

https://www.manfrotto.us/shop-by/col...gital-director

[mikeonthemandolin]

I'm actually just learning about lighting and colour correction now. There are some excellent tutorials on Lynda.com. It makes such a huge difference.