Shooting a concert - Need some help

Hello guys.

Friday and Saturday i'll be shooting some fulls songs, not the whole concert but some songs that will be aired in a TV program related to what will happen in those two days. So it's just not concert but also other activities to shoot but it's with the concert that i need some help.

There will be some bands and the thing is, there is the possibiliy to use two cameras but i'm alone and i would have a lot more material to carry on with me in this trip and i would have extra work.

But i guess that the safest way to shoot it would be with 2 cameras? What if it was just one, how could it be done? I could shoot one theme from one band with soft movements (zooms and pans) between the singer and the band and the next song that the same band plays, i would do focus on close shots in the instruments and crowd to cut between during montage. But i guess this would be a bit riskier? What do you guys think would be the best option?

Thank you guys.
 
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I once shot alone at a (metal) festival.
What I did:
Shoot one complete song and use the rest of the show to get footage of the band playing and the crowd and the lights, etc. (I also shot slowmotion)
During edit I cut out all the bad visuals from the complete sing and replaced it with other shots.
It's not perfect:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RT3XllKbME

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wePF7xm09n4

If you use 2 cameras, do you have a second operator as well?
Or would you should 1 static wide of the band and collect closeups with the second camera?
Don't forget 'B-roll' of the crowd or other details (flying beer? ;) )
 
A single take of a band doesn't look very professional, IMO. Ideally you'd use two cameras and two camera ops, but if that's not possible you can frame a wide fixed shot of the stage with the extra camera.

Your camera should be focusing on medium and tight shots of the performers and their instruments. Listen to the music ahead of time so you know where the best solos and fills are, and fix your camera on that musician just prior to the fill.

Unrelated to the video question, see if you can hook your audio recorder up to the board instead of micing the room. When I was just getting started, I shot a concert in a huge live venue and the audio was unusable. I had to very creatively edit around the band's album cut of the same song but you can tell it's pre-recorded.
 
Thank you for your replies.

WalterB that was nicely done. If i use two cameras, there will be no second operator, just me. So yes, i was thinking leave that camera static and wide and i think i'll go for the stage to to close and medium shots. Maybe that's the best way!


SixOhThree, yes i'm also afraid that things dont look good with one single shot (even if i use another song to do tights shots to the instruments). So even with extra work and more material to carry with me, 2 camera would definately be the best?

Yes,i'll also have to check how good the sound is
 
as long as you won't have to worry about the second camera being stolen the whole time, I'd say using a second camera is a great idea, if not essential. I shot a concert a few weeks ago with a single camera on a steadicam. My arm has never been more fatigued and sore in my entire life, haha. If you have a shoulder rig (diy ones work pretty damn well too) I think that's the best option for stable footage especially because you don't want to have to lug around a tripod to every angle you want to get. Maybe one camera on a tripod facing the band at a 45 degree angle and then shoulder rig shots from areas in the crowd? Personally I love seeing the band behind the silhouettes of hands in the air, heads bobbing, etc. Make sure the audio gain on your camera is turned way down! try to get a sound check if you are wanting to use the real audio instead of subbing in recorded stuff. Hope this helps!
 
Thanks WhiteOpus.

I see what you mean, i also love to see the silhouettes in front of the band. I dont have a shoulder rig. I think i'll leave the static camera on a tripod behind the crowd (but a little lower so the silhouettes can be visible but also the band) and i'll do the other one handheld on the stage to get some close shots. The basic way, i guess.
 
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Your best bet would be to see if you can put at camera in the sound booth, those tend to be straight back from the stage, so you could have a locked off shot from there, and bonus, get a feed of the mix right out of their board into camera.. Then you can run around with another camera to get close ups and other more dynamic footage.

Ideally you'd want multiple camera ops running around with cameras getting lots of inserts and B-roll.. but one with a locked off cam is certainly better than just one camera on its own.
 
Thank you Will!

Just dont know if i use auto focus with the camera i'll be using. Going handheld, maybe with zooms sometimes and focus will be very hard to do it without unsteadiness.
 
My 2 cents would be that the crowd shots are like gold. Get some stuff of the front row reacting, and any kind of head banging/mosh pits/crowd interaction (all depending on the genre obviously) you can get.

If you can 2 camera it, get one in the sound booth of a tripod and get the above throughout the gig. Camera 1 try and get a clean take of just the stage if possible.

Have you got a zoom lens? Try and get some zoom shots of the picks hitting the guitars. Hands on fretboards, cymbal crashes, lights on the amps etc, any sort of blurred stage action too.

Also the already discussed silhouettes of crowd whilst the band play in the backdrop.

Then overlay that all over your master shot.

I'd also say the heavier the music the faster your cuts. If it's punk music lots of frantic cuts to add the energy of the music into the edit.

Hopefully thats of some use, that's how I'd do it. It's always going to be tough doing it as a one man show, the key is not to over do it and attempt to get some kind of DVD quality multi cam mix and play to the DIY. Stylise it to suit your setup.
 
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