Still new to video - first comedy gig!

aserota

aserota

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Hi all,

I've been asked to record a friends stand up comedy gig next week and I wanted a little above! I've only previously shot one video interview (which went well) but I have limited time to setup for this one.

Equipment is fine, I plan to shoot with 2 DSLRs; 5d3 with a Tamron 24-70 (stationary on a 3 way head) and then a 70d with a 70-200 on a decent fluid head. I'll probably setup my S6 or a GoPro just if something fails with one of the cameras. In terms of audio I have a Zoom H4a which I've been told can be plugged into the PA system (which is super handy).

So put simply I want to set the stationary camera central and then have the 70d with zoom off to one side with follow focus. My friend originally asked for a single shot video, but I don't think this is a good option so will suggest a different solution. Any other thoughts as I'm likely to be shooting this on my own?

Also is there a format that you'd suggest to shoot in across both cameras? I was thinking 720p would be fine as this is mainly for YouTube and basic promo stuff (nothing too serious at the moment).

I'll have an hour to set everything up on the night so meticulous planning will commence very soon!
 
Your biggest problem may well be power.
Shooting video on a dslr eats batteries.
So i would be thinking of an external power pack if i were you, if you havnt got an external power supply then youll need plenty of batteries, but you will miss footage every time you change them.
Hope this helps, let us know how it goes and good luck.
 
Thanks for the advice! What sort of life should I get out of the batteries at 1080p?

I can setup a couple of smart phones with power and make sure batteries are switched when others are on
 
Excellent advice thanks :)

I'll have to plan out a 30 minute staggered switchover! I'll make sure there's at least one camera recording at once. My friend really doesn't care about quality or filming in general so I'll do my best regardless
 
With a separate audio recording through the Zoom, if you ensure you have a selection audience shots wider and closeup you can intersperse them to cover any gaps in changeovers as you will have the audio. In any case a static shot throughout gets tedious to watch, general rule of thumb is 30 secs before a change, though rules can be broken :) Even shooting with a single camera can be sorted with good editing afterwards, provided you have some alternative footage to use. Outside shot of the venue, queues etc can provide a lead in over the dialogue before the on stage shot starts. Imagination.....
 
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This will be an interesting experiment! So I'm taking along a friend who's techie but knows nothing about cameras or video (still a lot more use then doing this on my own). What you recommend in terms of right tripod/lens/body on each setup? My hardware will be as follows:
- 5d3 & 70d
- 70-200 f2.8 isii
- 24-70 f2.8 (VC)
- Manfrotto 3 way head/tripod (OK for small pans and smooth movement)
- Video fluid head/tripod

In my experience the 70-200 on the 70d and video fluid head will give the most consistent and therefore best video (as the focus tracks without messing about) - therefore I was going to use this to guarantee a good framing of the comedian. The 5d3 would be static more of the time and therefore the other manfrotto head would be used with a wider 24-70. I planned to use this without any movement, but as suggested audience shots would be great. The issue is that this camera would require manual focussing, which could mean his footage would be a little hit and miss (he's not done this before). So should I get my buddy to turn this camera around every 5 minutes and pickout audience members and then focus back on the stage or should I not risk it and do all the moving work myself (and just get him to switch up batteries when I mess about with the cameras and focus?)
 
You may only get around 10 minutes of footage per battery, but there are so many variables that could effect this that you'll just have to do a dry run first. Either way it's better to be aware that it is an issue with dslr's that were designed to shoot 1 frame at a time, not 25 fps for 30 minutes at a time.
 
Genuine nikon on a d750. And thats using manual focus and external mic.
I did however have an external recorder (atomos blade) hooked up to the hdmi output to record uncompressed 1080 at 220mbps, but even so i was shocked at how quickly the batteries drained.
 
So I shot the video and it went better then planned :) Definitely learnt a lot for future shooting!

First issue I'm having is editing the footage - I'm using an ultrabook (i5, 8gb RAM, 1gb graphics) but it just can't hand Premiere CS6. I'll try a friends tricked out Macbook Pro (which I've used in the past for editing). I'm also struggling with syncing up the audio and videos with each other!? Previously I just loaded the footage into FinalCut Pro and bobs your uncle it was there and ready to switch between cameras. Unfortunately I'm having issues with Premiere as there's a single audio clip, but then 3 cameras with 3-4 video recordings on each. Is this a common issue on Premiere or just me being a newb on the system?
 
Will do, I threw this onto my friends MBP and it seems to process the sound and video correctly (ran out of disk space, so will try again tomorrow). Hopefully I will get this edited by COP tomorrow
 
aserota said:
So I shot the video and it went better then planned :) Definitely learnt a lot for future shooting!

First issue I'm having is editing the footage - I'm using an ultrabook (i5, 8gb RAM, 1gb graphics) but it just can't hand Premiere CS6. I'll try a friends tricked out Macbook Pro (which I've used in the past for editing). I'm also struggling with syncing up the audio and videos with each other!? Previously I just loaded the footage into FinalCut Pro and bobs your uncle it was there and ready to switch between cameras. Unfortunately I'm having issues with Premiere as there's a single audio clip, but then 3 cameras with 3-4 video recordings on each. Is this a common issue on Premiere or just me being a newb on the system?
Click to expand...

You'd expect an individual listing for each file you import.

You can then align to the audio track manually or in software.

If you've got time code, you may be able to multi camera edit.
 
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