This issue let's look at a way to make money AND have fun at the same time. You say, "But Bob�. HOW can I make money AND have fun with my trusty Toaster/Flyer system?" You DID say that, didn't you? What!? You don't believe me�.? Well then, let me 'splain it to you, Lucy.
Have you ever wanted to make a cool music video or promotional video for the local misfits, er, rock n' roll band? But why stop there�. What about a church music program or symphonic band concert? Sure, it looks like it would be difficult to do, but not for us Flyers! All you need is your Toaster/Flyer, two or three camcorders, a couple of tripods, and (of course) Aussie's MultiCam Editor software. Well, you actually don't HAVE to have MCE, but it sure saves a lot of valuable posting time.
For the purposes of this article, let's say this will be a rock concert and the band wants a promotional video they can send to clubs, management companies, and record companies. First off, let me tell you from experience that bands usually have very little money to spend, and sometimes they even make promises they can't keep (like paying for the video after it's completed). It's always wise to get at least half up front so they have a vested interest in meeting their financial obligations. It's much easier to get all your money when you already have half of it AND retain the master tapes. Sometimes the band has a "manager" (I use the term loosely - usually its the drummer's girlfriend's cousin or the singer's Sugar Daddy) who at least has a handle on the financial reigns of the group. In any case, a simple production contract would probably be a wise decision. At least that way, if things go foul (and they DO in the music biz - A LOT!) you at least have some documentation to present to the judge later on. In any event, I make it my policy to NEVER give out as much as a rough, unedited VHS tape of the concert until I have been Paid In Full. You've been warned!
Now that the "business disclaimer" has been covered, let's get to the FUN part! I was recently hired to produce an edited promotional video for a record label on a reggae band who happened to be performing at an outdoor venue held in Ft. Smith, Arkansas. The gig was called RiverFest and the band, called "big big freak", and was the evening's headliner. This was a best case scenario for several reasons. First, there would already be a large PA in place for the concert, so I didn't have to worry about mixing the audio for the video. Second, stage lighting would also be present and I knew my video would look good on it's own merits. And third, the venue and stage area was spacious and well built, and since it was constructed right on the banks of the Arkansas River, it would make a fantastic looking backdrop for the video.
If the band you are recording has a CD or even a demo tape, it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with their music. It will come in very handy during the shoot as a lot of the time you can anticipate a solo or a change-up in a song and get the camera set on the soloist or singer in time. One of Murphy's Laws states that by the time you get the focus and zoom set just right on the performer, the arrangement has moved on to another band member. What you wind up with is a bunch of useless clips that are always centered on the wrong person. You have to learn to anticipate an arrangement. Admittedly, being a musician is a real plus in a situation like this, but it is not a prerequisite. If possible attend a band rehearsal before the shoot and familiarize yourself with their music. Sometimes I even make copious notes about a song or arrangement, and I can consult the notes on location if I have enough time. But most of the time you will be shooting by the seat of your pants, just like any live event coverage. Be prepared for anything and everything!
I always arrive at least an hour early for the shoot and set up my gear right away. This way I can get with the PA engineer and set my levels on the group performing on stage right before my group comes out. There are two basic ways of doing this. One is to set up a camcorder at the PA FOH (Front Of House) position and run audio cables to the PA console. I always take a fishing tackle box full of cables and adapters, as you never know what you're going to get for an audio feed. Sometimes it might be XLR Low/Z impedance Mic level audio, and sometimes it could be �" phone or RCA line level impedance. I use inline transformers, which are terminated with two XLR connectors (the PA end) and a mini-phone stereo connector at the camera end. This end plugs directly into my Sony VX-1000 external Mic input. It is attenuated for line-to-mic impedance, but you will need a little tweaking to get it set so the camcorder's built in audio limiter doesn't squash all your audio. This is of major importance, as no matter how good the video looks, it will defeat the purpose of the video's intention if the sound quality is poor. You can't do much about the PA engineer mixing the show poorly, but at least it won't be YOUR fault. But if the audio is distorted or pumping wildly throughout the performance it'll be your head that rolls. For that reason I set up early and get my audio levels set with the house mixer on another band. Usually, the PA engineer can set up an auxiliary send to your camcorder. If possible, ask for a stereo send so your audio will be in stereo. Closed headphones are advisable as the music level will be loud and you will need to hear what it truly sounds like going to tape. I use the Sony MDR "earbuds" as they keep a lot of external sound out and you can at least hear if you're getting distorted audio or not. They are also low profile and not as hot and heavy to wear in a shoot.
An alternative for those of you with only two cameras would be to use a DAT recorder or MiniDisc recorder to capture the audio. Do not use a standard cassette recorder as analog drifts too much to synch it all up later. That's why I use my VX-1000 for CAM1, because it's digital and the audio will be locked up through the entire performance, which will last from 45 minutes to an hour. Even though I use the audio from CAM1, I only use CAM1's video footage at the start or ending of each song in the set, if I have no decent footage I can use from the other camera sources, or as a transition from one of the other camera positions. I set the zoom on CAM1 to include only a tight shot of the entire group on stage. My CAM2 position (in this case a standard consumer Sony 8mm camcorder) is tripod-mounted and set up on stage left with a medium wide shot of the lead singer's performance area. I allow enough room for the singer to roam a bit and sometimes other musicians will also be captured with this angle. CAM3 (Sony Hi8mm CCD-VX3) is my "roving camera". I usually have this camcorder fixed to my Stedicam JR so I can move about on stage and still get good footage, but it is not a necessity, given today's modern "MTV-style" of jerky camera movement. The added benefit from using the Stedicam JR was that I could get that "live" feel to the video, and even got some of those cool looking "over the singer's shoulder looking into the crowd" shots.
At this point let me add that I did this shoot with only my wife's assistance. She manned the CAM1 position, mainly to monitor and confirm that we were getting audio and to keep audience members from stealing the camcorder! CAM2 was fixed position on the stage itself and running all the time, and I was shooting CAM3 on the Stedicam JR and getting most of the main footage. Most of the time I had decent enough footage from my CAM3 that I used about half of this camcorder's footage for the video. If I had to rush to another position quickly to set up a close up of a soloist, drum fill, or interaction between two band members on the opposite side of the stage, I simply cut to either CAM1 or CAM2 until I was set up to return to the CAM1 shot.
During post production I used MultiCam Editor set for three cameras and used the audio from CAM1's digital audio feed from the PA console. During the breaks between songs I also used some of the camcorder's Mic audio so the viewing audience could hear the concert audience's reactions to stage banter and also to capture the applause after each song. Also, rather than try to do the entire concert at one time I chose to edit each song in the set as a separate Flyer Project. This made editing much easier to sync up and then when I was finished I just pasted all the Projects together and made a seamless concert for the client. I also added the song title, name of the group, and record company banner at the start and end of each individual song so the group could cut out any one song and use it for a promotional "single", complete with MTV-style titling. I also used my TBC's "strobe" function and set it to the minimum setting (2) when digitizing the original footage into the Flyer, which gave the normally sterile-looking video a "film look" that the band really thought was cool. The previous day they had been featured on a TV news report and the station thoughtfully provided the band with a copy. Furthermore, I shot a few quick segments of the band members saying a few things about themselves with the river and concert stage as the backdrop. Then I edited these clips and the interview throughout the project, which gave it a real "promo" feel and broke the monotony of a continuous live concert. I created a couple of nice CG pages with the record company logo prominently displayed, announcing the band's latest CD offering which opened the video. After seeing the finished product the record company decided to include a copy of the video to all participating record stores as an in-house looping video display.
And just so you know I am not exempt to Murphey's Law, I will add here that 30 seconds into the opening song, somebody in the crowd accidentally tripped over a wire and killed the power source to CAM1. It took the PA crew two complete songs to locate and correct the problem, so I could not use the first two songs in the video as it contained our valuable audio feed. So what did I learn here? NEXT time I will use battery power on CAM1 and not take the easy way out. Other than that, it went without a hitch. Thank goodness the soundman was excellent and the mix was great. The band was pleased, the record company was satisfied, and we had a blast doing the shoot and hanging out backstage for the day. I invested 8 hours drive time (round trip), a total of 2 hours on location shooting, and about 6 hours doing post-production. My charges for the entire project were under $2,000. Remember, these type of clients (regional acts and independent record companies) cannot afford a lot of money so you have to make the project cost effective without giving your talents away. We had so much fun it seemed a shame to take their money (but I did anyway!)
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