With the release of Emery’s “I’m Only a Man” today, featuring a Bonus DVD and 5 Live Acoustic tracks produced by Titus Films, it’s like having another child. Not that I currently have any (ever…?), but I can bet it’s like seeing your son or daughter walk across the stage at graduate.

All posterity aside, in the following posts I hope to present an overview of how to go about producing live concert footage for a 5-camera shoot, showing how to plan the shoot step-by-step, some of the issues you may run into along the way, how you can work around them, and little things you need to keep straight from start to finish.

Please note, this is NOT a guide on how to do bootleg videos. This guide will assume you are pursuing all the necessary channels to legitimately and legally shoot the show you have planned.

This series will consist of 6-parts. I plan to cover everything from pre-production through post-production, with emphasis on planning the production aspects so everything goes smoothly on your shooting day. Here is the outline for what I will be covering:

Part 1, Overview & Preparing for the show (you are here)
Part 2, Audio Production
Part 3, Video Production
Part 4, Shooting the show
Part 5, Post Production
Part 6, Exporting & Delivery

I will answer such questions as:

How do I even get started filming a concert?
How do I gather a crew to operate cameras and run audio?
What is some of the best gear to use on a budget and still produce great results?
What details need to be hammered out before I even pickup my camera?
What should I do at the show to make sure it goes smoothly?

Now that you know what to expect, let’s get down to business in Part 1, with a general overview of the concept behind concert documentation and the steps you need to consider before showing up with a truck of gear.

Overview

You might be thinking, “Oh come on, it’s not that hard to film a live concert… I’ll just round up 4 friends, smuggle in 4 small camcorders, position them around the audience, sync our watches to 11:00pm and then hit record… post the video on YouTube and embed it in my blog (hey, wanna check out my blog?) and I’m on my way to Internet stardom, right?” Not so fast there, grasshopper. Planning your project, no matter what you’re shooting, is the most important part of a live event–especially in a fast-paced one-take event like a concert.

A lot goes into planning a live shoot… we’re talkin’ audio, video, gear, security (the big bouncer guys AND securing your gear), copyright issues, technical know-how, and can I reiterate audio quality (you are at a music concert after all, right?) Keeping all of this straight as a 1-man show can be difficult, especially if you are not as knowledgeable in one or more areas. I’ve found that many people are informed about one half of the equation, but not so much the other half. Better to be a specialist in one area instead of a jack-of-all-trades, though, right?

When shooting a live event like a concert, you are at the mercy of your surroundings. You will often have no control or input on how much light is on the stage, what the audio mix will sound like, where you’re allowed to go or even what you’re allowed to film.

To pull off a live show properly is very difficult to do by yourself. You can’t possibly be manning 5 cameras, all the while checking audio levels on your soundboard and mic-feed. A sad realization, yes, I know. If you’re getting paid by the band, you can probably hire out some people to help or you can find other random crew members with gear and a passion for taping on various online forums.

• Archive.org – Free audio files of previously taped concerts. Download a few songs from different artists and see what other people are doing. Also a great resource for learning what gear people are using, as many are detailed accounts of lineage.
• etree.org – Live music hub where many people list live shows they have taped or have traded for.
• TapersSection.com – Source for live audio tapers to talk gear and about upcoming shows. Lots of help for newbie audio tapers, too.
• DVXUser.com – Main forums focus on the Panasonic DVX100 and HVX200 cameras, but has forums for all aspects of production.
• DVinfo.net - Another great source for info on cameras.
• craigslist - The red-headed stepchild of all freelancers in many trades

A great way to find people like you that want to tape shows is by going to more shows and networking with people there. You might ask the house soundman (when he’s not running around working) or new people you meet if they know somebody who does video or audio work. Get phone numbers, e-mail addresses, whatever. Look into local colleges for a video production-related major and get in touch with faculty to make an announcement in class or to post a position announcement where students might see it.

Assuming you’ve gotten a “yes” from more people than you have cameras and audio decks, you’re halfway there. Next, depending on the popularity of the band you want to film, you will need explicit permission from the band, or the powers that be, before walking in with a crew and a ton of gear.

Securing Permission

You’ve got your crew and your cameras, so bands will just flock to you begging you to shoot their next concert down at the pub in exchange for a briefcase full of cash, right..? Unless you have previous production experience to show off your polished reel, or at least some friends in high places, you won’t get very far. Chances are you will have to volunteer yourself to do some free shows before you see much real work, as anybody in the film industry will attest to.

When we did the first Emery gig on the Take Action Tour, we were already there to film the band Kaddisfly. We personally wanted to film Emery, both because we enjoy their music and wanted to document a live show of theirs to enjoy later. I explained to Emery’s tour manager who we were, why we wanted to film, and that I would send him and the band a copy of the show once we finished it (which you should always do!) Without seeing any of our previous work, he agreed to let us film. When the band received the show, they were very impressed and got in touch with us again to film another show for them, this time for compensation and a retail outlet. This just goes to show that if you present yourself properly and do good work, people will take notice!

With the age of Internet video and eBaying bootlegged concerts, many of your favorite bands might not be so keen about letting you shoot video of them. Some have been told by their management/label to deny recording, while others just don’t like the idea of giving away their music for free. The band might also be playing unreleased material that night that they don’t want to leave the room. Whatever their reasons, you will have to test the waters to find out how receiving bands are to your requests.

Some bands post their catch-all e-mails on their websites, or you can contact them through their MySpace pages. Whether you get a response or not is hit or miss, so good luck. If you can’t get ahold of them before the show, don’t worry—not all is lost. More on that in a bit.

Assuming you get the OK from the band, you need to get in touch with the headline band’s Tour Manager and/or the show’s Promoter. If you can’t get in touch with these people before the day of the show, you will need to inform them before the show starts.

The Venue

So you have the OK from the band/label to film and the tour manager is ok with it. The next step is making sure the venue is ok with what you plan to do. Most venues, again depending on the size and popularity of the band, will have no problem with you filming. Regardless of what the bands all say, the venue has final say in if you can film or not!

A smaller amount of larger venues—mostly those on the West coast and those owned/operated through Clear Channel (most House of Blues venues and amphitheaters)—charge you on a per-camera basis to film. After all, it costs the venue money to maintain operation, so why should they let you walk into their house to make a profit and they not get a stake in it. If you are being paid, the party commissioning you to film should cover the costs. If you’re financing the show for yourself, you’re on your own. Whether this is worth it is up to you.

Scouting the venue

The other part of venue selection is the characteristics of the venue itself, and how well it lends itself to capturing the band’s performance from an audio and video standpoint. Scout out the local music venues and see what the interiors are like. What shape is the venue interior? What are the walls made of? Is there space for cameras to be setup? The best venues for recording will feature…

• elevation away from the stage so that your cameras can see over the heads of people
• non-square rooms, to minimize sound reflections off the walls
• high ceilings to give a bit of openness to the room sound of your recording
• a good-sounding house sound system (and a talented house sound engineer to run it)
• air conditioning (seriously!)

Sometimes you get lucky and a venue with these characteristics is where the band is playing. Regardless of the venue, you will have to make the best of it wherever the band is playing.

Camera and Microphone Placement

After you know the layout of the venue, you should start planning on where to place your cameras and microphones. These decisions will be based on the genre of the show you’re filming, and the style of production you’re going for. Most video setups are similar, placing a few cameras close to the stage to get close-ups, a few a bit further back in the audience to get wider shots, and one covering a stationary shot of the stage. The amount of cameras, your crew and the shape of the venue will determine your setup.

Microphone placement is another subject with different requirements. Microphones will usually pick-up more sound than what is directly in front of them, including a bit behind and a bit to the sides, depending on the microphone type. We will discuss microphone type and proper usage in Part 2, Audio Production.

Scout a place to setup your mic(s), hopefully with enough room to run a mic stand up into the air and it not be at risk of being tampered with, tripping somebody in the dark or being in a camera’s view of the stage. If this is not a possibility for size constraints of the venue, look for a place away from the walls and elevated above the crowd, while still being in-line with the house sound speakers.

Wrap Up

We’ve gone over how to gather the human resources to produce the show and how to lock down permission to be there. I skimmed a bit of the audio/video-specific information because that’s going to be covered more in-depth in the next few posts.

You can head on over to Part 2 for the different types of microphones right for the job, some specific gear recommendations and special consideration given to making sure your audio will easily sync with your video.

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John Kary is Creative Director at Titus Films. Having directed and produced over 100 concert films, John is well-traveled in capturing the energy of live music. Having been responsible for all aspects of producing a concert film at varying times in his career, he has emerged as one of the premiere concert filmmakers in the U.S. When not shooting live shows he can be found shooting independent films around his home town of Lawrence, Kansas. For more info visit www.titusfilms.com.

Categories: Concert Films, New Media, Software, Tech Corner, Titus Films, Tutorials