This is the third show the Quaker Rock and Roll Collective have shot and we feel like we are beginning to hit our stride. The Collective is a group of camera people, sound people, editors and producers who meet once every two weeks, look at footage, share knowledge and opinions about filming live performance using Documentary techniques. The idea is that if we are all in agreement as what we want to achieve creatively and technically, we will be free to follow our instincts creating footage that feels fresh and alive. We work without a control room, director, headsets, client monitors and / or yelling.
Our basic approach is that the more coverage the better. Knowing that camera placement is critical we look for the narrative inside the performance, interaction with in the band, between the performers and the audience and musician and the music. To capture this we used 12 cameras, 4 on tripod, 3 hand held and 5 plants.
Located on the back balcony this camera a HVX 200, which was operated by Ben Zimbrick, who was tasked with keeping a close shot on the lead singer; across the way was Jonathan Yi with a Sony EX3 who was working a wide shot. But let be said that thought they had their basic tasks our general understand is that if the individual sees a opportunity that they have free rain to go for it. The other two tripod head operated cameras were HPV170’s, which is our preferred camera, check out the rigging below and may the Grip God forgive me.
The venue was nervous about floor space so we came up with space sensitive idea for mounting our two, side camera, which always prove to be the most fertile angles. We wrapped the balcony support poles with Sound blankets to protect them, and added apple boxes secured by gaff tap and then ratcheting tie down straps creating a platform for a high hat.
One of our members Patrick Reis has a slightly different rig with no high hat, we stuffed a sound blanket inside the legs of the tripod and wrapped them with another blanket ratcheted it to a apple box and then to the sound blanket wrapped pole. This rig did not work as well, we needed more off set form the pole and next time we will use the high hat style rig, but at the same time Patrick still pulled it off.
Ben covering his follow spot position.
During the show, Brain checks a note provided by the producer and the band.
Stage left, Peter Schneider using a Cannon 7d operated one of the three handheld cameras, in the audience Shawn Strong got the hero shot for the lead singer and David Ford did the same for the bassist, they were both using Lumix GH1, Shawn using the stock lens and David using a adaptor and Nikon Primes. We have since bought Nikon set ups for both cameras; we found it makes a big difference. Another thing we are excited about is the new GH1 hack, which will give us native 1080 24p and triple the bit rate. But that is for futures shows for this show we used the factory setting and converted with Voltaic.
Bring up the back are 5 planted flip style camera we use the Kodak Zi8, these are mounted as rigidly as possible with heavy clamps and cine-arms, we learned our lesson. The one disappointment was a camera mounted looking back at the drummer which drooped cutting off his head, it was the one camera on a normal articulating arm - lesson relearned.
We do end up with a mixture of formats DVCPROHD 1080 24 PA from the Panasonic, EX Cam from the Sony EX3, H264 1080 24PN from the Cannon 7D, .MTS 1080 24PA from the GH1 and low bit rate H264 1080 29.97 from the Kodak Zi8. All of it needed to be brought to the same format which was DVCPRO HD 1080 30p which FCP really likes and plays back smoothly in multi clip.
At this point we need to sync. and Pluraleyes is the program that does if for us, it matches the sound waves from the different sources and presto you have sync. No time code needed. Actually it is not always that easy, but that is for another day.
