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Shooting cellist on stage with DVX 100b – help!
I have been hired to shoot a Masterclass DVD for a legendary cellist. She wants a DVD respresenting a cello Masterclass. She will be performing on stage with someone accompanying her on piano. No audience – just the cellist and pianist. The theater has Good Lighting! I will also be filming the artist speaking (being interviewed) in various locations…her home, the stage and the park.
These are my ideas – any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!!!
Cameras:
I plan to shoot with a Panasonic DVX 100B. Not sure if I should use 2 or 3 cameras…and which camera would be best for the job…
– If you do not think the DVX 100B is a good camera to use for the job, what other suggestions do you have???Sound: I have a gunshot mic and boom. Do you think I can get good quality sound for my purposes or do I need to hire a sound engineer?
Lighting: I have a basic kit. We plan to shoot on stage and since the theater has good lighting I thought the basic kit would suffice. We will be shooting the “interview” portion during the day.
I thought to do the interview portion with only one camera (DVX 100B), gunshot mic, basic lighting…to keep costs down. Should I use more than one camera for the interview portion?
I am very excited about this project and want to make sure I am on the right track. Any suggestions are welcome and greatly appreciated!!!
Thank you kindly,
Rose Sanchez -
5 Replies
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Definitely hire a sound engineer- chances are the cellist will care much more about great sound than your lighting. Shotgun audio in a concert will sound like hell.
I’ve shot a few concerts before: we shot with three DVX100s. One in the center audience and one high in balconies on either side. Used only stage’s lighting which happened to be pretty nice and looked great on camera.
The theater also had a complete set of professional mics to record the performance and we got a mixed CD a few days after the performance that we synced to our camera audio and then muted the camera audio in the edit. Sounded great.
Interviews- I’d shoot two cameras. Otherwise every take has to be perfect and you have nothing to cut away to. Unless the cellist is a professional speaker, chances are they will flub their lines making the interviews hard to complete with a single camera.
If that’s too expensive- suggest a bit more budget. These things are not free if the cellist wants it to be good- especially as they are likely selling this class?
-Noah
Check out my new RED Blog. Unlock the secrets of the DVX100, HVX200 and Apple Color.
Now featuring the Lens Adapter Guidebook, Sony EX1 Guidebook,
DVD Studio Pro and How to Light Interviews.
https://www.callboxlive.com -
Fantastic! Thanks Noah! Yes, I figured that a sound engineer was going to be a must. Thanks for confirming. I thought since the theater had mics and a digital recorder that I could perhaps do what you mentioned – which is to shoot the footage and use the recorded audio from the theater in post. I guess it’s better to leave the audio portion to a professional.
On another note, I called a few rental places and they only carry DVX 100A’s (I have a DVX 100B). I plan to shoot in 24p – squeezemode. I skimmed through the online manual and there doesn’t seem to be much of a difference. Wondering what your take was on it… Also, do I need Mattboxes or would the camera as is be adequate?
Thanks again Noah!!!
Rose -
That should not be a big deal- the DVX100A has the same squeeze mode as the B variant. Just make sure to carefully match the settings on the cameras with a good monitor, otherwise you’ll be wasting a ton of time matching colors in post. And shoot a color chart from all camera positions too- that will save you massive time color correcting too.
Matte box is not essential for a DVX100. The built-in one is fine for most flares. You would only want an extra matte box for attaching additional filters.
Noah
Check out my new RED Blog. Unlock the secrets of the DVX100, HVX200 and Apple Color.
Now featuring the Lens Adapter Guidebook, Sony EX1 Guidebook,
DVD Studio Pro and How to Light Interviews.
https://www.callboxlive.com -
I’ve been researching color charts. Seems like DSC charts are the most popular. B & H Photo has some good options at very reasonable prices.
Oh gosh! Didn’t realize I needed a monitor. I’m a total newbie at using multiple cameras. I thought I could just match the same settings for all the cameras and shoot. Didn’t realize I needed a monitor to do that… Any advise would be fantastic. Thanks again!!!
Rose -
See if you can get some sort of passive switcher to get all the cams to the monitor. One of those old Panasonics ought to do.
Trust your audio engineer – and record all mics to individual tracks if possible. You’ll be glad you did once it comes to the final mixing and you can fine-tune things for balance and tone.
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