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Editing music concert footage, time/cost?
Hi guys,
This is more of a general interest question, and has less to do with the program. Just wanted to see if my fellow editors had any input on time/cost when it comes to editing concerts. Obviously there are a lot of factors (number of cameras, color correction, audio synchronization, graphical effects, length of video, quality of cameras). But I wanted to see what kind of experience you’ve had with this type of thing. And if you have favorite estimates, what are they?
In my case, I’m looking at 5+ cameras, little to no graphical elements, some color correction, with pre-synchronized music/video for classical music. I find that every project is different, but clients are always interested in knowing how long it’s going to take (of course). How do you generally deal with this? I’m a fan of giving a footage-minute(s) per hour/day, with a little extra to account for the unforeseeable.
Thoughts or unique approaches to this?
Thanks! 🙂
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1 Reply
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The first thing I ask is what style are you looking for.
For me it is very dependent on the type of music, and the type of edit they are looking for. Many of the concerts I’ve done have been rock shows, high energy, with 8 to 13 cameras. This would have me quoting very differently from a 5 camera orchestral concert.
I also want to know how many songs in the final program, and what kind, if any interstitial interviews etc. are going into the show.
From here I simply decide how many songs I can offline in a day, at the chosen pace of the show. As well, I would add in some time per song for changes.
If its a director I’ve worked with before, then we know how each other work, and changes become less of an issue. If its someone I haven’t worked with before, I might add a few more hours for changes.
If this is your first run at a multicam concert, you might want to start with a lower price, and a lower songs per day projection. This will allow you to work out your own workflow for multicam vs straight editing techniques.
Personally, for the shows/style I’ve done, I’m usually trying for 2.5 songs a day in the first pass. I do like to sit and watch every song through every camera lens for the main shots as part of the process. (If a camera is locked onto a drum kit, or a high wide locked off safety shot, I might skip it until I need a shot) Lets me know before I start cutting, where the problems are going to be.
The songs per day approach also helps me keep myself on a simple time budget.
Glenn
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