[Phattboy]

Hey, thanks for the advice. I only wish I had tried the backup battery thing before I sent back to Canon in Jersey to be repaired. Hopefully, if it’s something as simple as reseting the camera, Canon won’t charge me for a more expensive procedure. You know… like the auto mechanics do. Thanx again, my amigo.

[Phattboy]

JohnieBlaze:

I produce a tv show on abc\fox\upn in St. Louis. It’s a hip-hop show and we pretty much specialize in shooting nightclub scenes and major concerts. Imazingly, we don’t use any special lighting and we get great shots. We also shoot a lot of great looking nightclub commercials for tv. Our aim is to stay as true as possible to the club vibe and scene. We don’t use a lot of lighting and props because we want the audience to look and feel natuaral in the club setting. Never, never do anything to disrupt the “party”, the club owner will hate you for it. Become a part of the party. Also keep in mime that the people in the club paid $10-20 to dance and have a good time, not help you get your commercial done. What we do first is have a talk with the DJ and get him to begin announcing the fact that we will be shooting a commercial about 30 minuits before the actual shooting. The aim is to get the crowd hyped about the idea of being on tv…and give the ladies a few minutes to go the the ladies room to check themselves and get their makeup just right. Now here’s on of the most important things that you’ll need to do. Go to the lighting tech.\operator and have him give you as much strobe, smart light etc. as possible once the cameras began to roll. A little fog aways gives the shots a nice touch. All you’ll really need is your camera light and not too much of that in fact. Now here’s the most important thing… adjust your exposure manually. Before the actual shoot experiment with your F-stops (shutter speed; iris; gain) until you get the look you’re looking for. Remember, you’re in a nightclub not the supermarket, so don’t put the crowd under a lot of unnatural, un-nightclub lighting. To get the best action and energy from your audience have the DJ to play the absolute “hottest” song in rotation when the shoot begans. This will get nearly everyone in the club up on the dance floor. At the end of the song prior to the shoot and right before the beat drops on the “Hottest” song in rotaions, have the DJ to give a countdown…5,4,3,2,1!!! This always gets the crowd in a frenzy. That’s when you and your crew bail into the crowd, cameras rolling and begain shooting as many beautiful ladies as possible. Overhead shots and shots from a low position shooting upwards toward your subject are usually the most interesting shots. Oh, before I forget, to really get the dj eating out of your hand, before you began shooting the crowed, shoot some early footage of the dj doing some of his best dj tricks for the commercial. Ok, I’ve wasted enough of your time. Have fun, and Good Luck with your project.

Bill