Event Videography Tips

The recording of the audio or sound of any event is very important.  I point out we have radio which is only audio, and we have TV which is audio and video, but who would want to have TV with no sound.  You need to hear the sound from the source not from the back of the room.  Since the picture is usually recorded further back than were the sound is created you do not want to hear the recording from the back of the room.  You do  not want to hear the camera, or the operator, or the back of the audience.  You need to set up recording mica phones to hear the actors, the orchestra, and yes the audience.  You can also connect up to the output of the house system.  Depending on what the event is the house system would have podiums mic, stage mics, or even wireless body mics on the actors.  You might say if I am recording the house system, why do I need any other mics?  The answer is when you are recording a live event you have to plan ahead for anything.  What is the house system fails, the wireless mic drops out, or someone or something makes a sound that does not go through the house system.  When there is live music it needs to be miced to be recorded.  You need to mic the audience to get the applause, laughter, singing or what ever they are doing.

Now that you have 6 or 7 mics and the house sound connected to your audio mixer you see why you need an audio mixer operator.  The level of each mic must be set and changed as needed throughout the event.  The operator must see in his or her mind what the mics hear.  What I mean is to listen and adjust the mic levels so that all actors can be heard and at the same level.  The music must be not too loud as to drowned out the singer or not to soft so that it drowned out by the singer.  The live floor mics need to be up and set at the correct level all the time so that all the actors are heard, not just the ones with body mics.  You have got to love the wireless body mics because they do not always work they drop out and go quite.  The floor mics help, even though they are set to a lower volume you still get a recording of what they say.  For the recording of events sometimes it is better to only use the floor mics, that way everyone is at the same level.  The actors then might even learn how to speak on stage and project their voice.  It is as important to turn mics off when they are not needed as it is to turn a mic on that is needed.  You do not want to hear an actor when they are not on stage or any other unwanted sound.

I use a refitted motor home as a control room for my field recordings.  Therefore I have a 220 foot 8 chanel audio snake on a spool in the motor home.  The headend of the audio snake that goes into the stage area is long and thin with femail XLR connectors along one side.  The headend rides inside a 2 foot long 3 inch PVC pipe with a screw cap on the outside of the motor home.  When we get to an event we pull out the headend of the audio snake and pul out as much cable to to to the stage area.  The spool which is a garden hose rell is secured by having the crank handle bunjied to a fixed point.  Mounted on the edge of one side of the spool are 8 Male XLR connectors.  I then connect a short 8 channel audio XLR cable’s Female connectors to the 8 male XLR on the spool.  The other end is always connected to the 1 to 8 inputs of my 32 chanell audio mixer.  When we need more than 8 inputs we run 200 foot audio cables directly from the aucio mixer through the PVC pipes directly to the location as needed.

As the spool can not fit through the 3 inch PVC pipe, when we need to leave the audio cable in a building over night, the spool needs to be moved to the outside of the motor home.  The audio spool is mounted in the motor home with 4 big screws that are on sloted holes of the frame.  The 4 screws are loosed and the audio spool is lifted off and moved to the outsdie.  The same 8 chanel audio cable that I use to connect to the audio spool is long enugh to go out the PVC pipe and connect to the audio spool which is bunjied to the outside of the motor home

The recording of an audio video event such as a play, concert, graduation, parade, rodeo, sporting, or even a wedding, in my opinion is best done with 3 or 4 cameras switched live.  This web site will be dedicated to recording events for DVD in the same manor that TV is broadcast live.  Altho it is possible to record an event using 3 or 4 cameras, each recording the audio and video from its point of view, and editing them to a final program, much time later, I will let others tell you why, as I see no reason not to be live.

The successful recording of an event requires many things to come together even before the event begins.  The key is to plan ahead, to build ahead, to train ahead, so that the final product looks like you know what you are doing.  The plan is that everything you need to do the recording is in place and working before the show starts.  You (the director) need to know what will happen and where, during the show, so you are not surprised, and say “I wish I knew they were going to do that!”  You may have to build something for the event, such as a cable, platform, special camera mount or “something” that you donot have now.  Do not forget the crew training, after all the dameras do not point and zoom themselves.  Not to forget the audio recording.  All video camcorders do have microphones, but please do not use them.  All they hear is the camera operator, the camera, the people near the camera, a baby crying a mile away, and when all of that is recorded you might hear the play, as it sounds in the back of the room.

One of the most important considerations when using 3 or 4 cameras is communications.  An intercom or headset for you and each of the camera people is a must.  You can see what each camera is doing by watching your monitors in the control room and directing each camera person to get the shots you need.  If you do not talk to the camera people after a while all of the cameras will have the same pictures, except from different points of view.  You need to tell one to be wide, one to get the person on the right, and one to get the person on the left.  It is also very helpful to have someone who knows the event, and what will happen next, with you on the intercom/headset to tell you and the camera people what is comming up next.  The director of the pllay is good or someone who is not in the event but knows what will happen next.  You as the director will need to direct which camera will continue on the current shot and which one will set up the next shot, and the next, ect.

Before you record anything there are many technical decisions you need to make.  For the video what type of cameras, tripods to hold the cameras, do you use gen locked cameras.