Filming live performances and music gigs is a great opportunity to produce videos for musicians and artists. Most venues will have a lighting rig with the necessary sound equipment already installed, along with a suitable raised stage and enough space to set up camera positions to capture the performance. Combine this with a live audience, and you have a perfect combination to produce and film great live event footage.
Producing live music videos
Over the years I have produced and been responsible for filming live performances at a range of different sized venues. These have ranged from filming music gigs at Festival Hall to recording whole operas with multi-cameras in Europe and small intimate tightly packed pubs. An example from which I will explain the production process involved was the recent Billie Ray Martin live gig at The Glory in London.
Getting the gig
I read that Billie Ray Martin was performing and as a big fan, I decided to contact her to see if she was interested in having her performance filmed. After a short e-mail exchange, we spoke on Skype. As we discussed the project further we were both able to talk through any specific points and concerns. After several conversations, Billie agreed to the video production and filming concept.
Reece of the venue
To better understand what would be required for the project, I checked out the venue. The Glory is a pub that hosts a variety of popular cabaret-style performances. Although it was quite a small space, it had a fixed lighting rig installed on the ceiling, cables and a mixer for live audio, and a raised stage area.
So, it was a great space for an intimate video recording. I discussed the possible filming plans with the owners and the bar team, who were all really cool and helpful. It was then agreed that filming could proceed. Once I had gained an overall sense of the project, I shared my suggestions with Billie, and we agreed on a way forward.
Power supplies, sound and rigging
I went back to The Glory to have a more detailed look at where the cameras could be located, what power was available for the lighting, and whether any other suitable mounting points were available for cameras and lights.
One of the key safety requirements (as part of a risk assessment) is ensuring you have sufficient safe power capacity for any additional kit and lights. I also took a camera with me to check the framing from the camera positions to the stage, so I knew it would all work with the lenses I had available.
The venue had an audio mixer, so I knew I could plug my digital audio recorder into an XLR and record the live stage performance.
Producing live video recording events
After checking out the venue, I organised a small camera team to ensure I had enough different camera angles to edit between shots in the final video. Drawing up a list of needed items, I then ordered a few extra items of camera and lighting support. Everything was safely supported on the night (with safety wires to prevent anything from falling onto the public).
Producing an event that involves hiring additional crew also means you need to ensure you have suitable public liability insurance in place. The media team at AON Insurance confirmed that I had £2,000,000 in cover for my crew and me.
Filming day
On the day of the performance, I arrived at the venue with my crew and kit for 1100. The performance wasn’t until 2030, but the soundcheck was at 1500. I wanted the lighting setup ready for a soundcheck so Billie could make sure she was happy.
After arriving at The Glory (with our 6-seater full of kit), we first started improving the stage set. The stage was a 10ft square cube area with silver flitter on three sides. After making the flitter look good, we started looking at the lighting.
By setting up two cameras, we realised that the silver flitter background was too bright compared to the light on Billie. To resolve this, we took down the silver flitter on the back wall and replaced it with black flitter. We also adjusted the lights and fitted frost to soften the light. The windows next to the stage area were blacked out to control the light.
Soundcheck
The stage and lighting were then ready for a soundcheck by Billie and her fellow performers. Soundcheck at 1500 gave us all the opportunity to put our cameras in position and check our exposure and framing settings. By 1700, Billie and the creative and technical team were all happy with the set-up. Time for some food and a break for the crew.
Live performance
The actual performance all went great and we ended up getting four different camera angles recording Billie’s and her fellow artist and musician’s performance. The de-rig is always quicker than the rig and me and the crew were out of The Glory with the kit in a taxi heading south by 2330. It was a really cool creative day with a supportive and friendly vibe from all the crew, the team working for The Glory and everyone who came to see Billie perform.
Music video editing
After the filming I edited the best of the camera angles together to make a music video from the night’s performance. If you would like any help with filming live performances or music gigs please do get in touch. To view some of my previous work check out my music video portfolio.
As well as this article on filming live performances you might find some of these related articles interesting. For more advice and tips check out my video production blog.
