Rock Concert Footage

[jimhare]

Any light color temperature issues between 3200 and 5500k?

Would theater and concert rigs be considered tungsten?

Jim

P.S. I'm shooting Jason Alexander tomorrow and Arj Barker (San Francisco comedian) Wednesday, both using O/B rigs to digi beta, hopefully for the last time. CAN'T WAIT to start shooting with 3-4 REDs on these.

 

[Cail Young]

Any light color temperature issues between 3200 and 5500k?

Would theater and concert rigs be considered tungsten?

Yes if they're running at 100% without gel, and if you're after a body to do some multicam with, get in touch!

EDIT: Moving lights use a much bluer lamp - in the 8-9000K range, but usually come with a CTO filter to give you standard 3200.

 

[Ken Hendricks]

I've been shooting concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheater for a few years now. Here are some of the acts that we've covered:

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Black Crowes, Willie Nelson, Yonder Mountain String Band, Lucinda Williams, The Killers, Papa Roach, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Chicago, Motley Crue, Sum 41, Carole King, Mark Knopfler, Phil Lesh & Friends, Steve Miller, Widespread Panic, Van Morrison, Violent Femmes, The Pixies, The Dead, Dream Theater, Yes, Primus, 311, Allman Brothers, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Third World, The Marley Brothers, Lyle Lovett, Gov't. Mule, Blues Traveler, BB King, ZZ Top, Diana Krall, Wu Tang Clan, Smashing Pumpkins, The Fray, Stray Cats, The Pretenders, Ryan Adams, Celtic Woman, George Thorogood, Buddy Guy, John Mayer, Cyndi Lauper, Stevie Nicks, Chris Isaak, Norah Jones, Bjork, Bob Weir & Ratdog, Bonnie Raitt, Ben Harper, James Gang, Steely Dan, Debbie Harry, and etc.

We have a very primitive setup for these shows. We have three cameras. Two are 1/3" chip cameras which are hand held at stage left and right. The third camera is an older 2/3" chip camera at the front of house mix position. We do not have tally lights or video return. We rely on the director, who is switching the show live, for all of our cues. We are shooting eye-mag mainly for the big screen at stage left. We actually record to DVD.

We usually use a preset (3200K) white balance to preserve the colors of the stage lighting. If all of the lights are moving lights, then we can get by with a daylight preset. There are times when we will start shooting in actual sunlight, then half shade, half sun, then stage lighting, all in the same show. We are composing, focusing, and riding the iris all at the same time... sometimes in the rain! Some lighting directors are sensitive to the needs of the video production and some just don't care. Needless to say, it can be a challenge at times.

The other shooters and I have been working together for years, and we tend to be able to compliment each others shots rather intuitively. There's no better feeling than wrapping up at the end of the show, and getting compliments from the audience, the road crew, and even the band. Considering all of the challenges, it's quite a privilege to work in the best outdoor concert venue in the world. I'd have to say, it's the best job ever!

 

[sbcooler]

That is a great, GREAT place. I hope to go there sometime. I saw the U2 concert was filmed back there in 1983 around. Very VERY cool venue.

I wonder how I'd get experience shooting a big show like this. I mean I would volunteer my time. Thing is I don't have experience shooting with the big 2/3" cams and I don't have experience going in manual aperture and focus at the same time. I do have a lot of experience shooting in auto modes frame shots and going for interesting looking cutting edge shots. That I'm good at I think. I'm good at doing slow zooms and knowing when to go for these kinds of shots as I'm usually familiar or quickly become familar with the beat of the songs.

I'm sure if I could do 5 or 6 shows all in manual with a big cam I could learn fast with experience. But I could learn so much BETTER and faster if I could do 5 or 6 with pro's or at least people that have shot adjusting manually.

Well, I guess we will see what the coming year and next have in store.

 

[Vincent Rice]

This is my main area of interest for Scarlet. I think the smaller camera with a wider DOF is perfect for concert shoots. The RAW workflow makes recovery from the the inevitable great composition/lousy lighting must-have shots more likely.

I'm hoping to eventually have eight Scarlets for half operated/half remoted set-ups.

Unknowns at this point are sync, audio and remote control. Picture quality I'm not worried about

 

[sbcooler]

Let me know where you live. I'd be happy to man a scarlet for you at no cost just to meet, share information and see what we can come up with. I may have my own few by then too, but either way, be nice to shoot stuff with someone and learn more. I've done about 10 shows so far, but only using 1/3" sensors, not the bigger 2/3" boys.

Anyway, let me know if you're interested. I'm in Southern California.