hi,

i recently was hired to film a band playing live. i have never done this before, and was wondering if anyone had any tips/suggestions. i have a canon xl1s.
mostly i am concerned about the low light conditions, as it will probably take place in a dark club with some stage lighting. i am still fairly new to the xl1s. i am wondering if an on camera light would help. also they are flying me in to do this and would really like to not totally screw it up... thanks

Hello Hank, welcome aboard (H)DVInfo.net!

If you can I would try to do a demo run in that club or other ones to test
the XL1S in this workflow.

I've done one run myself with the XL1S (PAL) in a club and it wasn't too
dark in the areas with a lot of disco lights, but other parts where.

An onboard light will help for interviewing people or seeing what happens
close to the camera. It will not light up the complete room / hall.

If you can - get a 2nd camera and tripod (even a consumer grade mini DV) and a friend to babysit the camera locked on to a wide shot of the band. This will allow you use the XL-1 to shoot your closeups, so you have some ability to edit yet maintain continuity with the music. If you have the wide shot and move quickly on your C/Us and fill shots, you can get some awesome stuff.

Remember to get some crowd shots while music of various tempo's is being played, you might be able to intercut crowd reaction (dancing, clapping etc.) and make it match the music of your main shot.

If you can get a feed from the sound board - that will be better, but somewhat "sterile" sound. Mix in some ambient noise from the crowd and it'll look good. I'm sure others will post - it's a great community here. Lotsa luck.