Advice/tips on Nightclub shooting?

[Matt Shefford]

I am going to shoot a 2 camera promo for a dance crew that are performing in a nightclub.

We will be using NXcams + Flolight 256 on camera light

Does anyone have any experience shooting a bar/nightclub scene without knowing the lighting setup/house lights prior to the shoot?

Concerned about shutter speed atm

[Brian Drysdale]

Just keep your shutter speed to the local mains frequency (it should be OK if you're using TV frame rates with a normal shutter setting unless you're filming in a country outside your normal TV standard).

However, I'd be concerned about possible rolling shutter effects from the CMOS sensors under flashing lights.

The stage lighting is usually pretty effective without using a camera light, this tends to flatten everything and can take away the atmosphere..

[Peter Moretti]

If you are going to be doing a lot of low light work, I'd really consider getting your hands on a Nikon D3s. It has the best low light performance of any camera (w/o night vison) on the planet. In low light you don't need resolution, you need a large sensor and good in camera noise reduction. The D3s has both.

For your current situation, I would say definitely be sure you understand the camera's controls very well and what settings will give you the best low light performance. Also try sneeking in a custom WB w/ the lighting as close to what they'll be performing under as you can get. B/c you aren't going to be able to do much tweaking in post.

Good luck :).

[Brian Drysdale]

Because of the coloured lighting effects, the pre-set tungsten WB usually works extremely well in night clubs. If you've got a monitor you should be able judge better than just using the camera LCD, if this is OK. Of course, both cameras WB need to match.

Also, if you're using a 5600 K light make sure you convert it to tungsten unless you want the blue effect.

You really need to know what the dancers' act involves, sometimes they can end up dancing on the bar or amongst people at the tables in the night club, rather than just strutting their stuff on the dance floor.

[D.J. Ammons]

If possible I would ask the club lighting guy if he could make sure some white light was on the dancers along with the colored lights. In most club situations I have taped in that has been the norm anyway to some degree. The only exception was one time when they only had red and blue lights on the artist / band and it turned out looking horrible. Even the close up shots from the handheld spyder cam that had a Micro Pro LED light were not all that great when too far away. Tried color correcting when editing but you can only do so much. I would never attempt to tape again under those circumstances.

When there is white light with the colored lights depending on the mix I have had footage that looked like it was lit for real video production and then other times it was barely acceptable or good on part of the band but not others (in particular it seems drummers at the back get left out of any white lighting for some reason).

[Matt Shefford]

Thanks for the tips guys, I really appreciate it.

I am going to talk to the lighting operator and the dancers director regarding the lights and their routine to see if it's fixed.

[Bill Davis]

Personally, I think the most important part of nightclub shooting is to light the perimeter walls of the club so that the shapes of the people will be outlined. Then add enough front fill to your specific shots in order to show the faces of the performers.

Finally, if you can get some medium in the air like smoke or fog - it tends to add dimension since whatever performance lighting there is will have something to react with.

[Andrew Smith]

Ear plugs. Don't forget the ear plugs.

I still have a tiny bit of residual tinnitus from back 15 to 20 years ago when I was party DJing and a few times I forgot to take some of those squishy ear plugs with me. (Don't even ask me about the ears of the attendees. Most people are oblivious to the need to protect their hearing.)

Andrew