Recording Improvised Plays?

[Brian Boyko]

Hey - as a "for the hell of it" side-project, I wanted to record an improvised play.

Specifically, there's a 70-90 minute show called "Start Trekkin" which improvises an episode of the original Star Trek. Now, in the improv community, people record their shows but it's usually from a fixed perspective, zoomed way out to take in the whole stage.

What I'd like to do is "Do It Up Right" and bring in two cameras, with active cameramen, zooming in on people's expressions, and editing it together from the two cameras.

Here's what I was thinking.

Two HV20s, one in Audience Left covering the left side of the stage, one in audience right covering the right side of the stage. Two camera-mounted shotgun microphones to capture whoever is on screen at the time (thinking ATR55s).

One Samson Zoom H2 suspended from the ceiling recording in a quadrophonic pattern on stage.

What do you think? Possible? Or fool's errand?

Keep in mind this isn't going to be a paid gig - this is more for my production reel.

[Colin McDonald]

Originally Posted by Brian Boyko

... Now, in the improv community, people record their shows but it's usually from a fixed perspective, zoomed way out to take in the whole stage.

With good reason - that way you don't miss anything. I would keep one camera on full stage.

What I'd like to do is "Do It Up Right" and bring in two cameras, with active cameramen, zooming in on people's expressions, and editing it together from the two cameras.

That can be quite hard. Depending on what the actors do, you should get some good close ups but almost inevitably some one is going to move unexpectedly or do something out of shot (gesture etc), and focussing in that situation can be a nightmare. Sooner or later, no matter how psychic your camera operators are, you are going to need that wide shot. I would go for 3 cameras if you can.

Leaving the audio for someone else to comment on, I can foresee possible problems with the lighting - is the whole stage fairly evenly illuminated? Murphy's Law indicates that the actors will spend a lot of time in just the wrong place.