Maybe I'm new... Advice?

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

Hello,

I went for an interview for a parttime job in an artcentre in Belgium where they do many shows, performances, gigs,...
If I get the job, I'll know at the end of the week, I have to capture these performances and gigs, so they can put it on their website.
So I'm planning to do a search on these boards, I've never really visited them before (I mean this subboard), but I wanted to ask if anyone had possible advice?

I know my way around the right camera's, but any presets or advice about even encoding, editing in Final Cut Pro, audio, the lightening - which will be hard, because it's performance lightening and stuff, is welcome.

Thank you very much,

[Glen Elliott]

Hello Mathieu- welcome to this corner of DVinfo. Good luck landing the job however in regards to advice it's kinda hard to know where to start. First you have to see "exactly" what the job entails and then find out where your abilities may be stressed. In other words it's hard to give advice when you don't even know what you may or may not have problems with.

Event videography in general poses a particular challenge in the fact that it's live and there are no re-takes. It's important to get the shot, and get it right the first time. It's the pits trying to fix mistakes on an event shoot in post. As with anything though with time/experience you'll get quite accustomed to this style of shooting.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

Thanks Glen.

I'm sure searching these boards with a couple of search terms that I think I need for the job will give me lots of information - as DVinfo always does ;-)

[Waldemar Winkler]

I spent virtually all of my professional career in the meetings and conventions industry where recording the live event was the rule and not the exception.

Key to any event I worked on was getting both the visual and audio elements to synchronize live so the process of editing was simplified.

In most situations where video and audio recording was recorded the trick was:
1) Use as many cameras as possible.
2) Use as many microphones as was reasonable with the emphasis of having the microphones placed as close as possible to the source of the sound.
3) Send all audio and video signals to a video switcher and audio mixer and produce a master recording (often used for reference in post). While doing so, record original footage for each camera.
4) Always get copies of any computer based presentations. Recording those presentations on videotape is good for reference, but horrible quality for any final video product delivered to your client.
5) Always try to budget for as many production staff during the live event as you can get approved, but invest a lot of time figuring out to do it all yourself, because you will be faced with both situations.
6) Find an administrator within the facility who can understand your technical challenges. This person will be able to provide you with valuable information about the nature of each event which will be invaluable in planning.
7) Expect the unexpected, and be ready to deal with it.


Good luck!

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

Thank you Waldemar.
A couple of your points will not be my task, but up to others, but other points were very helpefull, thank you!

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

Hi, just to keep some people posted who were interested in this thread: I didn't get the job, so...

Still thank you for the feedback on this thread!