Hello Everyone,
It’s been a while! This week, I’m presenting you with my video story draft for COM 561. As with all of my projects this semester, my goal is to give you a behind the scenes look at live entertainment. I did so this time by filming the setup (and some of the performance!) of Candlebox’s March 31 show – with everyone’s permission, of course.
I followed a series of shots listed in the hand-drawn storyboard at the end of this post. I wanted something simple to carry with me to remind me of what shots I needed to get during my busy workday. I came into the Gala Showroom to shoot footage on breaks from my work in marketing. Later, I ran the light board for the show in the sound booth above the stage. Candlebox ran their own sound from a booth on the showroom floor, so there was not much sound to showcase for this video.
The funny thing about the day was that I forgot to bring my tripod. Jackpot, Nevada is an hour away from Twin Falls, Idaho, so there was no chance of grabbing it once I left home. I had to shoot with the steadiest hand possible because I only had one chance to get it right!
I knew that I wanted to make a strong establishing shot with the load in footage, so I propped my hand up against the warehouse door and started filming everyone coming in with the gear boxes during load in. I was also able to get some shots of sound setup from the stage, and the power switches that turn on the lighting rig. From there, I got some shots of the booth itself, capturing both the sound board section and the light board and video switcher section.
I didn’t record the sound check out of privacy and respect for the band. Honestly, I didn’t even ask because recording anything during sound check is generally considered impolite in the entertainment world unless you have permissions set up well in advance. I did talk to the band about recording the show so that I could showcase the light work, and they were totally fine with that. I have more footage from the show than I used in the video, but some of the clips contain recognizable copyrighted music and I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to use them even though I’ve set my video permissions as “unlisted.”
I would be happy to add more of the light show footage with the professor’s permission, granted that YouTube doesn’t have any copyright issues with it.
Some time later, I started the editing process for my raw footage. The process was fairly simple. I imported my clips in Premiere, found a free-to-use music bed from Pixabay, and started trimming down the clips into storyboard shots for the rough edit. I then added video/audio transitions and spaces for text (which would be added later in After Effects). Afterwards, I color graded the videos to suit my taste and to compliment the overall look of the footage. I rendered that base draft out of Premiere, then brought it into After Effects to add titles and text effects. I used to work in motion graphics and can comfortably animate in AE compared to Premiere’s clunky title system. Once I was happy with the look, I exported the finished draft in Adobe Media Encoder as an MP4 and uploaded it to Youtube.
I’m looking forward to hearing your feedback on this one!
Music Credit:
https://pixabay.com/music/upbeat-chill-abstract-intention-12099/
Amy Mirai Dillon 
What a fun video to get to watch, and what an adventure it sounds like you had going to get it!
I know you mentioned not having a tripod with you but I did not notice any wiggle in the filming. I appreciated the use of multiple camera angles to depict the steps going into the set up and the angle used to show the machinery in action in time to the live music happening on the stage. This was a great way to show set up and application–in short, you told a story.
I also appreciated that while a lot of the set was dark, you were able to capture enough light to where that wasn’t problematic, it was part of the setting. I learned how the persons operating that equipment need to know how to use it in the dim lighting of a venue!
In watching the last shot, and since your piece was about sound and lights, I thought it might be appropriate if your last shot faded out with the sound and the person sliding the lights(?) to match what was happening on stage. Just an idea.
: ) Erin
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Hi Amy! I really enjoyed the opportunity to watch your video story. I love the opportunity to catch a glimpse behind the scenes. I like the creative choices you made, like the sped-up footage of people unloading all the equipment for your establishing shot. I feel like it really represented the excitement of preparing for a show, and the urgency of the preparation as well. I also really liked the opportunity to see you show off your skills on the lightboard. The choice to have the sounds of the crowd cheering while the credits were rolling was very cool. I think the main feedback I have is to include some text on the shots of each different task being done in preparation for the show so your audience can follow along with what is happening. Assume they know nothing about what goes into setting up the sound and lights for the show. I also think if you could find a way to smooth the transition from your music bed to the raw sound of the show that could improve the flow of the video. Maybe a title to prep the viewer for the transition.
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Thank you all for your wonderful feedback! I’m glad that the story I told was enjoyable. Honestly, I’m not sure exactly what direction I’m going to take the final video. I am open to narration, but I’m almost set on putting some more text titles to explain the shots. I also have two interviews worth of footage that I did not include in the draft. Mainly, I didn’t add it in because it took away from the flow of the story, but there were some good clips that I may add, or I may use them in voice over format.
In my work as an editor, I’ve often found that time away from a project helps me view it with fresh eyes. I’ve also found that while I may have a specific idea in mind during production, it will end up at least slightly different in the editing phase, due to pacing and/or time constraints. What I can say at this time is that I want to make the show set-up process a bit clearer to the viewer. I’m excited to showcase the final draft!
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