Hello Everyone,
I’m back with my final video and assignment 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 a hand-drawn storyboard. 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. Plus, I got some extra interview footage and other B-Roll to possibly use for the project. 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. In the revision from my draft, I added different shots of the show.
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.
For the revision from the draft, I added about 1 minute of extra footage from an interview with the main audio technician for the Gala Showroom (also known as my former boss!). I wanted to show the audience the philosophy and motivation that goes into being an entertainment technician, and I feel like I put the best sections of the original 7 minute interview into the final video.
Following feedback and suggestions, I also adjusted the audio transitions between sections of the video and added more text descriptions of locations and actions.
Like the original draft, 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.
For this post, I’ve also added a new, revised storyboard in PDF format.
If you are reading this, thank you for following along with my coursework for COM 561! It was a great bit of fun and I loved presenting my passion for stagecraft with all of you.
Music Credit:
https://pixabay.com/music/upbeat-chill-abstract-intention-12099/
Amy Mirai Dillon 