When I was in college I had my first experiences of filming live bands as the course tutor was a member of a band and offered us opportunities to get some experience filming live music – I think he just wanted his band filmed for free by students! After college I worked with a company called Nexus on a project in association with Channel 4 which was shooting a live online music show from a club in Edinburgh. Since going full time with my business in 2009 filming Lori Watson’s band in the Scottish Borders was my first opportunity to film a band myself and I was very excited about the opportunity.
Things have changed dramatically as I now (2012) shoot with up to seven cameras but back in 2010 I was shooting with just two – Yes I’ve spent a fortune in just a few years but the results are well worth it! I still think it’s a good video even though my skills and equipment have advanced so much in that time. The thing I still go on about is sound quality, it has to be excellent. The eyes are more forgiving than the ears and although people say audio is 50% of a video I would argue it is worth more than that.
Using just two cameras I don’t believe adds enough variety, with extra camera angles the video would have been far more engaging and entertaining. Now when I’m filming bands I tend to recommend using at least four cameras.
If you are thinking about hiring me to film your band and you’re not sure about whether it’s worth the extra cost to use four cameras over one or two I would highly recommend you compare the videos below.
Below are the two different camera angles used in Lori Watson & Rule of Three’s performance
Lori Watson Camera 1
Lori Watson Camera 2
Below are the four different camera angles used in Kerri Watt’s performance
Kerri Watt Camera 1
Kerri Watt Camera 2
Kerri Watt Camera 3
Kerri Watt Camera 4
The below video is Lori Watson & Rule of Three performing at the Innerleithen Music festival in 2010, filmed with two cameras.
The below video is Kerri Watt performing at King Tuts in Glasgow in 2012, filmed with four cameras.
I find these performances an interesting comparison as the musicians are positioned on stage in almost the exact same way so they are pretty similar apart from the way they were filmed. The extra variety of camera angles used in Kerri Watt’s performance create a far more engrossing and entertaining viewing experience. I think the small extra cost in using the extra cameras really rockets the overall perceived production values of the video.
I recently filmed a band using six cameras but that’s a blog for another time!
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