Not every live event videotaping has, or even needs, a dedicated director, but everything that a director would do still needs to be done, so it’s important to discuss your event with your videographer beforehand.
Lighting at a live event, for example, can be complicated. Generally your speaker takes precedence, so good lighting is important. Some venues don’t have great lighting in their event space, and lights designed for video recording are more designed for a closed set, clunky and with a short range. If you want great lighting, the trick may be to have your A/V company pre-coordinate with your venue. Does the audience need to be well lit? Will there be a projection screen? What needs to be done to make sure your speaker isn’t washed out by the projector light or standing in darkness? If the video footage is intended to be more archival, none of this may be necessary, but if it’s an income generating piece, then creating the right lighting in advance will make a big difference in the end result.
Understanding the bigger picture also helps the camera operator. They will follow instructions, but the more information they have to work with, the better they can help you achieve the look you want. For example, if there are empty rows in the back, you might direct them to specifically avoid recording that to make it look more crowded. If you tell them to just focus on the speaker, you might not realize that that will translate to no crowd shots. The better they understand, the more the videographer can help you get exactly what you’re looking for.
Will there be multiple cameras? How about editing? If there is only one camera, then that operator is likely to stay with relatively safe shots – not too much panning or zooming – to be sure that the quality is consistent and reliable. If there are multiple cameras, or an opportunity to do some editing of the footage afterwards, your camera operator can be a little more aggressive in pursuing interesting action, knowing if things don’t turn out quite right they can be adjusted. Editing diverse shots together can really enhance the end video.
When you engage Capture Video, we work with you to create the end product you need, even before you start. Just give us a little direction and we can direct the video production from there.
