If we are filming at your school our requirements are a simplified version of the following Bullet Points which are based on filming in a professional theatre. There is also advice on filming in a church.
Please ensure that your venue manager knows your production is being filmed. And that we need parking if there is any onsite. Please pass on the following information to your sound and lighting technicians, or if you prefer please put us in direct contact with them.
For our usual single camera shoots;
- We need a level camera setup space of 1.25m x 1.25m.
- Space and view permitting, filming in the control box is often a good option as it saves seats and we are in immediate contact with the sound and lighting technicians. If filming is in the auditorium seats, we need 3 seats in the back row and two in the row in front. A central position, elevated relative to the stage is usually best.
- We need the use of a standard 13 Amp power socket.
- We use up to 4 radio mics in the 1.9GHz range.
- Venues usually use the 600 or 800MHz range. We will check that our frequencies do not clash.
- We require a post fade mix from your sound desk which includes: Audio Playbacks, Headset Microphones & Handheld Microphones. Alternatively, Audio Playbacks and Microphones can be on separate feeds.
- Please let your sound technician and us know if your productions have had audio problems in the past so we can work to avoid them.
- Let your lighting technician know in advance which of your performances will be filmed - they will probably need to be brightened for filming. (Think of how bright a television studio is).
- Plenty of diffuse white light is best especially when there are several performers on stage.
- Video looks best when colour is in the costumes and set and not the lights.
- A lot of dry ice/haze makes it very hard or impossible to focus. Very strong blue or red light makes everything blurry and is very tiresome to watch on video for an extended period.
- An intense lighting mood can be set for about 5-10 seconds at the start of a scene and then diffuse white light gently faded in so the performers are clearly visible.
Filming in a church can be very challenging. Churches are often poorly lit and very echoey. Best to keep the performing area very tight. And please be mindful that depending on the camera position certain performers could be obscured by pillars, columns, pulpits or lecterns. If the lighting is bright then filming from the organ loft can often work very well. Beware of scheduling performances later than lunchtime as churches can become very, very dark as the sun goes down. If you have to have a later performance you may need to hire in extra lighting. It might be wise to seek advice from a lighting company. Who knows, one of your parents may be a lighting technician.
Please email your programme in the highest quality available or a hi-res scan of your artwork for the title screen of the video. For academic school productions, we feel that drawings and paintings by the children are so much more charming than web images. Landscape orientation is better for video than portrait. We can superimpose text. If you do not have any artwork we will create a title page from purchased Adobe Stock fully copyright cleared images. If you would like the cast list and production credits at the end of the video please email these to us as soon as they have been finalized.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you have all the necessary legal permissions to have all of your production filmed by us.