Urgent pre shooting advice needed.

Ivan Lietaert wrote on 11/18/2007, 3:16 AM

Tomorrow night, I'll be filming two collegues of mine who have a stand-up comedian act. For me this is a first-timer, and I have no idea about stage setup. So far, these are my plans:
1) Use a tripod
2) Choose a position near the speakers (I have no external mike)
3) Choose the stage-setting (aperture) on my camera

As there is a public, there's no 'second chance' here, so I need to get it right immediately.

Any advice welcome!

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 11/18/2007, 7:03 AM

If you don't have manual aperature control on your camera then avoid shooting them against a very dark background at all costs. If you can arrange yourself so that there is a more neutral background behind them then that would be better. Without manual control your camera will expose for the background and they'll end up washed out.

Ivan Lietaert wrote on 11/18/2007, 9:19 AM

I do have manual setting for exposure/aperture. Thanks for the hint about dark black backgrounds. I'll pay special attention to that.