First time shooting concert footage with V2 500

[Jason Banker]

Hi,

 

I will be shooting about 30 minutes of V2 500 at a large venue and need some advice about exposure. This is the first time I am shooting concert footage and have a few questions.

 

Did I chose the proper speed film? (I was afraid of underexposure, now I am thinking I might have to avoid overexposing)

 

I have a sekonic light meter and usually meter the light with the white dome from the actors postion. Since I will not be able to stand where the musicians are how do I check for proper exposure?

 

Do I just retract the dome and spin the head toward the stage and use that reading? There is also another head attachment that I have never used that I believe is used for spot metering things like landscapes. Should I try and use that?

 

Also with the amount of variation from the different light sources and the constantly changing light levels, do I take different readings as setups change or do I just set one stop and stick to it?

 

If I change locations ie. move directly next to the stage, would my f-stop change from my balconey shots? Should I then take another reading?

 

Basically this is something completely new for me and I need advice. All of my previous film work has been under controlled situations and this just seems like chaos. I just want to ensure I properly meter for the talent.

 

Any insight would be great,

Thanks

[Andy Sparaco SOC]

If you have and incident meter the light falling on the stage should fall on the incident dome. Your incident meter may also have a "reflected mode" which would more correctly measure light coming off the stage.

 

As you said biggest problem will be the wild changes in brightness typical of a stage performance.

 

If you move onto the stage your reading will be different then the balcony

A spot meter would be a better choice for a meter.

 

7218 can pretty much see what you can see if you have fast enough lenses

 

If you get into a pinch and the house lights are down just shoot everything at maximum f-stop and you will be fine. Negative is so much more forgiving then reversal film

 

Try and get the performers between you and the lights at least you will get strong backlight images everyone will think are "arty"

[Guest jeremy edge]

I shot some vision 2 500t onstage once with a wide open f2.8 on the stock K3 lens. It turned out really dark.

To shoot film I firmly believe you have to have light, so the question is what kind of light show will be there?

There were only a few pars and a a couple of martin mac 500s.Very little front lighting.So we didnt have enough.

 

If you can ,do a test during soundcheck.Have them turn off the house lights just for a minute and turn on about half of the stage lights and meter.This will give you an idea how powerful the light show there is.