It is common knowledge that human attention span is short, especially online, whether it be reading or watching. Let us make your show more attention-grabbing with switching angles, roaming cameras and zoom lens close-ups on the man of the moment, as opposed to a monotonous audience view from a shakey smartphone (they've already seen that).
Up to 5 UHD ('4K' and '6K') cameras are mounted or moved around the venue, and even on-stage if permitted. These cameras film different targets simultaneously, then in the post-production process the view is switched smoothly between each source, selecting the best view for every moment – including your audience. That grand drum solo won't be hidden in the background, it will get its moment in full screen from the stage-side camera dedicated to the drum kit!
You know that dreaded moment when the 6ft oaf stumbles into your camera shot on the way to the bar posing a silly face? When there's 2, 3, 4, or 5 cameras to pick from, he won't make it through my edit!
(The video demo here was shot before we gained our 5th camera.)
Our roaming video camera(s) are mounted on what is known as a 'gimbal'. These are motorised stabilisers with 3 axis which keep the camera horizontally level and absorb the wobble and tilt which naturally occur without a tripod. They include a joystick to achieve desired left-right-up-down camera motion via the motors.
With extension rods, we can raise the cameras around 9ft high and cruise our way around the audience smoothly, seeking close-ups on different band members or entertaining audience behaviour.
Del and Wayne each have a 'DJI Ronin' brand gimbal, if you would like to see more about how these work, see this YouTube demo video.
← In the picture to the left, you will see that we can attach an LED panel light to the side, so all those close-ups get a little more sparkle! More about that below...
Ask any videographer or photographer, and they will confirm; the more stylish the light on the scene, the better the image quality. A raised stage allows us to get uninterrupted view over the audiences heads with raised cameras, and simplistic surroundings distract less from the key subject in the frame.
We have 5 portable LED video lamps and colour filters for some extra frontal brightness & side angled character, but we don't own a full-stage multicolour spot-lighting rig as that is all custom sized and fixed to a venue's ceiling. If the venue has insufficient or poorly positioned lighting, and a badly presented stage; we can try our best with our portable tools but I can't make the corner of a dark messy pub look similar to a professional venue like 'The 1865' or 'The Joiners'.
The 2 larger LED panels require some floor space for their tripods and a wall mains PSU, but the smaller ⁄ lighter ones can be battery powered and mounted on mini tripods or hung in various places including camera-topped.
Recording direct (DI) from the PA desk is usually the stereo 'Master', which is great for the clarity of the vocals, digital keyboards, bass frequencies and electro-acoustic guitars, as your video sound doesn't suffer the imperfections of microphones listening to PA speakers. However, when the act includes instruments like drum kits, grand pianos, saxophones and amplified guitars; those don't get so much input to the PA's mixer as they create much more of their own volume on stage than singers and the likes of acoustic guitars and ukuleles.
To get the best of both sounds; LiveShots use extra AKG, Rode, MXL, Shure, Tascam and Boya microphones with a variety of pickup patterns on stage and around the room, wired to our own recording units and cameras which will not interfere with the venue’s sound. In post-production, this is combined with the desk recording to achieve the total live band+audience sound, along with the vocal and bass clarity of the DI.
Have a listen to the short 'Whats the Difference' video below and you'll hear why it's worth it, in 25 seconds.
As part of our premium option; we record up to 8 independent microphone channels around the room with bi-directional, cardioid and shotgun microphones for an enormous stereo sound and tone control. The microphone management and post-production can be done by either the general audio/video producer 'Del' (also a musician) or a dedicated sound engineer if you have a higher budget.
Note: The specific microphones used will vary depending on which sound engineer is involved.
For gig videos; each song is cut using the suitable start ⁄ stop points, skipping breathers or unnecessary banter between songs. Styled with fade in/out of the video and audio, using band logo overlays and closing credits. You can have the entire trimmed set as 1 video, or a separate file for each song (recommended), which you can string together as a 'Playlist' online, or maybe web post them one-by-one weekly.
For interview and conference videos; mis-spoken lines or unwanted heckling can be removed. Foul language can be 'bleeped' out.
For sport videos; break times can be either cut out clean (minimum budget) or used to involve commentator interviews and highlight re-plays (premium budget).
These are to give your social media audience a brief taster of several songs and demonstrate your variety of styles in under 5 minutes. The whole show needs to be filmed properly, then as well as full song edits, you can pick prime portions from various songs (16 or 32 bar lengths) and have them joined smoothly with cross-fades between clips. Each song section will involve its own multi-camera switching.
If you are on a low budget, you can skip the full gig productions, but the whole gig still needs to be filmed and recorded - which carries its own initial price, regardless of the post-production.
As a typical editing quote; £20 per 16-bar portions, or £30 per 32-bar portions, with a £90 minimum (3x32-bar portions or 5x16-bar portions).
Each song can end with an animated list of band members names and their instruments. Other information like the band's URL, Facebook page and the venue's logo and sound engineer's name can be added.
Notice how the video turns a little blurry before fading out? This is so that the text is more prominent, and the sharp focus video footage doesn’t distract the eye from the sharp edges of the font. Any font of your choice can be used for these credits, but it needs to be fairly bold.
This optional feature comes at no extra cost as it includes Liveshots' credit logo.
A basic one-way lecture will primarily just require a recording microphone for the presenter. These can be hand-held, table top, or lapel microphones for the premium service. Basic but essential mastering will be done on the audio, such as background noise and hiss reduction, EQ and volume stabilisation.
A second wide span stereo microphone will be targeted at the audience but held mute in the edit until desired.
If the meeting is intended to take questions from the audience (medium & premium budget), an overhead microphone on a boom pole will be brought to the questioner. Whether you need 1 or 2 of these depends on the size of the room and audience. If the room is large or you are hard of hearing, you will be provided with an earpiece for these audience mics.
If you require a small PA system to make use of all these microphones on the scene, this can be arranged with the premium budget option. The mic and speaker controls will be manned by a sound engineer to achieve the appropriate volumes and avoid feedback.
The editing can take from 2 days to a week depending on film duration and the number of cameras on the scene. You will get the chance to view a draft video of a few minutes of footage, give your feedback, then pay the remaining balance and the full video will be completed.
You will be sent the finished product via WeTransfer or OneDrive in 3 resolutions;
• High bitrate 'Quad HD' (best for uploading to YouTube)
• Medium bitrate 'Full HD' (for hard drive storage and home viewing)
• Low bitrate 'HD' (for phone or tablet SD card storage)
Facebook does not display FHD video, if you upload one it will shrink the resolution and re-compress the file to HD rather carelessly. Resizing a motion image and making the best of your bitrate is a delicate process. We opt for more time and care taken in Adobe Premiere Pro, whereas social media platforms prioritise speed and small files for millions of users. Sound quality will not be compromised in our smaller copies, just lower video resolution and bitrate ⁄ filesize.
Our cameras do film at 'Ultra HD' (4K) resolution, but we opt to edit in smaller frame sizes as this allows us flexibility with resizing and repositioning of the content during editing.
Watermarks; No, I don't usualy leave a 'Liveshots' watermark logo in the corner of the video like Vevo and most TV stations do. We close the video with production credits, but that is it. The only time that this watermarking would appear is in free video shoots - done specifically for our own promotional purpose. When you hire us, you can have your own logo planted in the corner.
Copyrights; According to multiple sources, it goes like this;
"If you film a band playing live music, you own copyright in the video. However, the band (or their label / publisher) would still own copyright in the music - so if you want to be able to lawfully exploit your video, you would need to get the relevant permissions from the band (or their rightsholders) to use their music."
LiveShots are not making videos for MTV yet, we currently produce videos for open online sharing without royalties etc. Therefore, we don't hold any 'red tape' restraints on your use of the videos, providing that this good will is matched by you and the video is not modified unprofessionaly.
Let us know if you want to negotiate how the videos ownership is legally handled; we may offer a discount for shared publishing rights.