Event Video Production: Tips for Professional Video Services at Events
Professional Video Services
Event video production is one of the most unique and prevalent types of professional video services that you can offer. Events occur continuously that need documentation, whether it is simply to record a speech for records or to create a substantial product out of the video itself. In almost every major event you will find that professional video services have been procured for it, which makes it one of the most important video markets. Event video production is an art of its own, based mainly about trying to capture an event that occurred in the real world while making it accessible through a medium that it was not originally experienced through. Though each event is going to be different, you can follow a few key tips for professional event video production.
Adjust to the Format
Each event is going to be structured somewhat differently, and therefore the way you plan and execute that event video production is going to be different in a lot of ways. A panel discussion at an academic conference is going to be structured one way, while a wedding video production is going to have completely different needs. What you need to do is plan out ahead of time how you are going to set up the technical areas of production, what type of narrative or structural flow you want to give to the video, and what video equipment you will need based on the existing structure of the event. Though you will tend to be integral to the event, it is not just designed so that the event video production can take place. Instead, you have to structure your plans to those of an existing event and make sure that you can respond to that.
Shooting
Many events are centered around speakers, and that is the focal structure for much of the event video production. What you need to remember is that you are going to want to create a base layer that you build on top of. What this means is that you need a clean audio of the speaker as well as a clean video angle of their position, which is to say that it should remain relatively constant. A good event will have two to three cameras, but one of those cameras is stationary and captures the speaker from a fairly neutral and planned angle. The audio is either fed directly back into the primary camera or synced directly to that track in post-production if it is recorded on a field recorder.
The other cameras can then shift, with the knowledge that at any time during the video editing the editor can return to the base angle if the other cameras are changing position or refocusing. The other cameras should be used to get different angles of the speakers, objects they are using, the audience, and various other positionings. This adds depth to the overall event video production, and really makes it engaging for an audience who is not able to watch it in person. When you are finally editing you will lay the primary audio down and then use the secondary audio tracks from the on board microphones on the secondary cameras to match up their footage to the primary audio. This will allow you to switch between the different cameras while staying in sync, and you can often use things like multicam editing features in programs like Final Cut Pro.
Audio
The audio is crucial for a speaker focused event, but really in almost all events the focus is going to be on people rather than objects. If the
event is large enough then they will be microphoned and there will be some form of an audio mixing board. Those who are providing the professional video services can plug directly into this board with your camera or field mixer and record clean audio directly from there. If this is not possible then you can actually use a wireless lavalier microphone on the speakers, or even attach a second microphone to their exiting microphone or podium. Make sure to test this out ahead of time, and if they plan on moving around then you are going to need to keep it attached to them.
References
Photos: www.publicdomainphotos.net.
Source: Author’s own experience.
This post is part of the series: Professional Video Production
Here is a look at different types of professional video production.
