Of course you should ONLY video productions of shows if you have permission to do so, so if you do then here's some tips to make "Am-Dram Videos" a little more professional and interesting.

PRE-PRODUCTION

Good videos takes LOTS OF PLANNING. Don't just turn up on the night and shoot.

Go to rehearsals a week or so BEFORE the production. Watch them. Get in your head exactly where everyone is and workout when you can zoom in and when you can't. Mark it down on a script when you should pull out. The obvious reason for this is when you zoom right in there for a "snogging" session then you miss the Woman's Husband walking in and finding her with the other man.

Check out that you have enough power points and space to work in. Check angles, sight lines and where the nearest pub is.

Check with the Director and Lighting person how dark or light it's going to be.

Is there going to be action OFF stage? Be sure you are in a position to see and record it also.

Leaving your stuff over night? Check security, do they have a Secure Room to store it all? Of course it's best to take the more expensive stuff home with you always.

SOUND

The biggest "failing" of Am-Dram videos of their own shows is the Sound but how do we make it better?

Getting several microphones and directly feeding them into the Video Camera (most do support this) is a first class step to getting good sound. The standard mic on a Video Camera isn't good at all.

Of course if you're really brave you can get very cheap sound mixing desks which you can then play about with Tone and Bass, add several microphones in different locations and you're kicking ass. A lovely little thing I found in a Tandy Store was a little box with just a simple 3 microphone connectors into 1, each with it's own Level knob. It cost about 9.99 (pounds) So it was a very cheap mixing desk indeed.

Use less Bass and more Tone to get crisp voice. Village Halls tend to bounce sound around a bit so get the microphones as close as you can to the action and keep the level low so the echo doesn't upset things.

Remember to block off sound from behind or next to the microphones (nothing like a scraping chair or coughing over the most important line in the play to ruin the video). Use foam blocks round the microphone or get "Directional Mics" to only pick up sound from the front. Also put the microphone ON foam padding so that vibrations aren't picked up from the floor, walls or stage.

Watch your wires... Interference from power cables and the likes can be picked up if the cables are next to or touching each other. Keep everything WELL apart.

Keep your Video Sound Mics well away from any other Amps or Speakers which are being used. Feedback (that annoying screeching sound you get when the Mic is too close to the speakers) can damage your bits and pieces. Be careful.

VIDEO

USE A TRIPOD!!! Please please please...! If you ignore everything else on this page today, DO NOT ignore this. There's nothing like a shakey hand or the shot disappearing into darkness when then camera person take their eyes off the action to sip at their beer. Any tripod is fine but of course the smoother the movement the better.

Weight down each leg of the Tripod. This helps stop the "wobbles" and also when "Paning" (turning the camera) left and right it stops any other movement. OR spread the tripod legs as wide as you can and hang a weight from the centre part, this will pull down on all 3 legs with the same weight. Careful though not to over do it and break your legs.

Using a tripod? Turn the Anti Shake feature of your camera OFF. You will get weird movement if you leave this on. This feature is for when you hold the camera in your hands.

Get the tripod on a table or something high. Keep it WELL above the audience so that even trips to the toilet mid scene doesn't block out "little Jenny's" big moment...

Feeling Brave? Move the camera about the hall for each scene, a different angle gives the scene a different look. As before, keep the camera high and steady. Perhaps shoot every night the show is on from different angles and then "cut" together all the scenes afterwards. Feeling REALLY brave? You could try doing this MID-SCENE for a more professional look. Don't though change and change and change every few minutes unless you know exactly what you're doing.

You could also have an other Video Camera or more videoing different areas and/or close ups. Again in post-production "cut" different view points in the scene together.

White Balance. Now most Video Camera's have this White Balance feature. This is most important to do this BEFORE you start shooting. Watch out though for FLASH Boxes during Pantomimes, they might upset things a little. White Balance stop you getting that dark, hazy colours, and skin which is more orange than pink.

Try as best you can putting ALL auto Camera features on Manual. i.e. White Balance and Focus. nothing worse than the camera making it's own mind up about things.

Close Ups ... Hmmmmmm ... The typical "Am-Dram" close up is made up of about 2 minutes of finding the character after they move once the Zoom is in. Try not to get too close. Just zooming in enough to see the body from the waist up and the head is close enough. Without a tripod any close is a leap into the unknown and usually ends up "chasing the actor" around the stage trying to find them again.

When the actor moves you got to be prepared for it. If they are moving left or you know they are going to move left keep them on the RIGHT hand side of the screen. Give yourself time to pan left when they do move. You know what actors are like. Never the same thing any night. Always late or early or not at all.

REALLY REALLY BRAVE? How about cutting in certain scenes close up (taken for example from the dress rehearsal or the tech). This in the situation above of the Husband entering to find his wife "playing away" is a classic moment. In the dress rehearsal get on stage and video the Husband's reaction close up. Then in Post-Production cut that clip into the main video. Don't do this too often though. (See Post-Production for cutting and adding things)

There's a lot to think about. Get an assistant. Someone to sit with you, and read the script, preparing you for what's going to happen or telling you your Pre-Production notes as they come up. (The bonus of this is they can help you carry all the stuff about, set it up and buy a round at the bar afterwards *wink*).

POST PRODUCTION

Ok, you've got the video and now you need to think about copying it for everyone in the group. How good are you looking to get this? Firstly we need to create a "MASTER COPY". Remember the more you copy a video the worse the video will look and sound. Seek advice about methods and how to.

Video Editing can be as simple as pausing the video, changing tapes then un-pause. Video Recorders (SCART connections are best of course), feed straight into the Video Recorder from the Video Camera. Simply play the Video Camera and Record on the Video Recorder. Most Video recorders are not bad at Pausing and then un-pausing to edit a video but the best results are certainly obtained from the more expensive ones.

For more Professional Editing you can now using your Home Computer to record and edit the tapes. Of course this is a lot of money and you need a REALLY fast computer to do this and a LOT of Hard Disk space. The software I use is called "EditStudio", which is VERY cheap and very good. A link for their web site is here. With this software you can add scenes, cut scenes, edit the sound, even add special effects and credits. It takes a lot of work but well worth it in the end.

With the correct hardware (graphic card) you can actually edit the whole show on your computer THEN output it to Video tape. Again perfect copies every time.

With the advent of "Home Video Editing Software" you can now get (thought still very expensive and slow) DVD writing software. Imagine having your show on DVD. This would make a PERFECT "Master Copy" to be recorded to Video with perfect video and sound every time.

Think now about Titles and Credits. Yes you could go for the boring "close up" of the Program but how about a different angle of this. Go round the back stage and get everyone to say their "Part and Name" into the camera. One after the other very quickly and add this onto the end of your Show. Everyone then gets a "speaking" part and seen. A bonus.

Remember to leave about 1 or 2 minutes at the start of the Video so that when people play it they can get settled. Also this help stop the start being damaged by rewinding and starting up which pulls at the tape slightly every time.

REMEMBER : At the end it's the Video in the hand that's the result. Don't buy cheap "budget" Videos to record onto. They burn out far too quickly. And Granny of course will want to see "little Jenny's" big moment again, and again, and again, and again, and again...

Above all, enjoy yourself. With the correct planning and bits and pieces you can create a great moment which will live in the memories of those involved for years to come.

If you've got any questions, or would like me to come help video your show (local to Berkshire), then please drop me an email.

George Riddell runs a website for amdram groups in Berkshire and the surrounding area and can often be seen, camera in hand, videoing for local groups.