Earlier this week we posted an amazing drum video by Julien Audigier (read here).
It’s amazing work and it shows how environment affects sound. They could have just done a quad split, highlighting each location in an A/B test sort of way, but they didn’t. They took it to the next level. Even the shooting and editing is entertainment, part of a larger whole.
The Video
[tentblogger-youtube mY-f68J5PPo]
How (I think) it was it done?
I don’t think I can say for sure, but I can tell you how I’d do it. There are some things to keep in mind should you attempt this for your church because part of the awesome is how perfect some of the details are.
The camera matters
While it’s possible to do this with other cameras, I would prefer to try it only if I had manual lenses. Why? You can dial everything in perfectly. Wouldn’t you hate to learn that the camera decided to focus on something in the foreground and you didn’t discover it until you previewed it later? I know I would.
I’d hate shutter speed to change, f-stop, iso (or gain), etc. to cause problems too. As a minimum, I’d use a DSLR or DSLM camera so I had control over all of those things. A RED or other digital cinema camera would probably even be better, assuming the director of photography knew how to use it.
Speaking of f-stop. A couple of the locations were darker, so you’d expect a wider aperture. The depth of field is pretty deep, though. I’d start with darker locations, get as closed down as I could, adjusting ISO to compensate (while minimizing digital noise) and go from there. With full light, you could always add an ND filter, but there’s only so much that a light kit can do.
Measure and mark everything
Notice how the drums are on a rug? I don’t think this is strictly a design decision, but also a practical one. You can’t roll up the pavement and take it with you to the dirt road. You can do that with the rug though. So the first time you set up, you mark the rug with some spike tape (perferably some that blends fairly well with the rug), and then you set up using those marks in every location.
Back to the camera. Mark the zoom (unless you’re using a prime lens), mark focus, mark f-stop. I’d also start with chalk line snapped on the ground, and put two legs of the tripod straddling the middle of that line. Make the line as wide as the rug and measure to make sure that the rug is always the same distance from the line at both corners. Note every camera and sound setting as well; you need to start the same and correct, not start differently and try to make it the same.
For the tripod, you want the head locked in the same position for each shoot, but I’d also mark it in case something went wrong. I’d extend the legs to maximum for each shoot so that there’s no guess work, but also measure their spread to make sure that it’s exact as well.
Audio and music
The point of the video was how location affected sound, so I’d use the same mic, on the same stand, the same distance from the drums if I was doing that.
To keep it synced, I’d also make sure the drummer used a metronome as well. It needs to be spot on each time.
If I were doing a song where the music didn’t change, just the location did, I’d make sure the musician(s) played to a click, but then edit to the final recording (which was recorded separately).
Number of takes
While it really matters that the audio is spot on from shoot to shoot, it doesn’t matter that each take is perfect. Let’s say the first 20 measures are good from take 1 and the middle part is great in take 12, but only take 3 has a good ending. You’re fine in this case as long as you cut before the mistake to another location.
You need the ability to paste together one good take from each location assuming that each section is long enough that it’s up until the next cut. One second of good footage probably isn’t enough, but 30 seconds in each section with overlaps of 10 seconds probably is.
Camera movement
You probably noticed that toward the end, the camera moves a bit. At first, I thought this was a track dolly shot. It’s not. Each is just a new set up in the same location. So the truck left and truck right shots on the soccer field are just moving the camera (and the drums) as if it’s another location (notice that the rug is on the line on the field, so I bet that’s not a coincidence). The turning shots are the same, just pivoting on a point instead of moving left and right. The dolly in and out in the dusty columned industrial space are just moving forward and back in that space two, maybe three or four total shots of the same distance.
Talent
I’d make sure the drummer always wore exactly the same outfit and make sure the continuity in that outfit is as good as possible, too. Take pictures to compare whether the shirt was tucked or untucked, hat placement, etc.
Bonus stuff
The car on the road shot provides the illusion that he was drumming on a road and someone just drove by, barely missing him. That’s a nice effect, but I noticed that the car wasn’t going that fast. If I was doing this, I’d find a dead end (or unused street) and have the car drive by the rug (driven by a crew member) with drums after the other shooting was complete so that I could put it in whenever I wanted. Just cut the shot vertically (cutting out the drums) and overlay it on the part that you wanted it to go on.
The spit screens were prettty easy since most of the drummer was obscured by the drums (below the waist). Also, since he played exactly the same thing in the same way, it should be fairly easy to cut between the shots, keeping in mind that the dramatic shift in location would cover some minor mistakes.
Crew
I guess the drummer could have shot this himself, but each crew member makes it easier. Set up is going to take a long time, so more people will make that easier. They’d all need to be really disciplined, though. You don’t want them wandering into a shot or disturbing environmental things like the dust on the floor, so you probably only want the size crew you need and no more.
It was a great video and I’m going to show it to the creative team at my church to see if we can do something similar, since it’s more about planning than budget.
What about you, what ideas do you have to use this concept?
Did I miss any of the details? If so, put them in the comments below.
Vincent says
Hi,
I’m coming back to you because you have shared “The Wikidrummer” last year and I would like to let you know that we have just released his little brother “THE WIKISINGER”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWNV_JFolLg
This guy sings the same song in 15 different places including an anechoic chamber, a hall or a church. Hear what happens!
and once again, no artificial reverb added.
We would feel honored if you helped to spread the word.
Many thanks,
Vincent