Taped/recorded an orchestra last night for a DVD to be submitted to a conducting competition so the camera was in the back of the orchestra facing the conductor. Competition rules require that the video be shot over the heads of the players with just enough of the musicians showing to "prove" it's a real live performance.

Mics were set up above and behind the conductor but all the house lights were totally out so the stand isn't visible.

I'm thinking that I should flip the recording so it matches what would have been heard from the camera position but a couple of folks think the audio should remain in the "classical" orientation (pun intended.) I think it will be confusing to have sounds visibly to the right sound to the left.

Maybe if there were just a few close up shots from the rear in an otherwise audience view tape I might leave the orientation alone but since the whole two hours is seen from the musicians' side I think camera orientation should prevail.

Probably late tomorrow before I get the video captured and synced up with the audio, so just curious about what you think.

I agree, camera orientation every time .. otherwise it'll look like bad production, a mistake in post, repeated viewing might show it up and the entrant might just lose some much needed points if the contest is a close run thing by the musicians doing the judging.

But 2 hours!! multiple conductors trying their talents, or is it 2hrs per entry?

Cheers.

concur - what the camera sees is how it should be heard.

Always get the same question when I do piano work. The audience's left right, or the pianist's left right. I tend to pick the most common shot and use that. When I do CDs of piano for really good pianists who have never recorded before, I always remind them that left and right will be swapped, because to them, they have only heard their playing 'the wrong way around'!

I'm having the same problem with the director - he somehow has it in his head that if I flip the channels it will boost the sound from the back of the orchestra.

Oh well - for his competition DVD the camera is pretty tight on the conductor with only a few musicians heads in the picture so it probably really doesn't matter and keeping the classical so to speak arrangement with low strings on the right will be fine

But for the violin concerto it will sound bad because the soloist is camera right so sound from stage left will be dorky to say the least.