Good Audio really pays!
 

I recently videotaped a musical production in which my daughter was involved. The musical, "Footloose" had a cast of 45 high school age kids who take theater/acting/dancing lessons at a local specialty school.

I used 2 cameras to film this 2 hour event...an XL-1 for close ups and a GL2 for wide angle shots of dancing & backgrounds. Since only the lead actors wore wireless mics, I wired into the house sound system using my XL-1 using the MA-100 adapter and used my camera mic on the GL2. THIS WAS A LIFESAVER!!! Throughout the entire play, several of the wireless mics that the actors were using kept going out and the drummer was not miked to the house system.

Because of these problems, I combined both audio tracks from both cameras in post production. I used a 60% audio level for the house mics and a 30% audio level for the camera mic. By fading back & forth, I was able to pickup the actors voices through my camera mic that were inaudible through the house feed. The result...great audio that included the applause & laughter of the audience as well as a "cleaner" pickup of the actors voices whos mics kept going out.

The bottom line...not only do I have a tape & DVD which is sellable, I was able to also cut a music CD of the songs which all the actors asked to purchase.

Great report, Steve... congrats on your success!

Not to be a spoil sport, but be careful about advertising sales of recordings of the show. Many play performance rights are not bought with the rights to sell recordings of the performance, especially for profit..

Took the words right out of my mouth, Don. The local theaters, schools, etc. all have to get (usually purchase) the rights just to perform these plays, almost without exception. Footloose is included in that bunch. Just make sure that it's understood that the tapes are for archive purposes, available only to cast members, and that you're just covering your costs.

Nice improvising on the recording!

Thanks for the advise! I already advised the school prior to recording that copies are only available to cast members and am only collecting enough $ to cover the blank media. No profit whatsoever.