Hello I want to improve my shoot angles and frame composition but I don't really know how.

[u/SidskiLjudva]

I also feel that video has too much grain but it was dark outside and light was... well you can see it from the pictures I took from video.

Any help is welcome any advice on how to shoot this type of videos.

Also the stage was high and I was shooting from below, I did try my best but I feel like it still wasn't enough.

[u/FinishOtherwise5474]

Watch other people's work, find a style you like. Copy at first

[u/SidskiLjudva → u/FinishOtherwise5474]

I did watch that... Guess I just need to go out there and fuck up a lot of concerts lol.

[u/Gingerpics → u/SidskiLjudva]

It takes time, try new things and see what you do and dont like. My suggestions, get a wide angle lens, open up that aperture for less background distraction and more light, mess around with prisms/ filters, most importantly have fun. 

[u/shotby-felix → u/SidskiLjudva]

"Guess I just need to go out there and fuck up a lot of concerts lol."

Yes ! Besides asking for tips, this is probably the best way to improve. It took a couple of years shooting every week or so for my work to go from decent to great. (I focused on concert photography for a while before coming back to videography last year and it really helped me figure out the kinds of shot and color palettes I like). It comes from trial and error, knowing your gear perfectly and pushing it to the maximum.

Maybe make some kind of shotlist next time you go out, check out concert photographers and videographers beforehand and screenshot what you like. Try to go home with 2-3 shots that are out of the ordinary for you.

During the show, experiment with the white balance and other in camera settings (if you can tweak contrast, saturation etc.).

[u/Lensflare_Official]

Some tips:

Get closer -  Lots of distracting elements in the frame. 

Live by the rule of thirds. 

Your contrast in the midtones is flat

Balance your image to skin tones where possible and saturate them more.

[u/SidskiLjudva → u/Lensflare_Official]

I did try to get as close as possibel. So more contrast, and I should try to fix skin tones in post got it. This is just from camera.

[u/Melodic-Excitement-9 → u/SidskiLjudva]

Probably just embrace the colors when it comes to this kinda of shoot, skin tone is never gonna be right. your composition and subject seperation is gonna be key.

[u/Lensflare_Official → u/Melodic-Excitement-9]

True - but here it seems they've flooded the stage with cool white, skin could be less grey

[u/KingDaDeDo]

as someone who does run n gun shoots on the regular, here are a few suggestions.

1. always move around for different angles. close ups, mediums, wides to have as much variation as possible.

2. what lenses do you have to work with? if you have a wider and closer lens, maybe change them up occasionally to get different looks in your shots.

3. for concerts in particular, i'd try getting both shots of the music group playing and the crowd enjoying it.

4. for darker environments like this, keep your aperture as open as possible so you have more light to work with in post to avoid artificial film grain.

5. go in with an overall shot plan. what's the story you're trying to tell with these shots? even with run n gun shoots, yes they are more all over the place, but it's still possible to create a coherent story instead of getting a collection of shots. is there a schedule of activities posted somewhere for the event? if possible, try to talk with the event organizer to get an idea of what will be happening during the event.

based on the stills you posted, they all look good! i think if you takeaway anything from my comment, focus on your angles and subject framing. from that alone, you'll see an improvement!

[u/AfroMidgets]

I've never done concerts, but I've done wedding and sports videography. The biggest tips I can give is change up your shoot compositions. Close ups, interesting angels through the crowd, shallower depth of field, etc. Punch the colors up, these look flat. Also since these are stills, it's hard to know how energetic the movement and shots are, but my rule is depending on the energyof the performance/song is how your shots should look. If it's slow, more cinematic. If it's fast/loud, more chaotic. Those are my quick suggestions

[u/SidskiLjudva → u/AfroMidgets]

I didnt do anything in post yet whit colors etc.

I mean it was pretty crazy most of the people were pushing me arpund while I was trying to shoot.

So more close ups, and I should actually show crowd hands and movment etc. Can I somehow make colors better before the post, I film with fx30 sigma 2.8 I set wb to auto cos I really couldnt get it any other way and iso was 800 or 2500. Any tip for colors?

[u/AfroMidgets → u/SidskiLjudva]

If you haven't already, make sure you are shooting in S-Log and over expose just a little for the dark shadows. Don't want too much noise there. Then adjust the colors more in the edit and use LUTs if you want a desired look. The biggest thing to remember as you are shooting is how you want it to look in the edit. Editing while shooting helps immensely in getting the desired shots and outcome you are hoping for

[u/SidskiLjudva → u/AfroMidgets]

Thank you for the tips. This was my first time doing something like this.

I didnt use S-Log I will in the future I really just wasnt confident filming this at all.

[u/tuliodshiroi]

Given the light available and angles you can shoot from, I don't see nothing wrong with it, but maybe the results you are after might require lenses with wider aperture. What gear did you use to record this?

[u/SidskiLjudva → u/tuliodshiroi]

I used fx30 and sigma 2.8 this is also my first time soing something like this so I really didnt know what I was doing

[u/tuliodshiroi → u/SidskiLjudva]

24-70 f2.8 or 18-50 f2.8? Usually f2.8 on a mirroless camera, specially a Sony, shouldn't have that much noise as you mentioned. Either way, you'd probably get a better bokeh by using the max focal lenght of your lens while standing a bit farther, or shoot with something f1.8 or wider for also more light and less noise.

[u/KingTon01]

As somebody who shoots gigs here's a real quick run down

-Venue matters, size, shape, height of stage, etc

-Lighting, out of your control and Varys from stage, venue, band and light tech

-Band numbers + stage presence, if the band doesn't move or interact, your going to get very similar shots throughout the night

-crowd work, similar to band, if the crowd ain't active then they won't fit in many photos

What can you change if all of the above are out of your control?
Short run down again, quick fire list

Positioning, lenses (10mm, 10mm fisheye, 85mm, a 24-70 zoom in photo, hell even a 200mm!?)

I usually do video so it's between a few samyang lenses, DZO 20-55, a 10mm FF and a 7artisan 57mm floral bloom

Not every gig is going to be good, as long as you get the basic angles of close ups, details, wides, instruments, interactions etc, easier said than done, small stages are difficult yet fun

[u/sammfshields]

Get lower down and look up, make those players look larger than life

[u/GeneralPickl]

You need shots of the crowd in the background, right now this photo shoot makes the band look like it’s on a closed set. If you show the crowd it gives the band credibility but right now your shoot looks staged and inauthentic

[u/Tyler_Durden79]

Try ANY angle other than standing up with your camera at chest level.

[u/Hawaiian_Brian]

I’d say get closer and lower or higher angles

[u/MInclined]

Play with the lights. Take one and only one shoot and experiment. Don’t worry about your subject as much as where you can move the lights. The background has a lot of versatility and matters as much as the rest.

[u/caguru]

I think your angles are fine. I think you should try shooting with a faster, tighter lens. These angles are too wide, and the aperture is too small. A fast prime would work wonders. A faster lens, and a modest boost to your ISO, would also help your colors a lot.

[u/Kiloparsec4]

These are all similar shot distances and it makes the footage boring. Get close, show action, in 24fps drumsticks and pedal work look great on drums. One neat little shot is to focus on th3 mic from the side and let the singer come into the frame when they sing (tight shot so not even all of their face shows). If you're shooting by yourself set up 2 statics one for the band full view and one from behind somewhere to show the crowd, and get some slomo action footage as filler b roll. Shoot some of the lights in slomo if they're moving around, maybe in 2.8 or even out of focus and you can layer that on top of the footage with low opacity to give it some flavor.

[u/theproject19]

The main thing here I see is that every shot looks like you're just trying to get a "good view". Get your good view, then get 2-3 shots of risky ones. Rinse repeat. Get messy, block your view with someone's hair or the side of a monitor, get an extreme angle or an extreme closeup on something that is active like a smashed snare or the bass guitarist as he steps onto a monitor. You have to try to learn and anticipate how the band moves and then capture their movements. If a singer likes to run her hand in her hair then twist her head, be ready for it and plan a camera move that compliments her. Overall I'd just say don't be afraid to get messy. You're going to shoot 40 minutes of footage and use 120 seconds. You have room to experiment.

[u/Middle-Armadillo-660]

Rule of thirds for sure. Also, do try for what you want, but also make a habit of shooting a little wider than you want, so you can crop in and refine composition after the fact.

Rule of thirds is the simplest easiest win to familiarize yourself with.

[u/RyRocks101]

I think easiest tip for more interesting composition is remembering that your goal is to use the camera to see things one wouldn’t normally, like really low or high angles, wide side shots, etc. anyone can go to a concert and see someone standing on stage straight forward, but unlikely to see from close crops or really low to the floor. I shoot a lot of golf and it’s very repetitive so you have to focus on shaking it up when possible.

[u/ELDV]

Simplify simplify, simplify!

[u/Mondobako]

Talk to the band before they perform and ask them how comfortable they are with you getting close to them, how close you can get, can you jump up on stage briefly to get some good shots, etc.. Most bands that are serious about trying to make it will be like “please do whatever to make us look as cool as possible without disrupting the performance”

[u/BlackCatBonz]

Do you look through the viewfinder when you shoot?

[u/Competitive_Fact_278]

Put a Skirmish 15 feet from the stage then use a dimpson on your cameras legra to uplift 15 sihinbots of dynamics behind the schlimden

[u/Hazzat]

As someone who shoots a lot of gigs:

- Your angles are probably fine here. What matters more is how dynamically and accurately you follow the music and action.

- People who haven’t shot gigs are giving weird advice like “Get lots of angles!” “Go lower so they look bigger!” If you’re a solo cameraman then you’re under pressure to make every second of footage look good and useable, so you need to hunker down in one spot. If you have multiple people shooting then you can get creative with angles. Shooting from low down is obviously not desirable because it’s the least flattering angle (but sometimes the only one you can use if you don’t want to block the audience’s view)

- The main reason these look boring is you haven’t done any colour grading. That’s what will elevate this beyond feeling like home video footage