Research Portfolio

Full performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81UXpyIPaRM

Song specific video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcdZtAHEpJw

The recording of live music has constantly changed since the first ever performance was filmed and immortalised onto tape, but the aims of performance recorders has always been to make the act they are recording look and sound as good as they possibly can. Obviously the genre began with 1 static wide angle camera positioned looking at a stage filled with performers, but this has changed greatly as the genre has evolved along with technology. We have seen the development of better quality camera’s for music performances, high dynamic range lighting, various ways in which the cameras can be moved and repositioned for better angles, and even technology designed to aid the broadcast of the acts live to the whole world in an instant, but nonetheless, that static wide angle shot is still very much a staple of the genre.

In my opinion, musically, Glastonbury is one of the most influential annual events in the music calendar. It has been running since 1970 and Michael Evis, the festival organiser, has put a great deal of effort into acquiring the hottest acts of the moment to perform on the world renown “Pyramid Stage”, as well as scouting new talent to showcase to the world. This high standard of performers (including BB King, Elvis Costello, Al Green and David Bowie), has attracted the worlds media, and more importantly for the UK, the BBC (British Broadcasting Company). As the event grew and started to dominate the British festival season, the annual mud fest, previously known as a “hippy fest”, changed from having cult status to becoming a household name. This change in public opinion gave the BBC an opportunity to broadcast the event, which was until then thought to be associated with rebellion (which as we know is not usually in the interests of any BBC producer).

As I mentioned above, there is often only one aim of a director when broadcasting an artist live: To make the performer look as good as they possibly can. With reference to camera positioning and angles on the performers at a stage like Glastonbury, there is only a limited number of things you can do with the camera and often, due to the nature of the content, you can only record an artist through an invisible wall as their performance is the most important thing to the viewers and they cannot appear to be interfered with by the camera crew. Despite the camera being limited to “3^rd person audience view”, directors have adapted the way they shoot and cut music performances to keep the audience interested.

It is thought that while we progress further with technology, younger audiences are getting used to faster paced programming and more obscure/interesting shots. The genre has had to adapt in order to attract the (apparently) uninterested youth audiences.

As we can see in this example, we have more recently seen the inclusion of dollys in a genre that previously used static cameras. This small change in equipment creates a large difference in filming an event like this, as the director and crew are able to not only get the variations available on a standard tripod, but could now change the X and Y axis of the camera (even at the same time with the better quality dollys). This creates a much more immersive environment for the viewers at home, helping to attract wider audiences and boost the ratings for the show. The dolly can be used in many different ways for great effect in music productions, and can give the viewer at home a “unique” view of the performance, one that a festival goer would not be able to experience e.g. hovering above the crowd. Despite it currently being a constant in the genre, there is only a few examples of this in the chosen video, but still gives a view that cannot be achieved by a person at the event.

An example of this is at 00:20. Here BB King (the king of blues and arguably the greatest blues artist of all time), addresses the crowd by saying “Good evening ladies and gentlemen”, in which the crowd respond with a half-hearted cheer. He then uses a classic performing trick by asking the crowd the same question again, usually accompanied by a louder and longer cheer. This is a technique known to musicians as “pantomiming the crowd”. It is not uncommon for a musician to attempt to build up atmosphere in this way, so from a director’s standpoint, this pantomime skit can also give a director an opportunity to showcase his talent by changing the shot to match what the television audience can hear and what BB is saying.

At 00:20, when Mr King grabs the microphone, the director has chosen a low angle mid shot of the BB, with band member slightly out of focus in the background. This shot is used to let the television audience know that he is the star of this performance and the lower angle gives him superior status to the audience at the festival and back home.

As he picks up the microphone, he says “Good evening ladies and gentlemen”. The director should see this as an attempt for BB to interact with the crowd and the director should accordingly respond to what is happening on stage. After a quick cut to a tracking mid of BB from the other side, the director arranges to have the camera follow the narrative. As the crowd begin cheering in response to BB, the camera shows us a shot of the festival audience as it zooms in from an extreme long of the pyramid stage, heightening the atmosphere. As the crowd finishes the initial response, BB repeats the question to create more audience participation and feedback. As he does this, the director lines up another “reaction shot” from the audience and uses one of the front side stage dollys. The camera starts high above the crowd and lowers vertically towards the floor, while simultaneously moving horizontally towards the crowd and slowly zooming out. This camera movement, although fairly complex, is simply used to help engage the audience at home with the artist and the festival-going audience. This type of shot is useful to give a variety of height/angles of the cameras. 

Another reason why this shot is so common in festivals is due to the advances made in technology. The development of large jumbo-screens made the broadcasting of festivals a totally different experience. The cameras were not only there to broadcast to their audience on their sofas, but also made it possible to broadcast the event live at the event; (In Glastonbury’s case, these screens are called “I-mag”). This changes the dynamic of the production as the directors responsibility is not only to their broadcaster, but to all members of the festival watching the 3 giant screens surrounding the Pyramid Stage. I know from personal experience that a dynamic director, constantly looking for interesting narrative, can change the atmosphere of crowd - and that a poorly directed performance can leave some members of the audience feeling low. The bad quality of the production can often retract from the artist’s performance, and subsequently the introduction of jumbo screens put much more pressure on the director than before.

Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage Analysis

After repeatedly watching my chosen broadcast, I used the evidence I gathered from the video and drew from my own knowledge of live concerts to create an accompanying floor plan to help fully understand my research. Not only was I looking for camera positioning, I also spent extra time analysing the height of the camera’s, the distances of the cameras and even the type of movements the cameras made.

Below is a mock up of the Pyramid Arena. Here i have highlighted the positions of the cameras outside of the pyramid itself – (i made a different floor plan for the fenced off stage area)

 

Starting with the two camera’s on the “front of house mix tower” – it is obvious looking from the broadcast that there are at least two different cameras in the mix tower, as the height of the shots changed slightly, despite coming from the same angle. For the director, it is important to have 2 cameras on the mix tower. The reason for this being that during a live concert, it is important to keep a camera constantly on a wide angle, as cutting between CU shots and wides can help give emphasis on certain aspects of the performance (e.g a guitar solo). They most likely had the cameras on different levels to give a variation of shots from the wide. As is evident, one of the cameras is eyelevel with the musicians, and one slightly higher. The two camera system means that one static camera can hold the wide while the other looks for interesting and new shots using a tripod.

The camera positioned looking at the stage from the right hand side is also sitting on a tripod. This camera can be used to get shots of the performance whilst also having a different angle on the crowd, making a panoramic pan of the entire arena possible. The side-on angle is crucial to give some depth to the performance and helps the audience at home to get a better impression of the layout of the performance, giving more information about crowd size/reaction.

There are two extreme long shots set up by the BBC camera crew. One camera is situated on a nearby blimp/aircraft. This camera is likely to spend most of the time getting panoramic views of the whole festival, but focusing on the main stage will be important for this camera as that will be where the most exciting events are occurring  and the largest crowds will be at Glastonbury Festival.  The other camera is situated behind the stage on Pennard Hill, a nearby landmark. This camera will be used similarly to the ariel camera. These cameras can be used to great effect because of their panoramic views. “Zoom and pan” shots will dominate these cameras to enhance their positioning.

As is evident by my floor plan, there are 3 jumbo screens at the Pyramid Stage. These are located to either side of the stage, and behind the Mix Tower. The positioning of these allows for maximum viewing by festival attendees, helping smaller audience members and children to still see a piece of the action if their height does not allow a clear view. Despite it’s odd positioning, the screen is placed behind the Mix Tower to allow any members of the public stuck behind it to see the stage; despite the large scaffolding structure in the way.

Here is my detailed floor plan of the Pyramid Stage and Stage Front Pit:

Here we can see that there is only two camera that can break the performers invisible wall, the one behind the stage. All other cameras used in this production are from an audience perspective, but these two on stage break the barrier between artist and public member, giving these 2 cameras a unique angle on the musicians, as well as the crowd.

Two static cameras are placed on either side of the stage in the stage pit, below the performers. These cameras will be used for basic camera functions, as well as keeping the television audience on the same level as the festival audience. This gives the impression whilst on televsiion that the viewer is actually at the event by elevating the musicians to the same lever that the crowd view them from – often, viewing a gig from a height can make one feel disconnected from the artist as elevated musicians are a staple in the industry for practical reasons, as well as power balance.

The two cameras on dolly cranes are used for a wide variety of reasons, the main being the wide variety of shot that they can produce. Their manouverability means that the director has many more options than he would have if the cameras were static. The other dollycam in the stage pit is on a track. Unique shots that this camera can offer are those of power. This angle gives the audience at home the oppertunity to get closer to the act than the festival crowd can, helping to immerse the audience in the performance. The one key shot i think this camera can get is one of power. A slow pan, from left to right, low angle, zooming out shows B B King on the stage, guitar in hand, revelling in the love and passion from the crowd, feeding off the power and staring into the sky. This camera shot only adds more quality to the performance, and despite this scenario already oozing with power and confidence, the sweeping shot makes this scene look absolutely film-esque....as intended by the director....