Camera placement

[Fred Coulter]

I've recently upgraded my video editing software from the (free) Microsoft Movie Maker. The new software allows for multiple video tracks, and there are remarkably cheap 1080P video cameras out there. So I'm thinking about getting another camera (or two) so that my performance videos aren't just a static shot down the keyboard. (I think including fingers on keys is essential. Otherwise I could just be playing air keyboard.)

So the question is where a second or third camera should be placed.

A couple thoughts I had were having one shot from above, using an action type camera so it's easy to attach to the ceiling. Another thought was a face on shot so it's apparent who's actually playing. But I can't convince myself that people really want to see my face. I sure don't want to see it.

Any other thoughts?

If I ever perform something worth listening to, I might have fun with chroma key, moving the stand into the middle of the living room and replacing the background with something more interesting. But that's for the future. Ain't software fun?

 

[bharatbash]

Hello Fred!

This might help :

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=vEyBgm7XKjM

 

[Fred Coulter]

Lovely camera work. However, I don't have the space (much less the budget) to get really gung ho with it. I'm in a small space, and looking at static mounts.

 

[Rayblewit]

A good wife could come in handy

 

[Fred Coulter]

I annoy her enough as it is.

 

[Fishingmusician1]

You might want to consider a GoPro camera. It offers a high resolution wide angle view and will bring in a long view while the camera is still close. I use it for fishing with my kayaks and wouldn't be without it. They can get expensive, but the basic GoPro Hero model is good and all I use and at a good price. I thought about doing this with my guitar playing. I'm actually a better guitar player for playing all the way through a song, go figure.

 

[Oriane Lima]

Hi, Fred and all. Overhead piano shot is an interesting subject. After searching a lot, I found this web page describing how to shoot the piano keys with a superior horizontal view.

The link: https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2014/01...

I liked the idea and used my tripod, a Japanese-made Insta Loq 960 QGL. I made some adaptations and got a pretty consistent set up, as shown in the picture and the movie.

I used a metal tube (a PVC tube would also work). At one end I fitted a cover cap with a screw to accommodate to the camera socket base. In the tube body, near the other end, I drilled a hole in the tube to fit a screw with a nut, which secures the tube to the tripod socket, to keep the tube in a fixed horizontal position. The original screw of the camera socket (rather small) was replaced by a longer one, of the same gauge, enough to cross the thickness of the tube, that was then fixed, with a retaining nut.

To counterbalance the weight of the camera, I improvised a small plastic pot filled with various metal weights. This pot was tied to a nylon thread, forming a loop, which was then simply placed over the end of the tube.

OBS.: Mendelssohn a Public Domain downloaded mp3.

 

[Oriane Lima]

Addenda
Addendum 1: In relation to the cover, where the 6 inch long screw (which serves to anchor the camera) is inserted and positioned, on the inside of this cover, where the thread tightens the screw, to keep it immobilized, I placed a Loctite® Repair Putty Multi-Purpose Pad, two-part adhesive, to block the internal thread from moving around the screw, and thus prevent the screw from moving or slipping from its place.

Addendum 2: When you screw the camera on the screw, always use both hands to avoid any accidents.

 

[Fred Coulter]

My wife, apparently, also thinks I need a second camera for my videos. She gave me an action video camera. Now all I have to do is attach it to the ceiling.

 

[Rayblewit]

She gave me an action video camera. Now all I have to do is attach it to the ceiling

Your wife might have other motives

 

[DonABQ505]

I'm not enough of an extrovert to desire videoing myself, so I admire people attempting even the simplest of setups. However, after 56 years of amateur playing (and lots of feedback from performances), I've concluded we keyboardists don't just play with our hands, we play using our whole bodies.

Each video shot meets a different need, in addition to breaking up the monotony of a single camera angle. I find overhead shots less helpful for the relaying of keystrokes and technique - there's not much differentiation in finger movement from above - but there are no perfect angles for meeting that need. A shot slightly from above and off to one side might do the trick, but one of those pesky arms is likely to get in the way.

A shot of your face might prove "performership", but without the body included, the true engagement of the player with the keyboard is not really transmitted. It's not a technical need, but more of an artistic/stylistic presentation for viewers to remember that other things are important in performance beyond getting all the notes right.

Just my own opinion, of course, but think about what each angle is supposed to do for the viewer, not just the player, and see if the answers don't come a little easier.

 

[DonABQ505]

Actually, I should have said that overhead shots of the hands don't differentiate which keys are being struck. Such shots will record side-to-side finger movements, but downstrokes that give me a sense of the notes is less clear. Anyway, video onward!!

 

[happyrat1]

This showed up in my inbox today and I instantly thought of this thread.

Enjoy

Gary