Howdy Nerds,

We are organizing the filming and recording of (hopefully) the entire Fest. We did the same last year and it somehow turned out. (This will come out early next year (January?) as the Fest 3 DVD. Hopefully about 4-6 months after that the DVD for Fest 4 will follow.) We do have some holes in filming a couple clubs, so we are looking for volunteers with certain equipment and the desire to pitch in. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!

* Common Grounds is locked down and set.

* The Atlantic is set, but we could use another camera angle or two.

* The Side Bar is set, but we need one or two more cameras, not necessarily even the whole time, but definitely for Saturday. We could also use a good audio recording set up.

* Abbey Road looks to be coming together: we have the audio set and the filming is coming together.

* The daytime shows should be no problem, as there is nothing else going on in the other clubs.

* Midtown is the biggest hole right now. We need both video and audio.

I have no clue what kind of experience you have had shooting bands, whether you are an expert or a novice, but there is room for a little bit of both. Write me now and we'll see what makes sense.

A 3 chip Mini DV or DVCAM camera is preferred.

The other concern is that no one is actually in the way of the people we have filming. We need to avoid people poking cameras in front of cameras and the like.

Get in touch. Take care! --Var / No Idea.

vardcore@bellsouth.net

* * * *

Hello folks planning on shooting The Fest 4,
We (Bifocal Pictures) will be shooting/Editing the Common Grounds again
this year and will be doing the final post work for the "The Fest 4" DVD.
We're now in the process of finishing up work on the "The Fest 3" DVD and
we've got a pretty good idea of what would make this years shoot and post
work go a bit more smoothly and look a bit better.

Regarding Camera settings for the shoot:

A 3 chip Mini DV or DVCAM camera is preferred. Even if you don't have a 3
chip camera (or you've got a better camera) try to set your camera up as
such so everything looks cohesive on the DVD:

1) Set your shutter speed to 30.
If you have a Cannon XL series camera shoot in frame mode. If you're
shooting with a Panasonic 24 camera set it to 24 and set the shutter speed
to 30. Most likely the lighting will be minimal and this just looks
better.

2)Turn off the gain
It causes some serious picture deterioration and grain.
There should be adequate lighting where gain is not required to get a good
picture. If there's not, have the club turn the lights up until it looks
good. If you are in charge of a venue and you're uncertain about the light
set up, go get some cheap drop lights from Sears or K mart or wherever.
They are really inexpensive and can make all the difference in how this
stuff turns out.

3) White balance your camera and...
If the club is using red/pink/orange gels have them take them down. Red
lights make video look like ass.

4) Shoot in full frame with no kooky effects.


This stuff should be pretty easy to pull off, whatever you're shooting
with. If you've got any tech questions pertaining to the shoot or editing
from any of the venues, let me know and I'll do my best trying to sound
like I know what I'm talking about.

Thanks a shit ton for helping out. You can check out lots of our work on
our site.

Charles Cardello
Bifocal Media/Bifocal Pictures
www.bifocalmedia.com

Wow, if people can actually get the venues to take care of the lights, this should be a photographer's dream.

DOWN WITH RED GELS!!!

Yeah, we gotta get the Red Gels down... they are the anti-punk. Are you bringing a camera?

Yeah, but it's a stills camera i'm afraid. I can send you on whatever i get anyways on the off chance they're any use to you.

AND GET THEM WHITE LIGHTS UP!!