When I wasn’t running between two venue spots for performer photos, I was filming as part of perk fulfillment for the Norcal Noisefest XX Indiegogo campaign.  

With the generosity of both Uberkunst and Gussette, we were able to exceed our funding goal and I was more than happy to return the favor with my established perk.

This year I had little budget to rent gear, but made do with my own equipment:

• Sony NEX-VG20 (200mm lens) as stationary camera.
• Nikon d5100 (85mm lens) as mobile camera with Neewer stabilizer.
• LED battery-powered shoe lamp (on mobile cam)

The option I had for the funders was a two-camera setup – one stationary and the other was mobile, and then use audio from the external recorder pulling from the mixer.
My plan was to have a fairly compact setup, and it worked out fairly well.

Saturday night’s show closed with a much-anticipated Uberkunst set.  I’m all too familiar with their wild performances, so I made sure to set up the stationary camera away from general performing and “thrash zones”. This year, their demonic totem was mobile, so the plan was to first protect the gear, then protect myself! Andrew Wayne of Chopstick had lent his hand to be on stationary camera, asking only to do easy pans and zooms when necessary.  Generally I find that the stationary camera is as risk of getting bumped and tripped over, so his help is always appreciated. This year, the mobile cam was at the mercy of an enthusiastic, unidentified audience member armed with a skateboard.

I’m really impressed with how the footage turned out. I had the belief I would have needed to rely on the stationary footage, but I was able to cut in a lot of the mobile cam shots – producing the up close and personal nature of Uberkunst’s chaos.

Uberkunst

Sunday afternoon had Gussette also slotted in the Colony.  For his project, I had a short congress with the artist before Noisefest, curious about what he plans on doing for his set so I can grasp how to film it.  I enlisted the help of Andrew Wayne again, but not a lot of moving around (or dodging for that matter) from either of us, but slow trucking for mobile and slow pans/tilts and zooms from stationary.  Most of the achievement came in post production, where I had made of jarring cuts to make the visuals match his set.

Gussette