The Easiest Way to Make Extra Money As a Filmmaker? Try Shooting Live Events

Live events can literally be anything. Weddings, concerts, bar-mitzvahs, speeches, corporate events, and so on. The spectrum is wide-ranging and often surprising in its diversity. In another fantastic episode of his ongoing Lynda series Pro Video Tips, Anthony Q. Artis shares some of his tips for covering live events, and gets into the specifics of one of the most difficult tasks ever, shooting live events with a single camera.

Easily the most actionable step to take away from Anthony's presentation is that you need to plan ahead and shoot for the edit when it comes to covering live events. It may seem like an easy task to just show up, set up a camera or two, and call it good, but I can guarantee you that a little planning ahead will make your client – and you if you're tasked with editing the piece – much, much happier. In order to shoot for the edit, go on YouTube and search for examples of live event videos in the style that you're making, and pay close attention to the types of coverage that are used. As Anthony mentions, however, you're most likely going to learn proper event coverage through trial and error, especially when you sit down to edit and find that you don't have the shots you need.

Finding live events to shoot can be tricky, but online resources like Staff Me Up, ProductionHUB, and even that most unwieldy of internet beasts, Craigslist, can be extremely helpful in your search. You can check out the other videos in Anthony's free lesson over on Lynda, and I definitely recommend that you do because he has some really helpful tips for shooting live events as a one man band.

What are some of your favorite places (and websites) to find live event work? Share them with us down in the comments!

Source: Lynda