Wedding Season? I Prefer Trade Show Season!
What's better than crashing a wedding? Being invited, because then you know someone out there likes you. Wedding season is a great time of year; love is in the air, great parties, and gosh-o-golly, plenty of cake and champagne to go around! We here at FiveSix Productions in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada prefer the Trade Show/Convention season. Don't get us wrong, we can chicken dance with the best of them, handle our share of fruit punch, and we look pretty dapper in bow ties and top hats; but there is just something special about that trade floor.
The ol' trade floor. The crossroads of any good convention. It's where you get to mix and mingle and get your hands on a lot of free merch'! When we are contacted about shooting conventions and trade shows, we make sure we know just what we're getting into. Is this a fast paced, high tech trade show? Or, is this a trade show about knitting turtle neck sweaters for turtles? (Please, never underestimate the ruckus world of turtle turtle neck knitting- we've lost a lot of good men at those events...) When we send crew out on the show floor, they have to be quick, clever, and able to work well on the fly. There are hundreds, sometimes thousands of people all around, and they have to be able to adapt to any changes. They also, like with "man on the street" interviews, have to be compact.
Man on the street doesn't necessarily only happen on the street, it can happen on the trade floor, or in a hall way, heck, you may be interviewing a woman in a vestibule, it's all the same. This is the crew that is going to seek out convention goers and get those awesome, exciting, and totally radical sound clips from convention goers who are literally bursting with joy. You need a team that is clever, durable, and out going- no shy kids who aren't going to be able to get strangers to talk to the scary camera. You also need your camera man and audio guy (with boom, and handheld mic) to be compact. They want the least amount of gear needed to get the job done. Lugging 80lbs of gear sounds like fun, and believe you me, it is... but maybe there's a better way. Customer testimonials are very similar, though usually you're going for quality over quantity. When doing this, have a good cameraman with a good eye for framing and background. That ficus in the corner is great- but I think we all know I mean played out... Listen to that creative voice in your head and unleash your inner Scorsese.
That is not the case with the ever popular and important "Green screen interviews". This is where the heavy hitters come to be interviewed by the experienced director or producer. This is where you need a director, producer or two, you're going to need a couple camera operators who can stay focused, along with an experienced audio mixer who isn't afraid to place a lavaliere mic down a shirt or two. You're going to want at least one grip (multiple for set up and tear down), makeup artist, and a p.a. or two. If you're doing a marathon of interviews, it is highly recommended to have a media manager- they will save the day if they're worth their salt. Be wary however, as to whether you're shooting in a ballroom or a hotel room/suite- this changes the game as far as lighting, and amount of bodies you can have on hand. Here, more is more, and you want all the gear and crew you can afford and have- you're usually interviewing field experts, CEOs, and all forms of important folk- this needs to be knocked out of the park.
Finally, any good convention or trade show ends with a great party- and we here in Vegas know how to do just that. If you hire a Las Vegas video production company or crew, you'll be sure to be covered on all the best ways to get down and have a great shoot, and a great time.