Performing alongside film clips

Jon Majors

Active Member
My school's band is performing a movie medley while we show clips on a projection screen. I'm looking for ways to have the music perfectly line up with the clips. What do you all suggest? Audio click tracks, visual click tracks? How would you do it? Whichever way has to be wireless, or at least very few cables. Thank you!
 
Much of this depends on your exact situation. Click track can be great if monitor bleed cannot be heard by the audience. Likely a combination of additional rehearsal with final content, visual cues, and really percise stage managment will yield your best results.

There is no way we can give you benificial feedback about technological solutions, as you have offereed no information as to what your set up is, what equipment you have available, and other logistics.

~Dave
 
I would think a click track in the director's ear would help greatly with consistency. Since directors have to stay in front of their score, a wired connection to "open ear" headphones should work.

This is beyond my experience, but I would think the creative process would go something like this:

1. Director assembles the musical score
2. Create the click track
3. Make a crude recording of band playing score to click track for video editor to listen to
4. Edit video to fit score and click track

Don't overlook the need to have public performance rights for the video.
 
Much of this depends on your exact situation. Click track can be great if monitor bleed cannot be heard by the audience. Likely a combination of additional rehearsal with final content, visual cues, and really percise stage managment will yield your best results.

There is no way we can give you benificial feedback about technological solutions, as you have offereed no information as to what your set up is, what equipment you have available, and other logistics.

~Dave
@Jon Majors @Jay Ashworth @DaveySimps Several decades ago, the repertory theatre I was with had a scene which opened with several minions entering carrying various props and two wandering lute players sauntering in with the crowd. At a designated time one lute player began to strum and was soon joined by his AF of M buddy. After they'd played several bars and one pass through the main body of their song a multi-track recording of the Festival's full orchestra had to join in in perfectly synchronized tempo. One of the lute players was Bruce French and the second was Terry McKenna.
How we accomplished this successfully performance after performance every time the production came up in rep'.
A scene prior, at their convenience, the two lute players got dressed with their costumes, makeup, wigs and wireless in ear monitors. An ASM would make sure everyone was ready and I'd play their click track and musical lead-in to their in-ears. If any last minute adjustments were required, that was the time. When it was time for their scene and entrance, at a point cued by the calling SM per dialogue, I'd roll the multi-track and the lute players listened to several bars of verbal count-in followed by approximately 20 bars of click track leading to the pre-recorded AF of M sisters and brothers playing throughout the theatre and all in flawlessly perfect sync and pitch. This would've occurred somewhere around 1980.
EDIT: To add @FMEng who posted while I was typing.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 

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