At our last gig I received comments that some people were uncomfortable with being on video. We run a camcorder on a tripod off to the side and people take phone videos at various times. Are they out of touch or is this a legit gripe?
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Audience members unconfortable with video recording
- Thread starter Marley's Ghost
- Start date
I would be one of the audience feeling uncomfortable while being filmed. I don´t want to see myself on YouTube with beer in the left hand, joint in the right hand and standing next to a nice chick i just met at the gig. I go to gigs to enjoy myself and want to do things which i can´t do if i would play myself on stage and i don´t want to change my behaviour just because of cams, this is limiting my freedom. There are already enough surveillance cameras all around where i go, so no extra need for even more cameras, i´m not paranoia but i don´t want people to see my red/chinese eyes on the social networks.
I don't like to be recorded. It feels like an invasion of privacy.
- Oct 7, 2000
- 18,619
- 38,943
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
I don't feel this way because I never do anything at clubs that I'd have to worry about...
Having a camera set on the audience is a not a good idea, and I wouldn't do it.
And I'll add - Taking pix and short phone videos is part of the game, and everybody knows it. Having an eye on things at all times is a different ballgame, altogether. While you might not be thinking it or considering it, women might very well think you're taking that video home to have some private fun with their dance moves.
I'd quit it if I were you.
But I agree 100%.
Having a camera set on the audience is a not a good idea, and I wouldn't do it.
And I'll add - Taking pix and short phone videos is part of the game, and everybody knows it. Having an eye on things at all times is a different ballgame, altogether. While you might not be thinking it or considering it, women might very well think you're taking that video home to have some private fun with their dance moves.
I'd quit it if I were you.
Last edited:
The thing nowadays is that people really do have rights, and in contractual matters, it's clear you need to prepare. I can only speak about the UK, but at events that are recorded, there is usually a statement on the ticket to the effect that the event will be recorded and purchasing the ticket is your consent to your image being featured in the recording. They usually offer a full refund if you cannot accept this. Whenever you see a fly on the wall documentary with blobbed out faces it's because some of the staff or members of the public would not sign a release, or could not be identified to even ask. Recording from a public space is a bit different, but in private premises it's easier to control. If you go to an event and do not seek permission, you cannot get cross when somebody asks to be removed. We provide sound, lighting and video production to theatres and events and edited a young people's event. After the client had signed it off and we duplicated 250 DVDs, a parent complained nobody had told her it was being recorded and she did not want her child's face in the DVD. Hours of extra work and wasted DVDs - but the client covered this, reluctantly for not having thought to ask. We were stupid too, for not actually asking if permissions were granted.
There's another perspective too - As a band, we love publicity, but sometimes phone recorded stuff really sounds poo if the shooter was in front of the wrong bit of the PA, or as often happens too close and it's all distorted. If I could find a way to stop people putting the nasty sounding stuff on youtube, I would! I'm happy to live with me looking old, asleep, fat, bored etc but our band is a tribute to an era where everything was clean, and making us sound like an AC/DC gig isn't good. For the shows where I'm the producer I'm getting more and more riders insisting I stop people using cameras and phones, and I feel like a Policeman - scanning the crowds as if I'm a Presidential security detail, looking for the perpetrators! Even worse, on stage with the band yesterday, it's actually quite off-putting watching security leap on a guy with a camera who managed to get into the pit with the official photographers.
Everyone assumes they can do what they want - and nowadays you can't. It can go the other way too - one well known British band do their first number, then say "A quick word on cameras and video recordings - take as many pictures as you like, they're your memories" - and then you spot the security and ushers looking confused because they then have little to do!
There's another perspective too - As a band, we love publicity, but sometimes phone recorded stuff really sounds poo if the shooter was in front of the wrong bit of the PA, or as often happens too close and it's all distorted. If I could find a way to stop people putting the nasty sounding stuff on youtube, I would! I'm happy to live with me looking old, asleep, fat, bored etc but our band is a tribute to an era where everything was clean, and making us sound like an AC/DC gig isn't good. For the shows where I'm the producer I'm getting more and more riders insisting I stop people using cameras and phones, and I feel like a Policeman - scanning the crowds as if I'm a Presidential security detail, looking for the perpetrators! Even worse, on stage with the band yesterday, it's actually quite off-putting watching security leap on a guy with a camera who managed to get into the pit with the official photographers.
Everyone assumes they can do what they want - and nowadays you can't. It can go the other way too - one well known British band do their first number, then say "A quick word on cameras and video recordings - take as many pictures as you like, they're your memories" - and then you spot the security and ushers looking confused because they then have little to do!
Wait - are you filming the band or the audience? I'd be fine with the former if the band members agree, not fine if you were filming the dance floor, etc.
I would not run a video camera non stop at every gig. It would feel intrusive to me as well.
I'll run my camcorder at the extreme rear of the venue elevated above the people's heads or discretely to the side on a shelf or somethin'. I usually start recording 15-30 minutes before the show and record straight through so as not to be fiddling with it (AKA drawing attention to it) - it can record about 12 hours before running out of memory. I haven't yet had anyone say anything.
Last edited:
I setup the camera on a shelf off to the side to try to be unobtrusive. It was primarily for the band but captured some of the area to the front of the stage. We also had at least 3 or 4 people videoing including the club manager recording on her phone. She posted the video on the club's facebook page and it included some dancers.
I'm not going to include the people who voiced concerns on any video we publish to respect their wishes. But I can't control anyone else. To me the question still hangs - do we have the right to privacy in a public place? In any tourist area there are hundreds of people filming and it's impossible to know whether we are in the videos or not.
I'm not going to include the people who voiced concerns on any video we publish to respect their wishes. But I can't control anyone else. To me the question still hangs - do we have the right to privacy in a public place? In any tourist area there are hundreds of people filming and it's impossible to know whether we are in the videos or not.
No, there isn't an expectation of privacy. However, that doesn't mean I like it.
Video the band if you want, but not the crowd. If you need a few seconds for a promo video, sure. But the whole show? Nah. Find an angle that hits the audience from behind, not the side.
It would bug me if I noticed and I wouldn't come up front and party with the band. My wife is the kind of professional who has to watch her public presence. She loves to dance. She wouldn't go up front and hang with your band if she knew about a camera.
Why don't you just turn the camera? Why do you need footage of the audience all show every show?
Video the band if you want, but not the crowd. If you need a few seconds for a promo video, sure. But the whole show? Nah. Find an angle that hits the audience from behind, not the side.
It would bug me if I noticed and I wouldn't come up front and party with the band. My wife is the kind of professional who has to watch her public presence. She loves to dance. She wouldn't go up front and hang with your band if she knew about a camera.
Why don't you just turn the camera? Why do you need footage of the audience all show every show?
Trouble is a venue is NOT a public place. The US has a lot more rights than other countries - what do your laws say?
I don't have an issue with inadvertent filming of the audience as part of filming the band. I do have a problem with turning the camera on the audience for the whole gig. That's just kind of creepy, IMHO.
In my last band, we set up a bunch of gopro's from multiple angles at a bunch of gigs to get promo video that we would edit down to 30-40 second clips. The only times we caught people on camera is if they were up front dancing. Even then, the lights were usually dimmed except for the lights on us so you couldnt really make anyone out too well anyway. We didnt point any cams directly at the patrons though.
I had a gig we were recording with a basic zoom video recorder and a woman comes up begging that we delete the recording at the end of the night because she was out with her boyfriend and didnt want husband to find it on the internets
I guess we are getting popular. It's a good problem to have, but if it is scaring people away then not so much.
No, it's not a right in a truly public place. But, many people are becoming more sensitive to the intrusiveness of social media. Why not just respect your audience and let them have a good time with out camera on them the whole time?
We use it primarily to record the band, but the space in fronto of the stage is in there too.
Funny, I started another thread awile back on band promotion and the consensus was that getting good video of the audience dancing was one of the beat ways to attract attention from clubs and booking agents. We don't have a person to video for us so setting up a camera is th only option. :-/
Can you imagine going to a bar as a patronand having 4-5 cameras recording you all night? I can't. My guess is that the volume of cameras makes it conspicuous and overwhelming.
