1. Your show liaison uses the Show Planning page to make choices about how and when they would like the show filmed, and then they submit those choices for scheduling confirmation.
2. Show Filming replies to the scheduling request with an email that confirms availability, and acknowledges your show planning choices.
3. Approximately one week before your filming date, a reminder email is sent which may include a request for photos of the venue and the sound equipment.
4. The show is filmed on the date scheduled. (More info under Filming below)
5. The show’s footage is checked and put into the editing queue.
6. Once your show becomes first in the queue, contact will be made to find out how many orders have been placed for discs.
7. A preliminary invoice may then be sent to you for confirmation and approval.
8. With your approval, final editing begins and typically discs are ready in about a week.
9. Before disc duplication, the show liaison will be contacted to get the final disc count.
10. A billing invoice is sent that reflects the final number of discs ordered.
11. Once payment is ready, the discs are delivered.
12. Show organizers distribute the discs to those who ordered.

Show Planning Choices

The Show Planning calculator takes your show’s filming needs, and estimates the best price per disc given the number of disc orders you anticipate. There is never a fee charged to the show producers. The price per disc is the only cost. (If a first-time customer were to find it impossible to collect enough orders, discs would simply not be created, and no fee would be charged.)

For some productions it is important to enter the lowest possible number of discs that may be ordered, and not a goal or best-case scenario. The reason being that if you inform people of a price per disc based on your hope for 50 orders, and you only get 30 orders, it is usually difficult if not impossible to then go back and tell them the higher, 30-disc price. Conversely, it is usually not a problem if you get more orders and the price per disc drops lower than you originally communicated.

There are several combinations of options that are most common, and they have been set up as option packages. There is also a custom option that allows you to create your own package. For all options there is a sample YouTube clip created using those options. The sample video for each package is of exactly the same show and segment in order to make the contrast as easy to see and hear as possible.

Once you click Submit on the Show Planning page, you are not committed. An email is simply sent with your show’s information to Show Filming. Your dates are then checked on our calendar. At that point, we’ll confirm the dates, and may request further information. You are welcome to do the same, at any time. Your information is never shared with anyone else or used for any other purpose, though it may be added to our website’s show gallery, unless you request otherwise.

In most situations cameras are placed behind the audience to prevent obstruction and distraction. Our cameras do a great job at any distance, and are also capable of being operated remotely. So, in situations where space is limited, or when no seats can be reserved for filming, cameras still can be optimally placed without obstructing the view of ticket holders.

It is always helpful to have photos of the venue in advance so camera placements can be coordinated.

A note about arena seating: Stages that are lower than the audience seats present a special challenge. Every foot farther from the stage often requires that the camera be a foot higher, meaning that cameras placed behind the audience will be shooting down from above. In such a theater the video looks best when you can put the cameras among the seats so that they’re just above cast eye level. Unfortunately, that usually means blocking seats. This is another situation in which a remote camera may be the best solution.

Sound is the most commonly underestimated aspect of show filming. In our experience, for shows with music, people would rather watch a PowerPoint with good sound, than Spielberg cinematography with weak sound. Unfortunately, sound is typically a factor that is beyond the director or producer’s control. On the day of filming there really isn’t anything that Show Filming can do to improve sound, but there are things that can be done to make the sound on the discs even better than it was for the live audience.

1. Send us a photo of your sound system and wireless mic receivers.
2. If your sound system is digital/programmable then we can’t touch it, and your soundboard operator will have to know how to output one mix of mics without music, and one mix of music without mics.
3. If you have chosen to have all the individual mics recorded and your wireless receivers are able, then we can correct many possible mistakes made during the live show, like missed sound cues and feedback, but a mix from the board is still critically important.
4. We will also need the musical accompaniment tracks for the show. If you are playing the music directly from a device and don’t have music files, we must know that in advance.

Generally speaking editing is done to simulate a typical audience member’s “mind’s eye.” That means that the edit will focus on the things happening on stage that an audience member who is trying to follow the story would focus on. Obviously, that includes the characters that are talking, and who they’re talking to. Whenever possible, there will also be wide shots so that viewers can appreciate context, atmosphere, choreography, etc. This is the same approach used in commercially produced concert films and live performance recordings.

A few customers have requested that the shot always be wide enough to include anyone who is performing choreography. While this will make the story harder follow for many, it is an option for anyone who requests it in advance of filming.

Show Filming has no capability for collecting or delivering individual orders.