Panel Discussion Video Services

Speaker1: [00:00:00] Hey, guys, this is Jay over at Firebird Media. And today we're talking about panel discussion filming. What is it? What do you expect out of it, how to organize it and what to get out of it. So panel discussion filming. It's basically when a production company or videographer at an event sets up cameras in such a way to capture a keynote or or a discussion on stage that could be set up in so many ways. You can do a one camera setup where you got one from the in the back of the house, focusing downstage. You can have a multi angle coverage of that being multi-cam, where you have one camera at the back of the stage, one at a 45 degree angle, or you can have one completely left or right side of the stage facing the speaker. The thing about panel discussion video production is that we want to strategically think about the space and do a preliminary walkthrough with the client or with you before the actual panel happens. So over the years, we've filmed several panels and keynotes, whether it's a TEDx or it's a forum, a workshop, or even just general training for a company panels is something that we can definitely execute for you when we shoot panels, we often want to do a preliminary walkthrough. What is that? That's where, prior to the event happening, we want to survey the space that we're filming in so that we know how to achieve the best angles and the best look.

Speaker1: [00:01:18] In some cases, the, the, the depth of the room or the size of the room has a big play in how it's filmed. Being that if it's a super deep room, we want to make sure we have the right lenses on site so that we can throw the picture far into the distance. We may be using seven 70 to 200 millimeter lenses. We may be using 400 millimeter lenses. Or maybe the room's really wide, but short, and we have a stage that's close. We might want to do something like a 14 to 20 4 or 20 4 to 70 to make sure that we get the the broadest picture while maintaining that stage appearance from the back of the room. Now. In panel discussion video production, what we look for is the placement of cameras. They do matter if we're on a lower budget side for for an event, having one from the back of the house shooting straight to the stage is often where we go. These can be used in general canvas videos, whether they're hosted on YouTube, or cut down in social segments where you cut off the sides of the video, tracking the person moving on stage in a way to where you can capture multiple social reels out of one keynote or panel discussion. If you have multiple people on that panel, making sure to tap in with Ava is important.

Speaker1: [00:02:24] That's something we do as a production team. We talk to them, we figure out who's got mics, which mics are hot, where we can jack in and capture audio with our field recorder that captures 32 bit flow being high quality audio. We want to be mindful of all these things when we're dealing with multiple people on a panel, let's say if they're sitting in a fireside chat manner we want to make sure that we give everybody the chance on camera in the best in the best appearance being that if we're going to shoot from the side, it might be helpful to shoot from the other side. If the chairs are arranged in sort of like an arc or a V, you'll see it in panel discussions where the host or the interviewee will be on the stage to the left or right, and the panelists will be staged to the left or the right, adjacent of the host. And so basically what we want to do is capture all the faces. And the way to do that is simply by putting up a two camera angle set up on the left or right side of the stage so we can get down line of them so we're not cutting someone's face off. A lot of those panel discussions and fireside chats, what they want to do is basically bounce between the moderator or host and back to each panelist to get their feedback and thoughts.

Speaker1: [00:03:34] In terms of what they're talking about is industry experts. And a good way to capture that is to have a a close up cam and a wide cam to each shot. So if we're going to stage up a two camera angle, set up on the left side of the stage to catch the panelist, and we have that main shot coming from the back of the stage. We would like that stage shot straight on to be as wide as possible, and we'd want our side profile shot of each speaker to have an intimate angle or that close up angle, and then a more, you know, full body composition or wide angle and that that comes with a budget. Obviously, you'd want to consider the factors of production or factors of pricing with a production company whether you're on a budget or you're trying to at least get more out of the out of the chute so you can take it back for marketing collateral reasons. Those are those are factors to think about, especially with camera angles in the runtime of those cameras. I talked a little bit about the size of the room and the layout of the room. So from a preliminary survey or a site survey, either day prior or day of that will tell us a lot about the footprint of the production. We don't want to cut off exits.

Speaker1: [00:04:41] We don't want to cut off walkways. We don't want to impede the guest's ability to get up and leave, or when they break for the when they break a panel. We don't want to impede on the footprint of the general crowd in its movement. So their safety to to be at play as well. And the way we plan that production footprint and the value it will add to the post-production and panel discussion, video production. It's it's very important that you think of not only the size of the room, not only the safety precautions of the room, like the footprint and where we can put cameras, but also how how well we can transfer media in in in a panel discussion you're looking at easy 3045 even and an hour long discussion where you had you could have up to three, 4 or 5, even six people on stage answering answering questions from a moderator. The moderators job is to move those discussions based on the run of the show, and that moderator will take care of that, run a show by expediting the questions and or, you know, making segments into the other panelists. But when we think of media production, company is going to want to make sure that they're capturing it in the highest bitrate or sample rate. You know, there's a difference between shooting 1080p back in 2001 and shooting 4K six K, eight K in 2025. It takes up a lot of storage.

Speaker1: [00:06:03] So when you have a panel discussion you want to make sure that you're having breaks in between those panel discussions so that the moderator both and the talent on stage or the panelists can take a break and the production company can offload footage, transfer assets and put new cards in, new batteries in and refresh themselves. In some cases, you'll have a dynamic cameraman, or you'll have a gimbal camera capturing slow motion beauty moments on stage, where the panelists may arrive on stage, or the glitz and glam of getting off stage, or get an award or recognition, or receiving accolades from the moderator. The thing about that is, is that we'll have a secondary cam or a B cam on site that's not focused on the discussion, but really getting the audience interaction, maybe the Q&A from the panelists to the audience and then back and forth. We want to make sure we're highlighting you know, awesome moments on stage with the panelists and the moderator using an additional camera or B-roll cam. Moderately. So again, not to be a distraction to the event or to be an eyesore and to be sitting straight in front of the crowd while they're trying to digest what's being said on panel. We would have we would probably want to add a B-roll specialist or a B-roll cam to float on a gimbal. And we've all seen those cool things to capture these beautiful details that are otherwise missed because of the main cameras capturing the panel itself.

Speaker1: [00:07:26] Off. Remember when you're thinking about panel discussion filming? You want to think about the price point? What's the production value? What's the footprint like? What does the run of show look like? And if you have an event organizer or a point of contact, that production company should be with that point of contact, looking at the run of show and and moving around you, at the end of the day, when a production company or videographer is looking at panel discussion filming, what we want to do is look at the run off show and strategically move with that run of show. It's going to change the space and the layout. We have to consider those factors. What's the quality of the of the assets going back to post-production? Are you requesting raw footage to go back to your marketing department? If so, how can we better prep that stuff in the post so that when they get assets, it's clearly organized and all assets are where they need to be, and they're driving the most value and not causing resistance when it comes to the post-production, either on your side or on our side. So if you have any questions or want to know more about panel discussion, filming or see how our team can handle your production needs, feel free to reach out. We're always here to help.