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Tips Sent in From Our Visitors I'm enjoying browsing your site. I agree with your ideas about not zooming too much when videoing, and making sure that you anticipate the entrances and exits. I've written a musical, whose premiere performance was in England (I live in Canada). Even though I am assured by people that saw the show that it looked good, the only thing that I saw was the video, which was awful. The technical quality was fine, but the guy spent so long on close ups that he missed every entrance, and missed almost every line that soloists sang, arriving on their faces just after they finished singing! My tip: if you don't have time to watch a rehearsal or two, rely more on the wide angles than the close-ups, it gives you less scope for ruining the video. Also, a point about tape formats. VHS-C is a compact size version of VHS tape - the quality is the same as VHS i.e. pretty lousy. S-VHS is much better than VHS. It is the equivalent of Hi-8, as compared with 8mm. And regarding mics, I have had some success with PZM boundary-effect mics, sold by Radio Shack. These are not too expensive, will plug into a camera with a suitable adapter (1/4" to 1/8"), and can be set up conveniently high on a back wall, or right over the stage (with a long cable). Because of the design of these mics, they tend to reduce the echoey quality of recordings made with on-camera mics. They are flat-ish mics, which I usually stick to the wall with duct tape. They sound accurate, and work with the automatic level controls in the camera, so you can concentrate on the shot. Submitted by: Alex Robinson, Composer of "Papa Panov - A Christmas Musical," a new Christmas musical for children - www.papapanov.com
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