Evan, yes, side-by-side manned. Rarely need to talk though. Been doing it so long...and with defined responsibilities for both operators, not much chance for problems.
To get in the door at a new event sponsor we offer a "get acquainted" production where they sell direct to students, parents, etc. and guarantee a minimum number of orders of 20 at $25 - no production charges to the facility. These have always been advanced sales, and we advise that if the minimum is not met, no video will be edited/delivered.
We've NEVER had only minimums, usually averaging double (40) sales or more. Sales are ALWAYS better when advance notice/order form is distributed. Sometimes the facility collects and pays, sometimes orders are mailed direct to us. Mileage varies.
Good money to be made in this, but too many operators I know of put too much effort into it, trying to do a LOT of cuts back and forth like "Dancing with the Stars" that simply does not translate the same for local events. Parents want to see their kids and the kids faces; kids want to see themselves head-to-foot and their friends and the whole ensemble; choreographers/instructors want to see the entire group head-to-foot.
We've been able to satisfy all these by shooting predominately stage wide to medium (depending on the number of performers in any routine) with a couple of passes left-to-right, then later right-to-left to get CUs (close ups) of faces in the groups. This offers the choreographers strong representation of the routine while giving parents a look or two of their kids darling faces, expressions and smiles.
Mostly though, it's all about the dancing, with focus on the routine and not a bunch of fancy 15-frame cuts and angles. The entertainment is the routine and performers, not the fancy camera work IMHO. At least for non-Hollywood style event coverage.
Our best sales come when we do the following:
• Advance orders, direct to parents, etc.
• Order table at event with assistant or volunteer (depending on situation).
• Monitor at order table showing live performance for casual people, or others who are outside the main stage area, or in the dressing room where others are waiting their turn and want to see what's happening, This ALWAYS stimulates MORE sales for us, often doubling the number we've received in advance orders.
• During intermissions/breaks or whatever, we'll show (if we have one) last year's performance, or something representative, or a special "rehearsal" highlight if the opportunity to produce one presents itself.
Others bring in a multitude of monitors, way too many cameras, mix on-site and spend a LOT of time running cables, auxiliary audio acquisition and more. This is overkill, and with the cost of more staff, more time consumed setting up and breaking down, even though it might be conceivably faster to clean up in post, or even sell on-site with DVD duplication, etc. the bottom line will often come out very close without all the production setup headaches.
Keeping it simple, clean and with the close-up passes cut into the base from the stage-wide footage, makes post editing a breeze.
For performances of two hours or less we usually have two people shooting, one person doing essentially clean-up editing, and rarely put in more than 12 hours total for shooting, editing, graphics design, duplication, packaging and delivery. The vast majority of my productions (and video is ALL we do, ALL the time - full time) are shot one afternoon or evening, edited that night or next day and delivered the following day. People also make a mistake by previewing their footage "to see what we got" when it would be better (if you have to digitize or get your footage into your system first) to do so and make notes WHILE you are looking at the tapes. Then, it's fresh, you have notes and you're ready to rock and roll. Drink something that will give you a mental kick, bite the bullet and get 'er done.
Time is money. There's simply NO excuse for sitting on a project when you could be getting it done, delivered and moving on to the next work once, sell many gig. Don't let your backlog shelf stack up on you - it is counter productive. Nothing keeps you stimulated better than getting it done, that sense of satisfaction of having finished a job in a timely manner, and moving on to something else.
