How to film a live show so it turns into great vertical clips
A good live clip starts before the show: where the camera is, what the audio sounds like and whether the singer fits in a vertical frame. This guide covers the setup for a small or medium venue.
Audio first
People forgive shaky images; they don’t forgive bad sound. If you can, ask the sound engineer for a recording from the desk (a stereo mix) and sync it with the video later. Add a room microphone or the phone audio for the crowd, so the clip doesn’t feel sterile. If you can only use a phone, keep it away from the speakers to avoid distortion.
Cameras: how many and where
- One camera: front of house, centered, at the singer’s eye level. This is your safe shot for every clip.
- Two cameras: add one at the side of the stage for close-ups and the crowd.
- Phones count: a friend with a phone near the stage gives you energy shots and reactions.
Record horizontal in 4K if possible: it leaves room to crop to 9:16 and keep quality.
Framing for vertical
A vertical crop keeps roughly a third of a horizontal frame. Keep the singer near the center of the wide shot with space above the head, and avoid wide angles where the singer is tiny. The vertical reframe in TONTRIA follows the face, but it can only work with what the camera recorded.
Light
Ask the lighting designer for some front light on the singer’s face during the songs you plan to clip. Constant colored backlight looks great in the room and dark on a phone.
Night-of checklist
- Batteries charged, memory cards empty, phones in airplane mode.
- Desk recording confirmed with the sound engineer.
- Main camera at eye level, framed for a vertical crop.
- Clap or flash at the start for syncing audio and video.
- A list of the songs and moments you want: the single, the crowd chorus, the speech before a song.
- Permission from the venue and the other artists if they appear.
After the show
Upload the full recording, choose viral – sung, and ask for “the crowd singing the chorus” or the specific songs you want. TONTRIA proposes the clips with captions; you choose, adjust and schedule them over the following week. The method in detail: from a live session to 10 shorts.