Resources · 6 min read

How to film a DJ set with four cameras

Where to put each camera, what each angle is for, and how to avoid the mistakes that make editing painful.

The four angles

A strong DJ-set shoot usually covers four things. A wide shot shows the room and the crowd. A medium shot frames the DJ from the front or side. A close-up on the face captures reactions. A gear shot looks down at the mixer and controllers so hands and knobs are visible.

Placement tips

Put the face camera slightly off to one side so the DJ is not looking straight down the lens. Keep the gear camera above and close, and make sure it does not block the DJ. Avoid putting a light directly behind the DJ, which turns them into a silhouette.

Settings that save you later

Use the same frame rate on every camera and film at 30 or 60 frames per second. Lock exposure and white balance so the picture does not pump when the lights change. Record the music on every camera, because audio is the easiest way to sync later.

Battery and storage

A one-hour set can create dozens of gigabytes per camera. Use big cards, fully charged batteries or power, and start recording before the set begins.

After the shoot

Copy the cards to a drive straight away and back them up. Keep the original filenames, because most tools use them to keep the cameras in order.

Then edit it

Setclipper imports your cameras and builds a first edit that cuts on the beat, so you start from a rough cut instead of a blank timeline.