The shoot · in order, as the night runs
Shot by shot.
A live event shoots in real time, so this is also your shoot order. Each card tells you exactly where to point, how to move, how long to hold, and what it cuts to in the edit. Air means drone, ground means handheld or gimbal.
IThe party, from the air5:30 – 6:00 · daylight
1Aerial · OpenerDrone: high top-down of the party in full swing, then descend and push in toward the building.
Angle
Straight down to mid
This is the new opener. Get it up the moment you arrive, while the light is clean. Start straight down on the gathering so we read the whole crowd, then drop and move toward the building to pull us into the night.
Cuts to: the orbit
2Aerial · HeroDrone: orbit around the building, people interacting visible below, the party going.
Circle the building so we feel the whole scene: the crowd, the entrance, the energy. Keep the orbit over the building and street line, not over the crowd. See the drone plan below.
Cuts to: the room, alive
3B-rollGround wide of the full room alive, energy up, drinks out.
Your bridge from the air to the people. Find a corner or a step to get slightly above the crowd. This is the ground answer to the drone opener.
Cuts to: arrivals at the door
IIArrivals and the welcome5:30 – 7:50 · ongoing
4OpenerZoom into the entrance as people arrive, the door framing each new face.
Camp near the door whenever people are arriving. The push into the entrance as someone walks in is a clean way to introduce each wave of guests and a strong opener for the verticals.
Cuts to: Cory greeting
5HeroCory greeting people, hand on a shoulder, real recognition on his face.
This is the thesis shot of the whole film: the owner who knows everyone in the room. Stay tight on his hands and the faces, not wide. Follow him through three or four greetings and you have the heart of the edit.
Cuts to: the artists greeting
6HeroThe other artists greeting guests and bouncing off each other, laughing.
This is how we get to know the team, live and in the mix instead of posed. Catch the artists with the community and with each other. Their chemistry is the studio's chemistry.
Cuts to: first-look reactions
7ReactionGuests seeing the space for the first time: looking up, pointing, smiling.
The "first look" faces, easy to miss, so hunt for them. Get three or four. Reactions are what make a recap feel alive.
Cuts to: the tour
8HeroCory or an artist giving a small group the tour, gesturing to work on the walls.
Move
Handheld follow, behind
Community being let into the room. Follow from behind the group so we feel like we are being walked through it too.
Cuts to: the laughing huddle
9ReactionTwo or three people laughing together, drinks in hand, mid-conversation.
The vibe in its purest form, and one of your favorites. Stay back, do not interrupt, shoot it like you are not there.
Cuts to: golden hour
IIIGolden hour7:50 – 8:37 · the money window
10HeroGolden-hour zoom on faces, the crowd backlit by the low sun.
Shoot people against the sun. Lens flare is welcome. This is the most beautiful light of the night. Spend it on faces, push in slow and let the warmth do the work.
Cuts to: the ink
11HeroZoom on tattoos: existing ink on guests, or live tattooing if any is happening.
This is a tattoo studio, so the ink is the brand. Push in on the work the community already wears, and if anyone is getting tattooed, get the needle-to-skin macro. Golden light on skin and ink looks incredible.
Cuts to: the toast
12HeroThe toast, whenever it happens: Cory says a few words, the room raises glasses.
Move
Handheld, whip between
The emotional peak. Get his face, then whip to their faces responding. Ask Cory beforehand roughly when he plans to speak so you are in position, since it can happen any time.
Cuts to: food slo-mo
13Hero · slo-moOpen-fire cooking by @meesterhickey: flames, the sear, the plate, all in slow motion.
The live fire is a feature, so shoot it at high frame rate (120fps) for buttery slow-motion. Flames licking up, the sear and the smoke, a hand plating, then someone's first bite. This is both your food beat and a real fire source, and the chef is one of the local partners worth featuring.
Cuts to: the golden drone
14AerialDrone golden orbit: the crowd at the entrance, raking golden light.
The money flight, "before dark." Same orbit as the opener but bathed in gold. Keep it over the building and street, not the crowd. See the drone plan.
Cuts to: the cooking fire
15HeroPeople gathered around the open cooking fire, faces warm-lit by the flame as the light drops.
The cooking fire is your key light here. The golden-to-fire handoff is a beautiful turn from day to night. Get the faces watching the chef work, lit by the flame.
Cuts to: blue-hour window
IVBlue hour and night8:37 – 9:30 · the close
16DetailThe window and sign glowing against the deep blue sky.
Shoot this right around 8:40, you have a 20-minute window. The lit window and sign against a still-blue sky is the cleanest "we are open" frame you will get.
Cuts to: the dusk drone
17AerialDrone dusk pass, lights on, rising and pulling back from the lit studio and string lights.
The second money flight, "after dark." The warm lit studio pulling away into the blue neighborhood. Anti-collision lights on, flown before it goes fully dark. See the drone plan.
Cuts to: the bar
18B-rollThe bar by @5oclocksomewheremb: a craft cocktail being made and poured, warm practical light.
A luxe texture beat, and another local partner to feature. Catch the shake, the pour, the garnish. Pairs with the open-fire cooking in the afterglow stretch of the edit.
Cuts to: the band and crowd
19B-rollThe band playing and the crowd enjoying it, the room's live energy.
Grab the band naturally as part of the night, a couple of angles: a wide with the crowd around them and a closer detail of hands on strings. Keep the crowd in the frame so it reads as the room's energy. You will also cut a dedicated clip of them to repost (see the verticals).
Cuts to: the raffle
20ReactionThe raffle: the draw, the winner's face, the crowd reacting around them.
A built-in community moment. Get the winner's reaction and the crowd around them, not the tickets. Ask Cory or the team when the draw happens so you are on it. This is the kind of shared, everyone-in-it beat the whole brief is about.
Cuts to: Cory, the close
21CloseCory in the room he built, mid-laugh with someone, the studio glowing behind him.
The human close: the owner inside his community, not posing, just in it. This is the last face we want to remember.
Cuts to: the payoff
22PayoffFrom outside, looking in through the lit window at the full warm room. Hold.
Move
Static, let it breathe
The final frame. "The studio opens once." The room full of people, seen from the street through the glass. Hold it longer than feels comfortable and let the night settle.
End frame.
