With each Soundbox Session that we’re involved in, we try to create a unique aesthetic that not only matches the tone of the artist, but creates a vibe that’s visually appealing to the audience tuning in. There’s nothing worse than tuning into one of your favorite band’s live stream, only to find out it doesn’t look very good. Might as well just listen to the audio at that point, why have a live stream?

With our latest session featuring local heavy metal band, Ballista, we feel like we captured their style perfectly. The idea was to have some very high-contrast type of lighting to give the performance a raw and dynamic feel. Soft even lighting doesn’t quite go with metal music.

Rather than starting the lighting setup with the key light, and then figure everything out from there, we started out with the backlighting that would be the overall motivation for the scene. We used two LED-COB lights behind the band, gelled with some red film. This was a great starting point. The red lights would flood the screen, but since they’re being backlit, it woudn’t cast any weird colors on each person’s skin.

Next up was the key light for the vocalist. We wanted her to be very prominent and the light to really feature her expressions and physicality while performing. By using 2 Quasar tube lights, we were able to uniformly light her entire body and face evenly and give a very direct feel to the light. You can clearly how the light played on her in our main shot. We think this is a good example of how you can light a subject with some great contrast lighting, but still have a lot of shadows to work with.

Lastly, we didn’t want each of the other members of the band to fall to black with no lighting on their faces. We still wanted some detail to be seen and highlight their performances as well. We placed some simple, small LED fixtures below the guitarist and bassist that provided just enough light to bring them out of the darkness. The drummer was getting the least amount of light overall, so he had to have his very own light. For the drummer, we placed a small LED fixture hidden behind the drum set and on the side of his face.

Overall, the complete setup rivaled what could be achieved in an edited music video, but completely done live. If you’re a metal-head yourself, give their performance a watch. You won’t be disappointed. We expect Ballista to be a staple in the genre soon!

Want to take your band, brand, or seminar online? Give us a shout! We’ll work with you to get the best production possible.