| Maybe I should be more specific aboout the problems I am facing. I have been on camera before where people happen to have a camera. (And yes, people have tried to shove the camera up my nose. Not only that, they place the camera between me and my music, so if I am playing a difficult piece, I am unable to read.)
I am in a studio surrounded in a semi-circle of six cameras. The cameras are about ten feet from me but they are constantly moving. I have my horn and playing music that is up on a teleprompter. I am wired with a lav mike and my horn is getting picked up by a shotgun mike. I have to dance a little while I am playing my horn but my movement is limited due to being wired up. There are also cables everywhere so I have to be careful I don't trip. If I decide to juggle my horn, I have to be careful not to hit the lights.It is so bright it is hard to see. As the main talent I have to take directions from the floor director. It is extremely hot. And while this is a close set, Eventually I will be taping in front of a live audience. (It is worse if I am in my chicken outfit because my visablitity is limited)
I watch musicians on variety shows and am amazed at how natural and at ease they are. For instance Louis Armstrong on Dean Martin Variety show plays his horn, jokes with Dean, dance and sings and move around like he does if you seen film of his nightclub act and makes it looks so easy all at the same time. And this is live in front of an audience.
It takes me several takes. I look scared, I look stiff. I miss notes. Believe me it is the hardest thing I have done so far musically. Performing in front of my first audience, that was nothing. Doing my music and comedy out on the street is easy comparally. Staging the photo shoots for my auction to make sure I don't get hurt, all of that is simple compared to learning to perform in a studio in front of cameras. |