Dance Video - Production

by Tarald K. Tvedt 11:43 pm 0 comments Cinematography Dance Video Director of Photography Experimental Film Innovation and Interference Lighting Year 2

The best crew in the world made it efficient, fun, and an amazing directorial debut all together

Dance Video - Production

After Pre Production was over and done with I felt like the world had been lifted off my shoulders, and that I could finally breathe again. I genuienly looked forward to the shoot, and I was excited to see how I would do as director. As I've stated in my learning agreement I wish to become a director or dop in the future, and I really want to hone and try out my skills more during 3rd year. In many ways this project was my first attempt at just that. In the weeks leading up to the shoot I had felt the stress of producing, and although I managed to complete that too, I dont think that is the right position for me. The parts of pre production that I really enjoyed were the meetings with my dancer, where I got to actually direct, and create the cinematography for the project. Now that everything was in place I was ready to start my first shoot day. 

We started building the set around 7:30, so that we would finish in time for the first shot. Nina and I started building the party tent, and covering the sides in the black cloth I had bought during pre production. This all took longer than we thought, and by the time we had set up camera we were already a little behind schedule. Rufaro was my camera operator and sat up the slider and camera with help from myself and Nina. By the time Gabby had warmed up, my first aider (Anna Woods) had showed up, and I had also made sure of that the campus security guard was available. (We exchanged phone numbers in case of emergency) 

We then started filming. We were quite lucky because it was a fairly warm night, but also the crew remained positive, and encouraging. We did the first take, and had coffee, a towel, and a warm jacket ready for Gabby immediately, so that she wouldn't freeze while Rufaro and I set up the next take. Gabby and I also did some exercises, like running on the spot, and star jumps to keep her warm, and to keep the spirits up. We carried on with this routine for the entire shoot, as in we would do a take, and then we would fuel up on towels, coffee (or tea), snacks, and warmth, and then we would commence the next take. I would say that this worked really well, and although we went half an hour over time, the crew remained positive and set on completing the shoot. We cleaned up as a team making sure that everything was packed properly and the lights had cooled down first. We also made sure that we didn't leave any litter. We didn't have time to take the set down, so we pushed it against the wall, and marked up the path next to it, to show people that they could just walk around it. We also tied it down to make sure that it wouldn't blow away over night. Nina and I then packed down the rest of the set the next morning, and that was that. 

All in all I feel like I did well as a director. I feel like I was able to keep everyones spirits up, and made it into a fun shoot, rather than a chore. The crew was extraordinary to work with and they all put 110% into the project, so I thank them all from the bottom of my heart for giving me their evening, even Logan (BTS) and Anna (First Aid) stayed for the entire thing, and remained positive and focused. This was an amazing experience, and I am now more hungry than ever to pursue directing. 



Also a massive thanks to the crew for making this a successful shoot. Rufaro did an amazing job on camera, and it was really good working with you. Nina was constently ready with anything we needed, be it snacks, coffee, something warm to drink or good advice. You were absolutely amazing! Also huge thanks to Anna for being there in case we did a boo boo, and thanks to Logan for taking all these pictures!



-TJ