>I have a dance solo that is performed with a video backdrop that I want to >document on video to apply for funding, venues, etc. I want the product to >show the dancer and the choreography, as well as their relationship to the >video projection backround, and I want it to be as cinematically interesting >as possible. For those with experience in doing such a project, I wonder if >you can share with me what pitfalls to avoid, any tips re:lighting, camera >angles, editing, etc. that made the outcome successful for you. >For instance, Doug Rosenberg--I thought the document of your piece about the >man dying of AIDS was beautiful; of course, the piece itself was beautiful, >but I am now asking myself if there were also elements about how the piece >was shot and edited for documenting purposes that helped to frame the piece >in its best light, so to speak. >Thanks in advance for your time and help on this one! > >Diane Dear Dianne, I have just made a new work called "Les Entrailles de Narcisse" that uses a 6m wide by 3m high dark vinyl rear projection screen and a Nec 1040 (1300 lumens) with wide angle lens and a big mylar mirror to get the size with the least amount of lost stage space. While the image is strong enough for the performance (almost all lighting is from the side so as to avoid washing out the image) it proved inadequate for a video captation using consumer mini DVs. In fact the performance video montage is being finished for tomorrow morning and I am sad that i didn't have the opportunity to do a special shooting rather than just during a performance. The image is not strong enough on account of the side lighting on the body of the dancer in front. That is to say that the camera can have the body clear but in doing so adjusts on this and then is not sensitive enough for the background. What was needed was probably either a shooting with less light on the dancer to be more in balance with the background or more light in the background image. Given that it was a terribly large image I think a more powerful projector such as the sony PX31 with 3000 lumens would have been more apt but I haven't one, nor a super wide angle to go with it. On the other hand I could reduce the side lighting to synchronise better with the luminosity of the projector that I have. This would perhaps work, yet mini DV camcorders are terribly insensitive so perhaps I would have had a lot of noise. I suspect the best option would be highly sensitive camera (Digital Beta SP for ex.) with the gain pushed and the projectors luminosity pushed a bit and the side lighting diminished some so as to find a balance. The only way to do it with any assuredness is to shoot in an environment where you can control these parameters and by using a video monitor connected to the camera and not the LCD monitor on the camcorder. good luck, Bud -- TANDEM asbl/Bud Blumenthal 58 rue de la Lys 1080 Brussels, Belgium tel:32/2/424 35 24 fx: 32/2/425 89 39 http://users.skynet.be/bud-dance/
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