Hi,

I created this a couple of months ago. Its an experimental Contemporary Dance Video, where the locations of the dancer changes via editing, while keeping the dancers choreographed routine flowing smoothly across the shots. I'm planning to do a few of these with different styles of dancers and acrobatics. Comments welcome.

YouTube - Location Shift Dance 1 - featuring Vicci Hamilton


Alex

I'm sorry but...

It falls down on a number of points. I'll only hit you with three, to avoid a backlash.

The locations are okay...ish. Nothing which makes you go "wow" or "cool". Also, I'm sure that the dancer was unimpressed at having to dance on soft ground and grass and it shows in her movements.
The framing and composistion wasn't particularly inspiring and didn't show off the movements at all well.
The music is,,, how can I put this... Boring.

On a positive note, it's good technically, sharp and the camera movements are solid, although not particularly innovative. I suggest that you have a look at something like "Dance Rocks" to get an idea of how a contemporary dance video can look.

Hi the Guru. Don't stop at 3 points. I welcome all crits and happy to agree or disagree with them and don't see how there could be a backlash.

I have shown the video to a few people and some dislike and others like it. I certainly wanted it to be more dynamic than it became and hopefully having done this 1st attempt I will do so next time. I wanted to avoid using blue screen and flashy After effects work and make it more organic.

I'll check out the "Dance Rocks" videos you mentioned. Thanks

Firstly I must apologise, the video you should look at is actually called "Ballet Rocks", it's regularly on Artsworld at the moment.

Dance is really difficult. My missus has done film and video stuff with various companies and I'm amazed at just how hard it is to bring the movement and emotion across. In my opinion your film hasn't managed to capture any of the essences of contemporary dance, but then, very rarely do you get a dance video where you go "wow!", so don't give up!

I feel that the music lets your performance down a lot. If it's your own composition, maybe think about getting another computer-musician to have a go re-recording it or find a live band to play it. Failing that, find another composer.

The idea of the changing backgrounds is good, although been done quite a lot by other dance film-makers. I would try to find exciting and thrilling locations. I realise that this is about the dance and the dancer, not the location, but you are selling a package and the background influences the viewer tremendously.

Be careful of the camera angles and movements. The camera should show-off the dancer's movements, not compete with them.


These are the points which jump out at me, this isn't to say that your video is crap, it certainly isn't and stands head and shoulders above a lot of amateur "dance" on youtube etc. It just lacks that "bling" factor.

I really appreciate your honest feed back. Ok, I'll check out "Ballet Rock"

Thanks.