The Space Masterclass

Yesterday was spent working on tasks set by Katrina to get us used to working with the camera and gaining confidence in holding it and moving with it. It's something I've never done before as I've never had the equipment to deal with that. it felt good to get involved with moving the camera around the dancers, more like a duet than dancer/viewer.

One of the tasks yesterday was to film approximately one minute of continuous footage to create a short film clip. We had to use a location outwith the dance studios and we weren't allowed to edit at all. Bored by all the clean lines and shiny metal I asked the dancers to show me the grimiest place in the building. This turned out to be the boiler room underneath the theatre space, it was dirty, dark and had the constant drone of the boilers in the background. The dancers were positioned in the darkest part of the space and the camera moved from there outwards into the light passing more dancers on the way. The end result was slightly Blair Witch, slightly Girl Interrupted and very different from anything I've filmed before.

Today I went back to develop the idea with new dancers. I gave them a short sequence of movement to give the piece a theme and instead of being restricted to one shot I filmed a range of shots around the space using the dancers in all areas. I'm looking forward to editing this material over the next few days particularly as it will be my first time using Final Cut Pro.

Creative Lab Comments and Isadora

Creative Lab

Well, as expected most people liked the idea of the screen showing the reverse viewpoint but found the positioning of the screen too awkward to watch all the time. I can see this idea working in a performance though so I'm going to stick with it and think about different ways to film material and different ways to screen it.

Multiple screens?
Having the dancer hold the camera as they move?
Using a range of qualities to film?
Using a range of screens?

The other main comment was that the screen gave the space more depth, like putting a large mirror in a small room, it would be interesting to see how this works in a small space, will it still have that effect when the space itself is a lot smaller?

Isadora

I downloaded the demo version of Isadora about a week ago and decided to spend the Reading week from Uni working on it and getting to grips with it. The only problem is, no matter what I do, my mac doesn't recognise the format the tutorials are in. I've tried downloading them in different ways, opening them with different software, including Isadora itself, and still haven't managed. I then tried to just muddle my way through it but with no reference points and a completely new language to learn I feel I may be on to a losing battle. Rosalind had mentioned a friend of hers who works with Isadora so I'll try and arrange to meet up with them.

Day 4 - Creative Lab

My idea is working and the material is coming together. Joan and I have set a large section of movement incorporating the Bodyslam moves into my own style. Technically, the live streaming works and would be effective if the screen was in a more interesting position, it's quite high on the wall so seems like a very separate entity. Unfortunately there's not much I can do about the position of the screen in this space. I have had to record the material as I'm streaming to stop the camera turning itself off so I now have a record of the movement and it's development as well - quite unusual for me.

There are a few people coming tomorrow so it will be interesting to hear their take on all of this.




Short excerpt of the material I've been working on.

Day 1 Creative Lab

LAB

Movement
Bodyslam Technique - Low fly/Dodging/Material from Blok

Idea
Anonymity - Dancers as Audience/Video Feed/Black&White film

Technical
Dark - Projector light only/Disorientate audience/Non-traditional positioning/Crash mat throughout space/Camera moves

I started work on material today that will be used for the rest of the week. It was fairly slow to get going but managed to get 1 full sequence done with ideas for another one to do tomorrow when Joan (one of my FireBox dancers) joins me. I always find it difficult to get started when I'm on my own so made use of the day by filming little sections and seeing what they look like on the screen. The space is very bare so it all looks a bit sterile at the moment, especially with just me here, but I can imagine it already in different contexts.

Creative Lab Prep

This is turning into a nightmare.

I've decided to make use of the projector at The STAND during my Dance House Creative Lab to hook up a camera, film the dance and project it live onto the screen. Because this is part of my course I thought it'd be a good idea to make use of the equipment and get a decent camera out to film, that way I could use my own camera and tripod to document the whole thing which would be fine if the uni had any equipment available.

The main reason I applied for this course was for it's facilities and the fact that my work would improve just by using more sophisticated gear and now I've ended up using my own stuff anyway. All because students hire stuff out over a weekend to save them bringing it back on a Friday afternoon. The most frustrating part of it all is that I approached the techies numerous times this week and they kept assuring me that I'd be able to get stuff out. If they'd had the proper sheets out at the proper time I might have been able to approach whoever already had the equipment and see if I could collect it from them.

So. I'm annoyed and disappointed but I can still try things out with my own camera and, if the idea works, I can see about getting more space to develop it properly.

I've also downloaded the demo version of Isadora but the tutorials aren't working. It isn't my day.

And the Survey Says...

Question: What are the 3 main reasons you go clubbing?

Answers:

A
To listen to music
Have a dance
Socialise with friends

B
To enjoy myself
Forget who I am for a while
Dance without any worries in the dark

C
Music
Atmosphere
Dancing

D
Like drinking past my bedtime
Everyone else is going out
I get in for free

E
The really loud music
Socialising with friends and strangers
The feeling of freedom

F
Music and how it affects the crowd
The DJs
Social element

G
The tribal atmosphere
Being able to forget myself
Dancing

Ok, it's entirely un-scientific but it gives me an idea of why people go clubbing. Freedom came up a few times but maybe it's more about the music and socialising than anything else?

We also had an After Effects tutorial this week which was very interesting but very frustrating since we didn't have access to the software hands on. I think I picked up it's main uses and some of the possibilities and will probably use it for title sequences but would really need a proper lesson with it to figure it out properly.

Practically Speaking...

How to effect movement change in clubbers?

Small interactive area
'Mini' Disco (Miniscule of Sound, Bestival)
Self-contained
DJ
Lighting
Visuals - After Effects?
Film Delay -Obvious/Subtle?
Isadora?
Death Disco - Jaygo Bloom
Possible Venues - Arches/CCA/Soundhaus/Flying Duck?
Fully interactive
Choreographed element? - Trial at Dance House Creative Lab