A lot has happened in the month since I last blogged; filming for Project Y and Under the Same Sky, both for YDance, designing the website for the masters show, finishing Anne Whitaker's website, fine tuning the details for As the sparks fly upwards... and getting back to work on itch.
Project Y
I was approached by YDance, the national youth dance agency for Scotland for whom I have worked as a freelance dance tutor for many years, to produce documentation and a short introductory documentary to promote their performance project, Project Y. I spent a few afternoons filming rehearsals and getting short interviews with the choreographers and some of the dancers, which I chose to conduct as group interviews rather than one on one to ensure a more relaxed feel to the footage. I then got a team of 2 camera operators and a boom mic operator together for the multi-camera performance shoot. So far, looking through the footage as it's captured, it's looking good. I may need to crop in on the wide angle camera slightly but I had a feeling that would happen as it was difficult to set up in advance due to different lighting states in the theatre.
Under the Same Sky
Also for YDance, this is a short promotional video aimed at young people and those who work with them to promoto YDance's new project, Free to Dance. Free to Dance targets young girls who may be school refusers, exercise refusers or excluded from regular activities for some other reason. For this reason, it was important to YDance to film girls dancing who have not had years of experience and to chat to them about their developments so far. Again I chose to shoot the interview with both girls at the same time to relax them get better material.
Masters Show Website
I decided to use a similar format to my own website for FireBox as it makes use of an iframe thus minimising the amount of parts which need to load for each page, keeping the design a simple grey on white allows the work to speak for itself. The main problem has been getting all the information I needed from people in a short amount of time. It seems that deadlines often fall on deaf ears, even when they are reasonable and take dissertation deadlines into account. Eventually I got it altogether but am now waiting on the server details so I can upload it. Typical.
Anne Whitaker
www.anne-whitaker.com is now up and running. The website was fairly simple to put together as Anne was keen to use a blog template that she could add to gradually. We decided that the best way forward would be for me to meet with her on a weekly(ish) basis and teach her the basics of blogging. She started with almost no knowledge but proved to be a quick learner and within 10 sessions is now happy to go it alone.
As the sparks fly upwards...
The film clips have been finalised and I'm constantly adding to a music playlist so that the room is filled with a full range of tracks that will be shuffled and on a loop. I'm still in the process of making the hanging screen but part of this needs to be done at the installation so that the size is perfect for the projection. I'm keen to get the screen as accurately sized as possible to give the piece a feel of things floating in space visually.
itch
It's been a long slog for itch, one that seems to go on the back burner as soon as another project raises its head so I'm determined to get this finished within the next week. I think the problem is that I'm so clear on what I want the finished project to look like I've convinced myself it'll be a five minute job that can be done at any point. In reality I know it'll take a little longer than that.
Showing posts with label performance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label performance. Show all posts
Monday, 11 August 2008
Thursday, 26 June 2008
As the sparks fly upwards...
As the sparks fly upwards... is really on it's way now. The piece, which uses Isadora to bring live dancers and film clips together, had it's first showing last Friday with very positive results.
Lights are attached to dancers' bodies which are then tracked in the space by a camera and used by Isadora to trigger specific pre-recorded film clips. The movement is the same for the live and filmed dancers but the order is completely different. Sometimes in unison, sometimes in canon, sometimes completely out of sync.
Initial feedback includes comparisons to photographic dark rooms watching images develop, appraisals of the dynamic, fluid movement and claims of 'this is the future of screendance'.
View the Isadora output...
Or mobile phone footage from the performance...
Lights are attached to dancers' bodies which are then tracked in the space by a camera and used by Isadora to trigger specific pre-recorded film clips. The movement is the same for the live and filmed dancers but the order is completely different. Sometimes in unison, sometimes in canon, sometimes completely out of sync.
Initial feedback includes comparisons to photographic dark rooms watching images develop, appraisals of the dynamic, fluid movement and claims of 'this is the future of screendance'.
View the Isadora output...
Or mobile phone footage from the performance...
Friday, 13 June 2008
Interact with Us
FireBox will be spending next week at the UK Theatre School courtesy of the Dance House working on new material for an interactive dance performance. The exciting part is...
that as well as being able to watch the FireBox dancers performing, you will also be able to get involved and get interacting with the piece. Don't worry you don't need to dance if you don't want to, you just have to be willing to hold a light and move around the room. Easy.
Come along on Friday 20th June at 6pm for your chance to watch it, try it out or both!
UK Theatre School - opposite the old Odeon cinema
4 West Regent Street,
Glasgow
G2 1RW
that as well as being able to watch the FireBox dancers performing, you will also be able to get involved and get interacting with the piece. Don't worry you don't need to dance if you don't want to, you just have to be willing to hold a light and move around the room. Easy.
Come along on Friday 20th June at 6pm for your chance to watch it, try it out or both!
UK Theatre School - opposite the old Odeon cinema
4 West Regent Street,
Glasgow
G2 1RW
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Project Y
YDance has asked to produce a DVD of their performance project, Project Y, this summer. The DVD is to include an intro section featuring interviews with dancers and clips from rehearsals and classes as well as documentation of the live performance itself.
It's a relief to get some work for the summer as well as the opportunity to make contact with the choreographers working on Project Y and, of course, all that young talent.
It's a relief to get some work for the summer as well as the opportunity to make contact with the choreographers working on Project Y and, of course, all that young talent.
Friday, 29 February 2008
Result!
Spent the whole day in the practice room in the deepest, darkest depths of The Arches today with Agoria and the rumble of the trains overhead for comfort working on material for my degree show. My initial idea of attaching cameras to dancers bodies doesn't look like it's going to work out - they were starting to make me feel sick never mind anyone else!
BUT I did spend more time working with torches and experimenting with different ways of filming and photographing the work. I love the initial results. It isn't a piece yet, but it will be. I just need to figure out a way of bringing it all together and making it "Screendance" in a way that'll keep everyone happy.
I don't really want to just photograph dancers with torches and slap it up onto a big screen so I need to figure out what I'm going to do with these images, how to manipulate them and make them into something more. Unfortunately I have a feeling that the one workshop that will help me figure all this out is After Effects, Monday-Wednesday next week and I'm busy editing Scottish Dance Theatre stuff for the Friday deadline.
Typical.
Photos here.
BUT I did spend more time working with torches and experimenting with different ways of filming and photographing the work. I love the initial results. It isn't a piece yet, but it will be. I just need to figure out a way of bringing it all together and making it "Screendance" in a way that'll keep everyone happy.
I don't really want to just photograph dancers with torches and slap it up onto a big screen so I need to figure out what I'm going to do with these images, how to manipulate them and make them into something more. Unfortunately I have a feeling that the one workshop that will help me figure all this out is After Effects, Monday-Wednesday next week and I'm busy editing Scottish Dance Theatre stuff for the Friday deadline.
Typical.
Photos here.
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
La, La, La Human Steps
Amazing dancers, interesting visuals and talented live musicians yet I still felt myself dozing off. Almost 2 hours of arm flapping and unnecessary repetition really made me question the ticket price and the hype. It's been ages since I last saw a dance piece I really enjoyed and I find it really frustrating that artists and companies who are regularly receiving huge amounts of funding don't seem to be developing their ideas fully. It seems like the same old story of people who make really interesting, engaging artworks on a non-existent budget but lose their touch when given financial support. It would still be nice to test that theory for myself though!
Richard Layzell Performance Workshop
I was looking forward to this workshop as I'm feeling a bit frustrated by the lack of dance on this Screendance course. I know that's not the aim of the Masters but I do miss moving and feeling physical so I was glad when this workshop came up. The workshop covered a lot of things I've done before and I didn't really feel like I learned anything new to be completely honest but it was interesting doing these exercises with people from a different discipline, people not so comfortable or used to being physical and performing. This also meant that the group had different ideas and a different dynamic to anything I had experienced before which was interesting to work with.
We pulled together a number of short pieces today to produce 25-30 minutes worth of a performance which we performed in front of around 20 people from different courses and year groups. The performance seemed to go fairly well but without any audience feedback it was difficult to tell.
Running Order
Meet & Greet - will the audience receive a warm welcome, nasty or neutral?
Herding & Circling - the audience become the herd and are physically moved into a darkened room before witnessing 2 performers circling a table lamp.
Humming - the light is turned off and the performers begin humming which leads into Spanish song.
Set of Rules - see below and try it for yourself.
Sleigh - various performers are pulled around the space on a blue wicker sled.
Thrilling, Willing and Unstable (or as I renamed it, Thrilling, Unwilling and Stable) - Jonny lies on the floor under a board, I tap dance directly above his head.
Exit - the audience are lead to the bus stop.
We pulled together a number of short pieces today to produce 25-30 minutes worth of a performance which we performed in front of around 20 people from different courses and year groups. The performance seemed to go fairly well but without any audience feedback it was difficult to tell.
Running Order
Meet & Greet - will the audience receive a warm welcome, nasty or neutral?
Herding & Circling - the audience become the herd and are physically moved into a darkened room before witnessing 2 performers circling a table lamp.
Humming - the light is turned off and the performers begin humming which leads into Spanish song.
Set of Rules - see below and try it for yourself.
Sleigh - various performers are pulled around the space on a blue wicker sled.
Thrilling, Willing and Unstable (or as I renamed it, Thrilling, Unwilling and Stable) - Jonny lies on the floor under a board, I tap dance directly above his head.
Exit - the audience are lead to the bus stop.
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
Something to think about...
Anonymity & Freedom - I feel this may still be creeping into my work, the multi-screen idea may give the viewer this impression.
Multi-screen projection - How? What types of screens? What types of cameras? How to link up?
Dancer - Maximum of 3 in a large space or 1 in a small space. Emphasis on emptiness, visually.
Live film feed - Simple from static cameras, will need wireless transmitter for moving cameras.
Pre-recorded film - To be incorporated into piece, I'd like to have a presence in this as well as the dancers performing live.
Space to develop - Arches, exact details to be confirmed but likely one day a week with performance opportunity.
Installation style performance - Informal audience setting, freedom to move around screens and dancers.
Scratch night - Arches, every 2 months. Chance to show 10 mins of work in progress to audience who then give instant feedback.
Projection onto dancer - What sort of effect? What sort of costume?
Multi-screen projection - How? What types of screens? What types of cameras? How to link up?
Dancer - Maximum of 3 in a large space or 1 in a small space. Emphasis on emptiness, visually.
Live film feed - Simple from static cameras, will need wireless transmitter for moving cameras.
Pre-recorded film - To be incorporated into piece, I'd like to have a presence in this as well as the dancers performing live.
Space to develop - Arches, exact details to be confirmed but likely one day a week with performance opportunity.
Installation style performance - Informal audience setting, freedom to move around screens and dancers.
Scratch night - Arches, every 2 months. Chance to show 10 mins of work in progress to audience who then give instant feedback.
Projection onto dancer - What sort of effect? What sort of costume?
Monday, 19 November 2007
Arches Space
After a meeting with LJ, one of the programmers, at the Arches, Glasgow this morning they have agreed to support my work with space to develop it on a weekly basis. I will be given use of one of the practice rooms to begin with then as the project develops I will be allowed to develop the work in one of the performance spaces. I'm really excited about this as it's a big development for me both as part of my coursework and professionally. Part of the reason LJ is supporting me is because of my growing reputation in Glasgow as a choreographer.
I aim to do a series of movement experiments in the practice space, involving a dancer as the work progresses, and trialling the technical side of the work before moving into the performance space. LJ has given me the option of developing a full performance piece with support from the Arches which I intend to do as I feel it will give me even more focus on creating a 'piece' as opposed to a series of research experiments.
I aim to do a series of movement experiments in the practice space, involving a dancer as the work progresses, and trialling the technical side of the work before moving into the performance space. LJ has given me the option of developing a full performance piece with support from the Arches which I intend to do as I feel it will give me even more focus on creating a 'piece' as opposed to a series of research experiments.
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, 18 October 2007
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.
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.
Monday, 15 October 2007
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.
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.
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