Dance Video Recording

Video Recording

When Egor and Alla came to Saskatoon to give 4 days of instruction, we figured that we'd record them demonstrating the workshop steps, copy this to DVD, and everyone would have a reminder of what the steps were. As in so many things, the reality was was more challenging than the plan. What worked, and what didn't?

1. Plan for sound. We were fortunate that we'd rented wireless headsets for the workshops. With a bit of monkeying around, we got the microphone output into a laptop and recorded it. However, because it wasn't planned, we didn't test this sufficiently and didn't get the best sound level recorded.

2. Pre-plan the music for the notebook. Have it on a playlist, where a sound person can play it quickly. Have a sound person to play the music (see below)

3. Have a director. This might be someone that doubles as sound or video. This is simply to make sure that the instructors are in position before the music starts; that cuing of 'action!' and 'cut!' coordinates all the crew.

4. Have enough people! I thought we'd set up a fixed camera, I'd run a handheld, and we'd be done. Have at least:

   • 2 people running cameras. We've run as many as 3 manned cameras. The video from manned is far superior to unmanned stationary cameras.

   • Have a person dedicated to sound.

   • Have one person who isn't manning equipment.

5. Plan for background. We had sound equipment in the background, and it made the image busier. Although sometimes, there's not much that can be done. In October, we had Egor and Alla surrounded by sound people and video people, and there was almost always someone in the background. We did some recording in a hall with natural morning light coming in, and this created a very strong contrast between when they were in sunlight and when they were in shadow.

6. Have enough cameras! 2 to 3 manned cameras, and 1 or 2 stationary cameras. The alternative is to do additional takes and shoot different angles.

7. Camera resources! You need to have batteries and extra memory. We had spare batteries, and just barely enough SD cards for the time period. Best is to have memory cards for each camera to cover all the intended recording time plus extra "in case" memory. Any camera that can be run with an adapter from a wall outlet gives you one less worry.

8. Wireless headsets are great! The sound quality is a lot better recording a headset into a laptop. I prefer the headset to the lapel mike, because the headset follows the turn of the head and keeps a steady sound volume.

9. Handheld cameras don't give great results. Get some type of steadycam to do a handheld camera. Chasing the performers to change the angle is sometimes necessary, but can be shaky when edited.

10. Have good quality tripods! Eyeballing for level is OK for family videos, but just a one degree error is noticeable. Best to have a level on the tripod, and a secure mount that keeps the camera aligned with the level.

11. Know the equipment! Find some time for people to practice with the cameras and with the sound. Things came together more by luck than by good planning.

12. Match the equipment to the people! We're amateurs. We used Canon Rebel DSLRs and a camcorder. The DSLRs needed constant manual focusing and manual zoom, as well as manual following. Lots of video where the focus wasn't right, or the performers weren't center of screen, or the zoom was too far in. When it was good, the video from the DSLR was far superior to the video from the hand-held camcorder (sharpness, color, steadiness). But the auto focus and easier zoom and follow of the handheld resulted in more usable video. Next time, we're going with more camcorders.