Dance Theatrical and Recitals.

Welcome to our blog about Dance Recital's. Here are some things about theatrical or dance we want to share with you:

VIDEO EQUIPMENT

1 .Video Cameras.  You should be very choosy about what camera you want to use when filming Theatrical or  Dance Recitals.  Make sure your camera can change with the lighting. Some cameras are very limited on what they can do and they will over expose your dancers and the stage. We use very high chip rated HD cameras that you can have easy access to the gain, DB and focusing. Everything should be done in manual. Stick with a video camera, not a DSLR, for this job, for a number of reasons. First, many DSLRs have a time limit on how long you can shoot continuously. I assume you're going to want to shoot at least an entire dance straight through, maybe multiple dances without a break.

2. Sound.  Sound can be done many ways, it depends on the theatre. Some theatres are very big with excellent sound systems in which attaching your xlr from your camera to the sound board might be the way to go. We suggest having a small sound mixer that you can control all the sounds yourself . For example, if you are filming theater plays you will want to make the sound engineer your best friend.  He has all the controls for all of the actors and their voice range with all the music mixing everything professionally to sound perfect for the audience. If you can get to know him and work together well this is a huge bonus. 

3. Tripod. We all use Manfrotto smooth head tri pods with 504 HD Heads for a very smooth flow .

CAMERA WORK

Camera work is a very important part of the production. It can be used so many different ways to shoot dance recitals. Depending on your camera placement, a two camera shoot usually has one covering the wide stage shot and the other covering the dancers up close. When covering the wide angle shots it is very important that all the dancers be in frame and not so far back that they look like ants. Box them in your frame but also keep enough room where dancers are coming and going . As for the up close shot, panning dancers when they are doing the same sequence with another. Once in while you can cheat and show an extreme close up shot of the dancers as they are doing their routines (facial expressions in dance are very powerful)