Filming your dance practice is a great way to look back and reflect on what’s going well and what you could work on. However, there’s a big difference between getting the right shot for social media and valuable practice footage. This post shares a few tips that you can incorporate into filming your practice to have a more useful tool for reflection.
Tip 1- Find Assistance
If you can hire a personal videographer, then by all means go for it, but for the rest of us, simply having something else to hold the phone and film is enough. Whether it’s a tripod or a designated phone stand, a portable and adjustable holder will allow you more control over the positioning of your camera. Yes, you can use a pop socket or lean up against something else in a quick fix, but you won’t have as much control over the direction and angle of your shot. The result will be based on those constraints, rather than your practice intention. There are also cool gadgets that will track your movement and film as you dance.
Tip 2- Find your Filming Focus
Using an adjustable tripod or mounting system of sorts will allow you to shift the view of your recording. When it comes to filming your dance practice, location matters. If you are filming so you can review choreography, for example, you’ll want to pull back so you can see the entire body and shape of the movements as a whole. If you are working on foot technique, bring the tripod down to the ground level.
Tip 3- Make Big Mistakes
Whether you’re filming your practice or not, it’s always a good habit to go full out consistently. Depending on your practice space, you may need to make adjustments and modifications to accommodate, but making big mistakes will allow you to see better what needs work, while a mark leaves you wondering.
Those are a few of our tips for filming dance practice sessions, would you add any to the list?
People Play Dance Theatre 