Tuesday, May 21, 2013

My Name is ADAM | Adam Barruch Dance at Joe’s Pub

When Adam Barruch came to me with an idea for a marketing video for his solo show at Joe’s Pub based on a Barbra Streisand clip, I couldn’t wait to get filming.

Christopher and I filmed Adam at LaGuardia Arts High School. We recorded him singing and Rachel Kaufman playing in a studio and then filmed him in moody lighting. I did some 1980s editing to show Adam in the bathroom washing his face and then a dream sequence on stage. We finished filming and editing all in one day, and I LOVE what we created together.

I love working with Adam Barruch! Go go go – see his show My Name is Barbra ADAM in June!

 

Posted in: Promotional VideoTags: , , ,
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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Define Your Dance Video Footage

It’s important to communicate your vision for filming and your resulting video. Clients who are new to video might require some guidance, so we put together some useful terms to describe your video footage:

Wide Camera

This angle stays as wide as the action and captures all of the movement at your event: entrances & exits, set pieces, the overall choreography, all dancers, all the time.

Example:

 

Close Camera

This angle comes in closer to the action to highlight solos, duets or just zoom in on the action.

Example blending wide and close cameras:

 

Half Body

This angle moves in even closer to capture emotion on the performers’ faces, subtle gestures, significant port de bras and more. You will not see a dancer’s full range of movement with this camera angle.

Example of a multi-camera film with several half-body shots:

Live-Stream

This technology allows us to broadcast your film online or in an alternative space as it is being performed. We can use one or more of the camera angles above during a live-stream project.

NSP has live-streamed events for New York Live Arts, Buglisi Dance Theatre and Morphoses at The Joyce, among others.

 

If you have any questions or would like to see more examples, please contact us at studio@nelshelby.com

 

Posted in: Video Tip
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Falkor Dancing Robot Promo with Barkin/Selissen Project

I can’t believe we just made a video with a dancing robot! When Falkor Systems asked two of my past clients, Kyla Barkin and Aaron Selissen, to dance with their new pet drone, they asked us to come on as videographers. Ben Richards, a member of my NSP team, documented the process.

Kyla wore a black shirt with the Falkor logo and the robot responded to the logo – that’s how it knew how to “dance” with her. With Ben’s footage of the robot in action, and the robot’s footage from its camera that filmed Kyla, Ben was able to create a really fun video with multiple-perpectives.

Ben, along with Sameer, who is the brain behind the robot and the owner of Falkor, collaborated to create a script, storyboard the film and create a 3-minute promotional video.

Video Tip

I love working on promotional videos in the dance world. In order to pull off a project like this there has to be planning involved, and I like to ask my clients questions like: what is your end product? What do you want people to do after they see the video? …These answers determine how you film it and how you storyboard the film.

Here, the task was to come up with a story about this flying robot, and Ben and Sameer decided it was really about the robot dreaming of becoming a dancer. What a fun way to introduce the robot to the public!

Posted in: Promotional Video, Video TipTags: , ,
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Wednesday, May 8, 2013

The Altitude of Dance | My Vail International Dance Festival Documentary on Rocky Mountain PBS

My Vail Dance Documentary Airs Tomorrow!

My first EVER half hour special is premiering on Rocky Mountain PBS this Thursday, May 9th at 8:30pm (MST).

The Altitude of Dance was created after filming at the Vail International Dance Festival in 2011 and 2012. This is a dream of mine and it has come true.

For the past two summers, I’ve spent several weeks in Colorado, filming the Vail International Dance Festival.  Christopher, Loren and I filmed and filmed and interviewed and interviewed – behind-the-scenes footage as choreographers created new dances, important exchanges between members of the community and internationally-renowned dance artists, and live performance by dance stars from Wendy Whelan and New York City Ballet MOVES to Carla Korbes to Lil Buck.

The Altitude of Dance, a Vail Dance documentary film

Carla Korbes in a screen shot from my new dance documentary

 

We actually never intended to create a documentary only short films, but in partnership with Damian Woetzel and  the amazing people at Vail Dance, we have created this beautiful half-hour documentary. Now we can share a glimpse into what I think is truly a magical and very special place.

Misa Kuranaga & Herman Cornejo performing Swan Lake Pas De Deux

Misa Kuranaga & Herman Cornejo performing Swan Lake Pas De Deux

I have always wanted to create a longer piece for television, so this is extremely exciting for me, and how wonderful that my first dance documentary will premiere in my home state of Colorado, which holds a very special place in my heart. We hope our film will air in other states, too, and we’ll be sending out information about how all of you who can’t tune in this week can watch it soon!

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May 10, 2013 - 7:24 pm

Katryn Geane - Congrats, Nel! Very exciting, can’t wait to see your film.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Ballet Company Promo | Covenant Ballet Theatre of Brooklyn

I’ve been filming Marla Hirokawa’s ballet company, Covenant Ballet Theatre, for a few years now, and she is often speaking to people – funders and more – about her dance organization. She decided to put me up to the task of creating a promotional film for the company and school that she could show people instead of just talking about it.

Covenant Ballet Theatre of Brooklyn gives so much to the community, and we wanted to explain it through film. We spent two days at Covenant Ballet filming the school’s dance classes and interviewing students, teachers, parents, and Marla. We really got a lot of insight into Covenant Ballet and fell in love with the whole organization.

It was a very fast project – we started filming in mid-December, and it was due January 22, right around the holidays and New Year’s! – so we asked my friend Loren Robertson for help with editing. After filming all our interviews and dance class footage, we sent it to Loren. She made a 7-minute piece that talked about all the different components of Covenant Ballet: the company, school, junior company, community programs. We got it done in time!

And now Marla’s able to have it on her website, show it to potential board members and students, share it with funders… It’s just a great way to share with people exactly what you do.

 

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May 3, 2013 - 10:38 pm

Janis Brenner - Very moving, and well-done, Nel. Congrats to all.

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