2nd Edition

Making Video Dance A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Dance for the Screen (2nd ed)

By Katrina McPherson Copyright 2019
    322 Pages
    by Routledge

    322 Pages
    by Routledge

    Making Video Dance: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Dance for the Screen is the first workbook to follow the entire process of video dance production: from having an idea, through to choreographing for the screen, filming and editing, and distribution. In doing so, it explores and analyses the creative, practical, technical, and aesthetic issues that arise when making screen dance.

    This rigorously revised edition brings the book fully up to date from a technical and aesthetic point of view, and includes:

    • An extended exploration of improvisation in the video dance-making process
    • New writing about filming in the landscape
    • Additional writing on developing a practice and working with scores and manifestos
    • Updated information about camera use, including filming with mobile phones
    • A step-by-step guide to digital non-linear editing of screen dance
    • Ideas for distribution in the 21st century
    • Insights into Katrina’s own screen dance practice, with reference to specific works that she has directed and which are available to view online
    • New and revised practical exercises
    • New illustrations specially drawn for this edition

    List of Illustrations

    From Los Angeles to Monte Carlo by Ellen Bromberg

    How did we get here? Some thoughts on making dance for television by Bob Lockyer

    Notes on using the exercises

    Acknowledgements

    Introduction to the revised edition

    Introduction to the original edition

    1 GETTING STARTED

    2 DANCE AND THE CAMERA

    3 DEVELOPING THE WORK

    4 CREATING YOUR ON-SCREEN WORLD

    5 NEXT STEPS

    6 WHEN FILMING BEGINS

    7 LIGHT, SOUND AND CAMERA MOVEMENT

    8 PREPARING TO EDIT

    9 THE CHOREOGRAPHY OF THE EDIT

    10 FINAL STAGES

    11 OUT IN THE WORLD

    Glossary

    Contributors

    Bibliography

    Index

    Biography

    Katrina McPherson is an award-winning screen dance artist whose practice is informed by her background in dance and video art, as well as her wide experience as a director of arts programmes for television. Katrina’s recent directing credits include the In Motion series for BBC online, and collaborative screen dance works such as Uath Lochans, Coire Ruadh, and ground-breaking works such as There is a Place, Moment, and Pace. She is an experienced lecturer and workshop leader and has taught extensively worldwide.

    On the first edition:

    '….timely and very exciting – a long overdue essential for the dance world.'

    – Lea Anderson, Choreographer

    '….a catalyst for the reader’s creative process.'

    • Martha Curtis, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA

    'a vital resource for students studying dance on screen'

    • Liz Aggiss, Choreographer

    On the revised edition:

    'Making Video Dance is a seminal work, the first of its kind for screendance/dance film educators.When Making Video Dance arrived on the scene, it soon became the pre-eminent resource for those interested in exploring the practice of making dance films…… I whole-heartedly support the revision/additions to Making Video Dance, as its subject has only become more relevant since its first publication.'

    • Ellen Bromberg, Distinguished Professor, University of Utah

     ‘Katrina McPherson’s Making Video Dance helped define the field. With this updated version, she once again implores us to think deeply about the process of bringing dance to the screen.’

    •  Douglas Rosenberg, author of Screendance: Inscribing the Ephemeral Image and The Oxford Book of Screendance Studies

    ‘Ever since it was first published, undergraduate and postgraduate screendance makers at Bath Spa University and beyond have found Making Video Dance an invaluable resource. For practical guidance in this exciting field of practice, I know of no other publication that covers the subject so well. This revised edition still contains the original wealth of information, but adds insight into the author’s considerable experience in the field through anecdotes and thoughtful reflections.’

    •  Dr. Christopher Lewis-Smith. Course Director, Postgraduate Dance, Bath Spa University

    Making Video Dance is indispensable reading for anyone interested in broadening their perception of what screendance is and how to make it, from one of the most innovative filmmakers in the field. As you read this book, heed the words of Master Yoda, "You must unlearn what you have learned," and it will forever change your approach to shooting and editing dance.’

    •  Ben Estabrook, Director and Lecturer, Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, UC Berkeley