help lighting a instructional dance video

C

Cheesesailor77

Veteran
i'm doing a video for a belly dance studio. It's instructional how-to-bellydance and i'm not sure how to light it. The studio (where they want to shoot it) is not too large, has wood floors, a mirrored wall, and the opposite wall has an elaborate mural of dancers, floor to ceiling. besides the floor and mirror, everything is lush, rich colors.

any thought? suggestions?... help?

any advice on just how you might usually light this would be helpful, and also any thoughts on the mirrored wall and the deep colors/detailed mural on the other.

thanks, I'm doing my lighting tests fiday so any help would be appreciated.
 
For my first dance instruction video(in 2001, just getting into video), I used 2 worklights and 2 mini worklights as rears, in addition to the lights in the studio(Don't worry--I've gotten real lights since then). It was a hip-hop instructional video, with 4 dancers and the choreographer in the front. The size and look the studio you describe, sounds pretty much like the studio I was in. I shot that vid w/4 hand cheap Sony cams(regular 3 cam setup w/cam#4 to provide a shot behind the choreographer, as in real life, you have to be behind the choreographer to learn the moves, not in front!!(watch the MTV Darren Dance Moves DVD to see what I mean.)

Not sure really how to advise you, except I made sure to shoot in a way, that, by the end of the tape, that even the whitest white person knew how to execute the hip hop moves. One of the key lighting factors is knowing how many dancers will be in the master shot/cam. You can probably light the set in a Walter Graff-ish type way, but I don't think anyone would really pay that much attention with regular basic lighting if the instruction is clear and editing is good. I also made sure I made a MTV-like montage of the choreographer at the beginning of the tape to show he's the real deal, showing all the awards and shows he won. I also had him do an interview, to place at certain breaks on the tape, just to let know viewers know him as person. How long is the video going to be? If its an hour(like my video was), then I think 3-4 types of instruction is enough.

Hope any of this helps
 
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