How do I shoot a Fire Dancer? Needs to look awesome.

jsstring

Member
I'm doing a promotional video for a fire dancer. Here's a wikipedia link ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_dancing) because I can't think of a better way to describe it than "someone who spins fire", or just google it. You'll know what I'm talking about as soon as you see a picture. I'm shooting on an HVX200. I've got a tripod, a wheelchair that I modified to use as a dolly, some work lights, a couple small fluorescents and some other random gear. It's important that the fire and the tricks are the main focus. What sort of settings should I use to make this look amazing? Should we definately do it at night? Should I even use lights? How? I want to try some different shutter speeds and frame rates. I will most likely also edit it on FCP or Premiere. Any advice or knowledge from some kind of similar experience would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for checking the post out and have an excellent day!
 
http://www.vimeo.com/4542386

Shot on stage (with lighting) and in the backyard (no light, only from fire).
HPX-170. Both 720/24PA and 1080/24P look great.

Just experiment. You'll know whether you need to add some light or not.

Good luck.

Mark Dalzell
Las Vegas, NV
 
Start with hitting the subject with a nice backlight and let the fire fill the rest. If you want to add a little something add a kicker. The fire is the star. Pop the background and let some go to silhouette.
 
Personally I think your subject is the fire, and if possible I would setup a spinning motor with fire on the end and do test shots....

Other then this I have the faint feeling that this would look better at higher shutter speeds and with a slightly higher frame rate....I would still try toi do some lighting, but I would keep it as low key as possible.
 
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