Transferring Energy
Whether using stationary supports, traveling supports, or
freeform techniques, the operator of the camera is
empowered with the ability to influence the qualitative
nature of the resulting footage. Attention to subtle
nuances while partnering the camera, such as
weight-shifts, breath, and energy can drastically
increase the success by which source footage communicates
effort. This attention to “the how,” which Alwin Nikolais
calls “motion,” is determined by the precise combination
and delivery of time, space, and shape components. All
that dancers know about performance techniques comes into
play here. Sensitivity is key.
“In
filmdance there is no direct projection of muscular
energy from the dancer, through three-dimensional space,
to the viewer. Instead, the viewer seems drawn into the
projection space of the film, through an energy as
immediate as live dance, but far different, and achieved
through specific filmic means.”
From
Filmdance:
Space, Time and Energy by Amy
Greenfield (1983)
“Shooting
dance is a very visceral, creative, and non-intellectual
experience. I strongly believe that dancers can make
excellent cinematographers. There is a stereotype that
cinematographers can only be big, burly men. Dancers, in
particular women, need to buck the stereotype, get over
their technology phobia, and pick up the camera. Dance
film is a visual art that involves movement, strength,
and physical awareness. What better field for a dancer?”
From
“Dancing with the Camera: The Dance Cinematographer” by
Evann E. Siebens inside Envisioning
Dance on Film and Video