Tips for Your First Dance Video Shoot
Preparing for your First Dance Video Shoot
As someone who has filmed countless dancers, movers, and aerialists, I want to share some tips for approaching a professional video shoot - I know it can be intimidating! If you’ve ever done a performance of any kind, you’ll find a lot of similarities here.
TIP #1: EYE CONTACT
Look at the camera - not the mirror - not my eyes - the lens! Making eye contact can feel really uncomfortable at first, but it does get easier. If you look at the camera, I guarantee you your video will be more powerful. The connection to you as the dancer is made when we see your eyes. If you don’t look at the camera, we feel as though you are in your own world, and we are just outside observers. Show us (everyone who will view your final video) that you can see us.
Believe it or not, even the best of dancers have trouble with this; Most practice in front of a mirror in the studio, so it feels natural to refer to it as you dance… But this will be the time for you to kindly ignore it. To prepare for this, I recommend trying the following:
Practice dancing facing a wall WITHOUT a mirror (back wall). To imitate “finding the lens” as I am moving with the camera, practice “spotting”. Try taping a large, bright piece of tape or a post it to the wall and attempt to find it with your gaze while dancing.
Set up your phone to record you and practice giving it eye contact as you dance. When you watch the video back, check that you made eye contact.
(BEST OPTION) Ask a friend to record you dancing for a minute (have them move around a bit) and have them remind you to look at the camera if you look at the mirror. Watch the recording back to see how well you did. This will best simulate what it will be like in your shoot and may even give you ideas for how to best strategize your movement. While I will always catch your best angles, I will typically move the entire time, typically in a 90-180 degree radius.
While filming, I’ll usually catch moments where I feel like more connection is needed or would be good for eye contact; I will literally say out loud “Eye contact!”. Consider my lens your greatest fan and all it wants is to be seen 👋 This is part of what makes a professional video (and performance) stand out, especially from the videos shot from static phones on the ground, where you are probably looking at the mirror or ahead.
Notice in the video above Elena’s eyes follow the camera as I move across the floor.
Lauren (above) makes a really good connection to the camera using eye contact and facial expressions. She interacts with the camera throughout her movements!
TIP #2: RELAX!
Try to relax and release feelings of self-consciousness. Trust that I will follow your movement and find the most flattering angles - both while filming and in the edit (assuming you get editing). You don’t have to be a professional dancer to have a professional video made, and what better way to document where you’re at now and look back on it years later once you ARE at the next level? People usually express how nervous they are for their first video shoot… and I get it; It’s not like a photoshoot where you are posed and everything can be perfectly styled, staged, even photoshopped. Video is dynamic, expressive, and musical, which - at least for me - makes it much more fun to watch than a still photo. Most dancers who originally expressed nerves remark at the end how surprised they are at how fun the shoot was, and are surprised at how good they look on camera. Adding a bit of camera movement can turn a good dance into a cinematic experience. For testimonials, click here!
TIP #3
Hair, Makeup, and General Shoot Readiness
Prepare, prepare, prepare! The best way to ease nerves for the shoot and make sure we are most efficient with our time is to arrive prepared. Know that every minute you spend on makeup or outfit adjustments is time that could be used to film and have options later for editing.
Outfit/Shoes
Wear something you feel confident in. Do not wear something that you feel self-conscious in, because it will show in the video, trust me!
Make sure you’ve tested your movement in the outfit(s) you plan to wear. This includes new shoes, headpieces, accessories, etc.. So many times people arrive to the shoot never having worn what they plan to wear. This rarely works out well. Please, try everything on at least a couple weeks before and move in it the way you will during our shoot. This means buying whatever you need to weeks in advance.
Bring backups; What if your heel strap breaks? What if the new shoes you bought aren’t as comfortable as you thought they would be (did you break them in?) and they affect how you dance during the shoot? Don’t leave these things up to chance. Always have a plan B for your outfits and shoes.
Hair and Makeup
Many clients choose to have their hair and makeup professionally done. If you need recommendations for people in Los Angeles close to your shoot location, please DM me. While I love when people take the time to get these things done professionally, please ensure that you time it well so you can still arrive 15 minutes early to our shoot.
Music
Have a playlist of songs you like to dance to, including the song you’ve chosen queued up and ready to play. If needed, I can also play music from my phone, but I prefer to use your playlist! Sometimes Behind the Scenes footage gets used as well, and I prefer to have songs that we like playing in the background. I may even use one of them for another edit.
Arrive Early
I will remind you, but please arrive 10-15 minutes early to your shoot, no matter how prepared you are and even if you’ve been to the studio a million times prior. I always appreciate a text that you are on your way or have arrived.
Have sequences prepared
Maybe you’re a choreography-oriented dancer. Or Maybe you’re a natural freestyler. Whatever the case, have short sequences planned at the bare minimum so if you draw a blank on what else to do, you have something else we can film. This can be as simple as pirouettes, some basic floor movement, body waves, etc. Identify your strengths as a dancer and hone in on those for your shoot. Write them out on your phone or have an Instagram Saves collection to refer to. If you don’t already have something planned sequence-wise at the time you book the shoot, start playing around with sequences you can repeat several times for when we film. If you are a beginner, consider hiring a more experienced dancer to help you choreograph or come up with sequences. Do not try to do difficult tricks or moves you’ve never tried before during your shoot; this never works out well!
Do the things you feel confident and familiar with, and I guarantee they will look magical on camera. Rule of thumb for me is if you can’t repeat a trick or move cleanly, it’s probably best not to film it.
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read and prepare for your first video shoot. It will make all the difference!
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More questions about shooting your first video? DM or email me - I’d be happy to answer them.
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