Oxford University Contemporary Dance Trailer

OXFORD UNIVERSITY CONTEMPORARY DANCE

I was very excited to film the OUCD team's trailer and to capture some dance footage! We began the shoot at 6am in the Michael Pilch Studio in Oxford. There was no shot list, as the team had created choreography and solo tricks that they wanted filmed. In the Pilch we had LED lights and a friend rigged a spotlight. I filmed the main choreography and the solo tricks on a tripod. 

We then moved to the Radcliffe Camera. It was a Sunday morning and there was no traffic. They did the main choreography again and some additional bits in pairs. My favourite shot from this location was placing a dancer in one of the niches of the building and lighting her with a red light. It is a quintessential Oxford location and will be a great marketing photo. 

The last location was Worcester College. We filmed in the dance studio and then in the main quad. The porters were fortunately very accommodating to us filming. We got some great shots of the dancers placed in the architecture. I especially like one of them lined up along the spiral staircase leading to the library. 

This was an interesting trailer to edit because we had to balance my preference for shots with better framing and camera work with their preference for shots where their technique was good. They were definitely very picky with themselves, which meant a lot of the shots could not be used. I did the initial edit and then we met in person to go over changes. They also asked if they could attempt an edit, which they eventually used for marketing. I do not love the published trailer as much as the edits I have done, but I appreciate that they are looking at different things in the footage. They were a lovely team to work with and I am happy with the footage. The trailer was also very well received, which is always a nice thing to hear.

-Emma