A Chorus Line in Edinburgh

[alan]

I hope this isn't too off-topic to post here. I recently had the pleasure of shooting the dress rehearsal of "A Chorus Line" in Edinburgh. I don't know whether my standards are getting higher, I'm more self-critical or I really just had a rotten day. But I was fairly unhappy with the results.

I tried to keep it down to ISO 800, in order that I would have more headroom for dealing with colour corrections. But I don't think I was quite ready for the speed of the movement of the dancers - 1/50 of a second may be fine for a singer but there's so much motion blur when someone's moving that the picture is a bit of a shambles.

Anyway, here's a selection of what I've got. A few more are at http://www.stagepics.co.uk

#1 - The opening number. The guy at the front is meant to be there, he's playing the part of the director of the show.

#2 Cassie, one of the stars of the show.

#3 A dancer talks about something. Can't quite remember what

#4 Another dancer talks of his adolescence. I think this one probably deserves its own caption competition

#5 This girl sings a song thatis officially called "Dance Ten, Looks Three". Everybody calls it "T*ts and ***" - since that is the phrase that makes up the bulk of the chorus.

#6 Almost a dream sequence, the lighting here gave me particular problems.

#7 One dancer hurts his knee. Everyone else reacts with concern.

#8 The obligatory "Chorus Line" shot

C+C happily received, but I feel a bit demotivated just now. These ones are okay, but there were a lot more duffers than usual...

regards,
/alan

 

[JR6ooo4]

Well you are up there at f4. How many miracles did you expect? hehehehehheee

I like them, what did you not like? You can almost never stop those dancer's hands from blurring.

The stage lighting looks good on the solos but the wide shots show some dark areas. Not your fault there, just your problem. Again I say heheheheheee because I try to shoot DW's musical theater. With the same camera and an f4.5 lens. "It aint easy".

So what percentage were WOW shots in your eyes. Mine is always low then the folks in the show tell me I am crazy and most to all of them look good. But being hard on ourselves is what makes them say wow when they see our shots, right?

Mikeeee

 

[JR6ooo4]

This is one I struggled with, and am not happy with.

The actors would stop motion for about a second before moving into the next scene. I had to tell the director to "direct" them to hold for at least two or three whole seconds if they want any sort of pic captured. Even at that, this pic is extremely brightened in post processing.

It helped that the director was my wife...

Mikeeee

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Enjoyed your shots!

 

[BeautyLLM]

I feel a song coming on... love that show!

Great shots!

 

[alan]

Thank you for all of your kind comments. These were among the best of the shots that I took; I guess that they weren't so bad but I was a little disappointed with how many I did get.. My keeper rate was about 1 in 5, but this time I was deliberately using a burst every time I shot, so I expected an even lower keeper rate than usual.


So, shall I start?

Dah dah-di-dah dah-di-dah dah-di-dah-di-dah di dah dah-di-dah dah-di-dah
Dah dah-di-dah dah-di-dah dah-di-dah-di-dah di dah dah-di-dah dah-di-dah
One...


regards,
/alan

 

[BeautyLLM]

singular sensation, every little step she takes....

(where's my gold sequined top hat)

I think a one in five keeper rate is really good, expecially with the difficult lighting situation.

 

[JR6ooo4]

Thank you for all of your kind comments. These were among the best of the shots that I took; I guess that they weren't so bad but I was a little disappointed with how many I did get.. My keeper rate was about 1 in 5, but this time I was deliberately using a burst every time I shot, so I expected an even lower keeper rate than usual.


So, shall I start?

Dah dah-di-dah dah-di-dah dah-di-dah-di-dah di dah dah-di-dah dah-di-dah
Dah dah-di-dah dah-di-dah dah-di-dah-di-dah di dah dah-di-dah dah-di-dah
One...


regards,
/alan

Without very fast lenses and High ISO clarity it will always be hard to stop the action.

WHen I shoot theater I go to many rehearsals to learn the choreaography. THat way when showtime rolls around I know where to plan shots and when the action might have a pause so I can get a few clear shots. But that is a huge time commitment.

MIkeeee

 

[alan]

WHen I shoot theater I go to many rehearsals to learn the choreaography. THat way when showtime rolls around I know where to plan shots and when the action might have a pause so I can get a few clear shots. But that is a huge time commitment.

I think that's an excellent plan; I had been to one rehearsal and definitely found that that helped me to get a "moment" or two that i might otherwise have missed. But as you say, it's time consuming.

And further, I have trouble enough remembering the steps when I'm doing them - what chance do I have when I'm only watching them?

regards,
/alan

(Just back from all-day tech rehearsal of his own show, five runs over his long monologue and having a glass of port to soothe his throat)