DVD auditions

[Katymac]

DD asked why I was asking, pointed out she was wearing clothes and behaving properly and wasn't embarrassed by it

 

I think in retrospect they were both over-long, with poor lighting, messy backgrounds and the camera should have been zoomed in on her more plus with the talk she should have learnt her lines better.  But you live & learn

 

 

This was the first one I did........DD didn't get in

 

 

This was the second....she did

 

 

 

Oh & DD is NOT as good at Ballet as Pastel's DD, but as she only started Ballet in Sept 2011, she's doing fine imo She thinks Pastel's DD has lovely turnout control & strength and is very, very impressive!

[Jan McNulty]

I've found this really interesting.  Thanks for posting the videos.

 

As a matter of interest, are you told how long the dvd should be and what elements should be included or do you have to do a best guess?

 

Pastel, I thought the door was a bit distracting.  Would it have been possible to do the barre exercises and centre work in the centre of the room?  My only other comment would have been that the film may have looked a bit smoother if you had faded out and in between the different elements rather than the abruptness of the changes.

 

Katymac, I think you have yourself commented on the points I would have made about the lighting and the over-fussy background.  I liked the words saying what was coming next.

 

I hope you ladies don't mind me commenting on the films.

[Katymac]

I like feedback

 

I got given a list of steps, plus Contemporary, & an improvisation (I added the Lion King as I thought it impressive & it's sort of contemporary)

 

The second one asked for  the Ballet steps, a Jazz routine, a Tap Routine and a song (if possible but a nursery rhyme/happy birthday if she wasn't comfortable). Plus if she could manage it a few words about why she wants to go on the course.  I used the request for words to create a piece rather than more disjointed segments & DD wrote the words

 

No time limits on either.  For the second I used a Vimeo Album for the school which contained each element of the 'Audition' as a separate clip plus 2 additional clips a longer Tap & The Climb (Improv) - whether they were watched or not I don't know.

[Katymac]

The thing I struggled with most was conveying to DD how much of the floor & her were visible; we had to start over a few times as she went out of shot

[tomuchtallent]

Thanks for the videos i really enjoyed watching them and it has helped me alot as i might be making one soon for my dd.I have posted videos of my dd on here and she is under 14!She has given consent and they are public on youtube so for me i cant see that there is any difference watching here or on youtube.

[LinMM]

No difference at all I imagine Youtube is even more accessible. If people don't have a prob with Youtube then there would be less of a prob for this forum I should think.

 

The DC's consent is the most important factor so if they are not bothered I guess it's okay. This is a different generation....I am 65 so naturally haven't grown up with it all. It's just the DC having sufficient maturity to realise the implications of public exposure. I would say about 14 but perhaps younger in some.....otherwise kids are usually just going along with parents wishes if too young.

[Moomin]

There's photos of my children on all sorts of websites; nursery, school, photographers, dance school and I know there are videos of school plays, sports days etc which I have no control over. Your two girls look beautiful in the films, both lovely dancers, I can't really think of a reason not to put those on you tube personally x

[pastel]

I'm typing on an iPod since we are traveling so can't scroll back to answer the questions properly.

 

Yes, the distraction of the door is a problem, I think katymac had similar issues. It is impossible to get the camera far enough away from the dancer in order to fit them in (no cut off feet and hands). We tried a few different positions and had to accept the best of a bad lot of choices.

 

Our video was done in a short amount of time, no time for rehearsal, it was shot over 2 lessons. The reason was that we had just returned from our summer school ( in Australia) and the audition DVD was due in Europe a week later.

 

Next time, we will know to prepare work ahead of time. Dd felt like the finished video did not show her best work but it was still worth submitting. She is fine with people seeing it and accepts that she doesn't have the best technique for her age but wants desperately to improve and will put herself out there feeling that every experience (including making the audition DVD) helps.

 

Regarding comparison and criticism, unfortunately, the culture here is for the kids to do horrible competitions where they receive brutal criticism and constant comparison. I don't think it is helpful at all. My dd does them for performance experience and feels that it is worth it. I acknowledge that she learns from them but feel they do more harm than good. Just to clarify, there are some excellent adjudicators who give fair feedback and helpful advice.

[LinMM]

When a parent at a school takes a video of a nativity play say where there is film of not only his/her child but others children I don't know now if there are any rules any longer governing what they can do with this film. For example obviously can watch with family and friends but would they be allowed to upload this film to YouTube without the schools permission? And if they did this without the schools permission would there be any recourse the school could take?......other than banning videos in the first place which would seem a bit harsh. Do people mind about this possible lack of control?

 

It's the uploading of everything onto Youtube which still does bother me a bit. Private videos are a different matter. And it's like as I said in the post about the photographer coming into the ballet class that day to update photos for the website. Hopefully if any do appear of me on their website they will be ones I will approve of.....but will I get a say in this...probably not!! On that particular day I had an injury so was pretty glad it was just photos and not video in the end. Would any of you video your DC's if they had an injury limiting their usual ability? But it seems in this general rush to film everything and place in the public domain it seems it now no longer matters any more even if you want to be photographed/filmed its assumed really you don't mind and if you object then you just have to absent yourself!

 

Recently in our Spanish Language class the college wanted to video for their website a variety of activities. Our teacher asked whether we would mind being filmed and wrote down the names of ones who didn't etc so that on that day.....which was at least a month ahead she could separate us just for the filming. I gave my consent to be filmed(my partner said he didn't want to be) I trusted the teacher to make this okay for us and didn't have any problem at all with this AND I WAS ASKED!! I don't suppose it will end up on Youtube though its for a specific purpose and will remain there because rules are tight. However for the people who didn't want to be filmed that evening it was a disruption to their class. My partner chose not to go at all as didnt fancy having to hang around while going on etc but sort of accepted these things happen.

 

Having said all above I love the video Katymac.....I particularly liked this girls jazz routine (not sure if its your DD or a friends) and I liked the way she introduced everything I thought she spoke very clearly and directly so very well done her. She said she had a background in ballroom dancing so this should help a lot with the other dancing she is taking on and is obviously making fast progress.

[Picturesinthefirelight]

With regards to videoing at school plays etc

 

Any private property has the right to say yes or no to videoing or jot and to set restrictions. With school plays/ nativuties it's more to do with copyright than anything else. You pay a fee to use the script/songs then done companies make you pay another fee to take videos, some schools pay it, some pay it then charge for videos, some don't.

 

Some schools will have children with particular reasons for privacy (adopted, domestic violence etc) so will set rules for that.

 

Personally (I run drama classes) I don't allow videos of class to be uploaded anywhere as I feel class should be a place where children feel safe to try thins out in the knowledge it may go wrong but as long as I have copyright clearance allow videoing of performances we put on. I inform patents of this out of courtesy but legally don't have to get permission.

[Katymac]

Thanks LinMM - it is DD - I fibbed in the original post as I was a bit embarrassed (but I think most people saw through me)

 

Her dad is a Ballroom/Latin teacher & she has competed at Blackpool (Tower & Wintergardens) since she was 8

 

The Fame routine is one of the ones she is doing for a show in October at our big theatre, my favourite is the Lion King routine as to me it represents her 'as she is'

[LinMM]

Well I have loads of photos of children in end of year performances but of course as a teacher(retired) myself wouldn't dream of posting them anywhere but they are not stored on the computer etc. I remember one year a parent asking me if I could send any good photos to them of their child as they hadn't got their camera that night.....So guess me taking photos was particularly useful then (I did have a very good camera then too). And all the parents knew who I was!!

 

Videos are a wonderful record of events and are particularly comforting when a child/parent/grandparent/ friend etc dies. It's so nice to have that to remind you. But going off topic here.

 

Thanks for above post Picturesinthefirelight for the info about copyright etc.

[Picturesinthefirelight]

One slight point in regards to my own classes and our CP procedures.

 

I would never post pictures/videos taken at my classes in a personal capacity eg on my personal Facebook page only in my company ID where i twnd to write in the third Person I have separate cameras & phones also.

[Katymac]

What I struggle with is how the compare the children they see with the children on a DVD.  It seems very hard to 'judge' and that people sending DVDs would naturally be at a disadvantage over people were actually there

 

If everyone had sent a DVD then I assume it would be easier - but while the college were very nice to let us - I imagine it caused them extra work.

[LinMM]

I agree Katymac how can you judge those in person.....where something extra usually does come across with those in a DVD.

This is then not a level playing field I think.

 

However I think if someone does come across well in a video they would also be even better in person so perhaps some allowance is made for this.....hopefully!

[pastel]

Katymac, our family really loves the Lion King dance. Your daughter has a beautiful way of capturing the viewer!

[Katymac]

Thank you - it's my favourite too

[tomuchtallent]

Went through a practice run filming everything.It was interesting watching it back as i now know where to position the camera for the best out come.Also dd watched it and found it a great help to clean up the bits she was not happy with.

[Katymac]

It's much harder than it looks, but I think it's fairly quick to improve your camera technique (not like ballet!)