As some of you reading this will know I'm a massive fan of Strictly Come Dancing, and famous dance duo James & Ola Jordan. Strictly Come Dancing is something I am really passionate about and I thought I'd review how I think it's filmed.
Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities and professional dance partners, competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series 'Come Dancing', with an illusion to the film 'Strictly Ballroom'. The format has been exported in over 40 countries worldwide, including America, South Africa and Sweden.
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| Some quick facts about the show {source: Wikipedia} |
The concept of the show is fairly simple. A celebrity is paired with a professional dancer, with them dancing one dance each week. As they continue to progress, a couple are voted off each week by the public through phone votes, narrowing the show down to the final 3/4 couples who dance multiple dances in the final, to win the all important Glitterball trophy.
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| Strictly winners Chris Hollins & Ola Jordan in 2009 |
Strictly Come Dancing was originally broadcast at the BBC Television Centre (from 2004-2012) and is now at Elstree Studios. The producers block booked Studio 4 from August to December as the Studio was used daily by editors, lighting and sound technicians, and camera crew. Studio 4 is 594m squared and opened in January 1961. The studio was similar to its neighbor Studio 3 in terms of its design and layout. Studio 4 was designed as a light entertainment studio and contained a rather unusual sound system called ambiophony.
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| Studio 4 during Strictly Come Dancing |
As the show is on live, prime-time television, the multi-camera technique is used to create a wide range of shots that allow the audience to see the main features from all angles. There are cameras situated around the dance-floor so the people in the editing suite can switch from one camera to the other during the live performances. Before the show goes live, all of the couples have time to rehearse their dance on the dance-floor, and this is where the editing suite can get the initial idea of when the upcoming features in the dances are. This way, they can make sure the audiences watching on television won't miss out on any good bits.
The clip I am reviewing is a dance by professional dancers James & Ola Jordan. This dance is called the Rumba, which is a dance that originated in Cuba. It's a dance that portrays passion and love, and seeing as James & Ola are married in real life, it's the perfect dance for them.
James & Ola Jordan - Rumba
Throughout this dance, there are many camera angles and shots seen to emphasise certain features of the routine. I think the majority of camera shots used are close-ups and pan. The close-up shots create a passionate scene to in-cooperate the mood of the dance with the viewers, as even though this is dancing, they still act out the dance with facial expressions and poses. When the camera pans, it shows of the feature of a lift within the dance. This, in my opinion, is because it's very hard for the viewers watching on television to see the amazement of the dance if the camera stuck to one particular angle. By the cameras moving, it almost gives an indirect point-of-view of James and/or Ola and how difficult the lift is.
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| Different camera angles/shots of the dance |
All 10 shots I have screen-capped have an element I would like to talk about, but I have decided I will pick my 4 favourites and shots that I find the most interesting to discuss.
Shot 1 is a typical long-shot used to create a feel for the audience at home about how big the studio is compared to Ola. The camera zooms in to Ola (shot 2) so it's clear to see her movement and identify to the audiences (that know their dances) what routine it is.
In shot 6, we see the first lift of the dance. This camera shot is very cleverly done as it starts off as a high angle to the right hand side, following zooming in to James & Ola, then zooms back out to the left hand side. The positives of this type of shot gives the audience a lot more of a dynamic approach to the life, and makes the lift in the dance look very superior as if it is 'spinning' quicker. The negatives to using this shot are that it can be quite difficult to see the lift in full effect - and some viewers may actually start feeling a bit dizzy (if they're sensitive to that kind of thing!) This being because the lift is spinning one way, and the camera is turning in the other, almost creating a kaleidoscope effect.
Moving on to shot 9, being one of the most basic shots throughout the dance. This pose that James & Ola are performing is the very end of the shot, meaning the cameras need to capture the most important thing throughout the dance, and this being them! This shot creates a relationship with James & Ola and the audience as you can really see the passion in their facial expressions, giving the dance a lot more depth. The camera angle shows Ola's head going in the right direction for the shot, and the camera crew did their best throughout the dance to keep the camera angles going.
As I stated earlier, the couples do a dress run before each dance to give the camera crew a chance to sort out what camera angles they're going to use and at what time. I think it's clear that it definitely works like this as the camera angles throughout the dances on this show manage to capture the most important things of the dance, which is obviously what the audience at home want to see.
Cheerio. :o)
- Olivia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Television_Centre ('Studio' section used) - accessed on 22-Oct-2013
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