The beginning introduced the dance as very soft, and then the soft light comes in and becomes harsher which struck me. Perhaps a softer light would have complimented the dance a little more? The body and dance seems so soft and the angles of the camera gave a depth to the body, for example when she is sitting and the camera is above her looking downward. It was satisfying to see the whole body and the feet as the camera moved up and down the body with the dancer. I think some of the full body scenes could be cut and perhaps the emphasis on the feet could be played up more or tie it in with emphasis on the hands as well. The swinging with the camera and arms following is lovely.
The beginning is very striking as my eyes follow these soft pulsing feet into the light. I kind of wished for the feet to tell more of a story--they could have been shot for a longer period of time and the upper body could have been introduced later. I appreciated the white flowing fabric of the skirt and how it mimics the dancer's flowing peacock arms/feathers. The camera movement followed her peacock form quite well--it seemed to follow her flow with an ease and soft intensity. Also, nice incorporation of the shadows that her body creates against the studio floor.
This video was definitely an improvement, great job! I am glad that you decided to focus on the lower half and upperhalf, to use this interplay. The feet are so interesting with their little pitter pattering movements, and now I actually got a sense of this from the constant foot closeups. Sometimes there would just be closeups of the skirt, and I was so happy with this choice because I could just enjoy how the material moved in response to the pitter pattering feet. Choices like this really took me on a journey, it was much les documentary-like. I appreciated how the continuously moving camera was used so well too. I particularly enjoyed when the camera would swing with the dancers arms. This was done in the first video, but now, sometimes the frame around the dancer is different so that she is not always center, or her head is hidden by the frame, and now her sharp shadow dances alongside her. There were just so many new elements working together to make this a much more interesting and strong video. The whole thing felt much less frontal and much more dynamic (particularly with the use of the camera moving toward and away from the dancer). Great lighting work!
This piece explored lighting in an interesting revealing the dancers pronounced silhouette . It was very satisfying to see movements through the shadow as well as the dancer. I was especially struck by the last arm movement in which the physical dancers arm and the showed arm were fluidly moving back and forth. This created an extremely dramatic and aesthetically pleasing shape which emphasized the ease and flow the piece. The shadow overall gave the entire video a mysterious yet peaceful feel which connected with the soft repetitive foot patterns and breathy arm circles. The camera movements were smooth and did not stand out which drew my attention to the movement of the dancer.
Some of the transitions between the feet and hands were a little awkward, like the first fade when the dancer's upper body is revealed. Other transitions made sense, like when the dancer repeated the same sequence but the second time just the feet are shown. Overall, nicely done. This is a great improvement over the last project.
I like the reshooting of this film. Think Hang made some strong choices and let her previous film really inform how to approach this one in a new way. I felt like there was a better continuity and an improved framing of events for this time around. I remember Hang ran into me one day by the Library saying that she was in search of a park or a green space to shoot her film. I think I would love to see this set in a blossoming garden somewhere.
Camera movement worked well. I think it worked well and that Hang moved very steadily with the camera. It was very clean and informed movement that allowed us to appreciate the nuances of the dance.
Comments
Some of the transitions between the feet and hands were a little awkward, like the first fade when the dancer's upper body is revealed. Other transitions made sense, like when the dancer repeated the same sequence but the second time just the feet are shown. Overall, nicely done. This is a great improvement over the last project.
Camera movement worked well. I think it worked well and that Hang moved very steadily with the camera. It was very clean and informed movement that allowed us to appreciate the nuances of the dance.