Anybody here do dance concerts?

[Paul R Johnson]

I've done quite a few jobs because I do a lot of education work for Performing arts and music - and very often the video of the dance show or musical is the evidence for their qualification - often the 'final major project' - and it needs to show very specific things. It must be good enough quality to allow identification, yet be detailed enough to allow various grades to be applied against the people in it. This means no single person closeups, because although great for that one person, what about the others, who may well demonstrate the Distinction criteria at the moment the camera is elsewhere.

Very often the solution is the wide angle camera - which stays as wide as the group - no more, and the the iso feed from this one is provided along side the edited more arty version. Non-education savvy video people wouldn't have a clue about the evidence requirement - and even if told that's what it's for, it means little.

I've personally withheld students getting qualifications when the evidence has been weak. It means a lot of extra work for the schools and colleges to repair the evidence to cope with a duff video - and I have seen dozens. The worst are often the best looking, with dissolves and nice tight close ups. They look great, but simply fail miserably for evidence purposes. Sometimes the schools simply assume any video will be great and don't explain. The best paying but horrible ones to do are where a school requests captions and ID - it's so easy to mess this one up!

[Jeff Harper]

Yes, I agree on the wide angle camera that is not too wide and far back, it' makes for great shots with distinct faces, and still includes everyone and everything.