Skycam
I pretty much agree with anyone who thought the skycam shots were disconcerting. Fred Astaire kept telling directors and camera men "Keep me in the shot the entire time, from the feet to my head." Simple in concept, not so simple to execute. But simple camera work in his day certainely worked for him and many other dancers in the golden age of movie musicals.
This MTV-generation love of zooming shots and quick cuts (so easy now to edit this style because of computers) has short-changed the portrayal of filmed dance to the point where the choreography is fully captured. Case in point: Moulin Rouge - was there any choreography in the whole thing? Couldn't tell because the camera was sputtering everywhere, focusing on nothing in particular.
Now this skycam thing - how are we supposed to tell the amplitude of a jump if the camera is hovering 40 ft above the ice?
Tenorguy
I pretty much agree with anyone who thought the skycam shots were disconcerting. Fred Astaire kept telling directors and camera men "Keep me in the shot the entire time, from the feet to my head." Simple in concept, not so simple to execute. But simple camera work in his day certainely worked for him and many other dancers in the golden age of movie musicals.
This MTV-generation love of zooming shots and quick cuts (so easy now to edit this style because of computers) has short-changed the portrayal of filmed dance to the point where the choreography is fully captured. Case in point: Moulin Rouge - was there any choreography in the whole thing? Couldn't tell because the camera was sputtering everywhere, focusing on nothing in particular.
Now this skycam thing - how are we supposed to tell the amplitude of a jump if the camera is hovering 40 ft above the ice?
Tenorguy