Phaedrus Productions was asked to create an updated video for McConnell Irish Dancers, the performance division of McConnell School of Dance, to promote the school.

The video specifically highlights the schools performance division. The video is used when applying for inclusion in various international cultural events. It recently won them admission to perform at 14th International Folklore Festival – Veliko Tarnovo,  in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria in July 2011.

Phaedrus Productions was asked to create a video back-drop for the McConnell School of Dance’s performance division’s production of the “The Legend of the Tuatha Dé Danann”.

“The Legend of the Tuatha Dé Danann” depicts the people of the goddess Danu, a divine race, with mortal kings and heroes of the distant past. The production is set at Newgrange and the Hill of Tara, whose ancient stone monuments and sacred mounds were the sites where the High Kings ruled Inis Fáil (Ireland). In this exhilarating production, the Tuatha Dé Danann battle the Fir Bolg, the Fomonians, and the Milesians. The Tuatha Dé Danann’s primeval struggles are parallel to those faced in contemporary times with stories of love, war, peace and reconciliation. In the tradition of “Riverdance” and “Lord of the Dance”, “The Legend of the Tuatha Dé Danann” showcases the most exciting and modern styles of Irish dance and drama. “The Legend of the Tuatha Dé Danann” blends mythology, tradition, and Irish history in this dynamic 40 minute production.

Phaedrus Productions was present during many of the practices and was provided the script, notes, and images to start the process of creating the video back-drop. I took that info and during the next two weeks (with some very late nights!) various images and video clips were gathered, edited and created into the 15 scenes of the performance. I basically dynamically painted the set for each scene.

Various techniques were used. Some scenes needed an appropriate landscape with a dynamic sky clip of moving clouds. While others consumed many hours of setup when many images and clips combined. One of the more complicated was for a scene where the people danced around a cauldron to use magic to hide the island. Several layers of images and clips were used to build the cauldron with flames coming out of it. Then the background was the shore of the Giants Causeway, with the sea splashing in the back ground, and clouds rolling behind. Then the ships that were coming towards the island were added, and finally the fog that was magically created, slowly appeared.

During the four nights the performance played, I ran the video backdrop which included the soundtrack. The show was well received and the dancers enjoyed a standing ovation on the final sold out night.

]]> http://www.phaedruspro.com/2011/03/26/the-legend-of-the-tuatha-de-danann/feed/ 4 http://www.phaedruspro.com/2010/08/01/folklorama-2010-video-backdrop/ http://www.phaedruspro.com/2010/08/01/folklorama-2010-video-backdrop/#comments Sun, 01 Aug 2010 18:00:42 +0000 Simon http://www.phaedruspro.com/?p=103

Phaedrus Productions was asked to assist the McConnell School of Dance with their stage production for Ireland-Irish Pavilion at Folklorama on August 1st to 8th. They requested a PowerPoint presentation of images to be projected behind the dancers to serve as interchangeable backgrounds for each dance. Of course we did that and more! 

Many of the backgrounds where custom-made dynamic looping video clips. Custom clips included: Irish landmarks with rolling clouds behind them, dancing fire embers, twinkling disco type lights, and a running waterfall. In addition many of the still images provided were optimized for use as a background. Overall there was 3 shows approximately 25 minutes each. 

I donated my time that week to ensure the smooth operation of the Video BackDrop during the seven-night, 3 shows a night (sometimes 4 or 5!) run. PowerPoint 2010 was the program used to display the videos and images. This helped, as you could easily adapt to program and back stage timing changes. 

 Simon at the helm of the Video BackDrop.

For the fifth year in a row Phaedrus Productions has been invited back to film and produce McConnell School of Dance’s Recital Video.

This year, filming was done once again with 2 cameras. We captured not only the overview of the stage, but also close ups of the students and their footwork, which is what Irish dance is all about!
The video is then edited with the cameras seamlessly cutting back and forth to show the best shot of the dancing.

The DVD includes extras such as:

• Year in Review 2009-2010
• Costa Rica 2009
• Behind the Scenes – A student Favorite! We attend the dress rehearsal to practice the camera work, and save the best clips for the annual Behind the Scenes video. This is an exclusive for the DVD.

Video is rendered in DVD quality with digital 5.1 surround sound. All this is delivered in sharp DVD packaging and disc graphics.

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