Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

As July reaches a close, so does my video project end. In 31 days, I’ve watched 31 (plus a couple) videos. This wasn’t a full week, but the videos I watched were:

• Lilly Bulle – Classic Fan Dance. Scratch found this one on a search for something else and knew I hadn’t seen it.
• Jo Weldon – Godzilla. I’ve always wanted to see this one. I think I’ve now seen 3 Godzilla acts to this same song, all different, all delightful, but this was the first.
• Michelle L’amour – Ritual Calling of the Gods of Fuck. To end as I began. It was perfect timing that Blaze posted a link to this video the day before.

What have I learned over my month of video-watching? A bunch of stuff, some of which I knew already, but a reminder (with visuals) is so helpful.

• If you’re going to use a big prop, you have to rock it. It’s the center of your act and your focus. Making a dramatic entrance and then ignoring the thing is a waste. I saw some great examples of big-prop-rocking.

• Simplicity can be mesmerizing.

• Even an act I thought was poor provides some inspiration. Admittedly lots of the “don’t do that” sort, but also some positive things.

• Pause and pose. Stillness is so effective.

• If your face is obscured in some way, push the body language. And have the appropriate facial expressions, even if they can’t be seen, they do come through.

• When a performer loves her/his act, it’s beyond delightful to watch.

• Good video is hard to come by. Atmospheric lighting may be great for the audience, but too dark for video. However, the biggest problems I saw were with decisions made by the camera operator and/or video editor. It’s fantastic if you can have multiple cameras, but sometimes I was wondering what the editor was thinking. If the performer is using a big prop that blocks the view of one of the cameras, don’t use the footage from that camera. Fan dances are usually meant to be seen from the front, so don’t use the footage from the camera in the wings. If you only have one camera, get a tight frame the performance area and just shoot without trying to pan or zoom on the fly.

• I really like floorwork and stocking removes. Why don’t I do more of them?

There are so many ways in which I could up my game. I’ve got all sorts of ideas. And that was the whole point of this exercise.

Dear Constant Reader,

This week I decided to go with a theme. I’m working on a bathtub act and now that it’s coming along nicely, I decided to look at other bathing acts for encouragement and inspiration.

• Lili St. Cyr – Salome’s Bath. I had to start with the classic! (h/t to Corinne Southern for suggesting it and thus inspiring this theme)
• Angie Pontani – Hendrick’s Bathtub Gin (also here and here). This is my tub in its former life!
• Ixion Burlesque – Wine Bath. A totally different kind of bath.
• Immodesty Blaize in the bath. Too bad it was so short!
• Tonya Kay – Bathtub Burlesque. This was billed as a tribute to Lili St. Cyr, but I don’t see it as such.
• Sugar Blue Burlesque’s Odile Devine – Tribute to Lili St. Cyr. A beautiful “tub”. I’d love to take a closer look at it.
• Dita von Teese – Le Bain. Bonus: I have fondled that costume.

Dear Constant Reader,

Here’s my third week of videos. A few thoughts:

I’m finding it hard to pick only performers I’ve never seen, but I am sticking to acts I’ve never seen.

I originally planned only to watch contemporary videos, but I stumbled upon a vintage act I’d heard of, but hadn’t known had ever been filmed. I still don’t know what it looked like on stage, since this is full of sooper-high-tech camera trickery.

I’m trying to break out of the classic rut and watch a little neo-burlesque too. I’m unlikely to do a neo-style act, but that doesn’t mean there’s not inspiration there too.

Sometimes I don’t know what the camera person/video editor was thinking!

The biggest thing I’m taking away is that I have got to up my game!