‘MAKING VIDEO DANCE’
On publication by Routledge in 2006, Making Video Dance: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Dance for the Screen by Katrina McPherson quickly filled an unmet and rapidly expanding market. The first workbook to follow the entire process of screendance production: from having an idea, through to choreographing for the screen, filming and editing, and distribution. In doing so, it explores and analyses the creative, practical, technical, and aesthetic issues that arise when making screen dance.
Over the 12 years since the first edition was brought out, Making Video Dance has become a core text in many under and postgraduate university course across the work and remains popular with independent artist and scholars.
On the strength of this success, Routledge commissioned Katrina to write a new edition of the book, which was published in September 2019. This rigorously revised edition brings the book fully up to date, from a technical and aesthetic point of view, reflecting the changing field, advances in technologies and Katrina’s own evolving practice
The Second Edition includes:
Katrina being introduced by curator /artist Jurgen Simpson at the launch of the second edition of Making Video Dance at the Light Moves Festival of Screendance, Limerick, 2018.
Photo: Emer Casey.
An extended exploration of improvisation in the screendance- making process
New writing about filming in the landscape
Additional methods outlined for working with scores and manifestos
Ideas for developing personal practice
Updated information about camera use, including filming with mobile phones
A step-by-step guide to digital non-linear editing of screen dance
Ideas for distribution in the 21st century
Insights into Katrina’s own screen dance practice, with reference to specific
Works that she has directed and which are available to view on-line
A new introduction chapter by Ellen Bromberg, Distinguished Professor, University of Utah, USA.
New and revised practical exercises
New illustrations specially drawn for this edition
The Second Edition of Making Video Dance by Katrina McPherson is available to purchase on Amazon and other on-line and physical book retailers.
Some things people have written about Making Video Dance:
‘Katrina McPherson’s Making Video Dance helped define the field. With this updated version, she once again implores us to think deeply about the process of bringing dance to the screen.’
-Douglas Rosenberg, author of Screendance: Inscribing the Ephemeral Image and The Oxford Book of Screendance Studies
‘Ever since it was first published, undergraduate and postgraduate screendance makers at Bath Spa University and beyond have found Making Video Dance an invaluable resource. For practical guidance in this exciting field of practice, I know of no other publication that covers the subject so well. This revised addition still contains the original wealth of information, but adds insight into the author’s considerable experience in the field through anecdotes and thoughtful reflections.’
-Dr. Christopher Lewis-Smith. Course Director, Postgraduate Dance, Bath Spa University
‘Making Video Dance is indispensable reading for anyone interested in broadening their perception of what screendance is and how to make it, from one of the most innovative filmmakers in the field. As you read this book, heed the words of Master Yoda, “You must unlearn what you have learned,” and it will forever change your approach to shooting and editing dance.’
-Ben Estabrook, director, lecturer at UC Berkeley (Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies)
‘Making Video Dance is a seminal work, the first of its kind for screendance/dance film educators. When Making Video Dance arrived on the scene, it soon became the pre-eminent resource for those interested in exploring the practice of making dance films. I whole-heartedly support the revision/additions to Making Video Dance, as its subject has only become more relevant since its first publication.’
-Ellen Bromberg, Distinguished Professor, University of Utah
** The Second Edition of Making Video Dance was reviewed by Robin Gee, Associate Professor, UNC Greensboro in the International Journal of Screendance, Vol 10 (2019). Which can viewed here. *
Examples of the new illustrations by Brian Hartley for the Second Edition of Making Video Dance - a step by step guide to creating dance for the screen by Katrina McPherson (c.2018)