Unlocked
Roles: Producer + Camera Operator
Unlocked is a short dance film that depicts the metaphor of personal struggles and barriers. According to the choreographer, Brenna Hayes, the main feature of this dance is the use of doors. Doors are meant to keep things in and out, but Brenna’s goal is to also show that your thoughts can be representations of doors to others and ourselves.
Being filmed during the 2020 fall semester of Covid-19, Brenna allowed for her dancers to choose where they would want to film. This choice inadvertently helped the overall idea and theme of her piece. The choreography showcased dancers who were hesitant or uncomfortable in leaving their space and those who were okay being out of their comfort zone. A central idea of anger, frustration, mental health were represented through each dancer’s moves and their personal struggles also conveyed in their expressions and movements.
Behind the Scenes
As a producer, I held meetings to understand the goals of the project. After determining the scope of the project, keeping the COVID restrictions in mind, I was able to put a small team of four together. The team consisted of a producer, editor, cinematographer, and a camera operator. The choreographer, Brenna, would ultimately serve as the director as she provided her dancers with the moves and allowed them to create their own interpretations. I served as a producer wearing multiple hats communicating and providing structure to different aspects of the film process, one of my many roles was also being a camera operator. My cinematographer also served as a camera operator as this was a small crew. Overall, I was able to guide the editor to meet the vision of Brenna, while also giving him creative space to play around with transitions and shots.
- Producing
- Camera Operating