Dance Accompaniment & first filming experience

Heyyyy back with post shoot update!

I can only say I practised hard for my two pieces, though I really don’t think I performed at the same level on set.

My first time on set was SO SCARY (aside from YouTube videos I did with friends in each of our bedrooms back when we were 13 but that’s a different story for another day). I was shaking so much during the filming of my first scene and kept playing the wrong notes continuously. It was fine in between takes when I practised on my own, but it’s all gone once the cameras started rolling. I felt so embarrassed when everyone heard those…whatever that was.

It was for the same scene with the dancer I was accompanying too. Btw, we became friends!! She was super kind and encouraging towards me.

But anyway, they skipped that scene after a few NG takes and moved on to the other scenes with the other cast members. In the meantime, I felt bad and super embarrassed but knew I didn’t have time to beat myself up. It’ll also only be counterproductive and I’ll probably do worse. So I kept taking deep breaths and reminded myself of the techniques taught in performance class to ease performance anxiety. I imagined myself on set and playing it almost the whole time. I looked over the score whenever I forgot or somehow got stuck.

I then proceeded to film a few takes for my next scene, saying a few lines alongside the other cast members. By that time, most of the nervousness was more or less gone even in front of the same cameras, crew and casts. I was VERY pleasantly surprised and relieved.

Oddly, I was hoping to not have lines because I knew I’d struggle, but it went the other way around instead. I did pretty okay for that. Probably because of the kids (it was for a kids’ show). They are so cute, and interacting with them made me smile and relax quite a bit.

We then proceeded to shoot my solo performance scene right after that. It wasn’t as great as I had hoped it’ll be (and it’s my more confident piece between the two!), but it went WAY better than the first one. Anyway, what I did was sufficient for the filming team, though I still wish it could’ve been better.

I had to overcome both stage fright/performance anxiety and camera shyness/awkwardness. But yeah, I guess I did it. I just hope after this experience I feel better and more at ease during our in-class performances for performance class next week onwards. I know it won’t miraculously change, but I hope that at least I learn to manage it even better from today on.

There were two kids on set as the cast members, and I knew I didn’t want to disappoint them or do badly, even more so, especially in front of them. They weren’t there in the first scene but were present for the subsequent ones. I hope I didn’t let them down. They left earlier than I did and I didn’t get to interact with them further.

But all in all, the first filming and dance accompaniment experience went overall hmm I guess, fine? It felt more like a performance/filming experience than dance accompaniment (as you can tell from this post), but I’m glad I got to experience both at the same time. Well, I’d say a 50/50 chance of being sure if I’ll do it again because it’s been very eye-opening and super cool. Also, since I’ve done it before, I can perform it again, and maybe even better. But I probably just need more experience— which I lack.

I enrolled in music performance during COVID in 2020 and haven’t since gotten a chance to play a live recital, only video recording (with my laptop, at home) and in weekly class performances). Hopefully, this brings me a step closer to coping better for my graduation recital next year as well.

Your girl’s gonna be on Singapore’s national tv, guys :)

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If you missed the first post of this update, here it is!

I Accompanied Dancers For The First Time