February 15, 2012


This week I have picked the show “Dance Moms” to write this mojo about.  Specifically I will be referring to season two episode six. As many of you “Dance Moms” fans know Abby Lee Miller ranks the dancers in what she calls ‘the pyramid’. For added dramatic effect each time Abby peals the paper off to reveal the dancer the camera zooms in  to show us who the will be on the top of the pyramid. When the child Abby feels is the best revealed we, the audience have a close up on the winning girl’s smiling face. Then the director uses panning to show the audience the flow of the pyramid from the worst child to the best. In general the lighting used is almost always flood lights because the show takes place in a dance studio and the dancers need to see what they are doing. One exception to this is during interviews which are edited into the hour long episode to places where they would intrigue the viewer the most. During the interviews the director utilizes spot lighting on the person they are speaking to.

For those of you that know the series this is the episode of which Maddie falls during her performance and has to get carried off the gym floor. Previous to Maddie falling during her diving fount walkover the director chose to use high angles to make her appear a victim to the slippery gym floor then as the moment she falls approaches there is a dramatic ‘dung’ sound that occurs right as her tiny body hits the gym floor. The way the director choses to shot the “Dance Mom’s” series will continue to hook its viewers in and ultimately do exactly with the show intended to do. Keep its viewers, pull us in and make the world addicted to it.

1 comment:

  1. Dance moms is a growing popular show that is about a group of girls ages six through thirteen who dance at Abby Lee's dance studio. Abby Lee miller is a top dance teacher that trains kids how to make it on broadway and hollywood. In Episode six season two Abby gives the task of costumes to her dancers moms. from this task it shows that Abby is giving trust that is not often towards the moms. The rules to making the costumes are to make them yourselves and to not spend much money on the costumes. The lesson behind this is to teach the girls that they don't need a flashy expensive costume to win. They just need there talent, which is very important because thats all that matters.
    The film technique that is used is the camera movement. when the girls are dancing on stage or in this case high school gym floor in this episode follows the dance by tracking. The use of tracking is the proper camera technique because it catches the dance perfectly. Another camera technique that is the use of medium and long shots. when the dancer does a complicated move its a long shot to show the dance. then when it gets to poses or an complicated foot work it does a medium shot on either their feet or top half of the dancer.

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