Filming process: questions and considerations

Abstract

Online resources in theatre and performance have increased greatly since even before the pandemic, including those that document process: rehearsals, workshops, training or teaching. In spite of this growth, how to film process is not well understood. The article offers 6 areas and related questions to consider in advance of recording such a film document: how to engage with temporal and spatial aspects of the practice; ethical dimensions in relation to all participants; what needs to be captured live and what could be added/changed post-production; relationships between audio and visual elements, here called the Content Ratio; how the film connects to or reflects the live process; and what the camera and film should focus on. It examines these ideas in practice using specific examples of warm up exercises by Frantic Assembly as well as on the National Theatre YouTube site, amongst others. It analyses what these do well and how they might better capture aspects of the process. The article offers some questions and considerations for those documenting their own or others’ process for training and educational purposes.