PRE-PRODUCTION: DRAG QUEEN PERFORMANCE VIDEOS

With the biggest part of the shoot being the performance of Tanya as Miss Zodi, I've already decided that I'll need to have more than 1 camera to film this performance in order to get the coverage I need for the edit. Prior to this, I'm still unsure how to go about filming this and also what camera should be filming what coverage, where to place the cameras and how to divide up the coverage between the cameras. From this I did a little more research into Drag Queen performances both from footage on peoples phones and what we've had on TV over the years.

Ru Paul's Drag Race
My main form of research to this was my review for Ru Paul's Drag Race where I reviewed the end of the episode where the 2 Queens are up for elimination and they have a lip sync battle to remain in the competition. Below is an example of this:

This lip sync is to a very fast and high energy song so the performance given by both Queens matches that. Through this, we see shots of both Queens performing and also the judges reactions. Likely, this is what I will also be aiming to film for Tanya's performance. We see a mixture of mid shots and wide shots for the actual performance and lip sync to show the dancing through the wides and focus on the facial expressions through the mid shots. We get jib shots through the performance from another camera to add in some movement (apart from the 2 cameras panning) and also it gets across the size of the stage they're on. Finally we have a wide shot on the judges and a single on Ru Paul (this changes between the judges) over all I'd argue there is around 5-6 at a minimum for this performance shoot. I'll likely have half of that (3) at the most if possible.

Looking into other performances we've had on TV over the years, I found the video below showing Drag Queens we've had on talent shows such as Britain Got Talent and American's Got Talent:




Camera work is VERY similar but that could also be due to the fact it's on TV and this can be a usual style of filming a performance. Shooting a mid for the detail in the facial expression and bring us closer to the performer. Wide shot to show the movement happening and then audience shots to see their reactions, It's been done in comedy shows, talent shows and performances. One camera move I noticed in La Voix performance was a slow zoom in which takes us from the wide to the mid seemlessly without even noticing but while she's leading up to hitting the final note the camera creeps in, almost like it's hinting that it's about to hit the big note and then cuts to the jib to swing out with the note and reveal the huge audience applause. This is almost the same throughout the videos in this compilation. Laydee Kinmee is slightly different in the sense that their performance is actually singing so the cameras really focus in on the face while they sing.

Below is a compilation video of different Drag Queen performances and this alone shows me the difference in performance we could have:


However, watching all of these different performances, I feel that the set up which would work best is actually the simpelest one. Having 3 cameras: Camera 1 (the main camera) - Audience and close ups on stage, handheld. Camera 2 - Mid shot of performance, tripod and panning as the performer moves. Camera 3 - Wide shot and zoom ins and out, tripod and panning as the performer moves. With this set up I'll be able to capture all the footage I need for the edit and get the coverage of the entire performance. The main aim for this is that the camera work shows the performance and we let our Drag Queen do the work for us. Although this is more reality TV Style than documentary, I think it's the best option and works well for the documentary.