Although Curio Theater’s had my work as a video-promo guy for several years, the greatest amount of video I’ve done has been for the Steampunk nightclub-event series Dorian’s Parlor.

The Dorian’s gig came about because of a conversation with Gil Cnaan, who is one of the more wonderfully improbably creatures to stomp the streets of Philadelphia. He stands about six-foot-eleventy-five, has long frizzy fair and a beard and a wild glint in his eyes that Gene Wilder would envy, and when he wears his Mad Hatter-style top hat he could be a circus ringmaster drawn by Dr. Seuss. (When he wears white robes, he looks more like Jesus of Nazareth, which makes for some high blasphemy in his friends’ Tumblr accounts.) Gil had been holding these Steampunk events at the Doubletree Inn on a semi-regular basis (monthly, bimonthly, quarterly), depending on budgets and the success of the previous event. Somehow, we got into an agreement for me to come by with my video camera and shoot the performances.

My main reason for doing this was completely, wholly mercenary: I needed a social life, and a lot of the Dorian’s crowd overlapped with people I knew from the local science fiction community. I’m also a bit socially anxious at parties, and I cope by finding Something Valuable to Do at parties. (One party, I spent an evening doing the dishes.) I can be entertaining in conversation, but getting there takes work on my part.

And Dorian’s Parlor is very, very, very geared– literally, geared, it’s steampunk– towards the personal spectacle of costume and fashion. Many of the attendees have not only worked up costumes, but whole steampunk personas. Outside of the actual events, there’s a series of vendor stalls for people who make steampunk- and Victorian-flavored jewelry, clothing, corsets, propers, faux-weapons, fetish gear, books, and more. And I would be showing up in the closest thing I’d have to such nightclub wear, namely, black jeans and a black shirt. If I was parked behind a camera, I wouldn’t feel completely out of place, and maybe others wouldn’t see me as being so out of place.

Techie stuff

Not much techie stuff to spill here. My camera was my Panasonic TM700, and I used a Rode Videomic most nights. There wasn’t much to report on the camera work, either, because all I did was set the camera up on a tripod, aim and balance its settings for the stage, and start it when an act began. This was when I was still learning a lot about covering events, so there are points on the early videos when the camera might auto-focus, re-color-balance, and even recalibrate its exposure during a shot.

The exception to this method came during the parlors’ Fashion Shows. This was when I would, occasionally, go hand-held, and try to follow the models as they did their runway walks in what I hoped was a fluid, dignified, and entertaining manner. Sometimes I simply used a small tripod as a pistol-grip, and others, I would use a small cheapo “stabilizer” that kept the camera balanced, but difficult to calibrate and aim properly.

In between events, I would take the camera off the tripod, and go around obtaining hand-held shots of the attendees. This was because Gil had suggested making a “commercial” for the event, and we wanted some nice, atmospheric shots of the costumes and events and vendors.  Eventually, this commercial was made by artist/photographer Jason Watt, who also designed the striking title card for the performance videos.

The Videos

Dorian ‘s YouTube channel has most of what I’d shot, and you can browse them individually there. I’ve created playlists for specific Parlors that may be helpful.

November 2011

Performers included opera singer Katie Kat, dancer Luna Rosa, belly dancers Eye of Isis, writer Dianne Salerni, and the band Ego Likeness. Fashion show by the Delicious Boutique.

December 2011

Performers included musical comedians the Slomsky Brothers, author Robert Romano, yoga performer the Amazing Amy, the Clockwork Dolls, and a fashion show by MayFaire Moon.

April 2011

Performers include Ak’Ana and Platform One.