So You Think You Can Direct

So You Think You Can Dance is one of those secret TV pleasures that liven up the summer with good looking, earnest young people who actually know they can dance. Pound for pound, there’s a lot more talent on this show than, for instance, American Idol. The problem is, it’s hard to watch. It’s hard because the director, Don Weiner (you can see his unimpressive resume here) isn’t satisfied to let us watch the dancers. He has to do his director thing. What I know about TV directing you can put in a teacup, but I am an expert viewer. And I would like Mr. Weiner to quit changing cameras and angles all the time. Here’s what I mean. In last Thursday’s opening two minute segment, Weiner gave us fifty-four different views of action. I didn’t count panning shots. So about every two seconds he snaps to a different view of the choreography of ten dancers moving frantically about a stage. Throughout the course of the show it’s pretty obvious that Director Weiner doesn’t even go to rehearsal. He goes in for close-ups when they are inappropriate. He loses dancers from his frame. He cuts to different angles during big moves and misses them completely. What we get is a fast moving slide show that breaks the rhythm of the routines and leaves ones eyeballs twisted. I’m going to guess that more fans of this show would enjoy it if there was one camera that shot the action from the audience POV. With dance there is already movement. That’s what it’s about, right? The director doesn’t have to detract from this or justify his existence by constantly changing cameras. I’ve complained about these directors before. They pretty much wreck a lot of shows like Idol and Dancing With The Stars. They are out of control. Imagine a football game where the director changed the camera angle multiple times during the course of a play. Football directors are pretty bad too with lots of changes just before the play begins (close up of the huddle, close up of the quarterback, pan to the linebacker). But when the action starts they let you see it without interference. I read somewhere (probably in Wired Magazine) that someday the viewer at home will be able to select the camera view they want to look at. Something to look forward to.

Comments

[Leilani]

It's the editing you illiterate wanna-be... Anyone actually in the industry would know that. He is also one of the only people in this town who is, on many shows, both Ex Producer AND Director besides being having the reputation of being THE nicest man in this God-forsaken industry... Having worked with him, he knew by name not only the "powers that be" but also the PAs, even sitting down to talk with them! You yourself said "He gave us fifty-four different shots" which means he covered his ground AND his job! As for his "unimpressive" resume, he CREATED a little show called "Showtime at the Apollo"... What have you done with your life besides tried to get your 15 "seconds" of fame on-line?...

ps... Perhaps you've noticed that on Thursdays it's a virtural Don Weiner marathon on Fox... He is credited at the end of "5th Grader" and at the beginning of "Dance"... Not even 2 mins. apart... I think that's more than just "luck!"

pps... He is also a graduate of Northwestern University, you loser!

[SYTYCD fan]

This is the MTV generation...and they EXPECT a lot of cutting. Mr Weiner goes out of his way to get great coverage, but does not have final say as to how the dance numbers are edited...That decision is made by the producers who are giving this A.D.D. generation what it wants...Flash and excitement... And, after all, it is this 18 to 49 demographic that pays the bills.
I'm sure that Mr Weiner would much prefer to use one camera from center in the audience, it would make his job MUCH easier...but you would soon find that watching TV dance with no cutting would be very flat and boring. Why don't you go see the show tape, and sit in the control room for five minutes and watch what it takes to direct a huge show like SYTYCDance...This director stays cool, focused, and KIND, to everyone...Don't judge, but appreciate that TV dance is very different than when you are sitting in the audience. You obviously have seen a lot of dance from a theatre, which is its own unique experience but I can assure you that for this TV generation, Mr Weiner is doing exactly what he was hired to do...with dignity and class, and then some...

[R Blog]

Curious as to how SYTYCD fan knows such intimate details such as how the the "decision is made by the producers" and that in the control room "This director stays cool, focused, and KIND, to everyone..."
Is SYTYCD fan Mr. Weiner? His mom?
This post is a year old. Curious, too, why it generated two defensive comments in a week. This year I watched SYTYCD on ABC's streaming video on the internet. There were lots of pauses in the action due to slow server capacity but the audio was continuous. I enjoyed the pauses but then I'm on medicare and never caught that ADD that's been going around.