Recording your own live performances

Recording your own live performances

The V&A Theatre and Performance department has over 15 years experience of recording live theatre in professional venues and has its own filmmaker on the staff.

These following advice sheets are designed for people who are fascinated by live performance, would like to try filming theatre or dance or want to know more about creating an archive to record small-scale, amateur or community performances. Recording professional shows governed by the Federation of Entertainment Unions (which includes Equity, the Musicians' Union and BECTU) can be extremely complex and is beyond the scope of these notes.

Why film performance? (.pdf, 19.5 KB)
Why film performance? (.doc, 27.0 KB)

Getting started in recording live performance (.pdf, 22.9 KB)
Getting started in recording live performance (.doc, 42.5 KB)

Permissions and copyright issues for recording live performance (.pdf, 30.6 KB)
Permissions and copyright issues for recording live performance (.doc, 39.0 KB)

Recording live performance (.pdf, 23.3 KB)
Recording live performance (.doc, 37.0 KB)

Documenting live performance recordings (.pdf, 33.1 KB)
Documenting live performance recordings (.doc, 40.5 KB)

Protecting and preserving live performance recordings (.pdf, 24.7 KB)
Protecting and preserving live performance recordings (.doc, 31.0 KB)

Record Today for Tomorrow was part of the V&A's HLF-funded Capacity Building and Cultural Ownership project which aimed to increase awareness and highlight the importance of diversity across the museum.

As its contribution to the project V&A Theatre Collections ran a series of courses which encouraged members of Black and Asian communities to become more involved in the recording of their productions by providing training in museum and heritage skills. The V&A Theatre Collections has over 15 years experience of recording live theatre in professional venues and has its own filmmaker on the staff.

The focus of the Record Today for Tomorrow project was the recording of five stage productions created from a diverse range of cultures. For each of these supporting contextual material is available including a synopsis, the cast list and production details or and interviews with people involved with these shows, from directors to critics.