Shooting Red Bull BC One, how the battle was won
Written on Friday 18.02.2011 09:00 AM By: Red Bull Illume
Red Bull Reporter sent talented young photographer Peter Tweedie on his most extraordinary assignment yet: to fly to Japan to shoot Red Bull BC One.
16 B-Boys from around the world rocked the Yoyogi Stadium in the heart of Tokyo in November for the seventh edition of the B-Boy battle event in front of 3,000 hyped fans. The battles between the world’s best dancers were phenomenal. The growing legend that is Neguin from Brazil, convinced everyone again and won the title based on his incredible athleticism and ability to entertain and surprise, battle after battle.
However, for Peter Tweedie, it wasn’t all about the event. Although already super-experienced in the B-Boy scene in the UK, Peter had a different set of problems than impressing a jury consisting of two-time Red Bull BC One champion Lilou and the legendary Ken Swift from the infamous Rock Steady Crew. Peter had to deliver killer images that brought across the energy of the contest and attitude of the dancers, just to do justice to the event and creativity of the dancers.
Q: Working in Tokyo must have been mind-blowing. Temples, gambling halls, skyscrapers and karaoke bars, geishas and sumo wrestlers. Did you have any concepts for shooting the event itself or on any pre-shoots in Tokyo?
Mind-blowing is exactly the word for it. The culture and way of life is so different to the West. It was all the subtle social differences that really had me fascinated; especially the way they go about their daily routine. The fashion out there was amazing too, very fresh and completely different to how people dress in the UK where I’m from.
It was amazing to be sent by Red Bull Reporter as I’ve wanted to visit Japan my whole life so the opportunity to go and shoot dance was incredible. I got a very open brief from the Red Bull Reporter team, which gave me freedom to be creative. I did my research before going, the culture there, potential locations and had some ideas in place for whatever came up when I arrived.
We ended up trying to get our bearings in Tokyo by comparing the different neighbourhoods in London to the areas in Tokyo. For example, Harujuku was akin to Brick Lane or Camden and Shinjuku had elements of Liverpool Street with the suited commuters.
Q: To be a good B-Boy photographer, you really have to understand the moves and know what's coming next, or you won't get great shots. What's your experience of shooting B-boys and crews?
Everyone goes through that stage in their life when you're really inspired as a kid, to push the sofas to the side and try and copy what you see others doing. For most people that's as far as it goes but some of my friends got hooked and now live the B-boy lifestyle, so I've always been around the scene.
Sometimes I do wish I had the same dedication as my mates for training and improving their dance but I developed the same level of passion and dedication to my photography and that's my main passion in life. I still have the deepest appreciation for dance and the whole philosophy behind the B-boy scene and dance in general. It also means I know enough to be able to direct the dancers. When you know the moves, styles and just have that knowledge, it really helps you to get the shots quickly which is really important when you only get a short time to shoot, like I had in Japan.
Q: How tough is it to get the timing right and capture the action?
I regularly shoot boxing, kick boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) which has really helped me develop a natural instinct for timing as shooting fights in a ring or cage is very similar timing-wise to shooting dance battles. I also play and shoot a lot of different sports which really helps.
Q: What equipment, settings and lighting did you use? Did you have to shuffle your settings much for the indoor lighting? Did you try anything much different on the pre-shoot?
I got two chances to shoot. First was the media day where I got 5-10 minutes to shoot with some of the performers, the other was the event itself. Because I only got a small amount of time with the performers individually I had to get the shoot done quickly. It was a balance between taking a risk and trying a technically challenging set up but risk not getting the shot if I didn’t hit it first time; or playing safe and shooting what I knew I could get quickly.
I ended up doing a little of both, capturing the safe shot of the dancer standing in the first few minutes before their routine then using the rest of the time to capture a dance move from a more unusual angle.
I had seen photos from the previous years so had an idea of what to expect and the type of shots I wanted, so it was just a matter of making the most of the position I had with the available light, as the event went by so fast.
Kit wise I had two cameras, my main camera was a Canon 5D mk2 body and I switched between the Canon 24-70mmL and Canon 70-200mmL f2.8 lenses. My second camera was a Canon 40d body with a 10-22mm lens to capture any wider shots I spotted (and also as a back up body if something happened to the 5D). I also had a Canon 580ex flash on each camera and a canon wireless trigger for if I got a chance to spend time setting up for more creative shots.
Settings wise I wasn’t allowed to use flash in the venue so a fast shutter speed to freeze the action was my top priority, so I kept it above 1/320th or a second for most action shots. I was worried whether the lighting would be powerful enough at the venue to achieve this and still keep a large enough depth of field without having to raise the ISO to levels to where the noise was too noticeable. But the 5D mk2 handled it brilliantly.
Q: There were 3,000 pumped fans in the Yoyogi stadium. B-boying is one of those things were photographs of the audience can be just as stylish and interesting. Did you try and capture the atmosphere?
The atmosphere was amazing! Watching videos is great but only by being there can you really get an understanding of the hype, atmosphere, and electricity coursing through the room.
There is one shot I'm particularly proud of which was when Big Daddy Kane was performing and for a brief few seconds he picked out one guy in the audience for a few moments, and it became like a one on one performance as the spotlight fell on both of them even though there were still thousands of people in the crowd going crazy.
Q: Which shots blew you away?
The pre-shots with Lilou, as I respect him so much as a dancer and as he is the only B-Boy to win the event twice, it was great to work with him and capture him in an freeze with the amazing Olympic venue in the background.
There are also a few of the action shots where I feel I've managed to capture the facial expression combined with the power and expression through body language to really sum up the exchange between the two dancers.
The sequence of shots where Luigi loses his shoe and Just Do It taunts him by using his shoe as a phone whilst he's still throwing down tells a great story. It was the turning point when that battle was won and lost in a series of three photos.
If you are based in the UK and want the opportunity to photograph for Red Bull Reporter, register at www.redbullreporter.com.
www.petertweedie.com
