The visual element plays a strong role in the overall experience of seeing a Raga Jam or Fellowship Video. A key component of this is Costume and Look of the participants individually and of the group as a whole. Please follow the guidelines below to ensure that your team is all set for the video shoot.
The team should collectively coordinate a style, fabric and color palette for costumes. This applies primarily for music pieces, because in dance the costumes will most likely be coordinated and the expressions are a part of the performance itself. We have included some reference videos for dance below nevertheless.
In terms of style, teams can choose between traditional, semi-traditional and contemporary attire. All team members must pick the same style. Traditional would include kurta-pyjama or kurta-veshti for boys, and pattu pavadai, sarees, half-sarees, ghaghra choli for girls. Semi-traditional would be kurta and jeans, and variants thereof for both boys and girls. Boys can also do Nehru jacket on a shirt and jeans. Chudidars would come in this category too. Contemporary would be a smart selection of shirts (not t-shirts) and trousers/jeans for boys, and tops and jeans for girls. In some cases depending on the piece, the team can do formals or cocktail attire – which would be suits and tie for boys, and cocktail gowns for girls.
We encourage teams to think out of the box and go with whatever is most elegant and reflects the personality of the group. Please refer to the videos shown below to see how previous teams have chosen attire and look well.
We usually suggest either a warm color palette (red, orange, yellow, maroon, burgundy or shades thereof) or a cool color palette (blue, green, purple, and shades thereof). Definitely avoid white since it doesn’t go well on camera. Do not mix warm and cool – for instance do not have all girls wear warm colors and boys wear cool colors.
Clothes should always be solid colors with minimal or no embroidery or patterns. Clothes that have too much going on in terms of design and patterns will be too dominating on screen, and will shift focus away from the performers. They should not have any logos or branding on them. Avoid patterns like checks, stripes etc.
Please try to coordinate the fabric as well. It would be odd for some members to wear silk and the others in plain cotton. Please be consistent. Dress elegantly but do not go overboard and look like you are at a wedding.
All participants, including boys and girls, must have foundation of their skin color. Please apply a layer of foundation on all exposed skin including face, neck and ears. Please slightly overdo the foundation so that it looks normal on camera. No participant will be allowed on screen without foundation.
For accessories, please feel free to do what works best for your style and look. Once again, do not overdo it. The team does not have to coordinate accessories to be the same, its nicer to have everyone bring out their personality through their choice of hair-do and accessories.
Please note that costume and look is only for video shoot, not for audio recording. For audio recording you can wear whatever is comfortable, and does not jingle and get recorded in the mic.
Finally, the costume and look is incomplete without the team engaging and interacting with each other on camera. Most participants ignore this aspect till the last minute. The teams that do the best are those who start practicing this in advance, recording their own videos and practicing how to present themselves. Please understand that on camera you need to dramatize a little more to look normal. Again, the reference videos below are a good starting point to practice this aspect. Please note that this is mostly for in-person Raga Jam or Fellowship video shoots. In case of online, you need to visualize the placement of other artists in the video frame to interact with them and its not an easy thing to do unless you plan your screenplay in such a details and give it as special instructions to the editor for video editing.
Reference Videos for Music
Reference Videos for Dance
