Valerie Murzak has a strong Circus heritage and grew up in her native Moscow where she trained in both Rhythmic Gymnastics and Circus with her parents who are both Circus Artistes. Recent credits have included the opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics and for the last 2 years has played one of the lead characters (Poison Ivy) in the world tour of Batman Live.

The Mirror Ball is a unique, one of a kind contortion and hand balancing act. Valerie created this act in 2014 and has been performing it at high profile events all over the world. Recently making her cabret debut in La Soiree's "Club Swizzle" show at the Sydney Opera House, Sydney. 

Filmed at The Hippodrome Casino London, several moments were captured at high frame rate (up to 120 frames per second) and played back at normal speed in order to accentuate Valerie's natural poise and grace. This was my first attempt at creating camera movements in post in an attempt to move through near-frozen moments in a way that would otherwise have been impossible with such an ad-hoc setup. This was also my first attempt at CG particle effect animation. I wanted to emphasise the hypnotic effect of light and movement given off by the mirror ball and Valerie's costume as it enveloped the entire venue.

Directed, Shot, Graded & Edited by Mark Charade

Shot on Canon 60D & Samyang/Rokinon 35mm f.1/4

Selected 120fps shots filmed on iPhone w/ Filmic Pro