Have you video taped yourself?

[Sandie70]

OK, this post is not about sex tapes. No, it's about seeing yourself as you are when dressed.

Or, actually, seeing yourself walking when dressed.

I've recently taken my camcorder and taped myself walking, standing, sitting, bending and otherwise doing normal everyday things while dressed.

What an eye opener!

You know the posture and walking gate we learned as men? Well, I thought I had the female walk down until I saw myself on tape. Arggggg!

I also noted that I have a terrible tendency to bend my head down when I walk. Mistake! When I do that, I look like a male gorilla shuffling along:brolleyes:.

And that side to side shuffle we guys have? Well, I thought I had that under control until I saw myself on camera. Again - Arggggg!

So, lots of work yet to do. We can't change our body too much, but we sure can change how we move.

Get out your camera and see what I'm talking about.

[Alice_2014_B]

I did once when dressed up and jamming on the bass.

:)

[Sarah-RT]

I've used my phone camera to pan around my head from different angles and as much as I can see when I hold it out, in my bathroom we have 3 mirrors including a full body mirror so I can get a nice 360 view but as far as walking etc goes I probably suck at that

Sarah x

[Pat]

I'm fortunate in that I create video as part of my work so I do often take the opportunity to check out my movement. It is discouraging at first, but it gives you a chance to see all the stuff that nobody will tell you. ;) Head posture is a very male tell. So is the position of your feet/legs when you walk up to something and stop (men brace to engage.) Other things to check are bending over to pick something up (men bow their backs more) and sitting at a table and drinking from a glass (men quaff.) In all cases men stick their elbows out more, brace more and in general take up more room. "Male privilege" is telegraphed in most movements.

[irene9999]

I've taken videos of myself with my camera and it was an eye opening experience. As girly as I felt dressed I noticed that I was still walking like a dude and this made me look masculine even while wearing a dress. It does highlight a lot of the stuff that you can't see for yourself

[Kate Simmons]

Some thirty years ago I video taped myself dancing to popular songs of the time. I used those tapes to get a lot of feedback and it helped to improve my presentation and ability to entertain. :)

[debbeelee1]

The first time I video taped myself I thought I looked like a halfback walking back to the huddle! After lots and lots of practice, I've got much more feminine mannerisms!

[Carmen]

Video has been a part of me whatever I'm doing.
I'm glad that I had a friend and a slim frame when I started.
Passing was never an issue.

[Debra Russell]

Been there - done that; and its true - takes a lot of practice to telescope ones femininity through movements. No matter how hard we try that's one sure way of being made - through observation, just keep moving,,,,,,,,,,,,................Debra

[flatlander_48]

I've taken a couple of videos of me walking in heels. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as much movement as I had thought; maybe half.

DeeAnn

[ChristinaK]

I haven't done that yet. It's difficult enough to see myself in the mirror. However, you make a good point in observing my actions to to become better at mimicking the behavior of real women.

Like you, I tend to walk like a Gorilla with my head down. I am aware that I must hold my head high with shoulders back, but perhaps I need to take your advice to discover if I'm as effective as I think I am. I really do desire to blend in to the point that it probably affects the amount of fun I have.

[Ceera]

I've recorded myself walking down a hallway and back, to check my walk and my look. Helped a lot to improve my walk and posture!

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Sandie, Probably 25 or 30 yrs. ago and I could see what I was doing wrong.:daydreaming:

[Lori31]

Never even thought of this. Good idea!

[Carroll]

Just once, a month ago with me playing my drum set. It's posted in the picture/video section

[Tina955]

Yes Sandie, I have used my I pad to video myself walking, and can totally relate to all you have said.😢

Tina

[Tracii G]

I have done several in the past.
Its a good way to evaluate your presentation.
I think the first one I did was me bitching about the clothes dryer not drying properly. My poor partner at the time was not too keen on unclogging the vent pipe for me . I was in girl mode I shouldn't have to do it right?

[Adriana Moretti]

I did it when I was first starting out ...when i was curious what i looked like and wanted to see how i looked walking in heels too....those old vhs tapes are priceless I heard bootleg copies go for serious money on ebay.....Adriana in all Latex and 7....yes...7 inch heels....LOL.....after walking in them...anything under 5 is like a sneaker now LOL....me and Kristen (aka hell on heels) from this forum used to send videos of ourselves dressed up being silly too...

[Marcelle]

Hi Sandie,

Yup, been there done that for the exact same reasons and you are right . . . major eye opener. I did a lot of natural observation of women when first learning to present and thought I had a lot of the mannerisms down . . . umm NOPE! The video helped me refine and with practice things got better. I still pull the old video camera out now and then just to confirm but it gets less and less as time goes on.

Cheers

Isha

[joanna4]

I've done a few of me walking and posted them on youtube for a time. More recently I've done more of an OOTD type just showing off my outfit as I'm all dolled up.

[Belle Cri]

No, but I will now. I get posture and presentation tips all the time (thank you Dear!), but it's one of those motor-technical things like, oddly, lifting weights. Don't expect gorgeous perfection until your form is correct.

[Traceyjo]

I have taken quite a lot of videos of myself and have always been very happy with the results. I don't make any great effort to change the way I move but feeling feminine does seems to naturally make my movements be more like a woman's. I don't think anyone else seeing the video would say that my body motion is typically that of a male.

[CarlaWestin]

So, well, yeah! I seem to have a big collection of video selfies.
It's all part of the fun.

[Krisi]

Yes I have and like you, I was not pleased with the results. I use video and still photos to try to improve my look. I've got a ways to go though.

The biggest problem with video recording is that without someone else doing the recording, about all you can do is walk away from the camera and back towards it.

[Jorja]

Yes, I have video. Barnum and Bailey Circus wanted to know if I wanted a job!

[UNDERDRESSER]

Only done it in very small ways, but definitely feel it's something I should do more of. Not even for dressing as such, but just improving my general presentation. It's something everyone should try I think, but do be aware that the camera magnifies everything. No, you aren't anywhere near that heavy in real life, and if you video in groups, you'll see that some things you thought stuck out like a sore thumb, aren't that bad in a group setting.

[Marie-Claude, France]

Done it for testing my passing, which failed.

[Hell on Heels]

Hell-o Sandie,
I have taken a few (OK.... Dozens) of videos, and like most others here have stated, they are great for getting a true perspective. Just as in taking pics some of them (1 or 2 out of twenty or so) turns out good.

And Adriana, I believe it's your turn to be acting silly!!!
Much Love,
Kristyn

[Kari_B]

I do often to just get a snapshot. My selfies always suck.

[Samantha_Smile]

OMG I cant believe I've never done this. And I'm not even being sarcastic.
I think I may be giving this a go the next time I get chance :D

I do not hold out hope LOL

[Crissy Kay]

Yes, I have done it once in a while, just to entertain myself!!

[Tracii G]

Be nice if there was a way to post them here without using you tube.

[Badwolf]

I've taped myself more for voice. I know my walk isn't as good as it was a while ago. I know for a while I was rocking heels more than half the GG's I saw around me. Then I stopped wasn't able to dress much.

[Pat]

The biggest problem with video recording is that without someone else doing the recording, about all you can do is walk away from the camera and back towards it.

Some other things you might consider:

Set up at the bottom or top of a staircase and film yourself ascending and descending.
Set up at a table and sit down and eat a meal.
Set up in front of the TV and film yourself watching a movie -- on replay don't watch it all, but skip in 30 minutes or so and see if you "drop your girl" as you get involved in the story.
Film yourself getting in and out of a car (if you go out.)

[Amy Lynn3]

Yes, I did this once and then had to have my camera repaired. Bummer !

[Krisi]

Sandie, I'm glad you brought the subject up. Because of your post I spent much of the morning video recording (tape is no longer used) myself in various outfits and activities. My mouth is almost stuck together from applying lipstick several times.

So now I have some things to work on. Pointing my feet straight ahead, keeping them closer together as I walk, swaying the butt a bit more and keeping my head up. The hard part of keeping my head up is I wear bifocals and with my head held high, I can't see where I am going.

It turns out I can plug my camera directly into the TV (for playback only, I can't see it while I'm recording) so that makes things easier and the TV screen is much larger than the computer screen.

I have to remember though to move the videos to the computer and delete them from the camera before it falls into the wrong hands.

[sometimes_miss]

Way back when, we had an almost full length mirror on the back of a door in the house I grew up in. And one day, I got to see myself dressed up. As a young teen, I could have 'almost' passed. as an adult, no way. I have spotted myself in mirrors occasionally since then, but am not impressed by what I see. And there's no way to fix the things that make me clearly a huge hulking guy who is dressed as a high school girl. OH well. I need to put on my cheerleader uniform to make sure it fits for the coming season, and get some practice now with my cheers.

[JamieQ]

I have video taped myself quite often mainly to see how the walk and mannerisms are. For me I seen where I think I was doing okay and where I needed to fine tune a few things...I think it is a very useful tool...

[Lynn Marie]

Making a self video taught me to wear longer and looser skirts. BIG improvement.

[Krisi]

Yes, even still photos can help with that.

[Tasha Meredith]

This is an interesting topic. I guess this a fairly common practice technique.

I started the whole video taping thing for the same reason...wanting to get a good 360° view of my presentation. The first few tries were disappointing, I was surprised that simply feeling really fem wasn't always enough to 100% feminize my walk. The tough part was what to (not) do with my shoulders...which would have been super-easy to overlook without seeing it.

After that it was a few more minutes of walking to/from the camera, walking while carrying things, standing, texting, etc. So much fun!

[Teresa]

Sandie,
I'm a bit late on this one but I have to say guilty as charged !
I got into deep water over this one as I admitting borrowing a leather mini skirt from my wife's niece ! I did a complete makeover and videoed myself strutting my stuff around my house, you can't always move the camera and even out of shot you can still hear the click clack of the heels ! I have to say it's one hot video !

It's now buried somewhere on my computer but I can't bring myself to delete it as it may never happen again !

[Fi-Fi LeFemme]

I have tried videoing myself more recently but I still need a lot of work! ;-)
I practise the "supermodel" walk- hips forward torso back but it's not easy. I look like waddling duck but I'm determined.
X

[Maxi]

Yes, I have some. I just started a new Youtube channel for posting them. The "Maxine CD channel".