Super Ahead…

Filming  

    I know that we just started projects this week, but I have already started filming! As my last blog post said, the tech rehearsals for the show I need to film happen this week and next week. That means I only have 8 days to get most of the footage I need. I went today to the film, and it was so much fun. It brings back memories of the beginning of the year when we did the documentary project. The reason why I loved doing it so much is that I genuinely love theater and the whole process of it. I'm so glad I could dive deep into it when doing the first documentary. It meant so much to me to interview my director; what she said was so emotionally moving, especially coming out of her mouth, since she has been such a big part of my life since I was 8 years old. It was so rewarding to film today because I got to focus more on the backstage part of the theater process. Even though I have teched multiple shows and have worked as a stage manager for many years, filming today made me realize that I've never truly understood the scope of what goes into putting up a production, and how hard it can be. 

    Today I was able to focus on filming how the set worked for the show. This show has a lot of technical aspects to it, specifically relating to how it "falls apart" without actually breaking the set. It was so interesting to see how all the different buttons worked, and how the set has elements to make it seem like it was breaking apart, but in reality, was actually fine. I was able to get so much footage today, which I am so glad about!! It was such a fun experience. 

Differences

    One thing that I definitely wanted to do differently than the last documentary, was to get more close-ups. I was really focused this time on filming the details, whether that be of the actual set or the people that were teching the show.  Also, I tried to get a variety of angles. In my last doc, I mainly used long shots, which was pretty boring. This time I tried to also take shots from high angles so it would be a good difference between the shots, to make it more interesting. 

    In the past few months, I have been even closer to my director and technical director. This meant that now it is much easier for me to talk to them about shots that I want to get. The reason why I couldn't get closeups before, was because I didn't have the courage to ask whether I could take shots that close to the actors. However, this time, I have much more confidence in asking, which is helping me get the shots that I really want! Also, honestly, since I don't really know many of the people in the show, it's much less embarrassing to film them! They actually think it's pretty cool that I'm making a documentary!!

    Also, one thing that I wanted to improve, was having more footage overall. Even though I had a lot of footage last time, I realized that I didn't have that much for the people that were actually being interviewed. This time I tried to focus on the candidates that I have chosen to be interviewed so that I would have enough B-roll for when they were specifically talking.

    

In the process

[me posing with the set!]

[me filming the set maker!]

[the play that goes WRONG! Two actors as they fall from the set :0]

Exciting News!

    As I was filming, I told the person that makes our sets, Johnny, that I was making a documentary about the technical aspects of theater. He is super nice, and told me that it was a really good and interesting idea! While I was filming, he was explaining how everything worked, and how he made the sets. It was super interesting to listen to this, especially coming from someone who is so experienced with it. He told me that he graduated in 1979, and has been in the business since then! That takes a lot of dedication! And then... he told me that I could come to his shop to film him making sets!! He also gave me his number, so that I could contact him if I needed to. I really hope I get a chance to go and visit him because getting a variety of B-rolls is very important to me. Plus, it would be a different more personal perspective on the backstage of a theater, which would be so cool to capture. the only downside is that he lives pretty far away :( If I do get the chance to visit him, I really hope that I can interview him too! He is so well-spoken, and knows so much about his craft; he would be the perfect person to interview.