Behind The Scenes of Variety Show - ID# 336
Glenbrook North
Natural Audio News Package
Entry Description
Variety Show is the largest stage event at GBN, which fills up the house! But what happens behind the curtains of the Sheely Center of Performing Arts, which makes V-Show possible? It's about time we look backstage to see what makes it all work.
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/18 1:00 pm - I think the biggest issue is I was never introduced to what your story was about, people just started talking about what they were doing. I didn’t know if it was a story about Annie Jo and all that she does, but then suddenly the stage director is talking about moving pieces (not talent like annie was) so it was a little hard to know what I was watching. Of course I could figure it out, but in a story, you shouldn’t make them wonder – it is not a creative piece your audience needs to understand the objective so the interviews fit/flow together better. You had a lot of good shots, but because your interviews seemed a little rapid fire your visuals needed to be more obvious that a change was coming like rather than starting by showing me the light board, give me a close up of a light coming on, or seeing the spot light appear on stage. Many of your viewers won’t know the difference between a light board and a sound board and a mixer, so make your shots more intentional. You had lots of little pieces, but I didn’t feel like there was any depth in any one of them. I was told what I would have expected for behind the scenes - lights, sound, video. Just like a world studies class is more interesting when you hear stories about people and the events, rather than just the facts it is the same here, the story was good, I just would have liked a little more depth Ends very abruptly (the same way it started) Great b roll segments, I just never really felt like your story took off – go deeper so there is actually a story your audience can latch onto. Good stories are about people, not stuff. Even if the interviewers said why they are interested in what they were doing would have been the depth I think that would have given your story more substance.
- 4/16 1:28 pm - Good mix of sound bytes telling viewers what each role in the show is about to then hearing the sound full from that particular perspective. Some of the sound bytes could have been a little shorter - meaning ask very direct and detailed questions, so that you get very short and detailed answers. The student talking about the light board is one that could have been asked again what his role is so that his answer was tighter and shorter.
- 3/6 2:18 pm - I liked how you focused your story on the different people who work behind the scenes for your v-show. You did a great job sharing with us the different sounds that are heard behind the scenes- lights moving, directors talking, pianos being pushed etc. You used your audio to tell this story and put us backstage with you! My only suggestion would be to some how end the story by having someone talk more about the impact of all of these different roles coming together. It seemed like each person talked individually about their jobs, but I wanted to hear how everyone was connected in the end.
Judge 1
Positives: Great nat pops to showcase a behind-the-scenes look for the production. Nice tight shots and laying video over what people are saying. For example the sound board interview you see what the person is explaining.
Improvements: Smooth audio clips to flow better. You can hear a sharp cut off and it doesn't sound right at times. Would have liked more natural sound under interviews and throughout the whole package.
Judge 2
Positives: Good quality audio. Microphones are close to the subject so they are heard clearly. Shots showing people doing something help convey the behind the scenes theme.
Improvements: Unmotivated camera movements. Following action is a reason to move the camera otherwise it takes away from the piece. Jump cuts are distracting. People cannot be two places at once. Use shot sequences to help avoid these mistakes.
Judge 3
Positives: Great tight shots, I loved the one of the EP moving the camera toward your camera. There was a great variety of shots throughout, and they were very creative. You weren't afraid to get up and personal with the characters! I enjoyed the variety of characters included. It showed how vast the VShow operation is.
Improvements: Some of the sound mixing could be improved slightly. The clips flowed into each other very abruptly, and if you transitioned them into each other a bit they would sound easier on the ears. You can do this manually by overlapping the audio clips slightly and then slowly lowering and raising the audio levels of the clips as they end/begin. There's also an audio transition that will do this for you. I would have cut some of the introductions, as they are repetitive when you already have the lower thirds. It would have given you more time to play with to add some sort of narrative element. Right now the package feels like just a list of people and what they do, but it doesn't tell the audience why we should care about them.
Judge 4
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Judge 5
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