How to Succeed in Filming [and Love] without Really Trying

On Friday April 17th, Miranda asked me, Chess, and Justinj to film the Stager's Spring Production of How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying. This tells the story of rising business during the 60's. John Herron stars as a young man, Finch, who was able to rise in the world of business... without trying. It also features Dina Castner who tries to win Finch's heart, Don Manzo as the boss who oversaw Finch succeeding without trying, Kevin James as the book who taught Finch how to succeed without trying, among many others. I was really nervous when filming because I was one of the close-up side cameras and the tripod was being annoying and jumping too much, ruining many shots. But Miranda had four cameras set up to hopefully eliminate that problem. The show was really funny. My favorite scene had to be Coffee Break and my favorite continous joke had to be the Old Ivy Chant, close in second to "I knit too!!". The lighting, set, and props looked amazing. The cast was well prepared and the show looked very professional. Like Chess said in her blog, it was hard not to laugh out loud since we had the camera because the show was so funny!

Filming this show was hard. Due to my busy schedule (alwayslate!), it was my first time seeing the play so it was hard to know who I should follow, who was going to speak next, who was just standing there the entire scene and did not need a closeup, etc. Also, I did not know how Justin or Francesca had their shots set up so I was afraid to get a closeup that would be useless because the other two have better shots than I did. Just to make matters worse (for filming, at least), the stage had two levels and the tripod did not cooperate so whenever I would try to switch between the two levels, the camera jumped way too much, ruining the shot for at least three seconds. However, despite all these difficulties I did enjoy filming it. One of my dream jobs would be to film concerts or shows, but it would be easier if I had a smoother tripod and someone in a control room who sees all four camera and instructs us on which shots would be good for editing. But I think between the four camera, one that had the wide shot of the stage, one medium shot from the back of the audience, and two close up ones, one on each side, Miranda will be able to pull out good shots.

Now, onto the best part of the whole night. Before the show, Dina told us that Pat was going to propose to Miranda. I was so excited for her, and that just made me more nervous during the show because I didn't want to mess it up. So, the show went well, then when it was over, well, here's the video!



At least Miranda's going to have a lot of good footage to remember the night! (I believe at least seven cameras were filming...)

So, the night overall was great. The show was amazing and the ending was spectacular. I wonder what the Fall Production's going to be, and if it's going to top this one...