Stage Directing vs. Screen Directing

Last week, Westminster College put on "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and I was honored to be the Student Director as well as the Stage Manager for this show. It was an unbelievable amount of work to take on both jobs, but very well worth it! The show was a complete success! As a broadcast major and theatre minor I often find myself comparing the two fields because of their similarities.

With stage directing you are responsible not only for making sure the actual performance runs smoothly but also for all the rehearsals. You are responsible for creating the composition of the actors, making sure the energy levels are appropriate, making sure the actors know all their lines, as well as the overall shape and design of the show. In other words, the success of the show depends a lot on you. While I was only the student director I did have a lot of responsibilities, but I was fortunate to have an amazing mentor in my director, Eileen Hendrickson. It is because of her guidance that I've seriously considered directing as a possible future career.

Directing for a television show may seem entirely different than stage directing, but there are similarities. In a TV show, a director is also responsible for the way a show turns out. You need to be able to communicate well with all the other people you are working with in order to have a successful show. I've only directed once, but I really enjoyed it. There's always pressure, but it's pressure that I thrive on. You are responsible for making sure all the graphics get put up in time, telling the cameras which shots to get and when, and telling the tapes when to run. So in the same sense the success of the show depends on you and your calls.

This year I've come to realize I really enjoy being in charge of things. I don't think I'm as focused on being in front of the camera as I was a year ago. I could picture myself working behind the scenes as well. I live for pressure and deadlines and I think being a director provides some of that pressure.

I'm still not entirely sure what I want to do after graduation, but no one says you have to pick just one thing. All I have to do is get my resume out there and see what comes my way.

Finding stories...

As a reporter in a very small town I often find it difficult to find stories to report. Our news program, The County Line, is weekly which makes it hard to do spot news. I like doing features, but even that seems like a daunting task in such a small town. Either people never respond to your emails or phone calls or they just don't want to be on camera. Sometimes they've already been interviewed for another story and don't want to help out again.

Another problem is that I'm a full-time student on top of it all. My schedule is super busy so finding the time to go shoot is hard. In addition to finding the time to shoot, I think the title of "Student Journalist" gives people the impression that we're not serious. We've talked in class about different ways to combat that stereotype such as saying we are a legitimate news/radio station. But for some people that still isn't enough. "Student Journalist" implies we're just some college kids playing reporter. How do we convey that this is what we want to do with our lives and we need practice? The only way to get practice and gain experience is by doing. It's vicious never ending circle that I hope one day comes to an end.

It's all about who you know...

Up until last week, I always thought people said that just to feel important about the "famous" people they knew. But I've come to realize...that's really the best way to find a job especially coming right out of college.

Last friday, I was working at the info desk and a man stopped by to talk to me in passing (like most people do.) He asked my year and major so I told him. Then he asked what kind of things I've done, I told him. Then he asked me if I wanted to go to New York. I said, "YES!" He then tells me that he lives in New York, knows the producer for Katie Couric's CBS Evening News, AND he lives next door to Stephen Colbert! He hands me his card and says, "Send me an email with your resume and I'll see what I can do for you." I asked him how he knew about Westminster and he told me he graduated from here and he is now a trustee at the college!

I tweaked my resume and sent it off to him on Wednesday. All I can do now is wait and see if anything comes out of it. So it really is all about who you know. So really with 2 degrees of separation...I know Stephen Colbert!

Real World Experience??

So I was an anchor for this weeks edition of The County Line with my good friend, Chris Norris. I was really excited about this week because I love working with Chris; we get along well and work well together. Those good feelings didn't last long. We got to the pre-show meeting and were going over the rundown. We only have two play back machines, but we wanted to run a VO and a VO-SOT back to back. Needless to say this required precision on everyone's part to work well and look good. During the run-through we didn't run the tapes all the way through for that particular transition, we just went through the script. So, when it came time to go live Chris and I were confused and the packages didn't go well and we looked like idiots. During our post production meeting Chris and I, along with a couple others, were called out in the middle of the meeting for being responsible for the failure of this transition. Initially, I was shocked and a little appalled! That's rude to call somebody out in the middle of a meeting, especially for something that wasn't entirely their fault. If you have a problem with them pull them aside and talk to them privately.

But the more I think about the situation the more I realize this was a valuable learning experience. I'm sure things like this happen in a real newsroom all the time. I need to learn to take responsibility for my mistakes and be willing to admit when I've done wrong. While there may have been other ways of handling the situation I think it happened this way for a reason and I'm a little wiser for it.

Expanding my Media Literacy

One class I'm taking this semester is called Mass Communications and the purpose of this class is to help us understand and expand our media literacy. To help us begin this journey our professor brought in an episode from an 80's show called Max Headroom.

The concept of the show is kind of cheesy and the actual production is totally bad 80's, but the underlying message still rings true today. The episode we watched was called "War." In this episode there are two TV stations fighting for the top ratings during the all important "Sweeps Week." One station is a network station while the other (I'm assuming) is the equivalent to a locally owned station. The network was using a dog show for their lead while the local station was using war stories; clearly the local station was winning the ratings war but this was only because they were in league with the "bad guys" who started the war.

While this may not sound like it would relate to our world today, what I took out of it was this: don't worry about the ratings. Worry about telling both sides of the story and getting to the truth. Even if it means you suffer a bit in the ratings.

Getting Back Into the Groove

Classes started back up this week and there is one class in particular that really made me think. In Capstone we began discussing how our projects were coming along and what everyone was planning on doing after graduation in May. It's scary to think that in about 4 months I will be starting a new chapter in my life...all on my own. My dad told me before I came back to school that it was about time to start thinking about what I want to do and where I'm going to do it. I really don't know what I'm going to do; I like making documentary-type videos and my project is focusing on that. I'll be creating a video essay for the New Wilmington Chamber of Commerce to use on their website. With that in mind I was talking with a fellow classmate and he said he knew someone that was doing the exact thing in Cleveland. So I have another contact (or will soon) and maybe that will give me some sort of direction in my life. We'll see I guess.

In capstone we also talked about what reality show we would audition for if we could apply for any. I think I would probably audition for The Amazing Race; I would love to be given the opportunity to travel all over the world...and of course the chance at a million dollars. That would definitely help with student loans. Maybe that's what I'll do after graduation. Hey, it happened to Amber Brkich!

Alumni Advice

"Beginnings are usually scary and endings are usually sad, but it's the middle that counts. You have to remember this when you find yourself at the beginning."
~Sandra Bullock, Hope Floats

For Capstone this week I had to give a presentation on a Westminster alum who is in the same field I would like to one day be a part of. I had a hard time trying to figure out who to contact because I'm still unsure what exactly it is I want to be when I graduate. I've come to realize that editing and shooting are my true passions and being on air is just a perk. With that figured out, I
talked to some of my professors about who I should contact and Mark Finklepearl was brought up. He is the VP of Productions and head of the East Coast division of Beyond Productions. This is an Australian based company in charge of producing shows for the Discovery family of networks, but most notably "Mythbusters" on the Discovery Channel. He seemed like the perfect person to contact! I love what the Discovery Channel and it's other affiliates offer and the work they do.

To make a long story short I got in contact with him and he was an awesome resource! He has done so much in his career and was able to give me some really good advice. He made me feel better about what the future might hold for me. The most important advice he gave me was this: "Don't be precious." He said I have to be willing to work on all sorts of projects and not just the high end ones; he's worked on some high end stuff and he's worked on some crap. But he learned a lot from the crap. He also said to freelance in the beginning; it's the best way to work yourself into as many different networks of people as possible; and that's what will keep you employed.