#11- YouTube Documentary
Through my research of musical theater/theater I found some interviews and on location scenes in a documentary style on YouTube. The YouTube channel is the "American Theatre Wing" and it features over a thousand videos that share stories of American's theatre culture and the advances it has made.
There is a playlist featured on the YouTube channel that has 9 videos of extended interviews with individuals within the theatre industry. Here are two examples of the interviews:
In this interview they are asking Thelma Pollard, who is a makeup designer, questions about her job in theatre. The introduction features her name, job and when the interview took place. She answered questions on her upbringing of her career and what she has to do as a makeup designer. The interview takes place in her place of work such as a closet full of makeup materials. There is also two cameras in use and cuts between the two angles during her sentences, creating more perspective for the audience. In the interview the first shot is a mid-shot when her off center and the second shot is a high angled, hand-held, close-up of her face. The both create different meaning, the clos-up helps the audience really focus on what she is saying.
In this interview they are asking Hilary Bettis, who is a playwright, questions about her job in theatre. The introduction features her name, job, when the interview took place, and location of part of her interview. She answered questions about the process of developing a play and her journey of becoming a playwright and telling stories. The beginning of her interview takes place in Arizona outside of theatre she is working at. The background furthers the point that she is in Arizona with color and the cacti. It is a mid-shot, with no angle changes, and she is sat in the center of the frame. There is a shallow focus making her the only in focused thing in the shot. In the second part of the interview she is inside of a theater in Missouri. Where the audience can infer he play will take place. She is off center and the lighting is dark. This sets the mood which a theatre feels like for the audience. In this part of the interview there are two camera angles. The first is a long-shot and the second is a close-up. Like the interview with Thelma Pollard the shots cut back and forth and the close-up angle makes the audience focus more on the interviewee.
The last three episodes are extended interviews. The first one was with Kenny Leon, a director, and his advice he would give due to his experience and his journey of working on the revival of a "Lesser God" on Broadway in 2018. The second was with Joan Lader, a vocal coach, and her experience in her job working with performers. The last was with Patrick Bevilacqua, a wardrobe supervisor, and the exploration of his experience working on the wardrobe of plays such as My Fair Lady and others. The top episode is around an hour long and it is a live presentation of the play "Thoughts of a Colored Man." The rest of the episodes explains how theatre survived through the epidemic. This includes audio immersive plays and plays conducted in the video game "The Sims 4."
The American Theatre Wing is a good example to look at when I start filming and editing my documentary. I definitely will gather inspiration of the interviews for my interviews I will conduct. I will also plan to include on location scenes such as filming in the theatre at University of Tampa when Elliana has a show next semester.
In my next blog post I will discuss the research of another documentary, which is Miss Americana. This documentary is in the same realm of musical performance, however, an artist not a theatre performer.
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