Professional in a Pandemic
So, I had had a good tour booked for the month of June and part of July for Summer Reading Programs in libraries across the state as well as a few camps. Some libraries outright canceled, others went to virtual presentations.
I decided to change the original show offered (which featured traditional hand puppets) to one with Czech marionettes for three reasons: 1.) I had built these more recently and had not toured them much. 2.) The puppets are small, so not so good for a large audience, but perfect for a close-up camera view. 3.) This would be a new, interesting project to experiment with.
Although I had previously provided promotional material to the libraries for the original show, I sent new photos and blurbs and the librarians were fine with that. Now, I just had to see how/if I could do this, aiming for a much more professional look and edit than the original quick videos for Youtube.
There was also a major learning curve on how to share the videos with the libraries - who were also learning about all this themselves. I’ll get to that.
PRICING:
So as my clients were adapting to a virtual world, I was glad I had already jumped into learning about recording. But what to charge is a big question now for performers going virtual. I have participated in a few Zoom meetings with puppeteers, had discussions with children’s musicians/storytellers and I am finding that there is a wide range of thought on this. Do we charge the same for a recorded show as for a live show? Some say yes, some no. If not, how much less? Can we sell subscriptions to a few shows? Everyone seems to be making their own decisions and using their own creative approaches.
It seems to me that perhaps we can create a balance, with adequate outreach and promotion, to reach a greater audience - sending our work out to places we may never have imagined traveling to. In other words, to replace the full price live show with a greater quantity of lower price recorded work. This is what we are all figuring out, and this also changes daily as the economy drops to unheard of levels. As artists and educators, we must find a way to keep the arts in the lives of children under any circumstance.
RECORDING THE SHOW:
I set up the stage on the table in my office and recorded in the morning, working around lawnmowers, those dreadful leaf-blowers, and construction that popped up occasionally on the corner - luckily they took lunch breaks.
The stage has a painted canvas proscenium. I removed that and the frame that supports it to avoid shadows and just framed the action with the camera.
PHOTOS:
I did buy a remote control to turn the camera off and on (the Joby Impulse Shutter Remote from Best Buy), but it worked erratically and since I was editing anyway, I just turned the camera on, walked around the table, and started the show.
LIVE STREAMING VS RECORDED PERFORMANCES
This switch would be useful for live streaming, which I did only once, but I much prefer pre-recording performances. Why? Because: 1.) Unless viewers sign up for the event, there is no predicting how many people will watch. 2.) Better control over sound and lighting. 3.) If viewer interaction is expected, I cannot do that while performing solo. 4.) A recording can be edited to remove any glitches 5.) A well edited recording can be used multiple times.
I have done interactive teaching live (Zoom), but prefer offering recorded performances.
So, for one story, I pretty much performed it live, one take - after additional takes to get lighting and camera placement right. There was a simple backdrop change, but I could just leave short pauses in the story before and after and edit that out. The other story had more scenes in it and, via recording, I could approach it in a much more cinematic way using different sets that needed time to set up. Quite a bit can be done editing the original footage in iMovie: varying close-up and full screen views, clipping out unwanted sounds, as well as adding other images, both still shots and video.
In one story, a puppet was looking out a painted window in the backdrop, and I edited in an outdoor scene I had taken in a park to show what she was seeing. I find editing very fun, and keep getting new ideas of elements to include.
ADDING MUSIC
Music is nice for the intro segment, or other segues. HOWEVER, if you plan to post on Youtube, all music must be obtained legally. I used an obscure song from a local band a friend had given me permission to use and Youtube did not accept it. All that happens is that Youtube says this video may not be monetized, which I wasn’t doing anyway. However, after learning that, I changed my music source. I must say I have a big advantage as my husband, Vic Shepherd, is a professional guitarist. I could just call him from the studio, request, for example, a finger pick guitar melody, or an upbeat Django style swing rhythm and he would record it from his phone using the Voice Record app, share it to my email address, and 10 minutes later, I was placing it in iMovie.
ALSO: There is actually a lot of accessible music inside the iMovie app. Also sound effects.
SHARING THE VIDEO
After much trial and error with various libraries (who were using quite the assortment of platforms to share the video with their patrons), I finally decided to go with Vimeo rather than Youtube. I am still learning about this. Vimeo charges an affordable fee, rather than being free like Youtube, but has no advertisements. Vimeo also has robust analytics options included. One thing Vimeo does not allow is time limited sharing. I was being paid by the libraries for access to them to promote the video on a particular date and time, and to keep it available to their patrons for an additional week. I had to trust them to remove the link as contracted. I admit I never checked up on this. The video cannot be shared or downloaded from where it is posted by the library.
I can say I have a LOT to learn about promotion and about understanding analytics!
Of course, this is only one of the many huge differences between live and recorded presentations. Next week, From Live to Virtual: Stage or Classroom vs. Screen
As always, please post questions and comments! We’re all in this together!