Live audiences are amazing!
Live audiences help you sculpt new material and keep old material fresh.
Live audiences give you energy and keep you going when the story is getting hard to tell.
Without an audience I am a hot mess...
I'm sure I can fix it in post!
No. No, I can't.
(I won't talk about editing until next week.)
When I first began this journey of recording myself, I had a number of pretty horrendous pieces, but they have all been recorded over because of storage needs in the early months.
So, all of the cringey things you are about to see are recent. That's right, no matter how long I do this, cringey is the name of the game.
So, let's get into this business of performing for a camera.
Live audiences can be tricky if you pull an odd one, but at least you can try to play them as you perform.
Virtual audiences are difficult because you aren't getting cumulative reactions or any reactions at all despite the fact there could be several hundred people watching you.
Then, there is the truly difficult audience...the imaginary one.
Every single time you sit down in front of a camera to record, you are performing for an imaginary audience.
You have zero idea how many of them there will be or what they will want or whether or not they will look at you or just put you on mute and laugh.
You don't know how old they'll be, how enthusiastic or annoyed, or anything.
You can't pinpoint that moment when the story drags just a touch and you need to get the audience back involved. You can't do anything that will help them re-engage if their attention wanders.
Not to mention all the time you spend doing crap like this.
Yes, I know, I'm making it look and sound so glamorous!
There are a number of challenges to overcome when there is no audience to address. Here are some that have come up from time to time.
1. I look unfocused even though I'm not
2. Losing track of what I'm saying because I am actually unfocused
3. Nobody is participating with me in a participatory story
4. I have no idea if I've landed a funny line in a funny way
5. I don't know if I've impacted an audience because I have no way to gauge how my ending landed.
6. I worry that people aren't going to like it.
7. I see all the things I think of as flaws and I am certain the audience will as well
8. I want it to be perfect. It's recorded, so it should be perfect!
9 - 100. I only see the flaws
Doubtless, there are other concerns but these are the ones I wrestled with as I worked my way through this process.
After a while, I started looking at my imaginary audience differently.
Rearranging my thinking about who was watching me and why helped me find my groove in the pre-recorded game.
First of all, one of the things I harp on all of the time is crafting. Crafting your material helps you figure out not only who a story suits but how you want the material to land.
So, I fell back on all of the foundational work of the storyteller. I know who the story is meant for, so I conjure up my perfect audience.
I imagine that they gasp at the right moments, participate with gusto, laugh at the things I think are funny, and have stunned or shocked moments when I choose.
I imagine my perfect audience full of perfect story listeners, and then I tell to them. I can see them sitting there.
As I tell, I conjure up actual faces from audiences in the past. I conjure up parents, teachers, kids, grandparents, adults of all kinds, teenagers, and that baby giraffe who came over to the fence in the Africa exhibit at the Brookfield Zoo and watched me tell Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People's Ears.
They are arrayed in front of me as I give them an encore private performance.
This has proved to be a very useful strategy for me.
I pause at places an audience has made me pause. I've connected with a face in the "dark" that I recall from some show who knows how many years ago. I go through the participation practice as if everyone out there is doing it with me. I don't rush it or anything.
I go full tilt performance as if I am dealing with five hundred people instead of a camera.
Here I am apologizing to my imaginary audience because I didn't realize they were looking at me.
This new way of performing has made for a more enjoyable recording experience, and the stories are flowing better.
I've also changed my attitude about my potential imaginary audience.
1. They are watching because they want to. They came to find me particularly.
2. They came with a desire to watch me tell stories. They are not captive, they are willing
3. They are looking forward to whatever I am about to do
4. They are going to gasp, and play, and do all of the things they want to do. They can also participate at the top of their lungs.
5. This imaginary audience is the perfect audience, and they deserve the best I have. So, I'm going to look them straight in the eye and rev it up!
6. Just like the kids who tell me they watch one of my youtube videos multiple times a day, someone is going to watch one of these videos and fall in love with storytelling!
7. Someone is going to watch these videos and exclaim, "I didn't even know this was a job! I want to learn more!"
8. People who could never hope to see me in person can watch me tell at festivals and events no matter where they are!
9. People who've lost track of me can find my work!
10. In fact, this imaginary audience that my pre-recorded work has reached goes deeper and farther than my live work ever could!
Bring on the imaginary audience!
Bring on the next generation of storytellers who are encountering us through a medium they understand!
Bring on the tellers who have always wanted to find a place in our storytelling world but who have not found an audience yet.
Let me end with a few tips and tools.
1. - I know it is counterintuitive and weird and you don't want to do it, but stare at the camera. Stare at it as you tell or it will look like you are not looking at anyone. We've all been on enough Zoom meetings to know what it looks like when someone is talking and not looking at the camera.
2. Don't make lots of quick or jerky movements. You'll blur the image
3. Be aware of ambient sounds. Your neighbor running the mower might not be all that loud to you, but it is going to star in your video
4. Check and make sure there are no electronic noises like buzzing or mechanical like a loudly ticking clock that you can hear while you are recording.
5. Make sure you are telling something that you have some idea how an audience receives when you first start. This will help you get used to thinking about your telling rhythms.
6. Share the video with someone else before you post it. It is good to get another set of eyes on it.
Okay, Good Luck, and next week I will talk about video editing.
What? You can't wait? I know, right?
Happy Telling!
Part 4: Lighting the Virtual Storyteller
Part 5 : The virtual Storyteller - Performing For The Camera
great article
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Great advice and tips. Thanks! And? - I love your blooper vids so much more fun to watch than *my* oops collection.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your videos and advice. Thanks for sharing!
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