Part 3 - The Virtual Storyteller - Getting Equipped

Okay! Now you have made some decisions about what you think you might want to do on this virtual performance ride! 

You think you know what you are going to try to produce

You think you know what you want to offer

I use the word "think" because you should not set anything in stone at this moment. 

Stone is bad

Stone breaks

Stone weathers and becomes illegible

Try something more flexible. Flexible is very good at this point.

I went into my first recording sessions on my laptop with gusto. I could do this! I am woman, hear me record!

Failure

Abject Failure

Horrible

Unacceptable

I went to The David and informed him I had failed to do a thing that I was pretty sure I should be able to do.

What was the problem?

Lighting

Video Quality

Background Too Busy

Not focusing well enough on the camera

Content Not Engaging

Structure not tight enough

Not connecting on a personal level

In other words, I did not have a handle on this at all. 

I had to back up and try to acquire a set of skills I had neither wanted nor needed at any other point in my life. Honestly, I didn't even know what those skills were.

I did a few "shots across the bow" stories and uploaded them to youtube just to see if they worked.

Well, this looks...homemade. 

Clearly, I needed to up my game, but how could I do that?

That's when I realized that despite all the time I'd spent in front of the camera producing subpar work those first few weeks, I was only at the tip of a very big, very intimidating iceberg.

I researched video editing

I researched lighting

I reached out to professional lighting designers

I researched video recording speeds

I researched how to deal with echo

I spoke with my friend,  the talented and sexy Simon Brooks who helped me immensely - with recording

My son - Degrees in digital music and 3-D art and animation was a key player in the research!

All of this research resulted in several different outcomes:

1. I went from room to room and space to space in my home and listened for echoes and ambient sound. 

The first best place was in my living room in a corner between the fireplace and a bookshelf that faced the downstairs hall. No wall to bounce the sound back, and lots of ambient light as long as I shot footage during the day at it wasn't raining.

2. I decided to get an external camera. I have an old Iphone and an even older laptop.

Webcams were out...not because I didn't try to source one, but because every single human being on the earth was smarter than I was and bought one the second the pandemic hit. There were none available.

After buying and returning a camcorder, I finally settled on this one.

The Canon Vixia r80

3. I listened to what was coming out of the camera and decided I needed an external mic.

Insignia Universal External Mic

After acquiring my purchases, I discovered I needed a tripod. These were also in short supply, so I bought a selfie stick that doubles as a small tripod and I repurposed - wait for it - my ironing board.

I borrowed a really bright light from my daughter and bought two track lights at Lowes.

My totally professional and not jury-rigged setup looked like this.

I got a horrid glare off of the picture behind me, so I took out the glass. It is a very nice, contained, non-echoey space with a simple background and nothing distracting.

All sorted, right?

No.

Not even close.

I had not yet begun to purchase!

My Macbook Pro, which had been a wonderful word processing machine and portable movie theatre for the last nine years discovered that I suddenly needed it to process video, upload, and download a ton of content, and talk to a video camera.

I can almost hear the thought process.

The Mac - "What the hell is wrong with you? You knew my memory and processing speed when you bought me! At no time in our relationship did I ever give you the idea that I was up to this sort of abuse. You better back up, woman!"

So, I bought a new Mac.

Wait! Wait! Wait!

I am not suggesting you go on a shopping spree! You don't need to do what I did at all!!!!!

1. I am explaining what happened to me.

2. I am explaining why I made the choices I did

3. I am not saying that if you don't drop 4 grand your quest is hopeless or anything of the kind

4. Lots of people are using their Iphones - I just have one that doesn't have a stellar camera

5. Lots of people have great lighting situations already - mine sucked

6. Lots of people have computers that could handle the processes - mine didn't

I am not a technophile, and mostly what I used my laptop for was writing. I have an amazingly huge amount of writing on my laptop and little else.

I was completely unprepared to be a virtual anything.

Now, if you do need some new equipment do not despair.

If you are having a cash crunch, there are tons of sources for cash out there right now for artists who need to upgrade their gear for this new age of virtual work. My buddy, Tim Lowry, (Head to his website and support his brilliant work) just went Mac crazy at his house with a PPP loan. (This program is closed, but keep a lookout for future programs of this kind)  

 The resources are there.

Start searching for artist grants here!

Okay, back to the saga of transforming my reality to a virtual experience.

Now, after purchasing a new Mac, transferring over relevant files, and commencing to store my videos on the drive, I discovered that if you try to put ten one-hour-long videos on a computer that is already storing lots of other things, it gets mad.

(I promise I will do a post about editing software and what little I know about how to work it.)

So, I bought a Seagate External Back-up Drive. I'm currently on my second one.

Then, there was the backdrop saga. (Blog post where I decide to upgrade the feel and look of my videos)

Now, all of this buying and rethinking happened in the first month of the lockdown as I realized I didn't have the capacity to go virtual in any way that looked professional.

The amount of failure that I experienced over the course of this summer was epic. Each and every single fail taught me something valuable that I was able to take into my next attempt. 

As the Mythbusters were always fond of saying - Failure Is Always An Option.

 

So, wherever you are in this process...here is my advice for dealing with the absolutely annoying, frustrating, exciting, draining, nonsense up to and including listening to hours of your own voice and performing for a camera of some kind:

Some New Rules for Old Dogs

1. Be gentle

2. Be patient

3. You can always start over

4. Not everything works

5. Play - Play like there is no tomorrow

6. Victories whether large or small should be celebrated like the world is ending.

7. Breathe

8. Relax

9. Lather, rinse, repeat

Happy Recording -

In the next installment - I will talk about lighting

Part 1: The Virtual Storyteller - The Philosophy of Plenty - Don't Let People Talk You Out Of It!

Part 2: The Virtual Storyteller - You Need A Cunning Plan

Par 3 - The Virtual Storyteller - Getting Equipped

Part 4: Lighting the Virtual Storyteller

Part 5: The Virtual Storyteller - Performing For The Camera

Part 6: The Virtual Storyteller - I'm a Teller Not a Film Editor!

Part 7: The Virtual Storyteller - How Do You Market This???

Part 8: The Virtual Storyteller - The Internet Gods Are Not Always Kind

Part 9: The Virtual Storyteller - We Are An Evolving Business

Gear, Gear, and More Gear - Preparing For Virtual Work In The Fall!

I have been part of touring theatre companies.

Ah yes, I certainly have. 

I spent two summers of high school building, painting, maintaining, and producing props with a cast. I helped construct backdrops and frames.

I was part of erecting those frames, putting up backdrops, and breaking the whole thing down, stowing them, and preparing for the next travel show.

I also did traveling theatre at university.

I even did a couple of shows after graduating. I looked around at the life of being in a small, traveling theatre company and said, "You know, this is not how I want to live my life."

So, I bid adieu to that part of my life and moved on to other things.

Storytelling is light on the gear.

I don't have puppets, a set, props, or costumes.

I don't have backdrops or lights, or anything like that to cart from place to place.

In fact, I have my mat - which is made from recycled coca-cola bottles that I bought in Australia, and my sound system when needed.

That was in the before time.

I have been performing in a little nook in my living room. It took me months to figure out how to light it so I didn't have crazy shadows and I could be seen.

That required lighting that I did not have.

Ultimately, I figured it out.

The David was polite enough about the situation as the summer went on, and then he started making these comments.

TD: "Have you considered a backdrop?

Me: "No."

TD: "You should think about it."

A few weeks later.

TD: "Have you looked at backdrops?"

Me: "No."

TD: I thought you would have looked at some backdrops."

A few days later

TD: "Backdrops?"

Me: Oh, yeah. I'm going to order some."

Every single day after that.

TD: "Backdrops?"

Me: "I'm doing it!"

It took me a lot of searching to find backdrops I liked. I finally settled on these two from an outfit called GladsBuy.

Bookcase from GladsBuy

Brick Wall from GladsBuy

These are not virtual backgrounds, they are actual backdrops made from vinyl. They have grommets in the top of them to hang on a frame. I've used them on a couple of occasions already, and they look great.

After buying these things, I related the whole annoying process to my daughter. She sat down, pulled out a pen, and designed a backdrop for me that incorporated the themes of my business.

I ordered that one from BackdropSource.

without lighting

with bright lighting

Then, a friend of mine who was watching all of this play out online, called me and offered to make me a custom backdrop. I said yes. So, I went from having no backdrops to having three and one on the way in a matter of days.

Well, if you have a backdrop, you have to have something on which to hang it.

Luckily, I know all about backdrops.

So, more gear.

I headed to efavormart, and ordered a frame for my new backdrops.

I put it together a couple of days ago.

It is lightweight, designed to be put together and taken apart. It takes less than five minutes to put it up or stow it. It comes in its own little pouch and fits in a closet. What more could I ask for?

Oh, I know what I could ask for.

I have to figure out how to light this new situation without huge shadows on the canvas.

Sigh.

Well, it isn't like I'm going anywhere...

Happy discovering!