Berkeley Rep Blog
Category archive: Our shows
Six degrees of me and Spike Lee
posted by Pauline Luppert on Mon, Oct 27, 2008
in Our shows
So, in my last job I produced a few short, casual interviews like this... just me, a camera and the person who would be interviewed. (Mostly I produced short video segments with indie fashion designers in NYC for a webTV show called threadheads).
When I produce an interview with a single camera -- and don't have a host-type person there to ask the questions -- there are a few directions I typically give the subject whom is about to be interviewed. First, I want them to be relaxed, so I chit-chat while I'm setting up the camera. I ask nice innocuous questions so that the subject gets used to the camera and warms up before I get to the juicy part of the interview. Second, I ask them to try and include my questions in their answers, like if I ask, "What's your name?" I want them to answer, "My name is Jane Smith," rather than just saying, "Jane Smith." This makes it a hundred times easier for me to edit my own voice out of the footage. If I'm interviewing someone who hasn't been on camera much before, I typically have to remind her or him throughout the interview, "Could you say that again, but this time include my question at the top?" Finally, I usually assure subjects that, if they don't like the way they answered the question, they can just start over. No pressure. That is what I do when I interview people who aren't used to being interviewed...
That is not what I did when I interviewed Delroy Lindo. He's clearly been interviewed and filmed in general many, many, many more times than I have interviewed. He didn't need to warm up for the camera. I'm sure it was obvious that I was a hundred times more nervous than he was. He naturally included my questions in his answers; he didn't need to be directed to do so. Seriously, I'm glad I didn't embarass myself trying to give him direction. I mean, come on, this man has been directed by John Woo, George C. Wolfe (my old boss; hollah!), and Spike Lee -- to name a few.
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Tony previews the 08/09 Season (and I learn where the stop button is)
posted by Pauline Luppert on Fri, Oct 10, 2008
in Our shows
My very first video assignment at Berkeley Rep was to record Artistic Director Tony Taccone and Associate Artistic Director Les Waters describing the season to Berkeley Rep board members and donors in a beautiful private garden.
Getting to know a new camera can be a bit bumpy. Every camera has different settings, and different buttons in different places, etc. Berkeley Rep's camera is a Canon XH A1, which is a truly sweet piece of equipment. However, I hadn't really gotten to know it yet... It has a "stand-by" button RIGHT next to the zoom. So, right in the beginning of Les Waters' description of In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), I was adjusting my frame, and managed to bump the stand-by button. Recording suddenly stopped and I was baffled. I thought I'd run out of tape, or that my battery was faulty. Unfortunately, while fumbling around, I missed the meat of Les's description. He talked about how the play is surprisingly sweet and delicate, and still very funny and very bold -- with its giant old fashioned vibrators...
You'll have to take my word for it that it was really great.