CCC Backstage Is My Life

Ok, so you never really expect that when you start work on a production that it’s going to be so…well…big…and time consuming…and basically run your life. Yep! That’s what good filmmaking is all about. It wasn’t very hard to get excited for our documentary, “CCC Backstage”, seeing as how I was already involved in it, building sets and stuff. What Matt, Matt, Kimi and I tried to do was give a glimpse into the world of theatre buff’s like ourselves and show that there is more behind the curtain.

            Pre-production didn’t have a lot of involvement. By the time we decided to do the project, the set was already half built, the actors were into their rehearsal schedule by at least a month and the ball was rolling. We planned for as much as we could, but with a production trying to scan something as big as this, there was really no chance we would get it perfect.

            For about a month before opening night for Caucasian Chalk Circle, Kimi or I were backstage filming as much footage of playmaking action as we could. It wasn’t difficult to get in the way, that’s for sure. We filmed everything from the scene shop, the prep of the stage and the actors during many of their rehearsal times. All interviews were done either on the fly before Dress Rehearsal night or were conducted after strike. Audio was an initial concern because all we had was in the in-camera audio, but amazingly it turned out decent, not the best but decent.

            Editing took about a total of a week, to log all the clips took forever and forever. When all the footage was captured the real fun began. I started editing the piece into segments; intro, pre-play, dress rehearsal, and strike. Once each segment was tweaked it was easy to put them all together. 

            “CCC Backstage” has not been the greatest piece I have edited but it was fun to produce and work on with my fellow film-students. I would say that the greatest thing I learned from it was how much preparation and time really goes into the back-stage workings of a production, and I hope that that message is conveyed through the documentary.