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The WWP event "Performing Arts" descriptive essay ...
Pat Swovelin 2009-Aug-23 01:03:00
The theme "Performing Arts" includes the traditional music, drama and
dance that we think of as the performing arts (Wikipedia article
http://tinyurl.com/mvc5h) but it also includes many other things.
It's the girl strutting her stuff on the beach, the traffic cop in the
middle of the intersection wearing white gloves directing traffic with a
flourish or the guy at work telling yet another fishing story ("I swear
it was THIS big!") by the water cooler. Kids showing off for their
friends on the playground, the guy hawking products on a street corner,
the salesman at a used car lot, trial attorneys (although you'd never
get to shoot in a court room). An athlete celebrating a score during a
game, the muscle-bound guy working out to impress the ladies, models on
the runway at a fashion show.
It's the actors waiting in the wings, ready to go on. It's the sushi
chef with his flashing knives. It's the High School marching band or
the ballet dancers endlessly practicing so no one makes a mistake when
everyone is watching. It's the garage band playing at a
local/county/state fair or an ethnic dance troupe performing in the
street in their colorful costumes. It's a command performance for the
Queen. It's the school play.
A politician giving a speech trying to drum up votes or the docent
explaining something in a museum. It's the Professor that all of the
students want to take a class with because he's so animated when he
teaches. It's the actor rehearsing his lines in front of the bathroom
mirror (to be "bathroom ready" when he shows up onset/onstage the next
day). It's gymnasts practicing their routine so they can "Wow!" the
judges in the next competition.
People are always performing for other people either consciously or
unconsciously, so the possibilities are endless. With this event we'll
get a real sampling of what people are like all over the planet, ranging
from a performance at the White House to the man on the street tipping
his hat to the ladies he passes.
But for those of you that don't have access to or are reluctant to shoot
people performing, Performing Arts is more than just that. A *lot*
more. It's all of the things "behind the curtain" that we don't see
that make the performance possible. It's the theatre itself. It's the
props. It's the wardrobe. It's the stage crew. It's the writer
slaving away at a keyboard pounding out The Next Big Play (who is he
kidding?).
It's the cameras and all of the lighting and grip equipment. It's the
people working the sound and light boards during the performance. It's
the ticket-taker in the ticket booth and the ushers waiting in the lobby
for the doors to open and the people cleaning up after the show. It's
the billboard hawking the current show or The Next Big Play (maybe this
*is* The One). It's the venue where the performance happens. The
roadies setting up or taking down the stage as they travel from city to
city touring with the band are also a part of the Performing Arts. It's
the diesel truck caravan that moves everything from city to city. It's
the band's tour bus. It's all of the people shooting a movie on the
next street.
For venues think your city park, a small town theatre or big stuff like
The Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a TV or radio studio, concert
halls. Sports fields like baseball stadiums, football (round and
not-so-round) stadiums, tennis courts, golf courses, gymnasiums, ice
skating rinks. How about ancient sites like Stonehenge, the temples on
top of Mayan pyramids, the Coliseum in Rome, the Hellenic theatre at
Epidaurus, Tiananmen Square, the town square in an old European city
(OK, they're not ancient just old).
Keep in mind what the Bard of Avon said:
"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts."
The event dates are:
Shooting period: September 17-22 (the Equinox occurs on September 22
at 21:18 UTC)
Editing period: September 17-30
Event goes live: October 2nd
This will be the first WWP event where the focus is on people instead of
places or things.
Go for it!
Pat Swovelin
World Wide Panorama Event Coordinator
Get out there an shoot some panoramas!