Helping Hands

Almost three weeks after flames engulfed a local theater, help has finally come.

I wrote in an earlier blog about the Maplewood Barn Theatre in Columbia going up in flames. That was my first reporting shift: talking about the theater board members plans for the future. Now, my third reporting shift touched upon those plans in action.

The City of Columbia cleaned up the fire debris and laid down hay around the burned area. It also re-seeded that section of land. It also agreed to pay for a new stage. Eckhoff Construction built Maplewood's outdoor stage only three weeks before the fire. With the City's insurance cutting the costs, Eckhoff agreed to re-build the stage.

More than just one company and the city are helping. Little Dixie Construction has dropped off one trailer for the theater company to use. Another one is on the way. Maplewood will store props, tools and supplies in one trailer. The other will serve as dressing rooms, complete with air conditioning. Little Dixie offered up these trailers for no charge.

Columbia Parks and Recreation is also working with Columbia Water and Light to install a temporary power source on site. The theater would need some kind of system to operate its lighting and sound board. Those city officials are hammering out the details on where to put that power source.

If the theater does have all its essentials to put on its first summer performance on May 14th, Ice Chalet Antique Mall has opened its doors for Maplewood to use. Ice Chalet is located off Grindstone Avenue. It's also the future home of Galatic Fun Zone.

With all these different businesses helping out Maplewood, I knew I'd have plenty of people to talk to. The web story was filled with lots of quotes, facts and additional information that wasn't involved in my broadcast version. I was so happy telling Jen Reeves that my web story would be very detailed. She was just as enthused.

I'm really glad I was able to set-up my interviews at the site of the fire. It provided me with compelling camera interviews. However, a glitch: some shaky video was involved. I probably should've relied on my tripod more so. Nevertheless, for doing two off the shoulder interviews and a wireless microphone, I did okay. I didn't realize how much that wireless mic didn't pick up at times. Scott Schaefer, our videographer, told me about this issue after I was done shooting. I learned my lesson: it's convenient but maybe not completely reliable. I was frustrated while editing sometimes. Luckily, A2 picked up sound perfectly well when I needed to use it.

My writing has really improved. I felt very confident walking up to the Tiger Chair, knowing I had a few lines that made my piece ring. After all that reading this semester, I'm really catching onto what makes a good story. You can't be obvious when writing your track most of the times. Descriptions are far better than pure, plain and bland statements. Nevertheless, those quick facts plain and simple are necessary some of the time.

I swear it seemed like I had experienced an earthquake after reviewing some of my b-roll. First off, I almost never have issues running out of video. This was the first time I struggled. I had too many wide shots. I thought I tried to get creative, but instead I was overwhelmed and tired, perhaps. Next time, I'm taking a moment to think and shoot and record for at least 12-15 seconds per shot. That was irritating, but again, lesson learned.

I'm asking better questions as I've progressed this semester. I'm figuring out which ones are necessary for facts and which ones are good for sound bites. The more I've planned, the better I've been. Leaving some room for silence has helped, too. Sometimes asking a non-question works. All those lectures and readings really are paying off! I'm so glad Greeley is such a wonderful professor.

I look forward to seeing what this theater will do in the future to rebuild its historical site. It's really a shame the barn burnt down, but as Lee Willkins, a board member said, "It's a phoenix rising from the ashes." That's their theme this year. Catchy! I love it.