Throughout this quarter, Flip the Media will be featuring some of the best video projects from the winter Multimedia Storytelling classes.

“Without A Clue” by John Stang and Terry Short

“Without A Clue” is a documentary about Jet City Improv’s production of “Clue” in Seattle. Footage of a live performance is complemented by interviews with the director and actors to show how the cast incorporates suggestions from the audience to spontaneously create the characters and plot for a two-act murder mystery loosely based on the classic board game “Clue.” In the film, the actors reflect on the rewards and challenges of the improvisational process.

We used three Canon Vixia HF S10 high-definition cameras and edited in Final Cut Pro. The audio for the interviews was recorded on a Sony PCM D50 digital recorder. We congratulated ourselves for taking the Sony along as a back-up because the shotgun mic that was our primary device failed after the first interview.

This was a good experience in shooting a live event in a crowded venue while having to be completely unobtrusive to the audience and actors. Since we couldn’t move around in the theater to capture the performance from various vantage points, having three cameras locked down and out of the way gave us a sufficient variety of perspectives.