Last month, led by VidOner Fred Harshbarger as producer, director, and editor, the Video One Productions team completed a 28:29-minute video (below) of The Woods Combo, a popular Laguna Woods Village Jazz group. The video was the result of shoots held during several summer performances at Clubhouse One and is available on YouTube.
Fred is shown above at the October 5 Video One meeting discussing drone-shot footage of himself. Fred’s drone recently met an untimely end.
The Woods Combo is made up of Mark Hochberg, keyboard; Dutch Fisser, bass; Bill Hemberger (a Video One Productions member), drums; and Moqui Lund, vocals. Mark, Dutch, and Bill are Village residents.
“Welcome to My Home”
Shooting continues on a new half-hour TV-show concept for Village Television, produced by VidOner Suzanne Savlov. “The idea is visiting Village residents who came here from another country and talking about their experiences when they were young, their culture, and their traditions,” explains Suzanne. “We’re interested in their impressions of the United States. We visit their homes – and we end each show sharing some of their traditional food.”
Trained in hospital dietetics, Suzanne produced a public access television show called “Health Talk” for about four years when she lived in Washington State. She edits many Video One Productions videos, using Final Cut Pro. Suzanne and her husband, Steven, a clinical psychologist, moved to Village about eight years ago from Arizona.
The first “Welcome to My Home” segment was shot September 21, featuring Australian-born resident John Kelly, also a Video One member and the Video Club’s External Video Coordinator. John was interviewed by resident Tracey Stewart, and treated Tracey to an elegant high tea. Upcoming shoots this month are planned for November 1 with Susmita Muherjee from India and November 13 with a resident from Sweden. On December 18, the crew will visit the home of Video Club member Barbel Dagostino from Germany. Tracey will conduct the two November interviews; resident John Kelsall will interview Barbel in December.
“Write It Down”
As part of a new class in “Producing Dramatic Video” taught by Dr. Tom Nash, Video One Productions members are currently working on the pre-production phase of “Write It Down,” a comedy by resident scriptwriter Gila Zalon. The script, about a senior couple with memory issues, was chosen by class members at their first meeting on September 14 from eight resident script submissions.
This will be the Video Club’s first dramatic video production. Shooting is scheduled for late November. It is anticipated that the finished video will premiere at a Video Club Open House on January 17, 2019, celebrating the club’s 30th anniversary, with further showings on Village Television and elsewhere.
Phil Doran is serving as the producer with Dr. Jeanne Mayer as the director. Phil and Jeanne have held two casting calls so far with some 12 resident actors trying out for roles. Other production jobs filled so far include Lucy Parker as director of photography and Starkey in charge of sound recording. Paul Kachaturian will be a camera operator. Suzanne Savlov will edit the video and will also serve as script clerk. Andre Torng will do still photography. Lucy will handle credits and titles with Jeanne doing makeup.
On October 27, Phil led a group of “Write It Down” crew members (left) through an unusual writing exercise. The experience was new to most of them (including the play’s author, Gila, who attended) – but totally familiar to Phil, a retired Hollywood comedy writer, who worked on such shows as “Sanford & Son” and “All in the Family.” To add more laughs to the script, Phil set up a “writers’ room” in the patio between the Video Studio and Lab, where team members analyzed each scene and suggested humorous touches that might be added.
Other VidOne Activities
Phil Doran and Dr. Jeanne Mayer (right) recently recorded male and female voice-overs for “Trash Talk,” an animated video being created by VidOne member Connie Shaw for Village Management Services, Inc. to inform residents about trash procedures. Phil and Jeanne portrayed talking trash bins.
Video One Productions is also working on 30-second public service announcements (PSAs) which can be run in unsold time-slots over many Village TV channels, such as Fox News or NBC. Topics include club promotion, scam warnings, and “Thriving in the Village.” VidOner Jim Rohrs has produced a PSA inviting residents to join the co-ed Softball Club. VidOner Bill Hemberger has produced a PSA with Village actors David Dearing as a scammer trying to get Carol Glenn to send funds to get “her grandson” out of jail. Watch for ’em!
Get Involved
Video One Productions is open to all residents interested in learning team-based video production techniques. As Dr. Tom Nash stated in his “Producing Dramatic Video” class description: “We invite writers, actors, camera operators, sound recordists, video editors, costume and makeup people, and graphic artists to join this effort.” Video One members must belong to the Video Club. For information, contact Co-Facilitators Phil Doran, pdoran707@yahoo.com, 949-421-9788, or Jeanne Mayer, jeanne@drjeannemayer.com, 949-587-9661.
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