To help high school students know more about Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, we decided to produce campus news clip. The top priority of news is of course, the contents. After brainstorming, we wanted to share our experience at Cloud Gate Theater and bring everyone into the world of Cloud Gate to appreciate the power and beauty of their dance. This would be followed by a list of awards received by Cloud Gate and their most recent work in collaboration with TAO Dance Theater. Finally, as the Cloud Gate founder Mr. Lin Hwai-min is retiring, we are looking forward to his successor Mr. Cheng Tsung-lung. We hope that he can thrive and guide Cloud Gate Dance Theatre to an even greater future. We wish the introduction in our video can help everyone know Cloud Gate Dance Theater better.

After arriving at the Digital Center, the first thing was to get familiar with the equipments. We had to practice a lot of stuff beforehand so that the recording process could go smoothly and help each other as well. In order to pre-process any unexpected issues, we needed to foresee what disruptions or surprises there could be, in order to pre-process the issues. The classmates at the backstage toiled away just to present the best pictures in front. Finally, the classmates responsible for editing did a brilliant job and completed the production process. The news clip will be played in the campus and online for sharing.

Tasks for the recording process

Tasks
Production		Script writing: determining the contents Subtitle production: deciding on the headlines Background materials sourcing: looking for pictures and videos to go with the headlines
During production		Background Power Point: video playing and scene changing Subtitle Power Point: change of headlines Anchors: reporting the news Director: switching the scenes Teleprompter: showing the scripts Voice control: controlling the volume of the anchors and footage Photo-taking: recording the classmates at work
Post-production		Editing: making the images flow better

We did all the preparation throughout the process. Everybody wanted to do their part well and did not want to disrupt the workflows due to any mistake. We were all nervous and worried that one mistake would require us to start over again, so we helped each other. When we visited different classes to promote our work, we felt very proud as a team. We also realized the recording and production of a video clip takes a lot of manpower and time. As the saying goes, "One minute on the stage, ten years of practice off the stage." Our team spirits were at work during this learning process. We were really a good team!

Many preparations were required before going into the studio. We had to discuss what to cover, what news about Cloud Gate Dance Theatre to go through, tallied the number of selected news articles and assigned tasks. Some members were responsible for the Power Point slides, others writing the scripts, and producing subtitles. We all had to complete our tasks, familiarize with the whole procedures, checked the accuracy of subtitles and background Power Point slides. The voice controllers and the director needed to be clear about when to switch between the teleprompter to Power Point slides. We cooperated with each other to finish the recording.

We decided to work on one news piece about the campus, one on Taiwan and one overseas. We wanted to produce video clips about these three news articles and our visit to Cloud Gate Theater. After we decided what to cover, the anchors had to write the scripts as their first step. The anchors should be clear about what he/she was going to broadcast about and interpret the news in his/her own way. This was the first time we wrote a complete transcript in English. It was then followed with numerous practices. There were a lot of difficult terminologies related to Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. It was demanding for us to read the scripts out loud and smoothly.

The classmates responsible for the subtitles and backgrounds scoured through many pictures and images in order to identify the suitable materials of contents for the anchors. This will help the audience understand our broadcast. We also produced Power Point slides for the project. Whilst we were no stranger to the studio environment anymore, it was still a new challenge for us to do a themed report on news. We had a great sense of achievement after the completion of preparations.

 

Recording the report of a piece of news is not as easy as expected. We divided the team into roles of the anchors, the director, the teleprompter controller, and voice volume plus image controller. We experienced many problems in the pre-recording process. At first, the anchors' mic had troubles picking up sounds. It was important to make sure that the team member responsible for the teleprompter works well with the anchors, so that they can keep up. The team members at the backstage should adjust the voice volume and change slides at appropriate times, to present the best pictures to the audience. Both the anchors at the frontline or the staffs at the backstage should think clearly and solve the problems, in order to ensure the completion of the recording.

Image Source: Masters' Gathering

We were all focused on our jobs during the formal recording. The anchors and the director performed perfectly. The two anchors were articulate, and the teleprompter timed flawlessly. The director made sure the process ran smoothly, from the news backgrounds, subtitles and voice volume control. Although we encountered a lot of problems in the beginning, we were very pleased with the results. This experience taught us the importance of teamwork. Only by working together can we achieve success.

 

After days of hard work, we promoted our recording to different classes at school. We really appreciated the cooperation from all the teachers and students who watched our video and listened to us introduce Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. They also gave us great feedback on our comments and provided us suggestions for improvement. We were pleased to have the opportunity to share with the people whom were not familiar with Cloud Gate Dance Theatre to get to know this outstanding group from Taiwan.

We received a lot of encouragement from classmates, who wished us all the best in the competition. Some provided us with suggestions to the news video such as slowing down when presenting and the smoother flows of the images. The best thing is for all of us to witness how Cloud Gate Dance Theatre advocates the culture of Taiwan and brings the beauty of Taiwan to the world in new perspectives. We feel proud of it and deeply moved as the messengers.

Image Source: Masters' Gathering