Zenith
The Zenith project allows for students to explore their creativity to complete a passion project that revolves around their elective. The word Zenith itself means “the time at which something is most powerful or successful”, which describes our goal to go out of our comfort zone to try something new.
I have a strong love for theatre and acting, so I knew I wanted to have an element of acting involved in my final product. I know that in my future, I want to work within the entertainment industry in some way, which is why I initially joined Freestyle to get experience working in film. However, my love for entertainment first started with musical theater, so I knew that I wanted to honor that in some way.
I was inspired to make a documentary about Upstage Theater’s production of Little Shop of Horrors, directed by my friend Josh. We teamed up to document the process of bringing a show to life, and all the little elements that come together to create a show. This was certainly a risk for us, as Josh and I were both incredibly busy with our other projects and activities, and our schedule would have to revolve around the ever-changing rehearsal schedule. While we also wanted to include footage from tech and the actual shows, the show would be the week after Zenith presentations, so it was a bit disappointing to to turn in a video without the footage of the end product.
Josh and I decided to split up the project so that we both did the planning and pre-production process together, I filmed the rehearsals, we worked on the interviews together, and Josh did the editing. This was certainly a challenge as I wasn’t too confident filming on my own when the lighting constantly changed as we were filming outside during the evening, and Josh was busy directing. It was also a risk since we had so much on our plate, and our schedule also depended on the cast and crew, so there was always a risk of schedules changing to where Josh and I would have to make up a new plan on the spot. However, we were able to keep each other accountable by having regular check-ins and discussions with each other about the plan for the day and our individual responsibilities.
The entire process went fairly smoothly, as we incorporated what we learned in film regarding the pre-production, production, and post-production process. Josh and I planned out our filming days and what we wanted to film, wrote down interview questions, and made time to do re-shoots.
While we were nervous about finishing on time, and are disappointed that we were unable to present footage of tech week, backstage, cue-to-cue, and performances, Josh and I are proud of the documentary we made. It is incredibly heartwarming to see all of the hard work we put into this production of Little Shop of Horrors, and to have something that we can watch in the future that honors my last show in high school.
The Process
