Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
PRISCILLA: Hey guys, it's me, Priscilla.
And I'm sitting here with Ricky behind the scenes at The
Electric Company.
RICKY: We're here with one of the directors of The Electric
Company, Ryan McFaul.
RYAN MCFAUL: Hello.
RICKY: So what exactly does a director do?
RYAN MCFAUL: You help figure out how to portray the scenes,
where you want to put the camera, what are the locations
going to be.
You're really though the person who takes the idea and
the script and brings it to life.
PRISCILLA: So do you write the story?
RYAN MCFAUL: No, I don't write the stories.
But I do work with the writers and together we flesh the
stories out and sharpen the vision for what the show is
going to be.
Let's do that one more time.
Don't do-- when you spin out of it at the end, don't give
it that little flourish.
Just quickly spin back toward them.
RICKY: Do you also work with the choreographers when we do
music videos for the show?
RYAN MCFAUL: Absolutely.
I work with the choreographer to figure out kind of the idea
behind the song.
And usually I'll have a general plan for how we're
going to shoot it and what kind of movement we want to
see in the song.
And then the choreographer actually puts in the specific
steps and comes up with all the actual dance moves.
RICKY: So Ryan, how do you plan out what shots are going
to be in a day or what the scene is going to look like?
RYAN MCFAUL: Well, of course it starts with the script.
I spend some time by myself a couple weeks before we shoot.
I read it and I just think about what I want to see.
I start drawing pictures in, usually on the other side.
So these are my not so great little story boards.
That's how it begins.
And then I turn it into shot lists--
just describes what the camera angles are.
What I also do is these overhead staging plots.
You see all these little bird's eye view of our scenes.
These little symbols right here are actors.
M is for Manny.
There's PJ, and then all these triangles
show the camera positions.
RICKY: So those pictures that you draw a couple weeks before
we shoot, those are called story boards.
And then these are called staging plots.
RYAN MCFAUL: Exactly.
RICKY: What was your favorite episode of The Electric
Company to direct?
rYAN MCFAUL: I have so many favorites.
But one my recent favorites was the wicked itch.
That one was especially fun for me because it really took
me back to what I did when I was a kid.
You guys were on these rocks, and you're with a video
camera, and you're shooting this ridiculous science
fiction movie that's like a Godzilla movie.
That was exactly the kind of stuff I did my friends
when I was a kid.
And it was a blast.
PRISCILLA: What is one advice that you can give out there to
those kids out there who want to direct in the future?
What can you give them to help them out?
RYAN MCFAUL: I would say, just do your own thing.
Keep doing-- keep making stuff.
Keep doing your own work.
And don't ever stop doing it.
And that goes for everything beyond--
anything that you want to do.
Just find out what you love doing and keep doing.
PRISCILLA: That's great.
Well, we had a blast talking with you.
And I'm sure they had a blast.
But we to run.
RYAN MCFAUL: Thank you.
RICKY: Thanks guys, so much.
We're here Ryan McFaul, one of the directors of The Electric
Company, and it's been great hanging out with you.
PRISCILLA: I'm Priscilla.
RICKY: I'm Ricky.
PRISCILLA: Later guys.
RYAN MCFAUL: I'm Ryan.
PRISCILLA: Oh, that's right.
Bye, guys.
It.