My kids’ school rocks. Last Friday they surprised the kids with a flash mob / dance party during morning assembly. How many schools do this? The best part…its a PUBLIC school in a CITY! Seattle has one of the highest ratios of kids that go to private schools – theres a lot of tech money here and to be honest, the public schools in the city aren’t all that great. Not shocking considering they are cut to the bone with funding, teachers’s pay hasn’t increased in years (and it was low enough to begin with people), and furlough days are thrown in for good measure. Green Lake is a hidden gem - teachers that work as a team, super small class sizes, and a rocks star PTA that raises enough money every year to pay for specialized support staff, swimming programs, and subsidized after school activities. It’s not a flashy school, but it feels like home.
So…tech stuff. I was asked to shoot the flash mob – rigs are essential here, white balance beforehand, get crowd shots and reaction shots from kids before the flash mob begins so you can cut them in later, and keep it wide angle for the most part. I also incorporated a few other parents’ video footage – which worked great for this purpose. If this was a professional shoot I would have had 2 other DSLR’s on hand – one up front, one staying wide, and one getting close-ups of teachers and kids. I also synched up the LMFAO song at the end with the same song playing during the dance party to create a fun little sequence. They actually played TWO songs that the entire school danced through, but very few people would sit through 10 minutes of dancing. It’s better to condense it into a fun montage.
Watch the video at : https://vimeo.com/36806783
