‘That’s Emma!’ gets movie treatment

2018 WHS grad Marcus Bennett uses video skills to highlight drama department

By Doug Flanagan
January 6, 2022 10:47 am
Latest News, News, Schools, Washougal

Washougal High school senior Marcus Bennett controls a soundboard during a rehearsal for the school's production of "Annie Get Your Gun" in 2018. (Post-Record file photo)

For the past seven years, Marcus Bennett has diligently worked to develop his skills as a video producer and editor, sound engineer, and camera operator. But earlier this year, he took advantage of an opportunity to use all of his talents at once to create something entirely new, both for him and the Washougal High School drama department.

Bennett recorded the department’s spring 2021 production of “That’s Emma!” and edited the footage into a movie, which debuted on YouTube on Saturday, Dec. 4.

“When I watched it for the last time before uploading it, I was like, ‘You know, I didn’t actually do too bad with this,'” said Bennett, a 2018 Washougal High graduate and the Washougal School District’s auditorium rental supervisor. “It was a great feeling to see that (viewer) number rise during the first couple of minutes when it went live. Everybody seemed to enjoy watching it, which was really cool and helped me feel better about how it turned out. This has been a long time coming — a lot of people have been waiting months for this. To actually have it done feels pretty good. I’m pretty proud of it.”

“I was very (pleased). It was really nice,” Washougal High drama teacher Kelly Gregersen added. “Having seen a lot of my productions that a parent had taken a video of, you could kind of see the kids on stage and kind of hear them, but it in no way shape or form captured what being at the show was like. So to see Marcus’ (production), where you really have a good idea of what the show was (about), was just wonderful. I had not seen any of the footage until he premiered it, so to sit and watch the show again was just so delightful.”

Gregersen originally approached Bennett about the possibility of filming “That’s Emma!” to livestream at a later date for the people who couldn’t attend in person due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Bennett took that idea “and expanded greatly on it,” according to Gregersen.

“He had the idea that, since he was working for a production company that had multiple cameras, we could (use them to) get a couple of different angles and give it a nicer look,” Gregersen said. “Then, rather than having just a couple of camera changes, he just took it and ran with it. He did just a fantastic job of (creating) a very professional looking, multi-camera setup. And he had all of the sound go into an editing bay, so all of the actors’ microphones fed in, so it had a really nice sound to it.”

Bennett, who hasn’t received any formal video, audio or editing training, said that his biggest challenge was his “lack of experience.”

“When I first shot it, I didn’t know as much as I do now,” he said. “A lot of this has been self-taught, so (my work on ‘That’s Emma!’) was mostly a learning experience, really. The amount of stuff that I know now is unbelievable compared to what I knew when I first shot it. There’s a lot of things I would do differently now if I had the chance to shoot again. It would go a lot quicker if I were to do this project again just because I know so much more now.”

Bennett wasn’t sure at first what kind of look and feel that he wanted his production to impart on the viewing audience, but eventually found inspiration by watching some of his favorite television shows and movies.

“The idea kind of became that I wanted it to be a full production — I didn’t want to miss anything – but keep engagement high, keep viewers watching,” he said. “A wide shot of the stage is not going to be visually interesting. I started looking at how other shows are produced, what shots were picked and how they could be used to tell the story, how they go through camera angles and the different times they picked those angles. I tried to use that as inspiration to to make this look and feel a little more like a television show since that was how it was intended to be presented to the audience.”

‘He’s so talented and so good at what he does’

Bennett can’t recall all of the details about how he first became interested in sound and video production, but he’s pretty sure it happened when he was in the eighth grade.

“I don’t remember what it is that I went to watch. It might have been a concert at the high school,” he said. “The soundboard happened to be down on a table in the audience for this particular show. I walked past it and said, ‘Hey, that looks cool. I want to learn that.’ A few weeks later I ended up getting in touch with Gordon Washburn, who started teaching me sound.”

As a freshman, Bennett approached Gregersen about the possibility of running sound for the school’s theater productions, a role that he maintains to this day.

“He wanted to learn sound and how to work the technology,” Gregersen said. “His parents have been just fantastic supporters of my program, and they’ve been bringing their kids to shows for many years. By the time he got to high school he had already seen the plays for years, so I think it was an easy step to go from that to wanting to be a part of them by running the sound. He never had any interest in being on stage, but he loves the technology and running that part of it. By the time he graduated, I think he was more knowledgeable about our soundboard than I was.”

Bennett took advantage of every opportunity he could find at the school to improve his skills, running sound for the school’s music and athletic departments in addition to his duties with the drama department.

Then he started to find opportunities outside of school. In March 2020, he started working as a video editor and broadcast technology crew member for his church, Gateway Community Church, to produce livestreams and videos.

Currently he works for Vancouver-based Versa Productions as a production assistant.

“I really like creating something that others can enjoy, and that became very evident when I first produced a live concert for the school,” he said. We had some grandparents who lived in Japan and had never been able to see their grandchild play. To provide something they were able to view, that was really cool. Same with the church — some people aren’t able to make it to the services each week or want to stay home because of COVID. Or the show, not everybody was able to make it because they couldn’t make it that weekend or we had limited seating – (I can give) them access to that in a way they can all enjoy. And I can get feedback from the community, which helps me continue building what I can do.”

Bennett has a “dry sense of humor” and an insatiable work ethic that “puts mine to shame,” according to Gregersen.

“He’s put the work in,” Gregersen said. “He really is interested in getting better. He’ll read the industry pieces. He’ll give himself tasks to do to improve. That’s going to be a huge part of it.

He’s got a very good ear for sound, and that’s one of those things that I don’t think you learn so much as you just have. He can really mix sound incredibly well. I’ve worked with a lot of people running sound over the years, and he’s really one of the best that I’ve worked with.

Bennett isn’t quite sure what specific role he wants to pursue in the future, but knows that he has already put himself into a position to pick one of several career options thanks to his already-lengthy resume.

“I definitely enjoy doing this and am always looking for opportunities to do it more,” he said. “I’m still trying to figure out that ‘dream position’ at the end. It changes over time as I learn new things and have new experiences working with people. I really want to start doing more live production work. I think it would be really great to do live sports and concerts and things like that and be able to record some things beforehand that I can use as elements in those live productions. I like doing the editing for sure, and I can do a lot of cool things, especially now. But putting a full two-hour show together was a lot of work.”

His former teacher and current colleague, however, has absolutely no doubt that Bennett is going to succeed no matter where he goes or what he does.

“I really see him working with things along those lines professionally,’ Gregersen said.

“He’s so talented and so good at what he does. I think he is going to go on to have a really nice career in whatever area of production he lands on. He’s got so many skills that I really hope can translate into an incredibly successful career.”

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