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Lights! Camera! Action! Control Two and Hope for the Best on the Third

BY BARRY FRIEDMAN

I remember the first time it happened to us. Dan and I were making our second appearance on The Tonight Show and it was a joke that really should have gotten a bigger laugh. It always got a big laugh. "What's going on here?" I wondered. Fortunately, it was a passing thought that didn't stay around to haunt me. After all, I was juggling four torches and I knew there were couch potatoes around the world hoping to see me go up in flames. I wasn't going to let them win.

When I got home and watched the show, I saw why that joke didn't get the big laugh - the camera was pointing one place and the joke was happening in another. We had just experienced our first brush with "imperfect" directing.

When you watch a stage show you do your own directing. You decide where you will focus your attention. How you mix the images and perceive the performance is completely up to you - an ideal way to see a show.

I don't envy the television director. This person's job is to decide where people will focus their attention. How the images are edited is how the viewer will perceive the performance. This is almost inconsequential since a majority of the directing in television is fairly straightforward and obvious. For example, when Tim Allen makes a joke on "Home Improvement," the camera is on him. Then the director cuts to the wife and kids for their laugh or retort - a borderline "no-brainer."

A variety performer who makes a seven-minute guest appearances on a talk show presents a situation to the director that is not so clear-cut. The performer can expect about 15 minutes of rehearsal, even though the schedule may show 45 minutes! Directors see you as a "self-contained variety act." Ideally, they want you to do your spot two times for the camera, then climb back into your box until you're called.

Don't get me wrong, these are not mean people. They have great intentions. They want to make you look good, and they do ask questions that will help them make better edits. They take notes, and they make suggestions based on their experience.

None of this changes the fact that variety acts are designed to be seen on a stage. The biggest favor a director could do for you would be to set up a front shot and then go grab a quick nap! But who wants to ask a highly-paid professional director to ignore you? Not me, and I wouldn't recommend it to you, either!

There are several ways to increase your chances of looking good on camera. Here are four techniques we have used over the years.

Be as specific as possible - don't leave it all up to the director by saying, "Whatever you think would look best." The director will make edits between three or more available cameras. Have a plan that you can share with the director to make the cameras work for you. If you are doing a trick that is impressive because you are standing on one leg and spinning two hoops on the other, make sure the director knows that you want a full shot and not a close-up on your face.

If you have an idea for how a trick or joke might play well to the camera, don't just tell the director how it should be, ask for an opinion instead. Ninety-nine out of a hundred times the director will respond with the answer you wanted to hear. And since the director originated the "idea," he or she is much more likely to actually call the camera shot when the time comes, rather than just scribble a note on your suggestion that gets lost in the shuffle. The point is to make sure you talk about it! Without the discussion, the trick or joke will get whatever angle happens to be active.

Be conscious of which camera is shooting you at all times. Although you don't have ultimate control of how the television audience will see you (or the studio audience, since a majority of them are watching the monitors), you can be an - active partner in the process. On top of each camera in every television studio in the world is a big red light. When the light is on, that is the angle at which the viewer is seeing you. Work with it! This not only helps you know where to look, it gives you something to focus on so that the viewer feels a greater connection to you as a performer. Have you ever seen someone talking to the wrong camera? It's probably the director's fault, but the performer is the one who looks bad. Look for the red light!

If given the choice of being 'right' or being 'kind,' choose 'kind.' Unless you happen to be a famous star, they are doing you a huge favor by putting you on the show. They are providing you with an audience of millions, experience, a paycheck and a valuable piece of videotape. It's impossible to be too friendly or thankful to the staff of a television show. Tomorrow they will be back at work with only memories of you. If those memories are good, your chances of being invited back will be good also.

If you are fortunate enough to find yourself in front of a camera one day, I hope these suggestions are beneficial and will help to make the experience more enjoyable. See you on TV - from a good angle!

Barry Friedman is the taller half of The Raspyni Brothers, a comedy juggling team who have appeared on more than 100 national and local television shows. Along with his partner Dan Holzman, author of "The Juggler's Little Instruction Book, " they can be seen somewhere on the TV dial a few times a month.