Come From Away at Wright Patterson AFB

This is a short theater performance video we filmed for the USO and No Guarantees in August 2024: the cast of Come From Away performing for service members at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. I was director of photography and producer, and the film runs a little under three minutes.

The Job

The USO brings theater to people in uniform who rarely get to see it, and for this stop it brought Come From Away to Wright Patterson. We went out to film it. It was three days on the road for one day of filming, plus a day of editing.

The Shoot

We covered two things at once, the performance and the audience, and the film cuts back and forth between them. For me the story was as much about the people in the seats as the show, because these are people who almost never get to see live theater.

I shot on a Panasonic EVA1 with a Canon 24‑105 zoom, plus a Canon R5. That zoom let me go from a wide of the stage to a face in the seats from the same spot without a lens change, which matters when you only get one performance.

Filming Your Event

When I film for an organization like the USO, I want the people they serve on screen as much as the stage. If you’re bringing a show, a talk or a performance to an audience, I’ll plan coverage for both sides of the room. There’s more on how I run event video in Boston and my work as a Boston camera operator and DP.

Watch & Links

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