High school theatre performances are important events—both for participating students and for the entire school community. Students in the cast and crew spend months preparing, producing, and performing a play. Many diverse jobs must be done: choosing a play; casting; staging; developing characters; designing sets, lighting, and costumes; organizing and advertising the event; and presenting the performance. Documenting what goes on behind-the-scenes--a video documentary about the production process--can complement the performance of the play. A theatre class with access to a video camera, or any other film or video editing equipment, has the tools to make a documentary about one of their class performances.

A student-made video documentary of a high school theatre production can be a valuable learning opportunity--both for the videographers in developing the documentary and the cast and crew of the play by providing an ongoing source of reflection and evaluation. Once the objectives for the project have been identified, the scope of the video project can be determined in light of time, personnel, technological, and financial resources. Then the video project can be designed to include a variety of learning experiences: 

• Students investigate the history of documentary film and video. 
• Engage students in a discussion of how the roles and tasks involved in making the video documentary are similar or dissimilar to those of the theatre production the video group is documenting. 
• Explore the impact of film, video, and television technologies on theatrical production .
• Consider contemporary actors and directors who alternate between screen and stage, the difference in public opinion between video and stage performances, and reasons for discrepancies and stereotypes.
• Speak with students about issues that might arise during the project, including lines between truth and fiction and between public and private in documentary film and video making.
• Invite a videographer to speak with students about the technical side of video production.
• Explore with students the differences between various cameras and videotape. 
• Visit a public access television station, a private station, or a college/university willing to show your class the basics of shooting and editing videos.

Having clear goals and objectives, a reasonable timeline, and an honest assessment of necessary resources will help ensure student success and provide a valuable technological dimension to your next production.