For the past four or five recitals, I have worked as a Camera Operator to produce footage of the hundreds of students who play throughout recital day. Working the camera may not look hard, but it is. It is important to know what angle to keep the camera at when videotaping the stage, the piano, drums, and various other instruments. Coordinating with our switcher (Jiya G.) at the switcher table helps keep the shot close to perfection and keep the extraordinary quality you see on the live stream.

Sometimes, the camera might turn off abruptly of the color filters might go out of what it is supposed to be, and it is our job to fix that and the switcher’s job to take that Camera off of the live stream and switch to another Camera. My job is fairly easy, the switcher’s job is commendable because it takes a lot of coordinating and the switcher needs to know how to work most, if not all, the equipment at the table. I foresee myself continuing to work as Senior Camera Operator for recitals, and I really enjoy doing it.

Rahul Ranjith Kumar, Senior Camera Operator