INGENIUM PRODUCTIONS  |  AT A GLANCE

Since the world we live in focuses mainly on video and media, there is very little opportunity for live performances. Also, add to that the fact that one of Ingenium Productions' co-founders is aging at an accelerated pace, it becomes increasingly difficult to write a skit that can incorporate a geriatric character.

Never-the-less, below are listed those live productions that we have completed in the past.

"THE KIDDIE SKITTY SQUAD" [Sutherland, 2003]

The Bus Stop - July 20, 2003 (wmv|6.6MB)

The Big Bad Box of Temptation - August 17, 2003 (wmv|7.4MB)

The Diary - September 7, 2003 (wmv|7.5MB)

The Nerd - October 5, 2003 (wmv|11.3MB)

Made up of various individuals from Sutherland's AO youth group, as well as from the College and Career's gang, K.S.S. presents monthly short dramas throughout the Sunday School year at Sutherland Church.

The skits themselves are very basic in nature, designed to get a single, simple message across to the kids. Being a part of these little dramas helps the kids connect because we are all part of the same church body. Also, it's a lot of fun pulling them together as a group.

PROJECT: N [ Camp 5, 2001 ]

                        http://www.ingeniumproductions.com/projectn

Our objective is to make this the biggest thing Camp 5 entertainment has ever seen - which, for all intensive purposes, isn't all that big, but we're hoping this will steal the show.

Project: N, is a quasi-satirical look into the band N*Sync.

"This is going to raise the bar."

                    -D. Boyle

When I was originally asked to come up with an N*Sync lip sync, I immediately (as always) thought how I could incorporate video or other styles of media into such a production.

Initially, it was my intent to combine a lip sync with some sort of skit. From the start I wanted to use 'Bye Bye Bye' as the song of choice, just because it has so much punch, is well known, and has the most possibilities. With this song, I originally thought I could incorporate the band members singing this song to some of the camp staff members in the audience. Then, mid-way through the song, they would chase us out of the chapel and then would start the 'live video feed' of them chasing us.

I scrapped that idea because it had been done before and I wanted this to be something entirely different.

My next idea was to have a news cast of the events leading up to our performance, as well as a 'behind-the-music' style documentary of the band themselves. Although that's ultimately what we ended up with, it was a slight deviation (and smaller scale) than what I had originally planned. Still, it worked out well and everyone enjoyed it.

NOTE: In case some legal representative of the record label or even N*Sync should stumble across this we would like to make known the fact that although this does, at times, poke fun at the band, it was also created with a bit of respect. I cannot speak on behalf of the rest of the team, but I feel that N*Sync has, in light of the whole 'boy-band' hoopla, kept quite strong in maintaining some integrity. It's not often that a band whose fame explodes as quickly as pop bands' do nowadays, that a band will ensure the same quality of music without the need for 'selling out'. Maybe, deep down in our subconscious, we spent a lot of time on this because in one form or another we just wanted, for the smallest amount of time, feel as if we five guys were, in fact, a truly popular boy band...

...or maybe we just wanted to blow the socks off of Camp 5.

9.06.01: It's been many weeks since the show. Things went exceptionally well (save for what seemed like a 'harsh long time' waiting for the music to start during our live performance. Granted, it added to the suspense, but it's just that darn waiting part). As for the final production - it's complete. The official viewing will be held on 09.08.01 (just 2 days away). All web-related material are up and ready to go. As always, many thanks to all those people who made this possible. Without you, it wouldn't have been much.

7.20.01: More non-video preparation will be made this evening. Design ideas seem to be going well.

7.17.01: It's all done and ready to go. Certain non-video aspects still need to be completed, however.

6.28.01: Final draft has been completed. I'm going to keep it on the shelf for a week or two and see if anything needs to be added. I'm quite pleased with it's progress.

CONtinental CRUISES [Camp 5, 1999]

The third and final MC skit that Ingenium Productions put on for Camp 5. The story of a travel agency owner who gets mistaken for a criminal. The position of salesman is placed in the not-so-capable hands of Dan the caretaker.

After the previous two years of using Chuck and Dan, we decided to take a different approach and make an attempt at using different characters. However, in order for these character changes to fit well into the plot, we had to make some major adjustments to the story to accommodate our plans - and those changes were Dan.  Looking back, I'm impressed at how we were able to create entertaining stories throughout those 3 years. And to top it off, the use of Dan and Chuck allowed us to carry over and make references to previous years. If the skits themselves missed the mark, then the broader scope of it all hasn't.

THE CHUCK McGRAW SHOW: CHRISTMAS TELETHON [Camp 5, 1998]

Chuck McGraw hosts a Christmas Telethon and is soon joined (for a final time?) by caretaker Dan.

If you're going to host a talent show in the evening, the best method is to have skits in between each performance (in our opinion, at least); and that's why we did it again, this time making sure our portion was significantly shorter. In addition, we tried using other media as well. This included the videos: 'Christmas Revelation' and 'In Search of Chuck' as well as the closing slideshow, creatively named 'Christmas Telethon Closing'.

DATING TIPS: 201 [Fall, 1997]

A tailored version of a Rowan Atkinson routine.

Much like 'The Two Kings', we took a wonderfully written (not to mention: funny) skit by Rowan Atkinson and reworked it slightly for our audience. Initially, we presented this skit up at Anvil on a fall retreat and were asked to do it again for an Anvil information meeting the next month (hence the '201'). In our second show we tried to add some elements that would make the viewing for those that saw it the first time, still funny. Could it have been better? Of course. Looking back, I wish that I could re-do it. However, I keep reminding myself that this was years ago, and if anything, I should take away with me some constructive criticism to help me next time.

THE CHUCK MCGRAW SHOW: SPECIAL EDITION [Camp 5, 1997]

Chuck McGraw returns again the same year as his debut in his 'Special Edition: Anvil Island', this time hosting a talent show. Things go well until, once again, Chuck is forced to accommodate his long time "buddy": Dan.

For the camp's Thursday night talent show we thought it would be fun to have a progress series of skits that were all tied into the same storyline, shown between each performance. When it was all done, we realized that even though it went well, it just made the evening incredibly long.

LIPSYNC CHAMPIONSHIP [Camp 5, 1996]

A challenge between two contestants for the title of Lipsync champion.

After our success with 'The Two Kings' the year before, we thought it was time to try our hand at another lipsync. We had actually performed 'Tell me a Story' (an old 40s song) a number of years before at a youth group event, but this one was different from the usual 1 song performances. We combined various songs of different genres to create a fast-moving 6 minute skit.

The lasso segment didn't particularly go all that well, seeing as it wrapped around Mike's neck instead of around his torso. We made up for it, though with the disco-ball scene, which ended up being a harder hit than originally planned.

THE TWO KINGS [Camp 5, 1995]

A slight remake of Rowan Atkinson's "Pink Tights and Plenty of Props", changed to not only better suite a younger, Christian-camp audience, but also to accommodate the fact that we couldn't really remember how the story went. The version we came up with worked wonders and everyone really enjoyed it.

After presenting this skit and receiving great "reviews", Ingenium Productions finally shed it's shy skin and began to branch out, no longer afraid of making fools of themselves. It was really after this skit that things began to take form.

Most of what happened on stage was improv. We went over the script between us, making sure we knew what the key points were. Not even our narrator really knew what was going on - we just asked her to read last minute.

ARCH THE ANGEL [Christmas, 1990]

A musical production performed by the Sunday School class of Sutherland Church (which was, at the time Sutherland Bible Chapel). It is a story of an angel (Arch) who struggles with the Christmas story. We haven't actually sat through and watched this in quite sometime, so the plotline is probably wrong.

Granted. This isn't really an 'Ingenium production', but since the founders of it are but wee lads in it, we felt it was as good a place as any to start our career. Watch it and I'm sure you'll find yourself saying 'Oh my word. That can't be....'. If you've never seen it and I should get married, come to the wedding - I'm sure it'll surface there.