FAYETTEVILLE Ark. – The How It Is video series, which started in October 2012, gives University of Arkansas students a fresh look at events on the Fayetteville campus. The series is hosted by senior drama major Michelle Benton. Benton brings her bubbly, humorous and carefree nature to the role of the hyped-up newsreader. Like a cross between Brian Williams and Amy Poehler, Benton works the camera in high-energy bursts that fit the approximately 60-second run-time of the How It Is videos.  

“The How It Is series is an energetic quick glance at what is happening on campus. Adding this to the campus life section of our homepage was strategic in that it gives prospective students a sense of the excitement and energy our current students have for campus activities,” says Chris Nixon, director of the university’s digital design & development. “Internally we hope to attract current students to explore the campus around them in an effort to make strong connections.”

These videos and many others are created by students in UA Productions, a program in the Division of Student Affairs.

“We wanted to produce more videos that spoke directly to the students, and creating a Web series about different events on campus seemed to be something that leant itself to the format very well,” says Scott Flanagin, director of communications for student affairs and adviser to UA Productions.

Lights and Camera

In an empty room in the Arkansas Union, the student team assembles quickly and efficiently, wasting no time setting up their portable green screen, the camera and the lights. Students Nick Kordsmeier, a senior majoring in engineering, and Dan Dyer, a senior majoring in music, have done this multiple times, keeping How It Is chugging along at a semi-weekly basis. And today’s shoot is no different; working efficiently to squeeze in two videos today, both written by Dyer. While waiting for Michelle to arrive, the brain trust behind How It Is, Kordsmeier and Dyer sit down to discuss their thoughts on the series.

“It’s a nice thing to be a part of,” Kordsmeier says. “It’s a good way to get information and events to students who may not know much about what’s happening on campus. And we usually post videos about some of the smaller events that occur.”

Benton arrives proclaiming, “Somebody recognized me yesterday,” and begins to quote Disney cartoons. As they shift focus to the task at hand, Kordsmeier explains that Michelle is “a wild card.” Which seems obvious from watching the How It Is videos, but that’s movie magic right? “No, that’s all her. She brings a solid energy to the shoots and really makes the videos better,” Dyer says.

And that solid energy is important to the filming as they go through multiple takes of the same lines over and over, requiring Benton to keep her enthusiasm up from shot to shot, and there are plenty of them. If you’ve seen a How It Is video you know how Benton seems to jump seamlessly through different emotions, energy, characters, and at times even genders, having to do so multiple times on top of that would drain anyone. Those rapid-fire conversions placed into the script by the students behind the scenes, who take turns scripting and shooting the videos, are no match for Benton who continues to be up even during the down time with no cameras rolling.

There’s a constant casualness to the shoot: sloppy high-fives, pop culture references, Disney songs and quotes, and laughs, lots of laughs.

Action and Acting

In between the two shoots of the day Benton describes what it’s like to be the face of How It Is.

“Yeah, I’ve been recognized a couple times: It’s always as ‘The Jumping Girl’ or ‘The How It Is Person’ even though I say my name twice in every video,” Benton says.

She doesn’t watch her performances, at least not until months later.

“It’s hard for me to watch myself. Because they have so many takes I know exactly what I’m going to say just not what version,” she says. “And when I do watch one — because I do sometimes — I’m just like ‘Michelle, look at you — you’re acting.’ And that’s just weird for me. My roommate’s mother watches them though, so I know people not even on campus — or in school — are watching them.”

The second semester is underway and the UA Productions team is working on new episodes for the campus community. Upcoming episodes include Battle of the Bands and Chancellor’s Ball, for instance, typical of the stories — both the high-points and the pratfalls — of how it is to be a student at the University of Arkansas. While the series will roll on, Benton is graduating in May, and this will be her last semester as the face of How It Is.

“We’ll be looking for another Michelle, which means finding someone who brings their own bundle of personality and sensibility to the series,” Flanagin says. “So we will hold auditions sometime later this semester. Any student who thinks they can be the next How It Is host should email me at sflanagi@uark.edu.”

Check out the behind the scenes video on UA Productions’ YouTube page, youtube.com/theuaproductions.