Aiming to capture the eternal flame, General Tso and his gang of cronies attack the Kung-Fu masters. Despite this onslaught of evil, the Kung-Fu masters manage to defeat the General's gang and retain the flame, ensuring peace in the kingdom of Dukata.
The story, of course, is fiction-award-winning fiction, that is. The "Kung-Fu Theater" piece first aired Oct. 23 on Cable 13, serving as an extended introduction to the station's "Duke Sports Inferno" program. And late last month, DSI's production group was notified that the piece won a bronze Telly Award, which honors excellence in non-network films, commercials and video productions.
Telly Award entrants are not pitted against each other; rather, they are judged against a general standard of excellence. Out of this year's near-10,000 entries, the top 14 to 18 percent were selected as "finalists" and received a bronze Telly, the competition's second highest honor.
Award winning producers are both professionals and amateurs, and they receive recognition, a plaque and the option to purchase a commemorative statue. Two years ago, the former Cable 13 show "Ivy Towers" also received a Telly Award.
Trinity junior Ben Tishler, one of DSI's producers, stressed that students' positive response to the show-particularly to its kung-fu piece-has been the most gratifying. "The experience is the most important thing," he said.
Tischler spent about three weeks writing the "Kung-Fu Theater" piece. "I definitely kind of had an epiphany one day in the gardens," he said, adding that the piece's production ran throughout October. "A moment of zen you could say."
To prepare for the complicated technical aspects of the shoot, the production crew, including its four producers-Tishler, Trinity junior Brett Goldberg, and Trinity seniors Jonathan Segal and Kenan Holley-watched numerous kung-fu films.
The entire 10-minute piece is a send-up of classic kung fu movies that takes place in the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. "It's kind of been us heroicizing ourselves," Tishler said.
Segal-DSI's technical producer-said each scene was filmed from at least two different angles, yielding about 45 minutes of film. The film was edited, and a musical score was added.
The four producers were the guiding forces behind the piece, but they credit others with contributed to its production.
Trinity senior Aaron Lazar composed most of the piece's sound, including both its soundtracks and sound effects. Martial arts expert and Trinity sophomore John Kim also worked with the piece: It was his job to make the kung-fu fighting look as realistic as possible. "It looks almost as though we know what we're doing" Goldberg said.
Both Goldberg and Tishler stressed that the production of "Kung-Fu Theater" and DSI is a group effort.
"We couldn't do it without everybody," Goldberg said. "You just gain so much from learning from other people," Tishler added.
Although DSI's primary goal is to cover Duke sports, Goldberg said the program also aims to entertain its audience.
"We have always made it a priority to make the show entertaining, and thus, we include a lot of entertaining, comedy-oriented pieces," he said.
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