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Writing The Closing Number–Backstage at the Tonys

Tommy Kail and I, in the basement of the Beacon Theater, writing Neil Patrick Harris’ closing number recapping the 2011 Tony Awards. We totally feel like we’re on the West Wing for real. At some point, Nikki James stops by, fresh from her amazing win for The Book Of Mormon. NPH is awesome. Enjoy!

In this Flash tutorial I show you how to make it look like your text is being written out using keyframes and a few other techniques.

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48 Responses to Writing The Closing Number–Backstage at the Tonys

  1. coolness06 says:

    Neil Patrick Harris and Lin Manuel Miranda in the same video. I can’t even deal

  2. weemizzi says:

    sutton foster winning in the background :D

  3. blueparrotgirl says:

    Oh. My. God. Neil Patrick Harris and Lin Manuel Miranda are two of my favorite people!!!!!!

  4. nelstein76 says:

    This seriously has everything I love in one place… In the Heights, West Wing references, and NPH. It’s perfection.

  5. DatKidNamedEthan1 says:

    i was wonde3ring why his rap was so good… its cuz u wrote it…!

  6. bga600 says:

    I totally was just watching this video thinking “of course Lin was the one that wrote Neil’s closing rap.”

  7. booksandbroadway says:

    This video has so much beauty in it.

  8. Kousch says:

    how the hell could he memorize all this stuff in this short time?!?
    CAUSE HE’S AAAAAWSOOOOME!!!

  9. moopoint21 says:

    my favorite part was nikki james singing along to andrew rannells on the tv

  10. ProblemStick says:

    i fucking love neil patrick harris.

  11. europrdel says:

    ok that’s awesome..Neil’s really great guy..and his rap?..LEGENDARY! love this ;)

  12. GYOChardonWest says:

    Seriously how many times can I watch this?

  13. topazcullen109 says:

    Lol I totally love u guys u r amazing and my hero!!

  14. melbrooks says:

    Amazing as always!!! WOW!!! U r broadway’s rapper! I normally hate rap, but u r the only exception!! In the Heights rocked my world! Thanx Mr. Miranda!!

  15. usnavi says:

    @YoYoYo826 Ha! Your description of Lyman fits Tommy even better :)

  16. YoYoYo826 says:

    the amount of love i have for this video. between Lin, Neil, Tommy, and the WW references, i might just die. and sorry, Tommy, but your Toby! Josh wasn’t a writer, he was just the cute one that had meetings with a lot of people.

    LOVE this video!

  17. JamieAndSassenach says:

    wow, i kinda thought all winners were known beforehand (by the producers and neil and so on), and the song was rehearsed!
    very well done, you two! (and neil, of course! i suppose, he had a teleprompter?)

  18. ng183lovee says:

    OMG I LOVE LIN AND NPH SO MUCH

  19. punky0urself says:

    So he actually learned that by heart at the end of the show?! This fast?!? oO

  20. avigale23 says:

    That is amazing Lin!! Thanks for making this video =)

  21. dqDST1913 says:

    Love the BTS….loving the rap goes without saying.

    I just need to know whose idea it was for NPH to do the “Sexual Chocolate” mic drop….

  22. elliottobsessed says:

    OMG! While NPH was rapping, I told my husband, “That sounds like Lin!” I love being right!!!

  23. paulybism says:

    Did he write in the Sutton part before she actually won? 4:29 Hahahahhahah

  24. lauriroset says:

    Brilliant, extraordinary work from you guys writing that closing number on Tonys (which I just watched last nite- thank god for DVRs!)

    Just found this via a tweet from @ActuallyNPH

  25. ojarespectaculeronTd says:

    haha I told my mom as I was watching the rap on the Tonys “Man, Lin Manuel Miranda is probably getting a kick out of this!” who knew you helped write it?

  26. KickAssCommand says:

    can you tell me how to doo this with a background?

  27. KickAssCommand says:

    Please give me the link to download adobe flash for windows!! Pleas be quick :P

  28. mimsip says:

    This video was so helpful! thank you :D

  29. raenbowbi says:

    Thank you!

  30. obsidialord says:

    7 ppl say goodbye

  31. wyra2008 says:

    Thanks for that!

  32. minipugzz says:

    i clicked this because it said ho in the video thumbnail

  33. Rayzsion says:

    Awesome, thanks for the tutorials dude!

  34. quackndaddy says:

    Your studio and You Tube Video’s are the best. Thank you for helping me get an A in my flash class. YA ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  35. welhim16 says:

    what software is that?

  36. Tropiduridae says:

    What if we have a tablet and are inputting the text by hand? Is there an easier way?

  37. diniari939 says:

    thank you so much

  38. DLLAMAS77 says:

    @talaleshki wich is why this is a tutorial

  39. nandro83 says:

    I figured it out, alankarmisra, is right, masks is a better way to go. The use of the eraser-tool makes the flash weight alot more, I did the same thing with mask and instead of 890 kb I got 65kb witch is alot more apreciated when actually using on a webpage.

  40. nandro83 says:

    Very informative and easy to follow, for that I thank you. But the swf file wighs 800kb when I did this on a plain simple colour, no images involved, why is this?

  41. oventoster09 says:

    need istaller ?? just Copy/Paste lick below and then erase the space between the (A and the dot) …..!!

    adf .ly/2GKUx

  42. alankarmisra says:

    @LilredheadComics Neat video – although I wouldn’t encourage the use of frame rates to write faster or slower! It’s probably a better idea to stick to the frame rate of the target medium and adjust the frames instead. Quick question though – wouldn’t the use of masks be a better idea generally speaking? Personally I think so but I haven’t really worked with a lot of write-on text animations so wondering what your opinion is.

  43. kriswing says:

    Thanks a lot man. It was really helpful =)

  44. TheMrScribbler says:

    is it just me or does he sound like mark zuckerberg?

  45. MegaProman1 says:

    you rock thanks btw here is a joke
    go to ( 3:17 ) xD

  46. davis2110 says:

    i was about to over comlicate this with maskes and stuff lol when you said just break apart and erase one question though did you have your frame rate at 50 just for example or was there another reason to have it higher than 30

  47. swordfish1683 says:

    wow.. brilliant brilliant brilliant. this is really helpful. thank you very much for sharing this. 

  48. stuwhit08 says:

    thanks man, thats really cool!

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