Kickin’ Butt and Takin’ Photos!
with Bridget Baker

Wait, you may be thinking. I thought this was a readySC employee spotlight. Bridget works in Communications.

True. But Bridget’s origin story begins with readySC, and much of her work today still benefits the division. Over the years, she has developed training content, managed special projects and taught Train the Trainer classes. She shoots orientation, training and promotional videos for local, national and international companies. She creates readySC’s premier publication, EDGE magazine. And let’s not forget her brief stint as an Area Director in the early 2000s.

As she celebrates her 29th work anniversary this month and looks towards retirement, it seems fitting to recognize her contributions to readySC over the past three decades. So about that origin story…

Origin Story

The X-Men had genetic anomalies. Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider. Captain America was transformed from a polio victim into a super-soldier. Wonder Woman left her all-female paradise to enter Man’s World.

Bridget Baker’s origin story may not be as fantastic or scientifically strange as these superheroes’, but her past experiences still have great bearing on her work today. When she joined readySC in 1993 as an electronic field production specialist, she created videos and developed photographs for training manuals. And, oh! how technology has changed since those early years.

Unlike Wonder Woman’s lasso or Hawkeye’s arrows, Bridget lugged around a professional-grade television production camera. And a cart with a heavy monitor. And a ¾ - inch tape and tape player that could only store 20 minutes of footage. And a battery belt that, with the camera, weighed over 25 pounds. And… you get the picture.

Her gadgets may have been cumbersome to transport, but her superpower was never in question. And a look at the beautiful black-and-white photos of varying exposures that she created back when the System Office had its own darkroom proves it. Today, we can click a button on our phone and take a high-resolution picture, but the labor and intentionality required to take photos back then, when there were only 36 shots per roll, required a true professional’s skill. Plus, a beautiful photo didn’t always print well. It took Bridget’s expert eye to know which images would look best using the limited printing technology at the time.

And while she is grateful for the compactness and efficiency of today’s technology, she still waxes nostalgic about the old way of doing things. “It was fun,” she says, “playing around with photos, hanging out in the darkroom.” Sounds a little bit like the Batcave to us.

Holy Nightmare, Batman!

Speaking of Batman, it wasn’t uncommon for superheroes – or their sidekicks – to adopt a familiar catchphrase whenever they saw something that frustrated or astonished them. Think Wonder Woman’s “Great Hera!,” Thor’s “Odin’s Beard!” or any of Robin’s “Holy ___, Batman!” exclamations. (We looked a few up. They range from “Holy bat-logic!” to “Holy masked potatoes!)

Bridget may have uttered her own “Holy nightmare!” when she worked with a carpet processing company in Bridgeport, AL, many years ago. She wouldn’t go so far as to call this company her nemesis, but it was certainly one of the biggest challenges she faced in her career.

If today’s training videos should be the length of a movie trailer, back then they were more like a sitcom. But this company’s was more like an hour-long drama. So when she received the too-long, overly-detailed scripts from her company contact, she cut the copy – a lot. Her contact was not pleased with the cuts and let Bridget’s boss at the time know it. Fortunately, her supervisor trusted her professional judgment and recognized that the client was being unreasonable, but the video shoot still took place – and Bridget had to have enough footage and a variety of shots to cover all the verbiage.

To further complicate things, she stayed in Chattanooga, TN, which was about an hour away from the company, and she had to cross time zones traveling to the facility each morning and returning each evening, making her eight-hour workday much longer. By the time she made it back to her hotel at night, she was beyond exhausted.

She was also unsettled to discover that the person appointed to escort her around the facility – a requirement to ensure her safety and to make sure she didn’t film any unsafe practices or safety hazards – was unable to do so because she’d lost her thumb the week prior when changing the yarn on a spinning creel. Ah, the irony.

The client ended up being pleased with the training videos Bridget shot. But for her, it was “Holy nightmare!” indeed.

Travel through the Multiverse

Because comic book creators are chock-full of creativity, how can they maintain storyline continuity and remain faithful to backstories while still exploring new directions for their heroes? Have them inhabit a multiverse, of course! There are animated, movie, computer-generated and even Lego dimensions. There are Earths where superheroes are gender-swapped, villains, zombies and more.

Bridget’s choice for the most underrated superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Scarlet Witch, can already travel the multiverse. But until she can do the same, Bridget is content to travel our world – and working with readySC and its partner companies has allowed her to do so.

While trips to Germany, England, Canada, China and Indonesia all hold special memories for Bridget, one of her earliest trips to Italy especially stands out. After completing her work there, she remained on her personal dime to explore the country. She adventured throughout Florence, visiting the Uffizi Gallery, where the largest collection of Renaissance artwork is housed, and the Accademia Gallery, home to Michelangelo’s David. But what she appreciated most was the opportunity “to see what you can do when you’re on your own in a country where you don’t speak the language.”

She’s also visited plenty of places States-side that she probably wouldn’t have otherwise, including Salem, San Francisco and Crystal Lake (though thankfully not on Friday the 13th). And if readySC ever wants to partner up with a company in Australia or New Zealand, Bridget would jump at the chance to do some work there, especially after seeing movies filmed in these locations. (Think Lord of the Rings and Mad Max.)

Fellow Avengers

The Communications team is the only System division with an open office. But it’s clear to anyone who stops by – and especially new hires – who has the coolest workspace. With superhero figures climbing the bookshelves, poised for battle and even hanging upside-down by a spiderweb, Bridget’s toy addiction may be a little of out of control. When a co-worker once asked, “How can you sit there with so many eyes staring at you?” Bridget had a ready answer. “They’re not staring at me, but at my enemies. They’re protecting me.”

Ask Bridget what it’s like working with the others in the office and she says with a chuckle, “It sucks!”

“Back at ya!” comes the response. And everyone laughs good-naturedly.

That describes the chemistry Bridget has with her team. They’re laid-back, get along well and enjoy conversation, a sense of humor and – of course – a good story.

She and long-time colleague Carolyn Marchand are best described as “work sisters.” Just see how long it takes them to decide where to go to lunch. Or how it drives Carolyn bonkers that Bridget has a million open tabs or desktop icons on her computer. Or how Bridget has a way of inflecting her voice and dragging out the name when she says “Hey, Carolyn” that means her forthcoming request is not something Carolyn will want to hear.

They joke about how they approach video shoots differently, with Carolyn wanting to know how everything works and Bridget caring more about the visual aesthetics. But that’s what makes them great together. They balance each other. If Bridget’s creativity gets too wild, Carolyn is there to reign her back in. If Carolyn gets stuck in her thinking, Bridget can help her get “out of the box.”

And everyone in Communications appreciates Bridget’s remarkable talent as a videographer. She has a gift for coaxing a story out of chaos. For finding that thing that makes someone’s eyes light up. For highlighting the just-right details and editing out what’s unnecessary. Her process is something to see, and it is a delight to work and learn alongside her.

Endgame

Bridget’s endgame will end a whole lot better than it did for Marvel’s Avengers (no thanks to Thanos, the villain that Bridget most loves to hate).

As she contemplates retirement, she admits her two biggest reservations: she’ll miss the creative part of her work, and “it’s hard to think about leaving the people I work with, not seeing these goofballs every day.”

But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have plans. She looks forward to spending more time with her beloved dogs, Cricket and Sammy, and working in her yard. She’ll also have time to fashion her homemade costumes for Halloween and other party occasions. (But will she be able to rival her steampunk jet pack costume or Princess Leia’s Bousch outfit from The Empire Strikes Back? Hmmm…)

And most importantly, she’ll have time to do what she’s always dreamed of doing: writing a book – the story that’s always been in her head, the one only she can write. In fact, to help her stay focused, maybe we’ll buy her a motivational poster. One with the silhouette of a woman in a red bodice, a blue skirt and a gold belt that reads “Wonder Woman is not a fictional character. Wonder Woman is a mindset.”

But we’re pretty sure she already knows that.