Mixed Feelings

It's that time of year again... The last weekend before school starts. I'm actually very excited for some parts, not so for others. 

We start rehearsals for A Midsummer Night's Dream on Tuesday, designs are due the next week, and we open in September. I'm so excited. I have a feeling this is going to be a great year. Our group of Troupe officers saw Midsummer at The Shakespeare Tavern in the city and it was fantastic. It was so funny and the costumes and lighting were fantastic. Mrs. O gave me pointers for the way she wants the scenes to look, she wants contrast between every scene but also contrast within the scenes. I.e. if it's nighttime in the scene with a blue wash, she wants a yellow or an orange counter wash to keep balance but also give it a fantastical feel... I guess it makes sense. I tried to incorporate that into my design and I'm actually very pleased with it. It gives me a lot of flexibility while maintaining what both of us want. I just hop we have enough break up gobos. I love the front break up wash.

Even though I started these designs intent upon using a lot of side light, I seem to have shied away from that. Maybe because Mrs. O doesn't like having lighting trees in the wings or because we have a limited amount of circuits built into the stage but the design I just finished doesn't have any side at all. I hope that changes. I love the look of high sides. 

That's all folks.

That Tech Kid, Jordan.

A Midsummer Night's Inspiration

Before I had any input from Ms. Ogle, I was blindly creating random set configurations and trying to make the lights look cool.

Now that she has given me a solid set idea and a bunch of good ideas, I can't think of anything. We had the design meeting about a week ago and I'm having such a terrible time thinking of ideas. Part of me thinks that since I've started using Capture, I've become too focused on what the light looks like in the air; not on the actors. I've tried to turn off the haze effect in the program but there's no setting to disable it. I feel like I'm spending too much time in trying to punch out a solid design and I can't take the time to make something I really really like. I've made something like ten designs, the first seven are basically void, however, because Ms. Ogle made it clear that she would like to do the set design. The most recent three are using her set but they look painfully similar and somewhat boring to me. I can't seem to find a way to pull myself away from making another clone design. 

I need something to kick me out of my comfort zone...

That Tech Kid, Jordan.

Oh, Awkward...

I thought I might as well get a big head start on our production for next year, Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Well I started and I loved it at first. However, the more I look at it, the more I see something that I can't put my finger on. Whatever it may be though, I absolutely hate it. I have no idea what is wrong but something is just so WRONG.

I got the cool side lighting deal going on due to the fantasy of the show but something is hiding in the back of my mind that just bothers me enough to make me want to completely start over. I actually shouldn't be worrying about it as much as I am though because Mrs. Ogle hasn't even given me a set design so I don't know what I'm thinking. I made up a quick little set that slightly resembles out Les Mis set but with major differences/improvements. I think that might be what's bothering me. I have trouble doing both set and lighting. I did it for SAST and it wasn't really for me to be in charge of both sections. Which is odd because it was nice controlling both sides because set and lighting go so hand in hand with each other. I dont know. I'm very scatterbrained recently. I basically have no idea what I'm doing right now.,

That's all folks, 

That Tech Kid, Jordan.

Well...

This is my least favorite time of the year. The musical has finished, SAST is over, and there's nothing to be done. I hate having idle hands. I have so much I could be doing but no reason for Mrs. Ogle to let me. However, it was recently announced that the show we will be doing next year will be... Wait for it... A Midsummer Night's Dream. While I hate the Shakespearean writing, I love the shows. I'm actually very excited for this lighting design because I am allowing myself to kind of go crazy. This is a comical fantasy type of show that we are setting in a 50's summer camp. Cool, I suppose. I don't exactly know how I'm going to approach this but I think it will look very cool. During auditions today, I looked at the application and a question on there was asking about the actor being afraid of heights. Two story set, maybe? I hope so, that would be incredible.

For Antigone, at the beginning of this year, I experimented with some side lighting and I LOVED the way it looked. Due to the surrealism of this show, I would like it to be very sidelight heavy. It looks so cool. Well, this is going to be my last post for awhile until something wildly fantastic happens.

That Tech Kid, Jordan.

Here Comes S.A.S.T.

Short Attention Span Theatre is kicking into high gear. I was supposed to only handle the lighting but our director is doing so much for the musical at the moment that I now am the Lighting Designer, Set Designer, and Technical Director. I'm also doing the lighting for the musical but she decided to design so I'm just doing the "execution". Back to SAST... I set out yesterday to get the set design done and I did but then I started playing around with the lighting design and I might've finished that too. I don't think I'm 100% done with it yet but I'd say I'm pretty close. I'm quite satisfied with it in light of the fact that it took me a day. I got all the lights set up and I tried to do some cueing for the beginning of the show but we haven't decided the show order yet. I was talking to one of the stage managers the other day and he said that Mrs. Ogle said some things about us possibly getting an ETC Element by the end of the year. That is both good and bad. If we get it after SAST then we are good but if we get it before, it could take some time to work out the kinks in the system as I imagine we would have. It would be especially difficult because of the nature of the cue list, everything is in order. We don't always know the order of the shows until a week before so I would have to hold off the cueing until the dress rehearsals. Either way, I really want this board because our board is analogue. BOO. We really need a new board.

That's pretty much it,

That Tech Kid, Jordan.  

I Might Get a Job!

I just got an interview with the coordinator of a Playhouse near my house! I just sent her my resume and we are working out a time tomorrow! I'm so excited for this opportunity!

I'm literally speechless,
That Tech Kid, Jordan.

Let Short Attention Span Theater Begin!

We've just started working on our student written/directed/acted play compilation called Short Attention Span Theater. We have 6 ten minute plays and three monologues! All original, student written. Of course, I'll be doing the Lighting Design but Mrs. Ogle also gave me the position of Technical Director which is HUGE! I'm now completely in charge of all the planning an execution of all the technical elements of the show. I'm very excited to get this opportunity to control more than just the lighting but also have a big influence in sound and set design. I've been thinking of some good set designs and the playwrights have put a lot of places in scripts for some very cool lighting effects.

I've been looking through scripts for sues and prop needs as well as familiarizing myself with the plots of the shows so I get ideas of setting and time of day. I predict this will be a lot of fun.

That Tech Kid, Jordan.