September Extra Blog

During this month, I was able to operate lights for a country cover band concert for a place I work at. From this, I learned that concerts and shows (musicals and plays) have a different way of doing lighting. For shows, lighting designers have all their cues in a specific order and all the designs programmed before a show, while for concerts, it's live. Some lights are programmed, but most of it is just done on the fly and I just listened to the beat of the music and mood to see which lights to use. This is also called busking or "flash and trash" since LEDs and colorful lights and other fancy lights are used a lot.

The board I was working with

A computer screen that shows me what shows me what's going on

Since this was my first concert, I didn't really know if what I was doing was ok, especially during the first night. For the first night, I used a lot of "flash and trash", and I think it was too much for the older people in the audience. However, by the second night, I started getting the hang of it, and I think I did a better job because the lighting designer said he approved. Overall, I had fun, and I got to listen to some music.

The set up of the stage from where I was sitting during a short break

Blog 6: Second Interview Preparation

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?

My mentor is Dan Volonte, and he works at Citrus College.

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

1. How did you get started in theater?
2. Did you have a role model that inspired you and did they help you in deciding to go into this field?
3. Did you have any struggles (personal, financial, etc.) when you first started out in this profession?
4. How did you decide on a college? Did you base it on their theater design and or tech program or did it not matter to you? Do you think it would have made a difference if you went to any other school or didn't go to school at all?
5. What is the most important thing that you have learned that has helped you as a theater tech?

Blog 5: Mentorship Reflection

Based on what you have done for your senior project so far, answer the following questions (be specific and use examples).

1. Mentorship question: Describe your experience in how you found your mentorship?  If you haven't found one yet, describe your experience so far in the search of a mentor.

From my summer mentorship, I was recommended to speak to a lighting designer who works at Citrus College if I wanted to learn more about lighting. I found out he also taught classes on theatre production and stagecraft, so I figured he would be very knowledgeable. I emailed him, explaining the senior project, and he agreed to mentor me.

2. Research question: What has been your most important article you have read so far and why?

The most important article I have read so far is From Shakespeare to 'Tangled'- A Conversation with Designer Douglas Rogers by Angela Mitchell. From it, I was able to get a perspective of a respected scene designer and how he has become successful. I was able to learn some tips and tricks of being a scene designer and that everything done in theatre helps the stage come to life.