Keep Reading

Since beginning my studies at UMass, Amherst, I have been slowly whittling away at a reading list. Last week I added an anthology to my list in order to prepare for a class I am taking next semester. It is the Norton Anthology of Drama Vol. I.

So far it looks a bit intimidating. A thick book full of not just stories (plays), but history, facts, and details about these stories, their authors, their culture, politics, society, and more (at least from what I gather after reading a few pages of the introduction).

I wonder what other kinds of reading I will find myself seeped in next year. After all, I never expected to read what I have read this past year. Each time I make a reading list more gets added to it, and I find myself piling up books on my shelf that someday I hope to engage beyond the first chapter or act.

The worst part about pushing ahead with reading is the constant state of drowsiness I feel after reading for more than 10 minutes straight. Perhaps someday this will go away, but somehow I don't think that's going to happen this year. One solution...read standing up. Another solution...drink far too much coffee...

Developing Creative Ideas

I have been spending a little time each day living in the world of Putnam County's 25th Annual Spelling Bee. Each day I turn another page where in my world a couple of hours has passed, while in their world, I'm lucky if 5 minutes has passed.

I am trying a new method to tracking my thoughts and notes on the production. I borrowed a format from a fellow colleague and adapted it for my own purposes. On one page, I can track the cue number, fade time, page, purpose, and placement. On another page, I can track the follow-spot cue number, fade time, page, color, purpose, and placement. On another page, I can track my notes and thoughts about why I think my choices work. Or, I can ask questions of myself or of others when the time is right. On other pages, when the time comes, I will track light groups, color palettes, moving light pre-sets, among other things.

The benefit of this new method to my old method is simple to explain. It is more detailed; in the past I would only track cue number, fade time, page, purpose, and placement. I would also write the information in a notebook to later be transferred to a computer. Now I am entering the information directly into an Excel document. This saves hours of valuable time that may be spent refining and critiquing my thoughts. Allowing me to always bring the design back to the script and determine what is relevant to the play and what is fluff. My goal is to be finished going through the script by next Wednesday when I will meet with the Music Director. I hope I will be able to present clear needs for concrete development between our departments in order to produce the best possible cohesion of lights and sound in the world of the play on stage.


Cue List Track Sheet


Follow Spot Track Sheet


Notes Track Sheet

Reaching Out to Auto-CAD

I've been back from LA now for a week. I went to the AAM Conference (American Associate of Museums) with Traci Klainer and the Luce Group. It was a great opportunity for me to see another side of the design world. I met a handful of lighting designers from the West Coast, and I have decided to make learning Auto-CAD a priority. I will be taking a class in it this Fall, and in the meantime, I will be going online to watch a few training sessions and get in touch with some people who can guide me along the way.

I went to the Learning Commons at UMass, Amherst today to explore the program. They had ArchiCAD12 on the computers, so not quite what I was looking for. I spent enough time on the program to convince myself that before I spend too much time poking my head around blindly, that I would need to spend some quality time with training videos and class sessions.

My goal is to know where each tool is and what it does by the end of the summer. Then I will be in a better place to use the tools for the Fall semester. Now, I just need to find a computer that has Auto-CAD or get my computer up to speed so that I can run it on my Mac...

ALD for Othello @ Commonwealth Shakespeare Co.

Today has been a very busy day. My son and I got up early (5:30 a.m.) to go fishing, which we ended up leaving (kicking and screaming) at 10 a.m.



Then Justin Townsend sent a few pdf images for my latest project. He asked me to draft these in Vectorworks. Here are the results...a Ground Plan, Elevation, and Section.



I decided to take a break for a couple of hours and go swimming with my kids. All in all what a great day!

Oh...did I mention the drafting only took 3 hours...I'm getting better! :)

New Roads

I have been exposed to new ideas, new thoughts, new environments, and new opportunities. These things may not be new to you or half the people in this world, let alone our country. In fact, these things that I have been exposed to are all related to two things that we all experience or have experienced on a nearly daily basis.

Architecture and Museums

I went to a conference, American Association of Museums (AAM), to be exact. I met exhibit designers, curators, artistic directors, education directors, artifact specialists, historians, researchers, and more. People. All interested in bringing the past to the present and creating a future that is better, stronger, and more sustainable emotionally, intellectually, and physically.

I have a simple goal that I believe will help me to become a small part of this vibrant community. Engage. I want to interact, converse, relate, understand, and explore the world around us. I want to do this with a community that already exists in order to build a better community for tomorrow.

My first steps toward that end have been to:

1. Become a member of AAM
2. Acquire a student version of auto-CAD
3. Send e-mails to the people who I met while attending the conference
4. Keep reading, writing, and creating

I can't wait to see where this new road will take me!