SPRING 2011 ≈ HAMLET

5 Credits Away ... From My BFA !!!

*Suggestion: This blog is best when read with The Black Keys or Jimi Hendrix playing softly in the background*

With class-time at Cornish now behind me, there's still plenty work to do and still plenty time to fail, if I so choose that path. This blog will now serve as a log / journal for my senior project as assistant set designer for William Shakespeare's Hamlet set to open in April '11 at Broadway Performance Hall. Anyone may feel free to respond with questions, comments, or concerns via this blog or at ada.rosand@arts.cornish.edu .

Jumping back a couple weeks, I have two entries and a few process photos to post for today. Enjoy!

January 3, 2010

DESIGN CREW:

- Our first studio work-day for Hamlet; worked in MCC 406. Our objective for today was to build model box of Broadway Performance Hall (BPH) in either ¼” or ½” scale.

- After the three of us spent roughly ½ an hour fighting with VectorWorks and the plotter to get an accurate GP of BPH, we had a legible ¼” and most of one in ½”.

- Theresa volunteered to take the ¼” to FedEx, to blow-up to ½”. The only machine at FedEx capable of this task was out of order.

- Montana decided to try a different FedEx, and we would call it quits but re-group and build the box the following day.

PERSONAL GOAL before tomorrow:

- More research at home

- Continue work on scene breakdown

- Record questions if / when they develope.

BPH Model Box (1/2" scale)

January 5, 2011

- Model box for BPH is now finished; minus grid and line-sets. NOTE: Karen’s suggestion for wall cornering in model box to hide edge of foam-core.

- RESEACH: theatrical trees and possibilities for dropping-leaves effect.

GOALS:

- To see National Theatre Live’s presentation of Hamlet (SIFF)

- Improve model box wall corners.

HELLO FELLOWS!

Ummmm... a (very) last-minute change to my presentation is taking place. I have decided to ever-so-slightly change my presentation subject just a liiiiittle bit towards the topic of Gargamel's Plan of Attack on the Smurfs!.... ......Just kidding!

On a serious note, while finishing up my PowerPoint editing, I have come to notice how minimal my presentation focuses on lighting. I have an abundance of sound production information that I still need to filter down, and just a few tidbits of what candles and gas did for theatre.

Hmmmmm, it seems much more like a successful sound production history presentation rather than what I was intentionally aiming for, so, I am going to run with it.

I hope this is okay with everyone else, I suspect it should be. Thanks for reading this.

A*

This Final Week

Hello my fellow classmates, teacher, and blog readers. I am currently moving forward on the PowerPoint presentation, finding very little to share in 3-D form. Just recently, I have been asking local theatres where I can possibly rent or borrow vintage non-electric sound foley or lighting instruments. Understandably, most theatres don not keep such gear; well worth asking though. If time allows it, I hope to build a few small-scale and simple devices, ones that are easily made with common objects.

My goal for this week: At LEAST provide a presentation with PowerPoint projection. To accomplish this goal, I need to finalize the presentation slides, and script dialogue for it. ADDITIONALLY, I would like to have three or four simple sound and / or lighting devices.

What may get in the way: FINALS!!!! Another big presentation lands on that same day for me in sound studio. Thank God it is only an 8 minute presentation with a group of four, but still holds a demand for time over this weekend.

What can I do to overcome this obstacle?: Do my best!...yet, stick to the calandar!... also adding: DO NOT PANIC!!!!

What would I like to discuss in seminar today? If there is time, what I have stated here.

Thanks for reading!

A*10

True Blog; non-HS Related

Something I've struggled with for quite some time involving my department, I have finally been able to put into words. The program design for Performance Production seems more and more like a display for teachers to show what they have taught more than a program for teaching students new skills.

If you were to ask for a solid and truthful answer out of most successors (in any field), they would probably say that they often felt like they learned more from their mistakes. However, in my case I have felt like I never had the right to while studying at Cornish. The production assignments always go to the students that have already proven that they can do it, taking away the opportunity from those who wish to practice and really learn something new. There's something wrong with that. It paints a picture that the teaching staff are too worried about their own reputation among the Cornish faculty as it may appear to the arts community, and if any student cannot live up to that without hands-on practice, than they (the student) will fail what they focus on.

I have come to the conclusion that not graduating from Cornish may actually be my calling, for I wish to make huge success after I leave such as the other students like Brandon Frasier, and Nancy Wilson; who both either dropped out or barely made it to graduation. Same story for those outside of Cornish, such as Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, and George Washington.

In my own case, as it stands as of now, I just want to graduate, move on, and put Cornish behind me. I would like to utilize every bit of what I have learned at this school, only not to give the bourgeoisie status to those particular teachers. That's all.

A*10

PowerPoint Template Success

Ok, so I now have the template for my presentation put together, with the intro completed. More will be revealed soon!

A*

A+ Work Starts Now!!! & PREP SHEET

Having taken a quick look at this blog I have, I notice it is as empty as my wallet after buying a textbook for Theatre Lit! Therefore, the A+ work must not delay!

This week I refrained from cutting class, regardless of my poopy attitude 8-(

By next week, I will build a template for the presentation, and will begin loading info, images, and any other material I feel may be useful.

What stands in the way of progress is the possibility of being overwhelmed by my overall workload, as I catch up in this class.

I can move forward by dedicating more time to work on this project, and stick to it.

This week in seminar?.....already past.

Happy Veterans Day!

A*

*INFO source:
Naif Haddad, Talal Akasheh. VITRUVIUS AND ANCIENT THEATRES
http://www.cultech.org/Vetruvius.pdf

"2.3 The Theatre Acoustic and the Vitruvian Resonating Vessels
One reason for the success of the ancient Greek and Roman theatres was that
disturbing environmental noise was generally quiet when they were in use. However,
it is reported that the unoccupied seats and the heads of the audience also scattered
sound to adjacent area. [7].
The acoustics of open-air theatres was mentioned by Vitruvius, but he did not mention
anything about the acoustics of roofed theatres. This earliest documentary discussion
by Vitruvius shows, interestingly, that his overriding concern is for acoustics, rather
than vision, and this even extends to the rules he gives for seating design. Vitruvius
presents us with an elegant theory for the manner in which theatre sites can be
unsuitable, namely if they exhibit acoustic dissonance, circumsonance, or resonance,
in which the voice is supported from below, increases as it goes up and reaches the
ears in words which are distinct and clear in tone. Hence, there has to be careful
attention in the selection of the site to be perfectly suited to the purposes of a theatre.
However, there are some suggestions about the acoustic qualities of the theatres
raised by Vitruvius as to the advantages of placing bronze vases round the auditorium
of theatres. ".... let bronze vessels be made, proportionate to the size of the theatre,
and let them be so fashioned that, when touched, they may produce with one another
the notes of the fourth, the fifth, and so on up to the double octave. [6]"