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So I'm about to make certain faculty members in my theatre department very angry/uncomfortable, but you know what they say about living a life without any enemies...you aren't living much of a life. I have to write a couple letters that, no matter how hard I try, are not going to make those certain faculty members look good. Our theatre department is slowly going downhill because of the department head's inability to put aside her own trivial need to always get her way and put herself first no matter how badly the results reflect upon her. Luckily, the theatre department head is underneath the communications department head. This leaves me someone to go to before having to go to the president of the college, which I would not look forward to. I'm sending him the letter for safety precautions....because you know I would like to graduate. Unfortunately, I feel charged to take this upon myself because I am now the resident grandma (aka the oldest student in the theatre department) and will be graduating next semester. So despite some ugly glares and possible bad grades they can't really do anything to me, whereas they could make my peers academic careers a living nightmare for another 1-4 years. I could have them sign the letter I write, but I'm reluctant to get them involved at all because of any possible ramifications. I'm willing to throw myself under the truck, but I'm not willing to bring them with me. Gulp. Wish me luck.
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Mar 26, 2012 21:47
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Where are you going to school?
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Mar 26, 2012 21:52
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I go to Elmhurst College. It's a baby liberal arts college with about 3500 students. Admittedly, not the best place to go for a theatre degree, but I wanted to be able to double major with a psych degree also. I don't regret it.
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Mar 26, 2012 21:58
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Well, good luck with it. All I can offer is a drink if you'are in the city proper.
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Mar 26, 2012 22:09
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Thanks, I'll hit you up whenever I'm gonna be round those parts for auditions.
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Mar 26, 2012 22:13
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TotallySmurfedHer posted:Thanks, I'll hit you up whenever I'm gonna be round those parts for auditions. Do! We'll get Osheaman and Hewlett and make it weird; Chicago-style.
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Mar 26, 2012 22:21
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Burger Crime posted:Wolfgang, how are things at your university? Is administration still loving around with the department? The program itself exists since the school still doesn't have the authority to shut us down outright. The independent program reviewer from Missouri came and talked to the students as a group, and I was there as a recent grad and she was interested in hearing the story from our perspective. She also said she didn't have power to really do anything, but it helps to vent. When the dean of the liberal arts college started hovering around the door and asking us to wrap things up, my roommate (the TD) shut the door in his face and locked it. Small victories. Where does the program lie now? Well, the Speech professor who's been teaching Voice & Diction and Playwriting is now interim program director, tasked, at the moment, with Techionary cleanup. They've moved all of our platforms et al offsite so that they can "restore our space." I think they're restoring it back to be an old gymnasium and giving it back to the museum, but that's just me. I've heard that all the interim cares about saving costume-wise are fur-coats, Sherlock Holmes overcoats, and 1960s period dresses. This scares the gently caress out of me. One of the things that the school is making Kate do is to construct a semi-permanent stage with interchangeable scenery elements (read: a few platforms with some flats that can have the facing changed out without needing to use power tools). Rumor is that the interim hopes that the interchangeable bits can be custom painted for each show, you know, "to give the technical students something to do." gently caress everything about this man. I've known him for years, worked with him, took his classes, and you couldn't ask for a nicer or more enthusiastic guy. You could ask for someone less condescending and a professor who cares more about what the students get to do. And you could ask for a director whose understanding of our art goes a bit deeper than "let's put on a show, gang." Maybe I'm jaded. We got hosed by the school, so in response we got a business license. The River Valley Players are on their way to non-profit status, and we put up our formerly-cancelled One Acts - and turned actually bit of profit. Surprising, for two nights that didn't have the best advertising, had low seating capacity, and was in a train depot (a train only passed through one performance). Twelfth Night just started rehearsals today, we go up mid-to-late April. Ardith's directing Peter Pan through the River Valley Arts Center as her annual summer show. Depending on our financial status after Twelfth Night, I'm going to try to find funding and a crew so that I might finally direct Red. I really wish I had more training as a producer, I'm really at a loss of how to fund-raise for shows in this town. Any of you guys have advice? I'm like a writer staring at a blank page here. MockingQuantum posted:Out of curiosity, would it be interesting/useful to anybody if all the thread regulars (or irregulars) posted their general locale and areas of theatrical expertise? I think it'd be useful to know if there are goons nearby that work/go to school in theatre, or just to know if there's somebody on here that may have the answer to a field-specific question. Also, academically, I know a ton about theory and history and criticism. I'm trying to get into a PhD program right now. It's been rough this year, I've got a parade of rejections from Columbia, Northwestern, and Cornell. Still waiting to hear back from LSU. Wish I had more money to apply elsewhere, and I'm really bummed about missing deadlines for UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UT Austin. Wolfgang Pauli fucked around with this message at 12:54 on Mar 27, 2012 |
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Mar 27, 2012 12:50
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About to graduate with a double major in theatre and psychology with honors. One more semester after this. I'm counting down the days. I got my GED in HS and went to act down in Chicago for 2 years before deciding it would be a good idea to get my degree. My college is a small liberal arts college located in a suburb near in Chicago. It's full of more rich people than you can possibly imagine, but I've grown to like it. During the summer I do film stuff in Chicago and I just finished a random film project a couple weeks ago. I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do as a part-time job while I act. Thankfully, my mom is very supportive and I will probably live with her until I'm 26...unless I find a sugar daddy.
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Mar 28, 2012 02:39
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I wouldn't call myself an expert in anything but I figured I'd post my info anyway. I live on Long Island, NY and now that college is done I only do community (musical) theatre. I have very limited play acting experience, I wouldn't say acting is my strongest suit. Singing is, however, and I also enjoy musical theatre style dance and occasionally do some choreography. My dream is to own a children's theatre but that's never going to happen. I'll probably get close enough though when I get my degree in Elementary Ed and can direct shows for the kids there.
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Mar 28, 2012 19:11
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TotallySmurfedHer posted:I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do as a part-time job while I act. Thankfully, my mom is very supportive and I will probably live with her until I'm 26...unless I find a sugar daddy. The best advice I can give is start thinking about it now. You have some time left and you have a base of support and that's awesome but acting almost certainly ain't gonna pay for a while. Unless the film stuff is starting to pay you real money/get agent attention, in which case nice going! and good luck Seriously, balancing "pays enough money" and "flexible to help my art life grow" is loving hard, especially if you'd rather not be a waiter.
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Mar 29, 2012 07:00
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OSheaman posted:The best advice I can give is start thinking about it now. You have some time left and you have a base of support and that's awesome but acting almost certainly ain't gonna pay for a while. Unless the film stuff is starting to pay you real money/get agent attention, in which case nice going! and good luck Naw, I'm fine waitressing. Fortunately the film stuff did get me some agent interest, but I had to pass to finish school. One just said okay and the other told me to get ahold of him once I graduate. So fingers crossed. I've always landed on my feet so hopefully this won't be any different. That's pretty much why I double majored in psychology. It opens up a few more doors.
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Mar 29, 2012 07:03
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TotallySmurfedHer posted:Naw, I'm fine waitressing. Fortunately the film stuff did get me some agent interest, but I had to pass to finish school. One just said okay and the other told me to get ahold of him once I graduate. So fingers crossed. I've always landed on my feet so hopefully this won't be any different. That's pretty much why I double majored in psychology. It opens up a few more doors. A few friends of mine from university are studying drama therapy now. I think it requires an MA to be licensed but if you are interested in psych and theatre, you could look at that.
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Mar 29, 2012 14:30
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Burger Crime posted:A few friends of mine from university are studying drama therapy now. I think it requires an MA to be licensed but if you are interested in psych and theatre, you could look at that. Yeah, my interest was in that originally. I wanted to help adolescents with mental issues and still might, I just need to follow the theatre route for awhile while I can.
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Mar 29, 2012 22:37
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Just finished light load in for my final show in Ohio. Can't wait for grad school to start in August so I can get out of this state. We are actually getting more theatre activity in the state though. The Texas Chainsaw Musical was here about a month ago and Book of Mormon is coming next summer.
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Apr 1, 2012 18:52
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Burger Crime posted:A few friends of mine from university are studying drama therapy now. I think it requires an MA to be licensed but if you are interested in psych and theatre, you could look at that. Yes, you do need an MA to be licensed, though the field's so new that the licensing process is bound to change. My fiancee almost went into it. Apparently there's only about 5 reputable doctorate programs with any research basis in drama therapy. It's kind of weird.
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Apr 2, 2012 00:08
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I was going to complain that getting a show I wrote put on is a bitch, but I guess it could be a lot worse. My biggest problem is finding a crew, not getting the university to recognize that acting is a thing. Vaguely considering just directing this myself with 0 experience. e: Also poo poo is really intimidating here. Like, some of the other people writing plays will 100% go on and actually do theater. semicolonsrock fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Apr 15, 2012 |
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Apr 15, 2012 03:13
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semicolonsrock posted:I was going to complain that getting a show I wrote put on is a bitch, but I guess it could be a lot worse. My biggest problem is finding a crew, not getting the university to recognize that acting is a thing. Vaguely considering just directing this myself with 0 experience. This is entirely my experience, and may not be universal, but with only one exception, every time I've been involved in a show that was directed by the playwright, it's been a disaster. For the cast, the crew, and the playwright/director. Especially if it's your first experience with both (that is, having a play produced and directing one), since there's a real value to having a director and a playwright discuss intentions behind moments in the script, etc. The exception was because the director had about 15 years experience doing both, and he was the only person in the state that could competently direct a show about growing up as a Togolese youth.
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Apr 15, 2012 04:48
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semicolonsrock posted:I was going to complain that getting a show I wrote put on is a bitch, but I guess it could be a lot worse. My biggest problem is finding a crew, not getting the university to recognize that acting is a thing. Vaguely considering just directing this myself with 0 experience. Are you looking for a run crew or a production staff(designers et al.)? If you need a running crew, they can be trained pretty easily even if they have no experience in theatre so ask friends or just find people that are available. Its better if they are already trained, but its not necessary.
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Apr 15, 2012 05:11
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I'm looking for some advice on a prop for a One Act I'm directing. I'd like the stage to be very dark and my two actors sitting around a bonfire. Ultimately the primary effect I want is my actors illuminated by a red glow effect like they're camping in the woods. If the effect could also flicker subtly and if there might be a way to create a crackling sound effect that would be nice, but the only necessary factor is the red glow. The piece is a verse drama so I cannot allow something like a Halloween prop that has a goofy cloth flame that waves around due to a built in fan. Unfortunately those are all of the top hits through my search since I have little experience with Theater Vendors. Can someone point me in the right direction for this kind of effect?
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Apr 15, 2012 21:16
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Named Ashamed posted:I'm looking for some advice on a prop for a One Act I'm directing. There are some very realistic props of the type you are talking about, but they are a bit expensive. I believe Rosco makes/made a good one. You could also get some small DMX controllable fixtures, g el them up and write a macro to make the flicker effect. Small speakers could provide the sound. You could also do this with a tablet computer if you can figure out how to program the flickering lights. I mean, a red glow is lighting 101 but without knowing your budget it is hard to offer specific advice.
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Apr 15, 2012 23:18
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I would use a gobo rotator with a fire gobo. Put the rotating unit upstage of the fire and focus it on the back wall. Then put MR-16's in the fire pit with R304+R21 gels on the units and program a macro on the console for the rotating unit and the MR-16's so the flicker on the faces of the actors syncs with the flicker on the back wall. You could also use GAM Stik-up's in place of MR-16's as those are smaller but still very bright. They may fit in a fire better than an MR-16. You would need to have an adapter with the Stik-ups though since they use a standard Edison plug not twist-lock or stage pin or whatever your theatre uses. Burger Crime fucked around with this message at 08:01 on Apr 16, 2012 |
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Apr 16, 2012 00:07
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The difference between a production manager and a lighting designer have now been illustrated.
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Apr 16, 2012 00:39
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Twelfth Night goes up on Thursday and I'm playing Malvolio. A bit nervous, it's my first role bigger than a one-act. It's the first production of the River Valley Players, the independent troupe we established when our theatre program got hosed. I got permission from the director-founder to direct Red unders its auspices this summer. Already put together a few designers (one of them will co-produce since she has money lying around) and a stage manager. Hope to put it up in August.Named Ashamed posted:I'm looking for some advice on a prop for a One Act I'm directing. Build a small platform or wagon and stack firewood on it. Screw the firewood into the base. Buy a red light (PAR preferably but incandescent will work in a pinch) from Walmart or wherever you can get one cheap, no need to order anything pricey, then run it from a concealed hole in the firewood. The kicker: buy a small fan with the lowest RPM you can find and place it so that the blades pass over the thrown light. This shouldn't cost more than $10. *edit* Running this over a tight, dim warm wash will layer it rather nicely. You could probably fit an interrupter on the fan plug to vary rotation, but you can do this more easily by having running crew or someone randomly flip the switch of a power strip. Wolfgang Pauli fucked around with this message at 09:03 on Apr 17, 2012 |
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Apr 17, 2012 08:51
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Thanks guys. Some really great suggestions here. Also, can someone recommend me a vendor for a quality collapsible knife? I need to stage a repeated stabbing and I cannot find anything online other than dinky plastic Halloween blades. My department is also willing to buy it from me after the production so I'm prepared to put down a decent amount of money for the quality.
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Apr 17, 2012 20:07
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There are safety issues with retractable blades and most reputable places won't carry them. http://www.weaponsofchoicetheatrical.com/dagger_rental.htm discusses it more in depth. But they sell good non retracting products as well.
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Apr 17, 2012 21:21
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I don't know a whole lot about staging knifings, pretty much all the kills I know are sword-based but my guess is that, above and beyond any safety issues, a retractable knife is going to read like a retractable knife and not like a real stabbing. Are you the violence designer?
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Apr 17, 2012 21:31
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I'm the undergraduate director so I'm somewhat of the everything designer. I do have a costume and set designer but I'm chasing down minor props and asking more knowledgeable people for advice to pass onto my team. Anyone have some advice on how to make the stabbing pass off believably enough? This play is in the style of symbolism mostly, so I can get away with things not truly looking natural as long as I commit to them. I don't need my character to bleed, just to react to 4 stabs in the stomach, chest or back. As long as the audience doesn't get pulled out of the mood by a clearly fake plastic knife I'm willing to try anything that's safe. It can even be clearly fake as long as I match up the tone with the rest of the play. It just needs to be intentional. Forget Forgive fucked around with this message at 22:39 on Apr 17, 2012 |
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Apr 17, 2012 22:35
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I've got a meeting tonight for a fight/stunt show I'm doing, I'll ask my fight people for advice on how to sell it and see what I can do.
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Apr 17, 2012 22:43
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I would talk to your costume designer. Ask him/her to design/build or rent a prosthesis the actor could wear with the cuts on it. That might work better for you and would sell the stabbing regardless of how it is staged. I have seen them used in the Chesterfield cycle and in Oedipus and it worked really well.
Burger Crime fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Apr 17, 2012 |
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Apr 17, 2012 23:41
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Oh, I forgot to mention that this is a One Act in a festival of 14 at a small college. We have 100 to spend among ourselves so pretty much my only feasible option is buying a fake knife and either choreographing fake stabs or using a collapsible knife.
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Apr 17, 2012 23:59
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Honestly, I would advise you to do something stylized without using any sort of knife. If you absolutely must have props, buy some $5 rubber trainer knives and paint the blades silver or something. Unless you've got a trained violence designer, it can be extremely dangerous and for the love of all that is good and holy do not use any sort of metal knife that is not designed specifically for stage (and even then, I wouldn't recommend it.)
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Apr 18, 2012 04:46
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I would agree with Rantmo on the no weapons idea if you are not experienced with their use. You might want to look at staging the fight under strobe light. This would give you a stylized look and allow you to hide the fact that you are weaponless. You can also use makeup to create knife wounds if you can't afford a prosthesis. Just be sure to have a warning that strobe effects are used.
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Apr 18, 2012 06:45
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Our faculty does have an accredited Stage Fight Choreographer who is on hand to help us with this kind of thing. The problem is that I need to be the one to bring him suggestions first and we'll build off of that. He's said that I could buy a good collapsible knife and that the college would buy it back from me, but I simply can't find anything that's worth more than $2 and as you folks have said there are some safety concerns. A rubber practice knife sounds promising, though they often look pretty drat huge and the character describes his as a "jacknife". Is there a way for my actor to turn the knife sideways at the last moment to make fake contact with his fist or have it miss the other actor's chest and go through his armpit into a costume cloak or something. The process is pretty quick. Character 1 quick stabs Character 2, says a quick line of dialog and then gives him 3 more stabs to finish the job thoroughly. If I could keep their bodies close I could simply suggest the contact of the stab by having Character 2 anticipate the blow? Any suggestions I can pitch to the faculty would probably start opening up avenues. Thanks so much so far. I'm learning quite a lot already.
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Apr 18, 2012 20:24
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Yeah, there are plenty of ways to work the stabs themselves and they tend to work basically as you describe it. It really depends on what sort of space you're in, the sight lines and what your violence designer's fight philosophy is. Trainer knives can be found in several different shapes and sizes, though beyond Google I'm not really sure where to steer you for them. As for the violence designer, it sounds like you've got a pretty good idea of what you want, which is a good start. That's the point where they need to take over though, so talk to the designer and go from there.
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Apr 18, 2012 20:48
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Going up as Malvolio in 17 hours. Jesus christ jesus christ jesus christ.Named Ashamed posted:Thanks guys. Some really great suggestions here. If you need blood, put a cheap blood pack under the clothes and have the person being stabbed activate it himself. Stage combat is absolutely nothing to take lightly. People have died because of casual slip-ups. Whatever you choose, take a grinder to the edge so that it's thick, flat, and dulled to gently caress. If there's anyone around there who's been to a fight workshop or any kind of SAFD training, have them choreograph it. Tips down, spirits up, good fight. Wolfgang Pauli fucked around with this message at 07:33 on Apr 19, 2012 |
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Apr 19, 2012 07:30
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So I have been thinking about starting a new more formal theatre thread. The OP would have the concentrations of people in the thread. Acting, design et al. I would also talk about basics of each concentration. In the acting section talk about basics of performance with synopsis of Stanislavsky,Brecht, Meisner, Linklater. Design section would talk about Stanley McCandless, Robert Wilson, Julie Taymor, Jules Fisher. Anyone have suggestions on what else should be added:people to mention, links to helpful sites or would you all prefer to keep the current thread and keep it less formal? edit** forgot to mention Dramaturgy section: Daniel Gerould, Edward Albee Burger Crime fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Apr 19, 2012 |
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Apr 19, 2012 15:16
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Named Ashamed posted:Our faculty does have an accredited Stage Fight Choreographer who is on hand to help us with this kind of thing. The problem is that I need to be the one to bring him suggestions first and we'll build off of that. He's said that I could buy a good collapsible knife and that the college would buy it back from me, but I simply can't find anything that's worth more than $2 and as you folks have said there are some safety concerns. I know literally nothing about theatrical fighting or anything, but what if you get three knives: a small rubber knife, the cheap collapsible knife, and an identical rubber knife painted to look bloody, then just swapped them out whenever it's appropriate? edit: turning the knife upwards might work if you don't want to do that, if you make it look like you're stabbing in an upward motion.
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Apr 19, 2012 15:56
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Coffee And Pie posted:I know literally nothing about theatrical fighting or anything, but what if you get three knives: a small rubber knife, the cheap collapsible knife, and an identical rubber knife painted to look bloody, then just swapped them out whenever it's appropriate? There are a lot of variables that come into play and multiple weapons are probably way too ungainly to be practical. Personally, I don't think blooded weapons are ever really worth it unless the script is incredibly explicit about it and if not having it would be distracting. Audiences are more than capable of imagining blood. As for staging fights, I'm going to belabor this point because it's so important not to. If you're not trained in stage violence please, please don't try to choreograph it yourself. Even the 'simple' stuff has the potential to be incredibly dangerous. Even grabbing and twisting an arm has the potential for injury. Simple stuff like that might not need full violence choreography, but you need to go slowly and gently at first. Frankly, even for something as straightforward as that, it's not a bad idea to have someone look at it for you. It's often not terribly difficult stuff, but there's a right way to do it and there are a lot of really simple ways to do it wrong and to hurt yourself. All that said, if you ever have a chance to learn stage violence, jump at it. It's so much fun and a lot of it turns out to be really useful off stage too (everyone should learn how to do sit falls.)
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Apr 19, 2012 16:17
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Almost any decent folding knife can be made into a prop knife by replacing the blade with either aluminum, hard rubber or even frosted lexan. It does take some skill to make and fit the blade however. Benchmade also makes training knives for some of their more popular lines but they are expensive. Knifecenter.com sells them.
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Apr 20, 2012 02:56
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Burger Crime posted:So I have been thinking about starting a new more formal theatre thread. That acting section is very American-centric but since we all seem to be Americans in here I guess that's okay. Put in some clips from Waiting for Guffman too.
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Apr 20, 2012 17:18
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