Return-Path: X-Scanned-By: RAE MPP/Clamd http://raeinternet.com/mpp X-Scanned-By: This message was scanned by MPP Lite Edition (www.messagepartners.com)! X-Real-To: stagecraftlist [at] theatrical.net Received: by prxy.net (CommuniGate Pro PIPE 4.2.10) with PIPE id 22422532; Mon, 16 May 2005 03:00:29 -0700 X-ListServer: CommuniGate Pro LIST 4.2.10 List-Unsubscribe: List-ID: Message-ID: From: "Stagecraft" Sender: "Stagecraft" To: "Stagecraft" Precedence: list Subject: Stagecraft Digest #398 Date: Mon, 16 May 2005 03:00:20 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Disposition: inline X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.3 (2005-04-27) on prxy.net X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-5.6 required=5.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.3 X-TFF-CGPSA-Version: 1.4f2 X-prxy-Spam-Filter: Scanned For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see --------------------------------------------------- Stagecraft Digest, Issue #398 1. Provocative comments on McCandless by "RICHARD FINKELSTEIN" 2. Re: Provocative comments on McCandless by "Dr. Randall W.A. Davidson" 3. students designing of faculty productions etc by "Dave Tosti-Lane" 4. Re: students designing of faculty productions etc. by Mike Benonis 5. Re: students designing of faculty productions etc. by "Jonathan S. Deull" 6. Re: students designing of faculty productions etc. by "Zirngibl, Ryan John" 7. Re: Disney Jobs Enquiry by StevevETTrn [at] aol.com 8. Source for Switches by "Andy Leviss" *** Please update the subject line of your reply to use the subject *** line of the message you are replying to! Please only reply to *** one message subject in each reply. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: From: "RICHARD FINKELSTEIN" Subject: Provocative comments on McCandless Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 08:56:18 -0400 I feel that I was set straight on Stanley McCandless starting with a conversation with Oren Parker in 1976. I was in Oren's office and complained how stupid Stanley McCandless was. I was likely thinking about that ol' formula: 2 45deg angle lights, one blue and one yellow. Indeed a lot of bad lighting was done in the name of this... But this is NOT the innovation of McCandless. While people do place proper emphasis on the first word of his book, "A Method of Lighting the Stage", the real innovation of McCandless comes with the SECOND word, METHOD. Before McCandless, lighting was a matter of being how the spirit drove the designer. What McCandless did was to postulate that lighting should be a matter of analysis followed by formulation of a methodology designed to achieve the results determined through the analysis. So, all you folks that claim to "hate McCandless" or to claim that he is "out of date". Does this mean that you disagree with his central postulation, that lighting should come from analysis and methodology? This argument, that I first heard those years ago from Parker, really opened my eyes. Within his OWN methodology, McCandless also invented the concept of dividing the stage into discrete areas. Even designers who do not practice "area lighting" on some level of their plan, most likely do pracice some variation of zone lighting, which still follows McCandless' theory of dividing the stage into manageable units for analysis and application. A Third area of McCandless innovation came in the concept of separation of lighting by function. The light that is best for lighting scenery may not be of the most appropriate quality to light performers. Hey! Isn't this now universally accepted theory? A fourth area of innovation I feel comes from the analytical process. While I agree that some of the application was crude (the yellow vs blue thing) McCandless was clearly applying an understanding of lighting from nature and the fine arts to the stage in his understanding of lighting from a key and a fill perspective along with an understanding of how coloration in nature differs. In this he also showed an understanding of application of such fine arts lighting concepts as arial perspective and advancing/receding colors. All of these uses of form and color of light as a sculptural element are standard in both film and photography, and I dare say in theatre as well, in no small part (in the theatre arena) to Mr. McCandless. And now a tale of two teachers, many of you knew one and a good core of listers know the other. My two university teachers in the 1970s were Klaus Holm in undergraduate school, and Bill Nelson in Grad school. BOTH were educated by McCandless himself. But when I would return to Wilkes-Barre PA to report to Klaus about what Bill was teaching, Klaus would be horrified. "NO! McCandless did NOT think you should light that way". I was able to figure out this paradoxical disagreement amongst McCandless students through an understanding of the schism in students of the founder of another theatre art, modern realistic acting, Stanislavski. As in the case of the Stanislavski students who became teachers, the early ones were literalists while the master teacher himself moved on to a greatly refined understanding of the art. Bill Nelson had studied with McCandless far earlier than had Klaus Holm. I postulate that it took some decades before the true impact of McCandless' research was understood even by McCandless himself. It is NOT about lousy blue and amber front lighting, but rather a realization that good lighting can only come from an effective analysis and formulation of methodology to realize the promise in that analysis. And again I say that is exactly the state of the art today, thanks in large part to the pioneering vision of Stanley McCandless who provided a vision that can be achieved through an infinite number of paths. ------------------------------ From: "Dr. Randall W.A. Davidson" Subject: RE: Provocative comments on McCandless Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 06:32:01 -0700 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Richard: thank you so much. Incredibly enlightening .. oops. doom -- Dr. Randall W.A. Davidson, Risk International & Associates, Inc. - www.riskit.com Latest workshops for Educational and Entertainment Industry Performing Arts Personnel (Riggers, and Public Assembly and Educational Technicians) www.riskit.com/workshops International Secondary Education Theater Safety Association (ISETSA) - www.isetsa.org -----Original Message----- From: Stagecraft [mailto:stagecraft [at] theatrical.net] On Behalf Of RICHARD FINKELSTEIN Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2005 5:56 AM To: Stagecraft Subject: Provocative comments on McCandless For info, archives & UNSUBSCRIBE, see --------------------------------------------------- I feel that I was set straight on Stanley McCandless starting with a conversation with Oren Parker in 1976. I was in Oren's office and complained how stupid Stanley McCandless was. I was likely thinking about that ol' formula: 2 45deg angle lights, one blue and one yellow. Indeed a lot of bad lighting was done in the name of this... But this is NOT the innovation of McCandless. While people do place proper emphasis on the first word of his book, "A Method of Lighting the Stage", the real innovation of McCandless comes with the SECOND word, METHOD. Before McCandless, lighting was a matter of being how the spirit drove the designer. What McCandless did was to postulate that lighting should be a matter of analysis followed by formulation of a methodology designed to achieve the results determined through the analysis. So, all you folks that claim to "hate McCandless" or to claim that he is "out of date". Does this mean that you disagree with his central postulation, that lighting should come from analysis and methodology? This argument, that I first heard those years ago from Parker, really opened my eyes. Within his OWN methodology, McCandless also invented the concept of dividing the stage into discrete areas. Even designers who do not practice "area lighting" on some level of their plan, most likely do pracice some variation of zone lighting, which still follows McCandless' theory of dividing the stage into manageable units for analysis and application. A Third area of McCandless innovation came in the concept of separation of lighting by function. The light that is best for lighting scenery may not be of the most appropriate quality to light performers. Hey! Isn't this now universally accepted theory? A fourth area of innovation I feel comes from the analytical process. While I agree that some of the application was crude (the yellow vs blue thing) McCandless was clearly applying an understanding of lighting from nature and the fine arts to the stage in his understanding of lighting from a key and a fill perspective along with an understanding of how coloration in nature differs. In this he also showed an understanding of application of such fine arts lighting concepts as arial perspective and advancing/receding colors. All of these uses of form and color of light as a sculptural element are standard in both film and photography, and I dare say in theatre as well, in no small part (in the theatre arena) to Mr. McCandless. And now a tale of two teachers, many of you knew one and a good core of listers know the other. My two university teachers in the 1970s were Klaus Holm in undergraduate school, and Bill Nelson in Grad school. BOTH were educated by McCandless himself. But when I would return to Wilkes-Barre PA to report to Klaus about what Bill was teaching, Klaus would be horrified. "NO! McCandless did NOT think you should light that way". I was able to figure out this paradoxical disagreement amongst McCandless students through an understanding of the schism in students of the founder of another theatre art, modern realistic acting, Stanislavski. As in the case of the Stanislavski students who became teachers, the early ones were literalists while the master teacher himself moved on to a greatly refined understanding of the art. Bill Nelson had studied with McCandless far earlier than had Klaus Holm. I postulate that it took some decades before the true impact of McCandless' research was understood even by McCandless himself. It is NOT about lousy blue and amber front lighting, but rather a realization that good lighting can only come from an effective analysis and formulation of methodology to realize the promise in that analysis. And again I say that is exactly the state of the art today, thanks in large part to the pioneering vision of Stanley McCandless who provided a vision that can be achieved through an infinite number of paths. ------------------------------ Subject: students designing of faculty productions etc Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 10:54:48 -0700 Message-ID: <4F817A7A53C7F448BF62014A3A91B1C00177EF55 [at] sasha.cornish.edu> From: "Dave Tosti-Lane" ********************* From: "RICHARD FINKELSTEIN" successful, and they also have to be a very giving teacher. Some = directors fit this bill but again, many are into teaching to RECEIVE love, not to = give it. Forcing a relationship can become a BIG problem. ********************************** Excellent point - and sadly true. I'm happy to say we don't find this = to be a problem often here, but we have, on only two occasions, notified = the Theater department that we would no longer support any show directed = by a specific individual. In both cases, the question was moot because = the Theater Chair had come to the same conclusion - the individuals in = question were not really any more supportive of the actors than they = were of the designers and tech staff. But - the experience of working with a disfunctional director is rarely = a total loss for the student. It requires a lot more support from the = mentor, but it's an experience they'll have at some point anyway. ************************************* 2. An interesting ironical twist on this. So many of you (mostly the powerful MFA type schools) correctly relate that most to all shows on = your mainstage are designed by students. That's actually common. But ponder = this: Why then aren't students DIRECTING on the Main Stage??? ************************************* In an MFA program, that's a good question (they did when I was in grad = school). In a BFA program, I think it's less likely that the student = would be ready to take on the full scope of a director's work. We have = had student directors here for what we call "studio" productions - in = reality they are produced almost as fully as mainstages, they just have = smaller budgets. But, for the Main Stage productions, the director is a _teacher_ first - = if we had an MFA program (we're BFA only), then I think an advanced MFA = candidate directing student could probably handle that - I don't think = even an advanced BFA candidate is going to have the depth to fill that = bill. We do frequently have student Assistant Directors. *********************************** 3. Another irony, that applies less to BFA/MFA programs involves this terrible misuse of the word "Professional" in the academic world of = theatre. My thoughts are that the word has been rendered meaningless. If every highschool out there is doing "professional theatre" what after = all is the value of good schools claiming to be in the same camp? A school's reputation is determined by the aftermath, where students go beyond the school, and therein lies the reward. And there is no shame in a school admitting to be......a school! ********************************** This is really a great point Richard. It goes beyond the official use - = we sometimes hear students saying "so and so just didn't have a = professional attitude" - usually applied to an instructor who they = didn't care for. When I've asked them to define what they mean by = "professional", the terms are usually vague and largely unrelated to any = formal definition of the word. What they usually mean is "They didn't = think I was the most advanced student/designer/board operator/stage = manager/ they've ever seen", or "They didn't sufficiently praise me for = doing the minimum work necessary to get by". I think that highschools and some college departments use the word = because they've learned that school boards and trustees expect to hear = it, and funding can be negatively impacted if it isn't in there. It's = one of the buzz words that funding bodies are programmed to react = positively to. Dave Tosti-Lane Chair Performance Production,=20 Cornish College of the Arts www.cornish.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 15:32:01 -0400 Subject: Re: students designing of faculty productions etc. From: Mike Benonis Message-ID: In-Reply-To: On 5/14/05 10:36 PM, "RICHARD FINKELSTEIN" wrote: > Wow, actually there are a LOT of issues opened here! > > 1. On this specific topic, it is indeed how astonishingly fearful many > University faculty directors are. I always think of Prime of Miss Brodie. > These "teachers" are often in it to be "loved". Theaching to them is > therapy. > > This brings me to the tough part of the issue. When one is dealing with one > of these academic/paranoid types of directors one can get into trouble. If > they do not feel that it would be wise to use a student designer BEWARE. > The director may either consciously or not sabotage the efforts of this > student! I have seen some tragic results. Alas a faculty member must really > be eager to partner and mentor a student for the relationship to be > successful, and they also have to be a very giving teacher. Some directors > fit this bill but again, many are into teaching to RECEIVE love, not to give > it. Forcing a relationship can become a BIG problem. > > 2. An interesting ironical twist on this. So many of you (mostly the > powerful MFA type schools) correctly relate that most to all shows on your > mainstage are designed by students. That's actually common. But ponder this: > Why then aren't students DIRECTING on the Main Stage??? Although we are a high school and not a university, I consider our school's drama department to be very fortunate. Our director is always willing to let students learn theatre by designing and directing, and not by watching him do his job. At our school, students design the lighting and sound for all shows. For our winter one-act festival, all of the one-acts are directed by students, and the festival is produced by a student as well. During this particular show, our drama director's role is that of a baby-sitter in essence. Finally, during our spring musical, the choreography, lighting, sound, and much of the background acting (such as how the ensemble is acting during a scene) are student-directed/designed, and the assistant director and producer is a student as well. I just hope that the director(s) I work with at college are as willing to give as many opportunities to students as our high school director is. Best regards, -Mike Benonis Senior and Sound Designer/Technician Stone Bridge High School 43100 Hay Road Ashburn, VA 20147 (703) 779-8900 ------------------------------ From: "Jonathan S. Deull" Subject: RE: students designing of faculty productions etc. Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 16:44:03 -0400 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Good thread. I really appreciate Richard's thoughtful comments. Back in the day (mid-70's, Wesleyan University), there were up to four major faculty-directed mainstage shows per year which were usually, although not always, faculty-designed. The directors got to choose the designers they wanted to work with, and that was occasionally a student. There were also a number of other department-produced mainstage shows which were directed and/or designed by students -- usually as honors thesis projects. Then there was Second Stage, the student-run theatre with student designed and directed productions every week. For me as a student, there was great value both in having the opportunity to direct and design, and in watching "professionals" in action. There is much to be learned from the "demonstration effect." This is very different from having someone tell you how it is done in a classroom or in a book. It is also different from doing it yourself. This is why the position of AD or stage manager in one of the faculty-directed shows was a plum. You got to be even more on the inside, in a position to watch close up the creative and production process that very talented and experienced people go through. Then, fortunately, there were lots of opportunities to apply that learning. I don't know if it is still true today, but I think it is safe to say that when I was there, any "serious" student who demonstrated the chops could have a shot at enough actual design work to keep them quite busy. At the high school level where I am now teaching, we generally design collaboratively, with a small group of kids working on the design and me providing guidance, coaching and intervention when necessary. In our case it is much more than "babysitting." It would be a misrepresentation to say that the kids fully design the show, but they do fully participate in the design, and hopefully understand the rationale for every design decision. Jonathan Deull Edmund Burke School Washington, DC ------------------------------ Subject: RE: students designing of faculty productions etc. Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 16:16:54 -0500 Message-ID: <5CF1C3D95785A143A3E33ACFD864609B03834580 [at] PEPSI.uwec.edu> From: "Zirngibl, Ryan John" =20 I've been really enjoying this thread from the perspective of a BA Student who is interested in designing. I thought I'd tell you a little about the way UW-Eau Claire approaches student designers because I'm actually quite happy with it. All designers are first of all required to take a class in the type of design they want to do (costume, scenic, lighting,...) then they are also required to do practicum work, for scenic design you need to have done properties for a show and also assistant scenic designed a show (for lighting you have to master electrician one and assistant design one). Then after you have those prerequisites done you have to submit a resume and letter of application for any shows you may wish to design and those applications are due the spring before a particular season starts. From there the faculty discusses whether a student has the abilities and shows the drive to be able to take on the responsibilities then finally accept or reject the application. =20 The system seems to work well, I was lucky enough that the faculty accepted my application and I got the position I wanted, but there was one student this year who was not given the position they wanted because of their inability to prove they were up to the point they needed to be at to pull off a full production. Now that I have this position (which is for the first show next season, so we are starting production meetings already this week) I feel like I am in the role of a true designer, not someone who is just being dictated what to do or anything of that nature, of course I run into questions along the way, so I have my advisor who I can consult and get input from any time I need it. Although I have a number of opportunities in the surrounding community to design I'm not sure I'd stay at this school if I didn't know that I at least had the opportunity to design here too. Here I have more guidance so I feel I am getting a stronger, more clean technique for designing and for learning how to vocalize my ideas to a production team. For this reason I'd urge any school BA, BFA, MA, MFA -whatever to not only allow students to design, but to push them and encourage them to do it, there is a certain amount of inspiration that can only come from an academic mentor that will help fill a student with the drive to work to become the absolute best they can be at what they want to do. Ryan J. Zirngibl UW-Eau Claire Student-Theatre Arts Scenic Designer ------------------------------ From: StevevETTrn [at] aol.com Message-ID: <1e6.3bcc13fc.2fb940d6 [at] aol.com> Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 20:18:30 EDT Subject: Re: Disney Jobs Enquiry >deeming.tony writes: >the questions are: >How does she best go about looking for short term employment as a tech for >Uncle Walt's team? There is an internship program at WDW in general and also at WD Entertainment in particular. The recruiting typically takes place at colleges in the U.S.A. for Winter, Spring and Summer terms. Interning as a Stage Technician is an option that is handled by the Human Resources Department, Representative for Entertainment. >What basic stuff does she have to look to get to work in the US (Green card etc) In this new era of "Homeland Security," I am not sure what hoops she would have to jump through. It used to be rather simple to get a student visa. The Human Resources personnel would be up on all of the latest requirements. Disney still brings _many_ young people in from overseas to staff the various national pavilions at EPCOT so it is not an insurmountable hurdle. >and what qualifications would WDW in particular insist on? For a student intern, the primary qualification is to be in a theatre program and have a good aptitude and attitude (knowledgeable, outgoing, sparkling personality, etc.). >What about union? Is it a closed shop, or would she not be eligible as a foreign worker? Not really an issue for an intern. There are some specific tasks that a student may not perform (pyrotechnics for example) and an intern cannot supplant a regular worker. The intern is always an extra crew member. Depending on the individual's technical skills and their ability to communicate a willingness to learn, an intern will have the chance to try out many different show positions as they rotate through each of the four Florida Theme Parks. >What sort of openings are there and are they high-turnaround sort of jobs? Disney has had a good number of interns return to work with us full time after they complete their studies. Historically, there has not been a high turnover in stage techs. Expansion has resulted in many new opportunities over the past 16 years. The range of tech jobs is quite wide. A specialty is expected but the ability to cover many different roles is also expected. Audio, Lighting, Properties, Pyrotechnics, Lasers, Video, and Projection are common positions but very often these are performed in uncommon circumstances. A typical show may be performed six times a day for 365 days a year and run for 5 years or more. There are also many single performance events that go through a fast production cycle. Press Events (this past May 5 comes to mind), special events and park wide parties (like Grad Nites) help to keep things interesting. There is also a nonstop parade of convention shows, exhibits and meetings that take place in over 5 Disney World Resort Hotels with Convention facilities. >Are there specific trade publications that are available (preferably UK, unless someone can post them over to me) that list job openings? She'd be looking at starting some >time Summer 2006 onwards. There is a Walt Disney Attractions office in the UK. I would recommend that you try to contact them first. If you would like the name of a Florida contact, please write to me off list. >What other questions have I NOT asked on her behalf that need answering? What about inquires into positions at Disneyland Paris? It is very likely that she could find an opening there that would not involve as much red tape and travel expense. The UK office will have details on the application process. Kind Regards, Steve Vanciel Lighting and Rigging Production Planner Disney Event Group Florida ------------------------------ From: "Andy Leviss" Subject: Source for Switches Date: Mon, 16 May 2005 02:36:00 -0400 Organization: Duck's Echo Sound Message-ID: <001701c559e1$86461260$30012a0a [at] AndyLeviss> Hey gang, 'm trying to find small momentary pushbutton (normally open, SPST) switches for a small project I'm working on. I'd like to find ones similar in style to ones I've found at RadioShack, but more durable (unless somebody can assure me that I actually can rely on Radio Shack switches, and that my worry is unjustified). Think a small box that's going to be tossed around a bit on a typical arena/theatre tour. The ones I'm looking at from Rat Shack are these: http://tinyurl.com/azbo9 I'm looking for something reasonably priced, and especially low-profile; all the ones I've found in an hour or so of online searching are much higher profile, or just generally look "unfinished", having a threaded shaft that extends from under the surface, and are inserted from the inside the enclosure and then fastened with a nut from the outside; the ones above have a collar around the switch and insert from the outside of the enclosure and fastened with a nut on the inside, resulting in a more professional looking finished product. Darned if the only place I can find something like that is at Radio Shack, but I know they have to be out there somewhere! Any help would be appreciated! Thanks, Andy -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.11.8 - Release Date: 5/10/2005 ------------------------------ End of Stagecraft Digest #398 *****************************