(td)squared

As a new comer to the design world for theatre, I feel that I’ve learned as much as I could have throughout this semester of design seminar. When I arrived to the first class of the semester all I could think was, ‘What have I got myself into?’. It wasn’t until a few nights ago when I realized that not only have I learned how to paint a hell of a lot better, but I’ve also learned how to reupholster furniture, how to make plenty of props, how to alter images in photo shop, along with a number of other things. I found much of the process for working on Urinetown to be negative in the beginning, but by the end I realized how much I truly enjoyed working with the designers and other members of the Urinetown team. ‘No pain, no gain’ is what I should have gone into the process with, but it wasn’t. As a person who does most of pushing himself, I have trouble having others push me further. Without Dyan and Max I don’t think I would have had as positive of an experience. I can’t believe how much work really goes into these shows.

I guess my main message is thank you to everyone I had a chance to work with, and congratulations on a successful semester!

For the two Drama Theatre musicals next year I have been given the Make-Up Design position for both. Fortunately, this is a position that gives me the great advantage of working alongside the Costume Designer for each show. Since Rocky Horror Show is already scheduling production meetings, I’d like to discuss my efforts for collaborating and what that means as a designer.

First off, being a designer for a musical means being creative, and working well with other people’s ideas. Putting on a production, musical or not, is a collaborative effort. But, working as a Make-Up Designer, I have to work side by side with Costumes. If I choose make up that doesn’t suit the costume, then I have to start all over.

When working on a show it is crucial to be passionate about your work. Love your work. If you are submitting ideas that you don’t feel strongly about, you may be affecting another designer’s work and process. I must also remember to speak up if I want something in a design. The point of collaborating is being able to openly discuss opinions and ideas, while respecting those around you.

For Rocky Horror Show, Sarah and I have discussed in detail what we would like to convey in the show. We have agreed on time periods, inspiration images, and research; making sure that we are a team on this show. We have both discussed finding inspirations in David Bowie and Elton John, and discussed the importance of what the time period means to the text.

Our first design concept meeting is tomorrow, so many designs I have imagined may change by then; but making those first steps in creation is crucial to the design process.

All of the designers for Rocky Horror Show may have a long way to go from here, but judging by Sarah and mine’s commitment to helping one another; this show will have a strong collaborative effort done by all designers, assistants, technicians, and faculty.

Thanks guys!

Kiera

One of the most inspiring artists in my life is photographer, Joshua Hoffine. Hoffine’s work consists of horror photography and artistic representations of the grotesque & macabre. My fascination and appreciation for B horror films stem from my childhood obsession with fairy tales and science fiction. Most of my art work reflects this long-time love of mine, and Joshua Hoffine has inspired a lot of my work. His use of special effects make up has set a bar for me to reach as a professional designer one day.

I’ve included a video interview with him done at Festival of Fear, a video of him explaining his design process, and a link to his website as well. Please give him a look, but for those easily spooked, you may want to pass on some of his more…brutal shots. Regardless, I hope you all can appreciate his works as much as I have over the years.

http://www.joshuahoffine.com/#/1

Thanks guys!

Kiera

For the UB production of Urinetown: The Musical, I was placed in charge of working on projection for the Mr. Cladwell number. There were many things I learned about video as well as projection and live video effects. For the video sequence, I used a standard Sony DV camera with the video processing section of Qlab.  With Qlab we were able to take the video image and create two seperate “windows” of video on one screen. We also had to look at the type of projector and all of the attributes of the projector as well.  We eventually settled on a 10k lumen theatrical projector.

Here we are, at the end of the semester, and once again I am staring at a summer that will be jammed packed with work as an IATSE Local 121 stagehand.  In a lot of ways I am dreading the start of the season because it means my free time will dwindle down to the few hours I get to sleep between work, but at the same time I am excited for another summer of live event concerts, Artpark’s summer musical, and a nice inflation of my bank account.

Thankfully, I think that the strike for “Urinetown” did a lot to get me into the headspace for the season.  It was a long, grueling day where myself and other student spent covered in saw dust, arms sore from unscrewing thousands of screw from the set.

I woke up this morning the sorest I’ve been in many months, but at the same time I know it is only prelude to what will be the next four months for me.  And I can’t wait.  I hope everybody has a great, restful, relaxing summer…because I definitely won’t be.  But that’s ok, because even when this job beats you down, I still can’t help but love it.

And the money doesn’t hurt either.