March 2nd

Let's see if this stays consistent this time. I basically did the same as I did last night. Worked on my designer book for the freshman showcase, and read through Neighborhood Three and scribbled some stuff down in my sketchbook about what I got from the play. The main thing that struck me about the piece was how drawn I was to the idea of the way video games are lit.
For example, in the ones that attempt to be realistic they have lighting sources (lamps, streetlights, the like) but they often get misplaced, and make the characters very shadowy and awkwardly lit. However, in the less complicated games, the often just light everything equally and fill in shadow where they need to. What this translates to, I'm not sure exactly, but it's a start to something.
Another thing that made me think about the piece, is how in video games (at least the ones that are third person viewed) you often have a problem of camera angles. The camera is never quite in the right position to view what the player needs to see. Also, the camera will get 'stuck' to walls and won't move, creating awkwardly tense situations for the player.

These are just my thoughts after the first read through.

PG 100 because I participated heavily in that little discussion about American history between the 1940's and 1960's. Thank you.

March 1st

Scary that it's March already. Hard to think that I'll be in college in four months. Really worrysome is the fact that I've probably gotten myself into more than I can handle again. Four designs and stage managing, but all's well. I'll manage. So that's my journal. As well as the work I did tonight on my design book.

I deserve a 100 because I educated two freshmen in how to do a rehearsal report today

So it begins, yet again.

Damn this being out of production. For my journal tonight, my first impressions and the beginnings of the given circumstances for one of the freshman showcase pieces, Napkin.

First impressions

• coming in midmoment
• Stupor? - Lethargic, dazed
• Brenda is the smarter of the two
• Pissed off at upper managment of company
• just got fired
• major city dwellers
• Graduate degrees?
• 20's somewhere
• business people
• bar; not dank rustic bar, but a clean, modern, not very well lit bar
• looking for a distraction from firing
• ideas of grandeur
• upper-middle class

Given Circumstances

• Just got fired
• major american city
• coworkers, personal friends
• known each other for a while
• in a bar
• trying to forget what happened
  

Pg - 100. i deserve this 100 for doing my very best to participate in the history discussion while trying not to give to much to the freshman. Granted, i failed, but at least i participated.

November 19th

Wow. It's been quite a day. No rehearsal, but in it's place, running a class! Of freshman! I only kid. The youngins were great, and I only had two moments of, "I may slash some throats." But yea, we did a 10 minute SOC (which their wrists hated me for) and then we read them, and I got Deshauna to read hers. A bit of a breakthrough, I think. After that we did a little improve class. We started with the freeze scene game, but that got too loud (if they complain about that tomorrow, my bad), so then we moved onto bus stop. I noticed that Ari is really a clown, John has a great sense of character, and Lexii has great character as well. I also noticed that Veronika may have a serious problem being on stage as a character, because she had a serious problem staying with the scene. But then again, this may have been my fault cause I didn't explain the game all too well to them, but oh well, no serious harm done. If anything, making them add character could be step two of the exercise. Oh, and I finished the rep plot, which you should look at tomorrow, so I can get hanging for cleo, because she's gonna need a different light plot for her show in December. And this is all why I deserve a 100. Just to summerize and let me gloat a little bit, I took 15 freshies and did things with them by myself because all of the other seniors suck. Ass.

November 10th

Alright, so the last couple days have taught me quite a bit about both myself, and the thing that I want to do. Why one may ask? Because we've been teching for 2 days for this show and feel a little over my head. I'll be fine, and I'll pull through, but it's strange not having that buffer of a teacher, or me being a student between me and the professional that I'm working with. Cleo is trying to serve as that buffer, but I think her and Stuart have too much history for her to act in the same way. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but it's new, and I can now say that I know how it feels to be thrown something and expected it to be completed 100% on my own.

But anywho, I deserve that 100 because of that situation I'm in above, and holding my own.

Oh, PS - That guy Brock, is actually really cool and really down to Earth. He really gets that things just don't appear at random, cough cough.

Oct 28th

Someday I'll learn to not do these at midnight. Today, is not that day.

So tonight I had a really good rehearsal. I started working with Javi as my Norman. He picked up basically everything that we'd worked on the first read through. I then tried to see what would happen if certain characters didn't exist in the situation, and played around with some improv games with them. They said this worked well for them. Sadly, we have some people problems, but I'm sorting through that with a calm, level head (noticing a trend here ;)?)

Oh, and hey, heres why I deserve a 100

What led me to my intended discipline at NYU has been the way I've lived my life for the past 3 years, and what I've done in that time. In that time I discovered theatre, and further discovered who I was as a person. For the past 3 years I've been serving as the technical director at my high school, as well as doing several design internships in, and outside, New York City. With this experience I have developed my skills in the technical field as far as I can without formal training in it. In addition to my technical skills, I have been exploring my interest in light design. Recently, I worked a concert for a friends band and was given artistic freedom with the light plot, and the usage of the lights. While I enjoyed the week of hanging and testing lights and the technical side of it, when it came to the day before and I began to playing with the lights I had hung in their first live rehearsal, I became smitten. I was furiously programming our light board with the dimmers that I knew off hand and made the trackpad my new best friend. I was swiping so fast that the worked in dust began to imprint itself into my finger.

yep, 2nd of 5 prompts. but suddenly I'm drawn to NYU. For some odd reason

Oct 27th

Well tonight was certainly an interesting experience. After helping Katelin tape out her ground plan, I left to go to dinner with my family. However, while on the drive home, I went to stop at a light and my brakes locked up in the car. I preceded to hydroplane 20-30 feet and hit the Audi in front of me, scratching and denting it's rear bumper. Upshot however, the girl who was driving the car happened to be an NYU graduate so I got some more inside information on the school. Oh, and I didn't get a ticket due to the limited damage, which means my insurance my not go up (crosses finger).

Anywho, as far as my participation grade is concerned, I deserve a 100 for two reasons. First, (ly) i located our copy of Uncle Vanya on 42nd St. Then, I curried my favor with paprota and obtain a cart, even though we didn't use it. Thanks, goodnight.


PS. and I continued writing that essay for NYU

Thumbing through the backstage handbook on the A train at 1:30 in the morning on my way home after a dry tech, I discovered the knot tying page. Looking at the rabbit in the knots made me slow down the way that I look at things. I had approached everything to that point with a frantic dedication that screamed at me, “Get this job done, no matter how it happens, get it done.” That rabbit made me realize that things need to get done the right way, and should be approached with a calm, level head.

This moment happened during an internship I had between my junior and senior years. I was working as an assistant set designer and had just been put up for the backstage manger position on the show. Naturally, when they informed me of this I initially was afraid of the responsibility that came with that on the show. When I found that page, my nerves calmed, and my pulse slowed. I began to list the props and set that needed attention for my pre-show checklist.

The italicized passage is the new part of the essay. Okay, now i say goodnight, dear friend.