College question

I am a high school senior who switched over to the dark side this past summer :) I have gotten involved with tech at school this fall and a local community theatre, and want to continue this in college. However, seeing as I don't really have much as far as a "portfolio" goes, what should I show/send to colleges to show my tech experience?
Also, are there any specific things I should look for in a college program? I am primarily interested in lighting/electrics. Thanks!
 
My recommendations are looking for programs with good staff, little or no graduate programs, good resources/renown, and that won't break the bank.

A lot of conservatories would be interested in drawings, paintings, sketches, and other artistic projects. If you want to go into the technical aspects, having examples of wiring you did, computer code you wrote or other stuff you made could help, but that side is much harder to do on a limited resume. Regardless, have a little of both.
 
My experience has been that very few undergrad programs expect any of their tech/design students to have portfolios coming in. Contact the department TD or lighting chair and explain your situation. I'm sure they'll suggest some great intro courses for you to start building your portfolio.
 
My experience has been that very few undergrad programs expect any of their tech/design students to have portfolios coming in. Contact the department TD or lighting chair and explain your situation. I'm sure they'll suggest some great intro courses for you to start building your portfolio.

Same here. Your undergraduate time is where you start actually building a portfolio. In fact, a lot of BFA programs have people whos job it is to help you make a good portfolio. I just applied to a BFA program and there were 0 questions involving a real portfolio, just a recommendation from someone who you have done work for. You dont probably have to actually send them anything unless they ask for it. Most of the time you just send them an application and say you want to do theater. Otherwise there would be a lot less of me around this forum, thats for sure (who knows, some people might like that...). I started doing theater in college, had absolutely no experience prior to getting a stagehand job. Worked my way up to lighting designer and head electrician for a theater company. If you like it, have passion and a will to learn, you will be fine.
 
Since you are so new to tech my advice is to try to find an undergrad program with the broadest training possible. With so little experience you don't really know which aspects of production you may love or hate. You may discover that although you liked working with sound in high school, your real passion is in props. A good broad program will give you that experience to find that out.

My personal rant in this area is to ignore the big name programs and look at schools that are smaller with great faculty. You don't want to go off to a huge program and get lost behind all the people who have been doing tech a long time. A smaller program (even if it isn't "top ranked) would give you more opportunities to work on shows and be a known name to faculty. Here in Washington state, I encourage all my students to consider Central Washington University. It's a small program, in a small town. It's not on most people's radar. It's not a prestigious private school, it's a lesser known state school. That freaks out a lot of people who are worried about the name of the university on their diploma. However the program has amazing faculty and students who go there will get to work regularly on lots of shows, with constant faculty interaction. Unlike most professions, Ten years from now, no one will care where you went to school, they will want to know what you have done since college. A smaller less known school with a really great faculty will give you more hands on training and more opportunities to work on shows. In this industry, that's far more important than saying I went to an expensive private university with an amazing reputation.
 
Thanks everyone for all of the information. Hearing that I don't necessarily need a detailed portfolio at this point helped me relax!
After looking through some of the threads and talking to people, I have a few other questions:

Since I'm not looking for a conservatory type program (I want to be able to try a bit of everything to get exposure to things I haven't tried yet), a school with a general D/T major would be better than one with a department-specific degree (like lighting or costuming), yes?

As far as the portfolio situation goes, some schools are asking for an interview with a portfolio review. Since I have minimal experience, would it be good to use what I have from the shows I've done tech for so far, and then include things like photography and images of things I've built (not theatre related, but woodworking at school)? Also, would it be useful to put any other theatre experience on a resume in there (for now), as a conversation point to tell how I got where I am now?

Big schools vs. small schools - I am definitely looking for a bigger school (not necessarily a big theatre program, not sure if those go together exclusively), not really concerned about going to a "big name" school, but I AM looking for a school on the southeast coast (VA to FL). Any suggestions?

:)
 
Since I'm not looking for a conservatory type program (I want to be able to try a bit of everything to get exposure to things I haven't tried yet), a school with a general D/T major would be better than one with a department-specific degree (like lighting or costuming), yes?
I would say that most of us around here believe that it is better to wait a while before you specialize in college. If you go into school saying all I want to do is lighting you are going to be a far less valuable employee in the future than one who also has experience doing sound and scenery. It will be much harder for you to find consistent work after school if you are too focused on only one aspect of production.

Personally I would advise you to spend the first two years of college experimenting as much as possible. Then focus for your last two years. Even then it is best if you still dabble a bit in other elements of theater. Also be sure that you keep doing tech work outside of school in a community theater, get a job in a rental shop coiling cable, and of course find summer stock work The connections you build in the industry, outside of school, are just as important if not more important than the degree you get.

As far as the portfolio situation goes, some schools are asking for an interview with a portfolio review. Since I have minimal experience, would it be good to use what I have from the shows I've done tech for so far, and then include things like photography and images of things I've built (not theatre related, but woodworking at school)? Also, would it be useful to put any other theatre experience on a resume in there (for now), as a conversation point to tell how I got where I am now?
In the future, take pictures of everything you do in theater. As for your current situation, definitely take in anything that relates to a basic theater skill. For example do you have experience in carpentry, repairing things, computers, software programming, electrical work, sailing, sewing, rock climbing, installing a car stereo or a nice home theater system, editing home movies.
 
As far as the portfolio situation goes, some schools are asking for an interview with a portfolio review. Since I have minimal experience, would it be good to use what I have from the shows I've done tech for so far, and then include things like photography and images of things I've built (not theatre related, but woodworking at school)? Also, would it be useful to put any other theatre experience on a resume in there (for now), as a conversation point to tell how I got where I am now?

Anything you have ever touched that pertains to your artistic eye (drawings, photography, paintings, sculpture, a room you have designed, etc) should be included. Anything that shows you are an organized person should be included. Finally, anything that shows you have some mechanical aptitude should be included. Most importantly, show them you have a good personality.

No college expects you to be perfect. In fact, they don't want you to be perfect. If you knew everything, you would just start working now. They are looking for a good shell. You can't teach someone to have an artistic eye, mechanical aptitude, or organization. You can try, but you start with it they can really take you far. Good luck. Don't freak out. Show them that you are a person that they want to spend the next four years with.
 
A big thumbs up to what Footer said, PLUS... make sure you show you are a team player, someone eager to take instruction and learn from criticism, and most importantly not a know it all. You are a hard worker eager to learn every day and in every way.
 

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