ship said:
“Have been a tremendous resource to my continuing education and me.” That’s all well and fine for you but what about the purpose for the event?
The purpose of the show is to showcase the talents and abilities of the students of Glenbrook South High School, while providing them exposure to professional quality equipment and direction.
ship said:
Funny, York HS. out in a similar suburb didn’t have problems with selling out for similar shows and that’s before moving lights were invented. The I and me in your argument tells it all. This show is not about you if not on
stage, it’s as a show. A bout the performance and talent. That is why it’s a talent show and not a lighting/toy show. How many of those thousands that pack the seats would really come because of the lighting design and tech abilities of your school as a norm, much less as compared to what other schools could do as a tech only show. Your part is support staff, what do you think that means?
Whoa! No one said there was a problem selling seats! Even before we were the first high school to use automated lights we did not have a problem sellings seats. About 7 years ago the demand is so high the school started hosting a fourth night for the show.
ship said:
The I and me in your argument tells it all. This show is not about you if not on
stage, it’s as a show. A bout the performance and talent. That is why it’s a talent show and not a lighting/toy show............Your part is support staff, what do you think that means?
Somebody had a bad case of the Mondays.
Your are always supposed to take ownership of the production and what your job and duties are! I take pride in what I do, and I do my job well. More importantly I strive as part of the production staff to push myself and the student technicians to a new
level. A new
level through the appropiate use of technology, FX, and the theatrical arts. We showcase variety not just talent. Hell the show has a thread of multi-media sewn through out the production and used when appropriately.
ship said:
Perhaps there is a one in the million budding
lighting designer out there that does not have moving lights or other excellent backstage help that is still better in their God given ability than you are. ILC support or not, is the talent on
stage any better than the talent on
stage at your competing school to the South that you refrence?
The hits keep on coming! First of all I am not the LD. I work directly under this gentlemen and he has been doing this stuff professionally for over 21 years, just for this facility. Plus he maintains a freelance
carrier on the side. I have only been back here going on four years and have been doing theater for about 15 years now.
ship said:
ILC support or not, is the talent on
stage any better than the talent on
stage at your competing school to the South that you refrence?
Well the only school from the south that I have said disparaging things about would be Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Talent wise? Hmmmm. SIUC has the Majorie Opera company directed by my friend Tim Fink. So I would have to say that Tim's musical theater/opera program beats out the musical theater/choral work of our Merty Sirvatka. But Tim also has the advantage of maturity with the voices of the actors because of the age difference.
Without the MFA in acting I think the difference between a SIUC lead and a high school lead is really slight.
ship said:
I would hope that it in a talent show, it is not and thus no matter how UofI a
level your production is at, it’s still a question of bodies on
stage that is what matters and not the toys that are involved with making them shine.
Well we are an education facility and despite the fact that there are no theater tech classes we strive to challenge and expose the production staff as well as the student to available industry technology. So yes the presentation must win out over the process, but in education the ends does not justify the means.
ship said:
If it’s a dancing dog act, no matter how great the moving lights are at following the dogs, it’s still a dog act. I’m sure that such sidewalk
level talent in the show while up on
stage would be just as charged by any normal
stage lighting much less moving lights and the like in the end. That school to the south does not have a short coming, your school instead has one in that it’s tech people are spoiled.
Ouch!!! Well considering the fact that I went to SIUC and have a degree in Technical Production from SIUC. Let me tell ya that school has some short comings. A lot of the technical equipment short comings have been fixed with there remodeling two years ago, but undergraduate development is still an problem for a main
stage production. Undergraduate still equals Lab theater, unless of course there is a grad student who wants the job. I visit that school a lot since my wife is a graduate student there now. It has some great Tech theater people especially
Mark Varns, and Ron Naversen. The directing duo of Tim and Lori Fink are simply awesome.
But in ten years that department is on their third chair and only two professors are still there from when I started in '93. Now that as a whole does not say much about the school the college of liberal arts is on their fourth dean, the unversity is also on their 4 president, and 6 sixth chacellor. Oh and I almost forgot! They have serious labor issues with both the faculty and civil service unions and there was almost a
strike last academic year.
Spoiled!! Well yea, I will except that. I prefer blessed. But I rather have what I got and be blessed, then work with some of the crap equipment I have over the last 15 years. The people I work and collaborate with make the whole thing worth while. People at ILC, hell the CEO is in the neigboorhood, people at Accutrack Recording (that president is an SIUC alumni.), and the resident production staff at the high school are just great people.
I make and made no poor comments about ISU. I know a few professors there that were grad/undergrads during my time at SIUC and they have told me ISU has a good program. I hope ISU and SIU are being confused in this discussion, even though they are arch rivals in NCAA
play. Gerrr!
ship said:
I still say your eyes are backstage tech person blinded. Talent shows are from hell and one step similar to Irish Step Dancers. One day you will work above the ILC
level of corporate or infrequent rock production. Be glad you have as tight a link with them as you do, but don’t think that is the total production because even the high quality staff there when teching the show see it as just a high school talent show that’s only one step parallel to step dancers.
Well next time I see Scott Falbe I will ask my fellow Glenview resident what he thinks. I can say this I reccomend ILC everytime a friend mine working a traveling show in the Chi-Town area, and every school district that needs to replace lights I
send them that way. I helped hooked up Delnor with ILC. And to a certain degree your right even in college a lot of people scuffed and said, "Only a High School Production." But they were all silenced and I was fast tracked with regard to production work, once they saw my portfolio., and letter from our resident TD/LD/SD.
ship said:
....No offense about ILC, they do good work but are not on a national
level for doing a huge job.......
This list serve is about people trying to
break in at the
ground floor and who are looking for contacts, contections, and advice. I have found ILC to be great! If National
level you mean buying instruments I say check your local prices. But I tell you what if I need a supplier in Tiffin Ohio, I will
call ILC for a reference. ILC supplies Oprah with lights. You need friends in this business and you need friends that come highly recommend even more. ILC and Accutrack Recordings and Sound are high on my list, and internships are sometime available.
ship said:
....Your experience is good and notable, you are very qualified to even skip college - not a smart idea but one that could easily pay off, but you still need to learn the place of toys verses performance.
Well thanks for that. I would not be where I am here if it was not for my college years. I could have made a better choice of school, but then again I would not have met my wonderful wife. Today it is my job to observe and
monitor all production and share thoughts, feelings, and opinions. That is my job as a memebr of the production staff.
If this was fall 1993 I would agree with you 100%. Ten years ago my prduction work removed me from the actors to certain degree. I was not always concerned with what was happening on
stage as much as what I needed to do when the lights went dark.
ship said:
Master and stick with the normal lighting for a few years, than tell me about how great your show is with toys such as
pyro or moving lights. Than, I'll
send you back to conventionals until you know what you are talking about.
Well thanks for the
call down from Mount Olympus.
Conventional or static instruments will be around and useful for quite a while. But conventions and coferences like the automated lights for flexability and amount of labor time saved. Innovation drives this industry, and the automated lights are becoming more inexpensive and available.
As professional theater technician and a professional computer technician let me say learn the technology as well as the basics. If you can handle both then there will be a lot more opportunites for you down the
road and in college. Also
network with people. Get the names of vendors and products that people use and like or swear by. Learn from the plight of others and collaborate.