When I was about three years old, my mom saw me pulling at my skin on the top of my wrist. In what I imagine was a bit of fear, she asked me what I was doing, and I'm reported to have said "I want to see what's inside." The result of this was my parents buying me a book about the human body that had film layers of the skin, muscles, organs, veins/arteries, nerves, and skeleton. I think I still have it in my room somewhere.
Needless to say, I wanted to be a doctor as a child. We all know that that isn't the case now, but my interest in the medical world never faded. Some of my fondest memories of high school summers are from the week I spent at Appalachian State University at an anatomy/physiology program in which we worked with (human) medical cadavers. It was a bit of a strange thing for a rising 10th grader interested in the arts to do, but I loved every second spent in lab and lecture.
I know I'm not cut out for changing to be a pre-med or nursing student, but what I do know is that I don't want to look back and see that I did nothing with a dream and interest that I've had as long as I can remember. So, after a lot of thought, I am proud to say that I just completed the application for the local volunteer ambulance corps. If things go my way, I will spend the summer becoming an EMT-Basic or at least a first responder.
I'm really excited to be taking this step toward doing something related to what I dreamed I would as a child, and I'll probably post more about it as I find out more. That's all I have to say about it now.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Friday, March 13, 2015
Catching Up: Everything of Importance Since Mid-Novemeber
As this title might lead you to believe, this is going to be quite the post.
On a less academic front, as I mentioned in my previous post, I am an understudy in Alpha Psi Omega, the National Theatre Honors Society, which has been a goal since freshman year. This was only made better when the big/little reveals were made, and it is one of my best friends, Brian, who is currently studying abroad in India.
Also as part of the course, I attended the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region 1. (KCACTF1, or just ACTF). I attended all the set and lighting design workshops that I could, and made a presentation on what I learned as well. I earned and A in the course, bringing my GPA to 2.836. The biggest thing I took away from the design work and ACTF is that scenic design is what I really want to do.
Also jTerm: I designed the costumes for our production of "The Actors Nightmare" by Christopher Durang. What I learned there is that I am not...cut out...to be a costume designer.
Also in Noah's world is #Concussion2k15. By the title, you can assume that I have a concussion and every thing is horrible. It happened 5 March and is just starting to clear up. Obviously, I'm well enough to write this. But what this also means is that I've been out of class since the 9th, aside from going to contemporary because we were doing Butterfly that day. I should be back in class on Tuesday. I'll have a lot of catching up to do over spring break.
Another really cool thing? I'm a design assistant on the main stage production of The Liar by Pierre Corneille, translated by David Ives. I'm working on making a library of images to use on the set. Even cooler is that I've been given a Freedman Prize for this. What that means is that I have a certain amount of money to put toward the project and will have a contingency prize at the end. What this also means is that I will be presenting my work at the scholar showcase on 8 May. Yes, on my birthday. My 21st birthday. What can you do.
End of Fall Semester
I finished the fall semester with a 3.243 GPA, by far the highest I've had. It brought my cumulative up to 2.795. Everything went well.On a less academic front, as I mentioned in my previous post, I am an understudy in Alpha Psi Omega, the National Theatre Honors Society, which has been a goal since freshman year. This was only made better when the big/little reveals were made, and it is one of my best friends, Brian, who is currently studying abroad in India.
Winter Break
This winter break was absolutely fantastic. I got to work with Broadway Training Center (where I was a student from 2007-12) on their Gala production of Boeing Boeing. It was a huge learning experience for me. I assisted with the building and painting of the set and ran the lights during the show, as well as some other odds and ends. It was so wonderful to be able to work with some of my favourite people.jTerm
This jTerm, I did a directed study in set design. We have normally-offered courses called "Fundamentals of Theatrical Design" (which I took last spring) and "Advanced Lighting and Design" (which I will take a year from now). There is nothing in between, so my advisor and I decided to call the course "Intermediate Design". I worked independently on a total of four designs for M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang. You can read more about what I did here.Also as part of the course, I attended the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region 1. (KCACTF1, or just ACTF). I attended all the set and lighting design workshops that I could, and made a presentation on what I learned as well. I earned and A in the course, bringing my GPA to 2.836. The biggest thing I took away from the design work and ACTF is that scenic design is what I really want to do.
Side note: Why do I care so much about GPA?
Well, I think I have a pretty good reason. To be inducted to the national for APO, I need at 3 by the last semester of my senior year. Also, I'd like to be in Sigma Tau Delta (English honours) as well, for which I need a 3.0 cumulative and a 3.4 in my English courses. All of that seems like it is on track to happen.Also jTerm: I designed the costumes for our production of "The Actors Nightmare" by Christopher Durang. What I learned there is that I am not...cut out...to be a costume designer.
Spring Term, so far.
Week five of the semester has just passed, and things are going great. I'm taking a geology lab (#LiberalArtsCollegeStudentProblems), as well as Intro to Literature, the last English course I need for the minor which isn't involved in the theatre major (the theatre major requires 4 dramatic literature courses, and the English minor needs 5 English courses plus Intro). I'm also taking Contemporary American Drama, which is greaat. The last play we covered was actually M. Butterfly. We've also looked at Clyborne Park and a few other cool plays. We will do The Laramie Project and Hedwig and the Angry Inch later in the semester, which I really look forward to.Also in Noah's world is #Concussion2k15. By the title, you can assume that I have a concussion and every thing is horrible. It happened 5 March and is just starting to clear up. Obviously, I'm well enough to write this. But what this also means is that I've been out of class since the 9th, aside from going to contemporary because we were doing Butterfly that day. I should be back in class on Tuesday. I'll have a lot of catching up to do over spring break.
Another really cool thing? I'm a design assistant on the main stage production of The Liar by Pierre Corneille, translated by David Ives. I'm working on making a library of images to use on the set. Even cooler is that I've been given a Freedman Prize for this. What that means is that I have a certain amount of money to put toward the project and will have a contingency prize at the end. What this also means is that I will be presenting my work at the scholar showcase on 8 May. Yes, on my birthday. My 21st birthday. What can you do.
I think that's really it, and you can look forward to a redesign of the blog soon!
Intermediate Design: M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang
This jTerm, I did a directed study in set design. We have normally-offered courses called "Fundamentals of Theatrical Design" (which I took last spring) and "Advanced Lighting and Design" (which I will take a year from now). There is nothing inbetween, so my advisor and I decided to call the course "Intermediate Design". I worked independently on a total of four designs for M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang. The challenge was to have the same design adapted to a larger (or smaller, depending on how you look at it) space. I chose to do two designs. Here are the scale renderings, and a little explanation. I also did the groundplans, but I don't feel the need to upload them.
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This one is the large hall abstract-ish one. To give a sense of scale, it's about 50' from the base of the red platform to the bottom of the proscenium arch. I used red and white because of the different connotations they have in the east versus the west. In the east, white is the colour of mourning, like black is in the west. In the west, white is associated with purity. That plays on the idea of Song being a pure being, as Gallimard wants her to be, but the death of that idea when it is revealed Song is actually a man. I used red as it is the western colour of passion/love/things of that ilk, and luck in China. The other colour were chosen primarily because they look good with the others. I wanted to subtly suggest a butterfly with the shape. In between the two, for lack of a better word, wings, is a scrim, and there is a platform behind which means that action can take place behind there, but depending on how one lights a scrim, it can be distorted. If its lit from behind, the objects create an eerie shadow, but if its lit from the front, it creates an even more interesting look. That area could be used for creating the jail cell from which Gallimard recalls the events of the play that lead to his incarceration.
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Here is my personal favourite, because it is what came to me while I read the play. I'm calling this one the expressionistic version. It clearly has Gallimard's cell on top, and also has a playing space next to it. There is an archway connecting the two. The cell has the bars on the front and a window on the back, which can be lit from the front of house and the rear as well to create shadows. the pattern on the unit itself, the red, green, and blue, are butterfly colours. I wanted to stay away from the obvious black/brown and orange. The two archways stage right and left are meant to look like the wing of a butterfly. I chose red trim for the colour's connotations again. It is in the same scale as the previous design.
I adapted these designs to fit in a medium black box. I wanted there to be the ability to play with levels (the director in me came out) in any set up, so I made sure there were levels here. I like the way I consolidated the expressionistic version to still have the cell. As a point of interest, Gallimard says what the dimensions of his cell are, and the dimensions, in all the designs, are roughly that. To give scale, both platforms are about 30' across. Both the large hall and the black box are exactly the same (imaginary) space.
This one is the large hall abstract-ish one. To give a sense of scale, it's about 50' from the base of the red platform to the bottom of the proscenium arch. I used red and white because of the different connotations they have in the east versus the west. In the east, white is the colour of mourning, like black is in the west. In the west, white is associated with purity. That plays on the idea of Song being a pure being, as Gallimard wants her to be, but the death of that idea when it is revealed Song is actually a man. I used red as it is the western colour of passion/love/things of that ilk, and luck in China. The other colour were chosen primarily because they look good with the others. I wanted to subtly suggest a butterfly with the shape. In between the two, for lack of a better word, wings, is a scrim, and there is a platform behind which means that action can take place behind there, but depending on how one lights a scrim, it can be distorted. If its lit from behind, the objects create an eerie shadow, but if its lit from the front, it creates an even more interesting look. That area could be used for creating the jail cell from which Gallimard recalls the events of the play that lead to his incarceration.Here is my personal favourite, because it is what came to me while I read the play. I'm calling this one the expressionistic version. It clearly has Gallimard's cell on top, and also has a playing space next to it. There is an archway connecting the two. The cell has the bars on the front and a window on the back, which can be lit from the front of house and the rear as well to create shadows. the pattern on the unit itself, the red, green, and blue, are butterfly colours. I wanted to stay away from the obvious black/brown and orange. The two archways stage right and left are meant to look like the wing of a butterfly. I chose red trim for the colour's connotations again. It is in the same scale as the previous design. I adapted these designs to fit in a medium black box. I wanted there to be the ability to play with levels (the director in me came out) in any set up, so I made sure there were levels here. I like the way I consolidated the expressionistic version to still have the cell. As a point of interest, Gallimard says what the dimensions of his cell are, and the dimensions, in all the designs, are roughly that. To give scale, both platforms are about 30' across. Both the large hall and the black box are exactly the same (imaginary) space.
The thing I enjoyed most about this was that it came completely from my mind. Aside from finding information about colours, I didn't look at any other designs for the play because I really didn't want to be influenced by anyone else the first time I was trying this. It was also nice to not have to think about constraints like budget, and to just let the ideas happen. Of course, in the "real world", that and the space itself are things I'd need to think about, but here, in a two-credit class, it was amazing to see what I could do.
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