headed for Las Vegas, only made it out to Needles
Monday, March 19, 2007
Well, I've safely returned from my jaunt in Arizona and am sufficiently behind in all my classes. I feel very little motivation to catch up or stress about it, thus, I am spending my time blogging instead of studying. Procrastination is a deadly sin.
USITT wasn't all I thought it would be. The biggest and best design schools weren't there . . . probably because they don't need to recruit students to apply for their program. They have enough interest because of reputation. UW wasn't there either. I don't know how high up there they are in the rankings of best design schools, but the fact that they didn't need to come is a good sign. Putting yourself in the same category as NYU is almost always a good idea. Several of the best UC schools weren't there either. Anyway, none of the schools that WERE there really grabbed my attention. Brandice and North Carolina Conservatory of the Arts both offer masters degrees in scenic art, which is unique. Most of the programs sounded the same though.
So (unless there's a particular professor I want to study with) since there's no way to know the details of every program in each school, it kind of comes down to location. Included in location is what major cities is the university nearby and the followup detail to that is which theatre companies are in those major cities. Brandice has an AMAZING scenic art professor. I'd heard about him before USITT and saw pictures of his work while I was there. He's absolutely stellar. But, UW has more going for it in my mind. Um, hello . . . Seattle? Yeah. And, grad students from universities generally are able to get into the local LORT theatres . . . in this case, Seattle Rep. Freaking rad.
I got to have an unofficial portfolio review. It was only due to my boss Travis dragging me to meet some of his friends. I didn't want to do it, but I think it turned out for the best. I'm not proud of my portfolio . . . I threw it together in six hours with a crappy printer. I'm proud of my designs, but not how they're represented in the portfolio. I only included three of the four full designs I've done and didn't get the chance to put any of my scenic painting or drafting samples in it. It is a bare little portfolio, and my renderings need a lot of help. Obviously, I was hesitant to show it to anyone. But, because of Travis, I got some feedback. Most of what they said, I already knew (like, learn how to draw), but the guys who looked at it gave me some good advice on things I hadn't thought of. Also, they were very impressed with my extensive resume/experience. Boo yah.
I talked to Utah Shakespeare Festival and Utah Festival Opera Company about summer employment. If I could have my wish, here is what my summer would look like:
April 28 - June 9 --- UFOC
June 9 - June 11 --- Astoria (Steven's graduation)
June 11 - July 8 --- Prague/Italy
July 8 - July 25 --- Astoria
July 25 - September 8 --- USF
We'll see if I can swing it. Nothing's set 'cause I haven't really officially applied for the jobs yet. I plan on sending emails tonight with pictures and my resume. It was nice that UFOC and USF had completely opposite seasonal needs and that neither interfere with the Prague/Italy trip. Actually, UFOC said they would want me at the beginning of April and USF would want me through the end of September, but since that's conflicting with school and not a personal trip, they may be a little more understanding and let me work for them anyway. I'll keep you posted.
None of the workshops I attended were groundbreaking or revolutionary. I went to one about this program called SketchUp which is a user-friendly digital 3-D modeling program. The presenters there not only said it ran better on a PC (which I was very surprised by) but that you need a really good graphics card to run it. So, not only am I sort of back on the fence between Mac and PC (Macs are SO expensive) but I don't know which Mac I want anymore. I think the 13" MacBooks are too small and don't have a good enough graphics card. So, I'd get the 15" MacBook Pro, but I'll end up spending around $2700 for that. Yikes. Ugh. I don't know what to do with myself.
I went to a model-making one that was helpful a little bit (didn't say too much I didn't already know) . . . those two paint ones that were okay . . . the one about LORT theatres was really interesting and informative . . . one about USA Local 829 (a national theatre/film union) that was useful . . . and a couple others that were lame. Other than the workshops, I just walked around and looked at products and booths and stuff. Yay.
The drives were long . . . about fourteen hours each way. They shouldn't have been that long (twelve hours would have been reasonable), but we had poor directions and navigators, so it took a while. Whatever. I slept most of the time.
I don't know if I'll go back next year. We'll see how my portfolio is looking and how I'm feeling. Oh, and I realized that because of this German study abroad, I won't be able to attend grad school until fall of '09. Man.
And of course, pictures of the trip:
(click on page 5 to get to the beginning . . . or click on the set)
posted by tuesday at 12:17 AM
7 Comments:
So, basically what you're saying is, I'm not going to see you for the rest of my life.
Where you gonna be June-September 2008? (Let's not get into this again) That's looking like wedding season in my book.
I'm hoping to have a summer-long theatre job during those times and I'll start my last semester of school that September. I'll come to your wedding . . . doesn't matter when it is. As long as you don't have it while I'm out of the country.
i'm mum.
Mum? Come on . . . that was a freaking long post! And I wrote it so quickly for you! Now you're not going to comment on it?!!?
no, no. i'm only mum about the wedding because jessi requested it. i loved the post!
i can't believe how easily those jobs fell into your schedule. that works out quite nicely, i'd say.
hey, i'm sitting here in a coffeeshoplistening to this lady singing with a geetar. she's a little nervous, but she's got a real cute voice. and she just sang this little ditty that began, "well i hadve got a crush on a boy, and he had a crush on me/ and i wouldn't be here today if it had ended happily." cute! she's pretty good. i want to tell her so she'll relax a little. and i think i'm going to get my hair cut like hers.
i think the macbook is worth it. and that's all i'm going to say about that subject, too. mum again.
what does lort stand for? _ _ rep theatre?
finally, i want to take a road trip with you. maybe on motorbikes? maybe around a whole continent? know any good continents?
i need a job. does anyone have one for me?
The jobs aren't for sure. Tuacahn called me yesterday and asked that I send them a resume and porfolio pictures . . . so I did. They're another theatre company in southern Utah . . . a couple hours west of the Shakespeare company. I have not heard back from any of the three places as of yet. I think I will hear back from USF and Tuacahn since both places specifically requested my stuff . . . but I have no idea if either will want me.
You don't have to be mum on the MacBooks . . . I don't mind hearing about them. I'm going to have to get the larger size. I was working on the computer in the drafting office that has a pretty huge screen and I was like, "Aaagh! I need a larger screen!" And then I laughed at myself and made a mental note that I wouldn't be happy with the 13". Oh, and I have a complaint about the picture viewing program. The "preview" program I mean. I hate the way it operates. I like the Windows default one . . . are there any others that work on Mac?
League of Resident Theatres. Most LORT theatres are rep theatres . . so yeah. Just local professional. It's a union, basically. It's an organization that helps the theatres get staff and production teams through the union connections. I think.
Road trip . . . hmmm . . . what a good idea! What kind of continent are you thinking? Perhaps on in the southern hemisphere somewhere? I've never been to the southern hemisphere.
Job? I meant to ask you about the Alaska one when we were talking the other day. Have you heard back from them at all? Otherwise, I suggest that you come to Utah and get a job at USF, UFOC, or Tuacahn. How does that sound? You could meet John.
LORT on Wikipedia.
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