Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.
My plans include, getting more hands on experience. I plan to do this through practicing and preparing to going to the Fullerton College Theatre Festival, along with competing there. The festival is a two day event consisting of competitions for acting and technical work. I will be competing in 9 theatre technical events on one of the two iPoly tech teams. The event I will be in are:
Tech Olympic events:
1) Costume Quick Change- Change a member in the dark that has over sized clothes on in the fastest time.
2) Light focusing- Have to hang theatre lights and crop the sides to match a taped out shape on the opposite wall.
3) Team Knot Tying- Each member has been assigned 1 of the 5 knots and will be timed until all knots are done.
4) Tool Usage- is a relay. Each member has been assigned 1 of 5 tools and hardware that need to be used.
5) Prop Quick Change- Given blurry pictures of a scene and have to set the stage in the fastest time and as accurate to the picture as possible.
6) Tool And Hardware ID- Have to identify as many tools and hardware as possible in a very dark room for a limited visibility as a challenge.
7) Electrical Wiring- wire adapters
8) Individual Knot Tying- Same as #3 instead I will be doing each of the 5 knots on my own.
Scenic Event
9) Scenic Design- I will present my technical work for the production of  "Working"

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.
Evidence of my 30 hours will be shown chronically throughout the practice for events through pictures. Pictures will also be taken during the competitions I will be in. The pictures will include the 9 events I will participate in. Since the competitions are given awards, I will possibly win an award, to show my participation in and event or events.

3.  And explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.
I will be seeing a play at the end of the festival to see the production's use of lighting, color and props. I will also be able to take a tour and see what equipment they use for their productions. I can also interview the students and see what other possible answers I can get.


4.  Post a log on the right hand side of your blog near your other logs and call it the independent component 2 log.
Done and done

Blog 14: Independent Component 1

• LITERAL
  (a)  “I, Jonathan Shoemaker, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”
  (b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component

For me my independent component was done for the ipoly drama club. So really the person who I worked under was Joe Hogan he helped walk me through what was needed for the production and what wasn't. Also he provided me with a book that helped me find what hardware was needed for what I had to do. The book was "The Backstage Guide"

• (c) Provide a digital spreadsheet (aka log of the 30 hours).   Post it next to your mentorship log.

Done and Done.

• (d) Explanation of what you completed.    

Also Done and Done... on the blog. Well anyway I'll say it here. I did many of things, what my main job was to build set pieces and props for the actors. I also worked with the lights to create lighting zones along with troubleshooting and creating lighting cues. In details I was able to create an 8 feet by 6 feet by 9 feet big rig with full motion since it was on 8 different 5 inch caster wheels. Also the big rig was fully lite with from the lighting zones I created and from the headlights I made out of the headlight frames and scoop lights. Also I was able to make the lights seem as if they followed the actors as they crossed from one side of the stage to the other. The only thing is the lights were completely stationary and were set at the beginning of the play and never moved until the end of the last show. All of that was done from my research of the backstage guide, Mr. Hogan, and lots and lots of trial and error.

• INTERPRETIVE 
  Defend your work and explain how the significant parts of your component and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  
  

The old styled wooden doors the I got from the truck salvage place.

Truck headlights that have reflecting turn signal panels 

This the screen I saw when I was organizing the lighting addresses to the channels

so this was on the first day of the show finishing up the truck. 

Yes those are actual Truck doors the are able to swing out they are about 30-40 pounds

This was day two where I felt the truck could still be greatly improved so I spent even more time working on it.

So as you can see I was a very busy bee unfortunately I did even more, I just wasn't able to take pictures. However if it wasn't for having all of the technical parts of the production put on my shoulders I wouldn't have come up with my first answer. Since I had to deal with the technical parts it caused me to work with the lights in a way I haven't been able to before. Working with the lights made me realize that without them the stage is bland or dull, if that's the case, there is no way then for me to answer my EQ of "What is the best way to optimize a stage for a successful production?"

• APPLIED
  How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped. 

This component pushed me out of the theatre tech job. It pushed me to talk to the actors get to know them understand how they move and being able to know all of positions of the production staff. What I faced was having to take a little of the stage managers job and use it to relate the actors and stage setting.  By getting to know the actors the colors that would be applied to setting could include the right colors in the lighting to get the most from the actors tone and delivery.  I was also able to convey to the actors the importance of communication so that should their blocking change, I am able to correct the lighting the cues. This allows for them to be fully lit at all times. It allowed me to see first hand the problems that could come up, so I could better prepare for them in later productions.



 
 
 

Blog 13: Lesson 2 Refletion

Content:

1. Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?
I'm most proud of my power point being minimal forcing me to go completely off of memory rather then reading off of the presentation itself.
2. Questions to Consider
       a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

       AE       P          AP       CR       NC

       b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.
I stuck to what was required. Such as making sure my rough draft lesson plan was turned in on time, my EQ was clearly visible throughout, and I even was able to connected multiple pieces of research to the presentation when I possibly could.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
What worked for me was the ability to say the directions of what my activity was. Then let them free to work on it with little questions, what scared me was that I failed at directing but rather then it being bad everyone understood it and completed the activity as I pictured it would.

4.  (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?
I have a feeling I might not have made the 20 minutes I sort of felt that I rushed the activity. So what didn't work was most likely my time management.

5. Finding Value
What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?  
My next answer could possibly be "communicating to the production staff with full understanding" My whole goal with this answer is to go in depth on how to structure you vocabulary in a way that will be calm and kind while being able to be aggressive on how things should be done on stage.

Next production...

Unfortunately the production that was currently being featured at the Chino Community Theatre a.k.a., The Seventh Street Theatre, has finally reached its last showing. Sounds sad I know, but what this means now is I get go back and work with my mentor on the play The Beauty and the Beast Jr. which will be the March play. What my whole goal with going back is to try finding solid answers to my EQ or maybe even make the ones I have stronger with wonderful pieces of information from my mentor. I plan on doing this through the striking of the stage, sitting in on the auditions, and helping be a stage crew member. For any of the upcoming events at/for the Chino Community Theatre you can either go to their website at http://www.chinocommunitytheatre.org/ or you can come here to this blog. I promise to keep it up to date for the next month on all of the dates of the events.

1) February 1st: is the closing show of Boeing Boeing
2) February 13-16: is the Kiwanis Red Velvet Cake Wars
3) February 23 and 24: are the auditions for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
4) March 7 and 8: will be the showing of The Beauty and the Beast Jr.

Blog 12: Third Interview Questions

1)What is the best way to optimize your stage for a successful production?

2) Does stage size effect your design?

3)How much time planning time do you need for a typical performance?

4)Who decides the budget?

5)Does the music or costumes have a greater effect on the audience?

6) What colors provoke the most emotion?

7) How are lighting marks determined?

8) Does having knowledge in the human behavior helpful?

9) What is the best way to organize your set?

10) Is having an art or building background helpful?

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 Hours

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?
I am currently doing my mentorship at the "7th Street Theater" or it's also known as the chino community theater. Its theater that puts on a new play ever month and has new directors coming and going.
2.   Who is your contact?
My contact is Paul Lawrson he is actually the owner of the theater. He started off directing every show then slowly came down to a few plays a year. So I work on the plays he directs or the plays he works on the stage.
3.   How many total hours have you done?   
So far I have 17 hours and a few minutes. My plan right now is to get to 30 or more buy the end of February. 
4.   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.
Well I don't know if you have ever tried to sand down a fairly large hutch a shelf set, but its very time consuming. I couldn't believe that sanding alone would take 5 hours to do. Now for the other 12 hours I spent about 4 hours and a half hours going through the lighting cues that is a slow process, because that slightest mistake and you go to a sudden halt. Now for about the 7 and a half hours was spent doing a little of the same thing as before. However the first 3 and a half hours of those 7 hours were spent making the audio cues while we ran through the full show. Now the last 4 hours was spent running through the show about two and a half times.
 

Blog 10: Senior Project, The Holiday

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you over the break with your senior project?

Since I was unable to assist during the production process of the January show with my, my break focused on researching on my topic. My research focused on raw materials and the best techniques for building and tools to use.  Since I am responsible for builds I thought it would be helpful to improve my understanding of structure, pay loads and set placement.

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did and why?  What was the source of what you learned?

Learning the time frames involved in production is very important. My only reference was my current drama experience and I have found that playhouses have a completely different schedule.  Where I am use to all the work being focused on one play, then a break and preparing for the next play.  In the real world, I have found as one play is going, the behind the scenes work begins for the next play, there are no breaks.  So keeping a schedule and knowing your dates is essential in a successful production.

3.  If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers of your EQ, who would you talk to and why?

Since my mentor ship is done at a playhouse, there are several plays within the year.  Each play will have a different director and it requires me to work with each one.  So the questions would be geared to the director I am working under at the time.  I feel like I have several mentors since I am working with so many different people and they all offer a unique insight.