We know that theatre and the entertainment industry has trended to being a late majority or even a laggard when it comes to adopting new technology; however, we are to a point where technology is cheap, easy to use, plenty of online help from the "hacker" communities, and a faster acceptance of new technologies to the industry. We can read every week Rich Dionne's blog about how he incorporates technology into his curriculum and teaches his students concepts of engineering. Rich also works for an organization that makes it easy for students to have "non-standard" curriculum. I am a product of such a program and feel that I have a job right now because of it.I am wondering how the different organizations that we all work for accommodate engineering or technology students who want to take technical theatre classes? How they work with technical theatre students who want to take engineering or technology classes? and if they provide the opportunity for students to be both engineers and theatre technicians without lengthening their college program?See More

I meant to have this post ready to go at the beginning of the week but my computer came down with a virus and was down for the count.Update on the ShowThe Production goes into tech on Saturday and we are right on schedule (for the most part). The set is in and functional there are some small set dressing and touch up painting that needs to happen but all in all it is good to go. The special effects are all built, short of the table, and are installed. I am doing the wiring and plumbing on Thursday and Friday to get it all ready to use on Saturday for the tech run."In progress" picturesI have included some pictures of the mechanisms that have been built. sorry for the quality these were taken from my phone. better quality pictures will be taken this weekendAbove is the frame which will house the cam mechanism to push the books off of the bookcase. Down each side is a Unistrut to allow more precise adjustment that simply attaching to the frame would allow.Below are the cylinder used to open the doors and curtains. The far left one is designed to work with a double purchase system to open the curtains. I needed more travel out of the cylinder so I used a double purchase system. Using our 3” cylinders which are longer seemed overkill and would have used far too much volume. The two to the right are designed to open the French doors of the set. the doors have spring loaded hinges to close them. the cylinder will open the door once the entrance is complete the door will return to its fully extended position allowing the doors to close. Below is the mechanism design to knock two plates off of a plate rack mounted to the wall. It is attached to the back of the flat with a carriage bolt through the flat. See More

As the week wraps up and I finish the preparation for crunch time when school starts back on Monday I have come across an interesting topic, “as-built drawings.” We spend weeks and weeks planning, sketching, and drafting a set or the mechanism for a show and inevitably as soon as the drawings hit the shop floor something changes. Carpenters find easier/faster ways to do something, materials or resources change, or what usually happens, the director or client changes their mind.I am taking the time to update my drawings once the construction has been finished in order to have an accurate file for my portfolio, but also if I need to duplicate the construction in the future I have a record of what I designed and what was changed. It may take more time but the benefit of have drawings you can refer back to and not repeat mistakes you already made is well worth it to me. I am curios what everyone thinks about construction drawing versus “as-built” drawings?I have also included my first round of drawings in case anyone is interested. DRAWING SETSee More

So as this week come to a close we are 34 days from opening night. As the week dawned I was freaking out. I was not sure when stuff was going to get built and I was feeling out of time on everything.However today I put in some quality shop time and finished the mechanism to open the French doors, and the base for the bookcase effect. Not a lot of work done but enough that I can finally see progress and some light at the end of the tunnel.This coming week is my spring break and it will be filled with finishing up all of my paper work for the show and ready to hit the ground running when everyone returns from spring break.This experience has been great. The stress of the design process although a pain has been a reality check of why proper project management is the key to a timely and stress free project completion.See More

It has been awhile since I have had the opportunity to blog about my process as my process, school work, and the all needed sleep have filled all the available hours of the day.I struggled through the concept design phase of the design process for I like most people in our industry suffer from an attitude of “let’s just do it.” I would come up with one solution that I liked and then look for the simplest of reasons not to use any other idea because I wanted to rush and get to the build phase. I was constantly reminded, sometimes with much frustration, about how going through the steps will save money and time in the end. And despite a sleepless night or two spent drafting, I now can say with confidence that the seven effects that I have designed meet with the design specifications based on my understanding and interpretation of them.I have a meeting this coming week with the “stake holders” in the project and they range from the designer and director to my engineering mentor. This meeting is not only the next logical step in the process but also an opportunity for my mentor, Rich, to challenge me. As he accurately put it “Ian, your mind thinks really fast and you don’t say all that you need to.” This meeting will challenge me to slow down and explain in painful detail my understanding and design of the effects. This will most defiantly be a challenge as I will admit I think really fast and really well on my feet and don’t always take the time to think it through.Overall I love this project and what I have to do for it. I was actually reminded today in my senior engineering seminar about why I decided to take on such an ambitious and unstructured project. the class was about time management and why employers tend to put new employees through time management training. We discussed the usually suspects such as money and productivity because late nights and all nighters are not what companies are looking for. We then went into the difference between a project in school and a project in industry:SchoolIndustryAn answer exists because the instructor has to grade the resultsAnswer may not existShort termLong termNarrow scopeEncompasses multiple disciplinesTechnical solutionTechnical solution may only be part of itWork individually with partial creditWork in teams where it succeeds or fails regardless working 2hrs or 40 hrs to find a solution And if you think there is something about the industry list that sounds familiar that is because it is, it is theater to a T (maybe not long term, but 4/5 isn’t bad) and that experience is exactly what I am gaining from Blithe SpiritSee More