Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Certification II
Wow, I must say I am really impressed. The designers in Texas really came through. Before the end of the day, the legislature got the message are planning to rewrite the bill to exclude temporary installers/designers. Nice!!
Certification
A new bill was just passed this morning in Texas. It was supposed to address permanent installations, but the wording, being too broad, has involved theatrical lighting designers. The bill has the potential to be interpreted so that all lighting designers, permanent or temporary, need to have a certain level of certification. (While it is a little unclear to me thus far how much certification, it seems to be an electrician or architect license.)
The original intent of the bill was to require interior designers and other lighting professionals that design permanent installations to be certified. The law currently requires them to have their drawings looked over prior to final approval by an architect or engineer. This could be a costly step for home and business owners when the extra pair of eyes is required in the process. Having a certified person design is an interesting step, and while I feel it isn’t necessary, I can see where the Texas legislature is coming from.
In another brilliant lawyer minded move however, they have cast the net too wide and caught up a series of professionals that could cause loss of jobs, not only for lighting designers, but for other theatrical professionals. What could happen to already stretched thin budgets when you have to pay for certified designers for each production? Just because you don’t give credit to a light designer in the program, doesn’t mean someone wasn’t responsible for the lighting. Now do we run into legal issues every time we have to alter light plots? This could begin the dawn of permanent repertory plots in smaller venues that can’t afford to pay for the redesign. That might be blowing it out of proportion just a tad, but I do fear the ripple effect of other states using the same language. As budgets are eaten up by higher personnel costs, the shows and companies could start to go under, which is always the fear when major costs are thrown at smaller professional and community theaters.
I don’t live in Texas, so my voice will not be of great help. If anyone in Texas is out there, please contact your governor and tell him to veto this bill. (Like I said before, it passed this morning [5/27/09]) Have them change the language of the bill to cover only the permanent installations and to leave the temporary lighting exempt. And those of us in New York can hope they don’t follow Texas in the wording of this bill, and if they do, please be prepared to make the necessary calls!
The original intent of the bill was to require interior designers and other lighting professionals that design permanent installations to be certified. The law currently requires them to have their drawings looked over prior to final approval by an architect or engineer. This could be a costly step for home and business owners when the extra pair of eyes is required in the process. Having a certified person design is an interesting step, and while I feel it isn’t necessary, I can see where the Texas legislature is coming from.
In another brilliant lawyer minded move however, they have cast the net too wide and caught up a series of professionals that could cause loss of jobs, not only for lighting designers, but for other theatrical professionals. What could happen to already stretched thin budgets when you have to pay for certified designers for each production? Just because you don’t give credit to a light designer in the program, doesn’t mean someone wasn’t responsible for the lighting. Now do we run into legal issues every time we have to alter light plots? This could begin the dawn of permanent repertory plots in smaller venues that can’t afford to pay for the redesign. That might be blowing it out of proportion just a tad, but I do fear the ripple effect of other states using the same language. As budgets are eaten up by higher personnel costs, the shows and companies could start to go under, which is always the fear when major costs are thrown at smaller professional and community theaters.
I don’t live in Texas, so my voice will not be of great help. If anyone in Texas is out there, please contact your governor and tell him to veto this bill. (Like I said before, it passed this morning [5/27/09]) Have them change the language of the bill to cover only the permanent installations and to leave the temporary lighting exempt. And those of us in New York can hope they don’t follow Texas in the wording of this bill, and if they do, please be prepared to make the necessary calls!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Summer
Now that the Memorial Day weekend has past. The summer schedule has officially begun. At work events tend to slow down, summer projects start to eat away at me, and vacation seems within reach.
I have been working a little harder on the upcoming Theater Program/Drama Club shows because we are producing some good portfolio shows. I have been working for years on productions that I did not need to produce extensive paperwork for. As the Scene Designer, TD, carpenter, painter, Lighting Designer, electrician, programmer, etc., I did not have to worry whether or not my original vision would be produced accurately. But now I am left with a lack of work to put with the photos from my shows. We are producing 'Pippin' and 'The Cherry Orchard' this coming fall. I feel these two shows could be great additions to my work since they are both well known titles, something that doesn't happen too often in a single semester. With my time this summer I plan to produce the normal paperwork as if I was not the all-in-one person hired. This way I can show future employers that I am capable of doing the job correctly. My hope is that I will be able to a design or two each year away from MVCC to keep a professional resume to go along my work at the school.
Summer projects always seem to creep up on you, but they seem to bring friends ever since we bought the house. This summer I have two projects that have been eating away at me. I finally put together the play set for Caroline which freed up the space for the new pool/storage shed. I have some design ideas already and I am looking forward to getting...oh wait...what's that over there. The back deck!!! It is falling apart. Right now Sarah and I are looking at what kind of money we can put into either of these two projects. The deck is bad and I wanted to install some new gates so Caroline can't get to the pool as easily, but I also wanted to put in that outdoor fireplace/chimney as well along with the deck. We'll just have to wait and see on those.
Ah, vacation. The week of no responsibilities (unless you include watching the little one, of course). No lawn mowing, no job worries (with no internet that becomes far easier), no home improvement projects, no cats jumping all over you, just fun in the sun and fireside antics. Good times. While I don't really do count downs, an informal one has begun.
I have been working a little harder on the upcoming Theater Program/Drama Club shows because we are producing some good portfolio shows. I have been working for years on productions that I did not need to produce extensive paperwork for. As the Scene Designer, TD, carpenter, painter, Lighting Designer, electrician, programmer, etc., I did not have to worry whether or not my original vision would be produced accurately. But now I am left with a lack of work to put with the photos from my shows. We are producing 'Pippin' and 'The Cherry Orchard' this coming fall. I feel these two shows could be great additions to my work since they are both well known titles, something that doesn't happen too often in a single semester. With my time this summer I plan to produce the normal paperwork as if I was not the all-in-one person hired. This way I can show future employers that I am capable of doing the job correctly. My hope is that I will be able to a design or two each year away from MVCC to keep a professional resume to go along my work at the school.
Summer projects always seem to creep up on you, but they seem to bring friends ever since we bought the house. This summer I have two projects that have been eating away at me. I finally put together the play set for Caroline which freed up the space for the new pool/storage shed. I have some design ideas already and I am looking forward to getting...oh wait...what's that over there. The back deck!!! It is falling apart. Right now Sarah and I are looking at what kind of money we can put into either of these two projects. The deck is bad and I wanted to install some new gates so Caroline can't get to the pool as easily, but I also wanted to put in that outdoor fireplace/chimney as well along with the deck. We'll just have to wait and see on those.
Ah, vacation. The week of no responsibilities (unless you include watching the little one, of course). No lawn mowing, no job worries (with no internet that becomes far easier), no home improvement projects, no cats jumping all over you, just fun in the sun and fireside antics. Good times. While I don't really do count downs, an informal one has begun.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Patting Myself on the Back
I had to come up with a quick and creative solution to a lighting problem yesterday. Our light board did not have enough unlocked/authorized channels to cover the large light plot we hung for the summer events. I was able to get he funds to unlock the necessary channels, but I found out at the end of the day that it may take a week or more to get the unlock codes! Not good.
I was steaming and thinking about the last time I upgraded a light board and how quick the request went through...WAIT! Eureka! The last board!
I starting hooking up our old light board. The people working with me looked at me like I was crazy. I had just received some adapters that were going to help me access more channels around the theater and I could use those to get half of my lighting to our old board. The two boards combined could handle the total channels needed to run the plot until I get the upgrade.
The first universe of DMX will run the conventional light fixtures and the LEDs. The second universe of DMX is freed up to run all the moving lights. It is a tight fit, but it is necessary until I can get the upgrade codes.
I need to get back to programing two light boards, but I am a little proud of myself for coming up with this solution so quickly.
I was steaming and thinking about the last time I upgraded a light board and how quick the request went through...WAIT! Eureka! The last board!
I starting hooking up our old light board. The people working with me looked at me like I was crazy. I had just received some adapters that were going to help me access more channels around the theater and I could use those to get half of my lighting to our old board. The two boards combined could handle the total channels needed to run the plot until I get the upgrade.
The first universe of DMX will run the conventional light fixtures and the LEDs. The second universe of DMX is freed up to run all the moving lights. It is a tight fit, but it is necessary until I can get the upgrade codes.
I need to get back to programing two light boards, but I am a little proud of myself for coming up with this solution so quickly.
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