All the plays are over now! On most nights were at full capacity and others we were well over 40 seats (of 80 seats)! It’s a relief in that I can finally now sleep in most days, but it’s also kinda sad ’cause I wont get to work with them all for awhile now. I suspect that Tom and Deirdre will keep writing and producing plays, but it wont be for a long time š alas, I’ll take what I can from this experience and go forth and work on more productions at the Crescent Theatre.
Tomorrow sees me going to the dress rehearsal for a rendition of Twelfth Night by Somesuch Theatre Company directed by Annabel Smith. Here’s some more info:
Somesuch Theatre Company presents Shakespeareās tale of gender confusion. When love is in the air, the fickle nature of lust comes to the forefront in this bold 21st century production. Does gender or sexuality really matter when love and lust take hold? An exciting and vibrant production; sexy and provocative; full of life and music
I’m going to be operating the lighting and sound desk, something I’ve never done before, but which I’m reassured is really easy. Still, I’m quite excited!
Somesuch Theatre also have three other plays at the Old Joint Stock. A rendition of Volpone and a double-bill of Rough Magic and The Blue Chameleon, both written by Deirdre Burton and Tom Davis. My favourite of the two being Rough Magic. Get your tickets and come see them all!
Under some very handy advice from some wise people I’ve gone back and given all of my pieces names. Seems only right that I should name them, afterall I wouldn’t name my child ‘Untitled’! Only three more of these to go, then you’ll see some work that’s more akin to graffiti.
I need to get more done on my vjing work. So far I’ve done very little of it, and even less djing. I’ve been messing around with Pure Data, Xaos and Processing in an attempt to get some live processed images, and I’m now taking a peek at Ben Neal‘s Phlumx software, but what I wonder is if I need to go look at more professional software…
Here’s a sample of what I’ve done. It was for a project at university to create a video about ‘Speed’ (created in Adobe Premier).
Some of you devoted readers may know that I work occasionally with an art group call a.a.s. Group. I met them last summer on an art project called Destination Geodecity (watch a video of it here) and since then I’ve worked with them on their Insectoid project and, more recently, the performance at the Crowd 6 event Mingling and Mistletoe.
Today saw the people involved in Insectoid come together for a fictional band photoshoot from skilled rock photographer Steve Gerrard (who is currently offering a discount on photoshoots – only Ā£60!). It saw us walking around in our the Mailbox and Arcadian area in either our jumpsuits or smart clothing. We got quite a few confused looks from onlookers! Overall a great, but tiring and cold day. Photos from the photoshoot coming soon! In the meantime here’s a photo of my mask.
Seems like I’ve started a rather interesting discussion over at the Computer Arts Forum about the use of Open Source software in design.
I think that the general consensus is that Open Source software apps such as Inkscape, GIMP and Blender will never replace their industry standard counterparts because there’s nothing wrong with these products in the first place. FOSS packages such as Open Office and Firefox (and to a lesser extent Ubuntu) have only really gained popularity because their counterparts are kinda rubbish. Neither Microsoft Office or Internet Exploder are as standards compliant as their FOSS counterparts and, in relation to Microsoft Office, you can save a lot of money by using Open Office that, whilst it has its flaws, offers very similar functionality to Microsoft’s product at zero percent of the cost! Brilliant!
When I start planning workshops soon, I’m still going to plan them assuming that they don’t have the necessary software (not all schools have Photoshop-like software) so will offer the use of FOSS packages. I think education is where Open Source will find its place in terms of design. What do you all think?