I thought GSA was ment to be good

[Ben Lawrance]

I recently visited a production at Guildford College, in which my girlfriend was taking part.

 

As a technician of light and sound, I was curious to see the technical side of the show, because I was told that the students of the college have lessons at the GSA.

 

When I heard this, I thought the show would be really good, using the latest technology and what not.

 

When I arrived and took my seat, I was shocked to see the stage lite with a few profiles and the odd fresy. To make matters worse, when the show started the light was all over the place, nothing was focused properly, the stage had loads of dark spots.

 

The whole thing seemed very very unprofessional, as cue's were missed, lights changed at the oddest moments, etc etc.

 

 

Now, as a student myself, I can make way for a few operator errors etc, but there is no excuse for "bad" lighting at this level.

 

I was thinking about going to the GSA after my course at college, but I am now having very severe doubts. If it is teaching students to do work like that then I don't what to go there.

 

 

Sorry if this sounds like a rant, but I think it needed to be said.

 

If any one can enlighten me with some details about the GSA course and why that show was so (technically) bad.

 

Rgds

[Bryson]

Sounds like a classic case of not having enough time to me, or maybe no-one was available to do the work...particularly if the focus was as bad as you say...

 

Or they could have been using my patented Freeform Textural Lighting Design tm Process:

Freeform = I'll make it up when I get there

Textural = Great big holes in the General Cover

(See also: High Efficency = I'll use whatever's rigged already.) ;)

 

As for nasty kit - that's my point exactly! Students should (also) have to work with some old and nasty stuff and learn it's mysterious "ways."

 

I'm just saying, don't be too harsh. There's probably a damn good reason why things were wrong...almost certainly not the quality of the teaching.

 

(But also see: My post on thier Stage Management Degree)

[James]

When I arrived and took my seat, I was shocked to see the stage lite with a few profiles and the odd fresy. To make matters worse, when the show started the light was all over the place, nothing was focused properly, the stage had loads of dark spots.

 

Slightly OT but a bit of a niggle I've has is,

 

Is it acceptable to complain when one is dissatisfied with the lighting of something you've seen, particularly in an amater setting, I mean I do am-dram and everyone I've seen and worked with has had standards, but I've just seen a production where, well the good point was that there wasn't any dark spots, this was probably due to there being two patt 123's being used for foh, on full flood, with no barn doors. This wouldn't be too badd but for it being a reasonably well equipt cambridge student theatre and I could see on the rig that there was the kit available. ;)

[David]

Why were you ‘shocked’ to see that it was lit with profiles and fresys as you call them. These are the core sock of all theatres. How do you know nothing was focused properly, the stage had loads of dark spots, these are all your opinions, Lighting design is just that, design. What one designer comes up with for a show is miles deferent from what any other designer would do. Design is subjective, what I like, you may think is crap, it dos not mean the any of it is wrong.

 

David