3 Comments to “Bruce Rodgers, guest blogger”

1. David Taylor Says:
   

   May 19th, 2008 at 7:47 pm

   Great session - with the awesome talent of Bruce and Patrick on display and their brains delightfully pickable! I agree that the control technology is “only one tiny part of an eight of the way towards realizing what we are imagining” as Bruce said. I also think that Patrick’s excellent response to an audience question about whether there was a growing gap between professional technology and that in educational establishments was that schools HAVE to invest in the equipment and programs to support the designers of the future as they, like the equipment, are evolving exponentially across the media and without boundaries.
   Loved the session - an honor to be alongside two of the most creative smarty-pantses in the biz. Hope the “Vibe” and “Essence” were useful to the audience and prompted thought and imagination for the future. Good job BPMC!

2. Michael Boyle Says:
   

   May 20th, 2008 at 8:14 am

   It was a great session, and all the panelists and manufacturers reps did a great job. My question to the panel was really about the divergence between what can be used/taught/seen in educational theatre and what is used in commercial enterprise, be it industrial, concert or Broadway. A few large institutions may find the funding to occasionally bring in a projection wall, or multiple LED screens, but the vast majority of schools cannot touch the expense, nor do they have the manpower to distribute responsibility for content and programming, something ALL the panelists said they rely on at times. So, are we creating a “quaint” but 2nd class type of theatre in colleges everywhere, because the students may feel that the vibe of their production would be best served the kind of projection that is not possible for them, while they will, upon graduation, be expected to incorporate “cutting edge” technologies immediately into their working vernacular? I agree that schools of all types have to fund this kind of education, and I am fortunate to work at a college that supports technology education as a goal. But in the same way that I can control a moving light with a two-scene preset but would not want to “teach” that as a method of control, I cannot call access to a half dozen color-changing PAR’s the way to prepare students for what they might be asked to do professionally for lighting or scenic design.
   There is a lot to discuss here, maybe for a future panel on how we get these emerging technologies into everyone’s hands. Maybe more places like XL’s LED Lab.
   I would love to have seen cut sheets available for all the various LED surfaces and products that were in the Lab, not just the vendors. Great sessions!

3. David Taylor Says:
   

   May 20th, 2008 at 12:27 pm

   Michael - I understand your question, and it is good to get your followup comment. I think Patrick mentioned about educational establishments engaging with manufacturers to have larger scale equipment on loan and test in a school environment. This has worked well with other entertainment technology and has double benefit in engaging the next generation with the R&D process for new product. I think also that the visualization and simulation software is catching up so that a “lab” approach to creative projects, and to relatively affordable experiement is on the horizon. I don’t suggest this as a comprehensive answer, but it is a means of relating students’ interactive creativity to a path towards the productions they will participate in in the future - just as ACID and other sound recording and looping software has provided an outlet to music production between the vibe and the business. Great to have had you at the Masterclass and to have your input. Lots more to talk about.

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