UK-based sound designer John Leonard—who was named the LDI sound designer of the year in 2002—
traveled 12,000 miles to Hong Kong and back in a little more than a day. Why would he do such a thing?
To gather the sound of a rare bird? No, actually he was named an Honorary Fellow at the Hong Kong Academy Of Performing Arts!

“An honorary fellowship is usually awarded by an educational establishment to people who have made a significant contribution to whatever art or science the educational establishment specialises in,” he says. “I’m also an honorary fellow of The Guildhall School Of Music and Drama and the two together mean that I can stick letters after my name and that’s about it. So I’m John Leonard Hon.FGSM, Hon.FHKAPA.

If there had been some kind of degree going when I was training, I could add BFA, or BA or something else as well,but it was so long ago that there wasn’t even a diploma to be had, so I really appreciate the honorary stuff. Makes me feel I’ve achieved something after all these years.”

John Leonard in cap and gown, bottom row, far left.

I joined Enormous Time Waster, I mean Facebook, last winter. Why they allowed me in I have no idea. Aren’t I too old for this sort of thing? Shouldn’t they have rejected me and suggested I move to one of the more mature, middle-aged social nets? Luckily, there appear to be others from my generation on there too, a mix of designers, technicians and educators who also bravely gone where those over 40 normally don’t.

What’s been fun, however, is tracking down so many of the talented artisans we profiled in the pages of Entertainment Design under the moniker “Young Designers to Watch.” Remember those? We did it for several years in ED, from 2000-2004, as well as a roundup of lighting professionals in Lighting Dimensions called 30 And Under in 2004 .

It makes sense, really. Most of those young designers are the key demographic for Facebook, so it’s no surprise that I’ve find as many as I have. (It’s probably also no surprise that they have about 10 times as many friends as I do, but that’s another story).

Curious as to who’s out there? Here are some of those alumni I’ve found:

Class of 2000
Set Designer Klara Zieglerova

Class of 2001
Projection Designer Michael Clark
Sound Designer Jill DuBoff
Lighting Designer DM Wood

Class of 2002
Costume Designer Constance Hoffman
Set Designer Michelle Malavet
Lighting Designer Thom Weaver

Class of 2003
Set Designer David Korins
Lighting Designer Jason Lyons

Class of 2004
Lighting Designer Brian Bembridge
Sound Designer Leon Rothenberg

30 And Under 2004
Lighting Designer Nic Phillips
Projection Designer Jake Pinholster

A few of these folks, like Hoffman, Korins, and Rothenberg, I haven’t heard back from yet (why have they forsaken me?). And there are several on the list who I think are on Facebook but can’t tell for sure, either because of really common names, like sound designers Paul Adams (Class of 02) and Elizabeth Rhodes (Class of 03), or obscure photos (is that crayon drawing really you, sound designer Josh Schmidt?)

But it’s been great getting back in touch with some of these folks and finding out what they’re doing. It’s actually quite gratifying to see so many of them doing so well in their chosen career. If you’re among those we profiled as a Young Designer to Watch who I haven’t yet stalked on Facebook, please drop me a line. I’d love to hear what you’re up to.

Last Thursday I spent an interesting four hours with David I. Taylor and two acousticians at Arup, the international engineering firm that has more recently branched out into theatre consulting as well. Taylor introduced me to Raj Patel, Arup’s head of acoustics, and a younger acoustician, Ryan Biziorek. We spent quite some time in the Arup Soundlab and if you are interested in theatre history, theatre consulting, or acoustics, I suggest you call David and make an appointment to spend some time in the Soundlab… about six hours if you want the full treatment. I was only there about two-and-a-half hours and we were rushing through it all. The idea of the Soundlab is to show you—as the architect, theatre consultant, or end-user—exactly what a building will sound like. It takes the “voodoo” out of acoustics and harnesses physics in the service of the emotion and art one expects in a great hall. Arup made its mark in the performing arts world—as engineers—with the Sydney Opera House, one of the most iconic opera houses in the world, and perhaps the one that started the drive for “destination” architecture in the arts. The theory of the Soundlab is that you can hear how the great halls of the world actually hear, then work to make yours sound the same way, or as Patel puts it: “You can hear a room as it is being developed, not just hope for the best when completed.” This theory has moved beyond performing arts buildings and into the arts themselves, with musicians such as Laurie Anderson and Stephen Vitiello using the Soundlab to work on projects, such as Vitiello’s “Smallest Of Wings,” an immersive sound environment that recreates the sounds of the rain forest in a space in the center of London. It’s very cool stuff and I’m sure the folks at Arup would be happy to let you stop in and listen…

Mike Jarvis, live events technical project manager for Stage Electrics in the UK, sent in this photo with the comment:
“Sometimes the challenge isn’t the technical side of the job, but the physical one, like getting your artic [that’s semi trailer to us Yanks] on to Trafalgar Square in London whilst it is still open to the public. That’s me in the hi-viz vest.”
Thanks for sharing, Mike.

So I picked up the paperback of William Gibson’s latest novel, Spook Country, at the airport on the way to Vegas for Infocomm. I haven’t read anything of his since Neuromancer, back when that was all the rage. To be honest, that groundbreaking book didn’t do much for me except give me a headache, but I’m sure I was as behind the times as the book was ahead of it. I’m finding the new one a little easier to grasp so far (I’m currently only about 100 pages into it). It’s discussing the utilization of GPS, VR, and other technologies to create “locative” art; one installation is a virtual recreation of River Phoenix’s death scene outside the Viper Club (sooo LA), while another one is a giant squid floating over a Japanese department store with a constant flood of video imagery passing over its surface.

Of course, you gotta wear goggles to view this stuff in the book, though, this being William Gibson, it suggests that someday we’ll all be wired to view such site-specific stuff automatically, without all the accessories. But what struck me about it, particularly the latter project, was the fact that there are projection designers already doing this kind of work, maybe not site specific, but certainly in the context of another project, be it onstage or in an architectural setting.

So the question is, are projection designers so far ahead of the curve they’re anticipating Gibson? Or does Gibson just not get to the theatre very often?

Assuming there are a healthy number of cybergeeks out in our world, I’d love to hear any feedback on this latest novel, and if you think there are parallels to the world of entertainment technology. But please, no spoilers, I gotta lot left to read.