Student Spotlight:
Interviews with various students in Performing Arts and Production Design
Megan Bristow grew up in Dallas, Texas and its surrounding suburbs. After graduating high school in 2006, she attended Richland Community College for two years. Planning to transfer to OU to major in diagnostic sonography. Megan realized that science was maybe not her true calling. Inspired by the behind-the-scenes footage for films like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, she realized she wanted to be a part of the magic of film. After some research of where to go to school, she found SCAD and immediately felt it was where she was meant to be. Upon discovering Production Design, she immediately fell in love with it. Megan has thoroughly enjoyed helping create theater and film productions for the past year and a half. In that time, she has discovered her love of working on props and hopes to continue making random things of all shapes and sizes for film and theater for the rest of her life.
spabuzzlive.com (SBL): How did you get into props?
Megan Bristow (MB): Well I came to SCAD as a visual effects major and realized that I didn’t want to sit in front of a computer all day. I really enjoy making things, so I was attracted to the carpentry, paintings and electrics aspects of props. I’ve always been a crafty person.
SBL:What’s it like
working under a budget? How do you handle building vs. buying props?
MB: We get a projected budget and we just do what they tell us. When it comes to buying vs. making things it’s whatever is cheapest and whatever is going to work. Sometimes it’s a chance to learn how to make something to have in your portfolio even if you could buy it. Like, I wanted to make the harp but…it has a lot to do with practicality. You not only have to budget in money, but time—who is available to work on it? You have to remember the famous triangle: quality, time and money. You have to have at least two to get the third, and you need all three. This is just a general rule applied to everything, buying or building.
SBL: What are some of
your favorite places to go shopping for interesting props?
MB: The number one place is Keller’s Flea Market. Love that place! And the people there love us; they give us good deals. But that’s just for random stuff. The best places to go are antique shops because it’s a lot of fun to hear the stories behind the pieces we pick up.
Lanterns that Bristow worked on for the Winter 2010 production of Macbeth.
Jake DuPree, senior Performing Arts student
Jake DuPree is an actor, dancer, and choreographer from Newport, AK. He most recently appeared in the 3rd Act-sponsored dance concert that he conceived and choreographed. Jake was also apart of the 2010 Senior Showcase and has appeared in the mainstage productions of The Station, Dead Man's Cell Phone, Carousel, Silence, Violet, Broken Window, and Story Theatre.
spabuzzlive.com
(SBL): Do you think you’ve changed as a performer from your freshman year to
now? How so?
Jake DuPree
(JD): I have changed so much as a performer. I came to college never expecting to become a dancer, and
that somehow became my main focus here at SCAD. Andra Reeve-Rabb and Sharon Ott have both given me amazing
opportunities to grow as an actor also.
Andra has really provided me with the tools to get jobs in film and
television.
SBL: What
skills/life lessons that you have learned at SCAD will you deem most useful as
you move forward into the professional theatre world?
JD: The
lesson that has stuck with me and will always stick with me is to make things
happen for yourself. Be an
opportunist and take advantage of every opportunity that you can. Never stop learning and growing as a
performer.
SBL: As a
member of the Senior Showcase this year, what do you think is the most
beneficial aspect of having such an opportunity?
JD: I think
the most beneficial thing about the showcase was to go to New York and just put
my face out there. More people
know me and have seen me perform…and that is always a good thing.
SBL: What
would you say are the pros and cons of going through our Performing Arts
program?
JD: The pros
are getting a very well-rounded education in several aspects of performing—from
acting onstage to film to dance to musicals. You really get an opportunity to experience all of the sides
of the performing arts world. I
think that aspect is also a con because you don’t get a lot of emphasis in just
one aspect. I think it would be
helpful to really get an in depth experience in one of these aspects.
SBL: What
shows that you’ve seen and/or have been a part of here would you say are the
best representation of what our department is capable of?
JD: Probably Dead Man’s Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl. Sharon Ott combined an interesting, quirky story with amazing scenic design, choreographed set changes, and great portrayal of the characters. It was a great show!
Jessie Shur, scenic painter;
third-year Production Design student from Kensington, NH
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(SBL): Inside of Production Design, what is your focus?
Jessie Shur (JS): I focus in scenic design but mostly I paint.
SBL: So you would
like to be . . .
JS: A scenic painter.
SBL: That’s really
interesting. With all due respect, I’m curious, being a designer isn’t always
the desirable job?
JS: Yeah, it depends what you want to do with your future. If I do someday want to design I can always go back to grad school or work my way up in the industry.
SBL: But as of now,
your motivation is to be a charge painter.
JS: Yeah, or just painting in general.
SBL: Do you paint
privately, like on canvas?
JS: Interestingly enough, I really don’t do artwork.
SBL: Outside of
painting for theater?
JS: Out of class, outside of work. It keeps me busy enough.
SBL: So what are your
plans for the summer? After you graduate?
JS: I have a summer internship painting. I’m very excited and I’m going to find out more about my future there. One of my good friends Loryn Williams got a good internship at Julliard, painting there. She’s pounding out her life just like I plan to, she’s pretty much living my future.
SBL: What are you
working on right now?
JS: This is my CAD project for Computer Drafting.
SBL: I’ve noticed
that they teach students here how to do both hand drafting as well as computer
drafting. Are they both still industry standards?
JS: Not really, most places use computer drafting. Hand drafting is kind of falling out a bit. Computer drafting is more marketable because it’s more accurate and its faster.
SBL: So what made you
choose painting?
JS: So, my freshman year they assigned me to a practicum crew as they always do and I was assigned to paint crew for Violet.
SBL: That’s
interesting; you ended up specializing in something that you had no interest in
prior to college.
JS: Yeah, and that’s what I love about our program though. There’s a bunch of different things that you can get into. We all start out in the same Intro class but a few quarters later you’ll see people in the shop as assistant master carpenter, but they are a costume focus. Or you see someone in the costume shop but their focus is lighting. It sort of brings the department together even though we are all in our own little bubbles.
