Capturing Scenography aims to recognize and give expression to the diversity of professional interests and experiences reflected in the membership of OISTAT. The History and Theory Commission of OISTAT invites all members to join the international symposium being organized under the auspices of Prague Quadrennial 2007.

It will consider the variety of scenographic, technical, and architectural inventions from past to present, small and large scale, and in countries across the world, and how they may be recorded and represented.

There is no single theory to apply to scenography, which is a combination of multiple perspectives and approaches. As a temporal art form, it can be problematic to capture outside the moments of performance. The rich and strange qualities scenography captures in performance do not lend themselves easily to interpretation.

Send a proposal (approximately 250 words) for a 30-minutes presentation by March 24 to Lilja Blumenfeld (liljablu@btinternet.com), Kate Burnett (kate.burnett@ntu.ac.uk), or In-Jun Kim (ijkim@smuc.ac.kr).

To Top

This year's Gilbert Hemsley session at the 2007 Annual Conference & Stage Expo is called Opera Lighting Design for Early Career Lighting Designers and is especially tailored for students and early career lighting designers. More importantly, two panelists -- Duane Schuler and Chris Maravich -- represent two of the most successful opera lighting designers working in the business.

Mr. Schuler is a longtime freelance designer who has designed for many of the most familiar opera festivals and companies in the world. Mr. Maravich represents the role of a resident opera designer, as he is on the staff of the famed San Francisco Opera. This year's session will focus on what makes opera design different from traditional theatrical design. How do conventions, schedules, etc. vary for opera design? How is lighting approached in opera design? Join these and other members of the panel to explore this unique area of lighting design.

Rich Dunham is session chair and serves as a Director at Large for USITT. He is an associate professor in lighting/scenic design and head of design for The University of Georgia. He has written articles for TD&T and has received of both a Herbert Greggs Award and Herbert Greggs Honor Awards. He continues to work as a freelance designer and has credits throughout the East Coast and Midwest --including a number of New York metropolitan regional theatres along with Off and Off-Off-Broadway credits. He also holds the LC lighting certification in architectural lighting design.

To Top

The Entertainment Technician Certification Program Council announced the first ETCP Certified Entertainment Electricians. These individuals passed the rigorous, competency-based electrical examination which took place in October. These electricians, the "Class of 2006," are listed on the ETCP website. There are 110 ETCP Certified Entertainment Electricians; 23 also hold certifications in Arena and/or Theatrical Rigging. Certified electricians can be identified on the jobsite by requesting to see their ETCP identification card which includes picture, date of certification, and area(s) of specialty.

The electricians also signed an agreement to abide by the ETCP Certified Entertainment Technician Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. Administration of the electrical examination began February 15 at computer testing centers across the U.S. and in Canada. The test will also be given Saturday, March 17 during the USITT Conference & Stage Expo in Phoenix, Arizona.

Candidate information, including eligibility requirements and application forms, are available online.

Membership of the ETCP Council includes AMPTP, CITT, ESTA, IAAM, IATSE, InfoComm, The League, Live Nation. PRG, TEA, and USITT.

To Top

ESTA's Technical Standards Program announced four draft standards that are now available for public review. All can be accessed here.

BSR E1.31-200x, Entertainment Technology DSP DMX512-A Streaming Protocol will be available for review through March 19. BSR E1.22, Entertainment Technology - Fire Safety Curtain Systems; BSR E1.35-200x, Standard for Lens Quality Measurements for Pattern Projecting Luminaires Intended for Entertainment Use; and BSR E1.36-200x, Model Procedure for Permitting the Use of Tungsten-Halogen Incandescent Lamps and Stage and Studio Luminaires in Vendor Exhibit Booths in Convention and Trade Show Exhibition Halls will be available through March 12.

BSR E1.31- 200x is a simple protocol that offers functionality comparable to existing DMX512 over Ethernet protocols but with the advantages of compatibility with ANSI E1.17-2006 and easy implementation on managed networks. Device Management Protocol over Session Data Transport, borrowed from the ANSI E1.17 protocol suite, provides a mechanism for streaming DMX-type data intermixed with random access data and high-speed feedback in a flexible and scalable way.

BSR E1.22 describes the materials, fabrication, installation, operation, testing, and maintenance of fire safety curtains and fire safety curtain systems used for theatre proscenium opening protection. Instead of outlining what kind of fabric to use for a fire safety curtain, for example, but tells how strong fabric must be and what abrasion and fire tests it must pass.

BSR E1.35-200x describes a method for measuring stage and studio luminaire lens quality with particular emphasis on contrast and perceived image quality (sharpness). It also offers a way for presenting these results on a datasheet in a format readily understood by a typical end-user and allows the end-user to directly compare lenses in a meaningful way. There is currently no way to describe how clearly a stage lighting instrument projects an image other than by demonstration. Standards exist for projection lenses, but these are not applicable to the lower quality lenses used on stage and studio luminaires.

BSR E1.36-200x is a model set of procedures that can be used by convention center and trade show exhibition hall staff to mitigate risks associated with the use of tungsten-halogen lamps and stage and studio luminaires and to allow their use. There is no evidence that tungsten-halogen lamps used in Listed luminaires or that Listed stage and studio luminaires present any greater risk, as they are used in exhibition halls, than any other light source or type of luminaire in those venues, but the management staff of at least one major convention center in the United States believe they have elevated risks. They have moved to prohibit or limit the use of this equipment by exhibitors, but the restrictions are inconsistently enforced, largely because there is no clear procedure to decide when their use is acceptable or not. This draft standard offers a model procedure to permit or prohibit the use of tungsten-halogen lamps and stage and studio luminaires, and helps promote the use of the lamps and luminaires in a safe manner.

In addition to being asked to review the document to see if it offers adequate and correct advice, reviewers are asked to look for protected intellectual property in the draft standards. ESTA does not warrant that its standards contain no protected intellectual property, but it also does not intend to adopt any standard that requires the use of protected intellectual property unless that property is necessary for technical reasons and can be licensed and used by anyone without prejudice or preference for a reasonable fee. Any protected intellectual property in the document should be pointed out in the public review comments.

For more information, contact Karl G. Ruling, technical standards manager, ESTA, 875 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1005, New York, NY 10001; 1-212-244-1505; fax 1-212-244-1502; or standards@esta.org.

To Top