Changeover Time Lapse Video

I'm a little biased, but this is one of the coolest things we've done in a while.

It started as an idea that our Tech Director, Shane, and I were throwing around. "What's the possibility of taking photos during changeover and making them into a little movie?" We started a few shows back just by taking photos with our camera phones of various times during the changeover process that showed the set being torn down and rebuilt for the next show, but what we wanted was for the photos to be able to tell a story.

So, after the purchase of a special cord that allows Shane to plug our digital camera into the wall, he set the camera on day one of changeover from I'll Be Back Before Midnight into It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play and allowed it to take one photo every 2 minutes throughout the week. After a few hours of editing, here's the finished product. Be sure to watch closely at the end, where you can see our Shop Foreman, Alex, and one of the carpenters, Dan, in the shots. Alex moves back and forth in the front row of seats and Dan spins around on his back on the stage.

Getting Set for Farce

All of the banging and clattering coming from the theatre must mean that the crew is building the new stage for Unnecessary Farce, which opens May 8. The setting is two adjoining hotel rooms, and designer Alex Perry is creating a pretty unique take on that idea. I snuck in and took a couple of photos - one on Wednesday and one just now so you can see how it's developing.

Taken April 22, 2009

Taken April 24, 2009

In the second photo, the person in the white shirt and dark pants just left of center is Alex Perry. Alex is the AHT Shop Foreman, which means he is responsible for taking the scenic designs given to him and turning them from 2-dimensional ideas on paper into 3-dimensional, life-size sets. For Farce, we are lucky enough to have him designing the set! Alex is currently in his 3rd year as a graduate student in the Lighting Design program at UMKC

I'll keep checking on how the set is progressing and post a new photo when it's closer to being finished!