Independent Component 1

This is a picture of the faries in Midsummer Jersey

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• LITERAL
  (a) Write: “I, Jenelle Huck, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 96.5 hours of work.”
  (b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.

"Sonoma State University." Theatre Arts & Dance: Our Season. Sonoma

Jeff Keane's interview helped a lot with how to control my actors

(c) Update your hours in your Senior Project Hours link. Make sure it is clearly labeled with hours for individual sessions as well as total hours.

• (d) Explain what you completed.  

I completed 96.5 hours during the fall show at iPoly. This includes all pre-production that took place, rehearsals, and shows.    

• INTERPRETIVE 
  Defend your work and explain its significance to your project and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  

There is no better way to learn how to stage manage, than to jump into it and just do it. That is why this was the best independent component I could come up with. I feel like this number of hours is very minimal compared to an actual play where they work 5 hours a day twice a week on rehearsals and they have more paperwork to do because they have rehearsal reports to do every night. My evidence could be my Stage Manager binder, or the actual show its self. 

• APPLIED
  How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate this. 

Actually stage managing a show is the best way to learn about stage managing because it is impossible to sit in a classroom then come out the perfect SM. You really have to go out there and experience everything in order to become a stage manager. Practice makes perfect. One example of this is that when some actors were missing cues, I went in the green room and found that they were being so loud that they couldn't hear when their cue was. To solve this problem, I stayed back there and kept them quiet for a few minutes and chewed them out for talking so much. They did learn from this and I only had to go back there a few more times since then.

  

Lesson 2 Reflection

1.What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?

I am most proud that my answer 1 is clearly communicated in my really pretty powerpoint.

2. a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

      P

     b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.

I think I deserve a p because I did everything that was required and o thi k I did it well, but I didn't exactly go above any standard.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?

I liked my lesson 2 because my answer worked really well with my presentation.

4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

I would ramble less at the end of my presentation.

5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?

My answer 2 is probably going to be communication with everyone.

Third Interview Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise? 
I plan on interviewing Jeff Keane from Cal Poly. He is the Production manager and is heavily involved with stage managers and their learning at Cal Poly.

2.  Verify that you have called your interviewee to schedule an interview.  What is the date and time of the interview? 
I have been asking my mentor for his number, but I have not gotten it yet. I will continue to bug her for the number so I can schedule something asap.

3.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you find research resources that would help to answer the EQ.
How should a stage manager pick their assistants?
What kind of organization is best when it comes to the stage manager box?

4.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you think about other useful activities you might do to help you answer the EQ (IC2, possible experts to talk to, etc).
What is it like for a stage manager to be confined to the booth during a show?

5.  Phrase two open-ended questions that help you to understand your interviewee's perspective on an aspect of your EQ. 
From the perspective of other production staff, what is a smooth running show?
Whats one way to stay on top of checking up on the different aspects of the show, such as costume and props?

10 Hour Mentorship Check-In

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship? 
I have not gotten a new mentor since the summer. I am thinking about asking my mentor from the summer if I can shadow her during a show that she has coming up. That way I can see what it is like for a stage manager while in the booth running the show.

2.   Who is your contact?  What makes this person an expert?
My contact was my summer mentor Joyce Hwang. I consider her an expert because she has been stage managing since high school and has been going to school for this for almost 4 years. She is very eager to help me with this project and does an amazing job doing so.

3.   How many  hours have you done during the school year? (Summer Mentorship Hours and Mentorship Hours should be reflected separately in your Senior Project Hours log located on the right hand side of your blog).
My "summer mentorship" did last until October, so technically, I did mentorship during the year, but I have not counted those as during school mentorship.

4.   Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours. 
My mentor is honestly so amazing. She is always answering my random questions and concerns. She is very patient with me and I am excited to be asking her for another mentorship with her. If things don't work out with Joyce, I can also ask my other mentor Johanna if she is able to help me out with that.

Blog 12: Holiday Project Update

Since I just finished my independent component before break, I reviewed how I think I did during my last performance as iPoly stage manager. Even thinking about my last show as stage manager now I get really emotional because I really do enjoy putting on these shows and it makes me feel nostalgic about all of the work I have put into Drama club. I will still be involved with Drama, but as Producer instead. This way I can better delegate tasks to my assistant and prepare him for my position next year. I just have to take a more supervising position in Drama.
Over break I really thought about how I did with my goal of delegation. Delegating tasks is a big deal for stage managers because there is no possible way for one person to do all of the duties of the stage manager. I believe I did an okay job at delegating. I know I can definitely do better next semester especially since I am being forced to step back from being completely in control.

Over break I learned that I like being in charge and that I am uncomfortable stepping down from a high position when I worked so hard to be respected. I also found out that sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone in order to let other people get an opportunity to shine. In my case, I have to step down as stage manager, and become my assistant's assistant for a show.

I would like to talk to the stage manager teacher at Cal Poly because my mentor suggested him and said he is always willing to help out a techie. I would get a hold of him by emailing him about it and asking my mentor to introduce us.

THIS will be what I am like as a stage manager. (the God mic is the mic that can be heard by all, like an over com)

Blog 11: Lesson 1 Reflection

1. What are you most proud of in your lesson, and why?

I am honestly most proud that I made time. I was very afraid that I wouldn't make time and I would fail completely.

2. What assessment would you give yourself on your lesson? Explain why you earned that grade using evidence from the component contract.

I think that I would have earned an AE on this assignment because I thought about what I was going to say and how it would flow together. I think I got a fair assessment because I didn't do this blog until it was too late.

3. If you could go back, what would you change about your lesson?  How can you use that knowledge to give a better Lesson 2?

If I could go back, I would try to speak slower and use a better visual for my presentation. Maybe something like a timeline. I think that since the next lesson is longer, I will be able to take my time and breathe between sentences.

Blog 10 - Interview 2 Reflection

This is the link to my interview clip: https://soundcloud.com/jenelle-huck/interview-2
1. Please explain how you are spending your mentorship time (Is it at a workplace or somewhere else?  Are you shadowing?  Are you able to do tasks that are meaningfully related to the topic?  If so, what?  Are there other people who are experts in the location?  Etc...)

I spent my mentorship hours being an assistant stage manager in a professional show with SCSF. It was a very hands on experience that gave me a lot of responsibility and a sense of what it is like in the profession. I, with the other two assistants, was responsible for the pre-show preparations,  making sure actors costumes were right before they go on stage, and the post- show clean up and costume check ins. I consider the three people I worked close with to be my mentors and they were all very knowledgable in my topic.

2.  How did you find your mentor?  How did you convince this person to help you?

I emailed the chair of Cal Poly Pomona's theatre department who referred me to Linda, the producer of SCSF. Linda then hired me as an assistant stage manager where I was basically doing whatever the stage manager Joyce told me to do. Joyce was my mentor and I watched what she did and how she handled situations.

3. How would you rate your comfort level with your mentor at this point in your relationship?  How does this relate to the time you've spent so far at mentorship/with this person?

I am very comfortable with my mentor! I have been fortunate enough to have such a nice mentor. Even though I am not currently working with her, Joyce told me to text her if I ever need anything. I was able to get comfortable with her because I spent so many hours of rehearsals with her and the other ASMs. They were all super down to earth and eager for me to get the most out of my mentorship. I pretty much had three awesome mentors at once.

4. What went well in this interview?  Why do you think so?  What do you still need to improve?  How do you know?  How will you go about it?

This interview went extremely well! I met her at the restaurant she works at, and we talked for about an hour. First she answered all of my questions, then she kept thinking of ways to help me find research and ideas for my presentation. Joyce is incredible. I need to improve on follow up questions and coming up with better questions to ask in the first place. I know that because there were a few awkward pauses. I will fix this by being more creative with the questions I ask, and thinking about what follow up questions I can ask before hand.