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Loric

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Posts posted by Loric

  1.   :( Did you only apply to the one? And I've always been curious about your book, but...why would they ask you if you wrote it yourself?? Isn't it obvious...? 

     

    And i submitted other writing samples.. so it's not like I was like "look - a book!" 

     

    I even submitted a PDF of book-in-progress with much nicer graphics, format, layout, etc.. since I learned how to really use Adobe InDesign. I just.. I don't even know.

  2. I had two, they both worked out to be $10 an hour, but by having two (one for the school formally - making me a state employee, one for a little company the program itself ran so it was "off the records" for hour limits and such..) they were able to pay me more and over the hours-worked-per-week limit that school put on grad students.

     

    It's sounds nutty, trust me, I know, but you asked.

  3. I'm mentally debating if/when I get rejected (or maybe accepted, who knows at this point) if i should post a detailed post-mortem.

     

    Like all the when/why/how/what of it and post my SOP, resume - redacted a little of course - the stuff that's in the portfolio, the LOR i have a copy of, etc.. and let other people learn from what I attempted and what went wrong.

     

    That feels like a good idea, but also slightly mortifying.

     

    Thoughts..?

  4. I guess this is as good of a place to follow up as any..

     

    If you read the other threads, you know the school sent me a b-day card which totally baffled me.

     

    Today I wrote a "thanks!" for the bday card with a note saying i hope everything with my app is going ok. Tonight I got a phone call from the admissions adviser apologizing saying my app should not take this long to process and saying he had some feedback from the adcom.. Not good feedback.

     

    They wanted to know if I had done all the work myself on my book. "Could you write a sentence or two stating that maybe? I'm not sure what they want exactly, I'll find out for you.." I did everything for that book myself. It's in my SOP and resume. I ended up emailing him after the call mentioning that, and how I'm at a loss how someone reviewing my file would ask that question if they read my SOP or resume. Heck, the portfolio part which includes the book sample even says that in the comment/descriptive box for the piece of work.

     

    And part two, "the consensus is that Mr. Loric needs to show more of his drawing work in his portfolio.."

     

    The heck?!?! The portfolio for he program specifically states it's multidisciplinary and will accept a whide variety of artwork - and writing samples - for a range of fields to satisfy the portfolio. Only include your best work. The emphasis on storytelling ability.

     

    I included scenic model, scenic painting work, full show designs, drafting/CAD, book samples, and because my admissions adviser suggested it, samples of short plays I've written (storytelling).

     

    And now they want to see some sort of hand drawing. I don't hand draw, I suck at it. Pencil to paper is not my forte.. I can do something kind of decent because of all the classes I've had.. but it's not my strong work, so it's not in my portfolio. I don't know what to do.

     

    Also in the reply email I tried to explain how drawing doesn't fit into my design work. How I had a guest artist in undergrad who built little paper models on the fly and never drew anything. Ok, I said this, and i regret it already and I'm probably insane..

     

    "Back to drawings - I'm trained as a scenic designer who worked mostly via models and draftings. I am also trained as a scenic painter. I have taken several classes with drawing but it has never been my strong point. At one point in my coursework, my university had Henry Muttoo as a guest artist. He did the scenic design for Moon Over a Rainbow Shawl. When he was in our class he talked to us about the overall design process and his own process. All the while, he was cutting little shapes out of a piece of white printer paper. He'd begin sticking these into a little model box of a theater that was in the classroom. As he talked and went along, clipping and snipping, he managed to create a whole, strange, fascinating little world within the box. A beautiful stream of consciousness in physical form - a landscape of the mind. That's the sort of thing I aspire to and I'd love to say I do it as well as him, but I'm still a student and that's why I want to return to an educational program. I'm not a great drawer though. If my whole application hinges on what on I can crank out in a week or find hidden in my old boxes of classwork - that's it. Stick a fork in me, I'm done."

     

    omg why did I email that to him? I also mentioned multiple times how I'm horrified thinking the adcom doesn't think I wrote my book myself. Asking how I can prove it and what they want to see.

     

    I don't know what to think. It's not "over" but it sure as heck feels over. The criteria I thought I was being judged on, I'm not. The SOP and Resume were completely useless. I'm not getting into this program if this is how the portfolio review is panning out.

     

    Omg :(

  5. Look, Loric, I have no doubt you are extremely qualified on the topic, especially in comparison to me. But there are facts and there are opinions. As far as "theatre as literature" goes, there isn't much "fact" to go on. For that matter, there isn't much sure "fact" to go on when it comes to the source of our contemporary Shakespearean texts before the first folio.

     

    Well that's part of the whole point of why I mentioned this.. You're going to run into very well educated people who might not share your beleifs, or rather, become very offended when you offhandedly remark about something that is not your area of expertise.

     

    Same SOP in front of a literature prof.. probably ok.. if it passes the theater history or script analysis professor (who are often recruited to read applications of the english dept, btw) you're going to royally piss them off.

  6. There's a logical issue in your assertion. You're suggesting that what we read as Shakespeare "is a complete fabrication" (which is an absurd statement in itself, as 1.) there's evidence to suggest that the first folio is a compilation of cue scripts, actor's scripts/notes, and perhaps Shakespeare's own notes - and even if it were just a cue script and much of it were (is) fabricated, that does not make it a complete fabrication), which should then divorce it from performance (which is not what good Shakespearean scholarship does) and permit it to be evaluated on its own as a literary piece. 

     

    What about later theatre? I don't think anyone would have much trouble placing Arthur Miller or Tennessee Williams within their respective literary epochs. 

     

    I agree with you that written theatre needs to be evaluated within the context of the playwright's intention for it to be performed, but the idea that we can't consider theatre literature is a bit absurd, no?

     

    Fine, if you go around insisting we view great music and orchestrations as visual art with dots on lines. Cuz that's what it is and what explains it, right?

  7. The Kings Men wrote/published the first folio. Otherwise all there was were the foul papers which were used to produce the cue scripting.

     

    What you read today as "Shakespeare" in literature is a complete fabrication. No such written thing existed when the plays were performed.. and they were created to be performed. Acting as if the literary analysis divorced from the performance has any validity is just academic masturbation.

  8. No, you don't have to answer.

    Most won't care, but I'm sure there's some sticklers for "did not follow directions." Going over word limits by a single word also annoys those people.

    On the flip side , commitment/interest is often a factor in acceptances. If you list notably "better" schools which you realistically have a shot if getting into - or worse when asked to rank, rank the school you're applying to low in the list - they see you as an unlikely real candidate. They will try not to "waste" an acceptance in you and move to the next person on the list.

  9. Hey guys- another quick question about VCU's application (since you guys were so helpful last time).

     

    When uploading images and providing image information on the supplemental materials page, one thing it asks for is "time" (in the same area it asks for size, media, year, etc.) Does anyone know what on earth this means?! Possibly time it took to complete?

     

    Also, does anyone know what size images they prefer? Couldn't find it anywhere on the site. 

     

    Last thing, on the website it says you must provide an image list with your supplemental materials, even gives an example (basic PDF image list with details.) On the supplemental materials page, it does not provide a place to upload this list. 

     

    I'm applying to sculpture incase that detail is helpful

     

    I assume time refers to time based media - video, presentation, etc.. "NA" works if it forces itself as a required field. Many people are submitting things like animation reels, etc..

     

    I'd email them for clarification on the image list. The image list tends to be an artifact of the "send us a portfolio" then "send us a CD with your portfolio images" which is now "look at the nifty website you upload everything to."

     

    Minimum image size is typically 72dpi and 1000 pixels in any direction. So at least one measure needs to be 1000. You may need to rephotograph some lower quality images. You want white backgrounds and floors, if possible. Good lighting.. not just whatever is in a room. Best is a good photo of a gallery installation or on site if installed outdoors, in a bank lobby, etc..

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