Posts tagged ‘arts’
Moving Pictures Screenings This Weekend
Last minute work continues on the Moving Pictures Department student films to be screened this weekend at Idyllwild Arts.
One of those films, “Life After Death”, by Armani Rodriguez ‘14, is a film that has required the creation of hundreds of “zombies”. The film received special assistance from L.A.-based special effects company, LookFX, who offered their services to create the detailed “zombie” scenes.
Look FX is a company responsible for special effects work behind blockbusters such as Avatar, The King’s Speech, Precious, the Avengers and others. Derek Bird, a digital supervisor at LookFX worked with Idyllwild Arts students to stage the scenes on a green screen. In one scene, a group of six zombies is replicated into hundreds more by LookFX. All told, LookFX worked pro bono on four different shots for the film.
Angelo DiMarco filming a scene
“We are so fortunate to have access to leading entertainment companies in Hollywood. I don’t know of any other school in the nation where students have the opportunity to work with the masters of the craft they themselves aspire to become”, said Marek Pramuka, the Dean of Admission at Idyllwild Arts.
Isaac Webb, Moving Pictures Chairs, discussed what a great opportunity it was to work with a professional company like LookFX on “Life After Death”. Through a mutual friend, the relationship with LookFX was established and they eagerly engaged with how they could assist with Armani’s zombie flick “Life After Death”.
LookFX also invited the student filmmakers and faculty to their studios where they educated them on the various software and roles that it takes to produce special effects. Isaac said that it was an invaluable education experience for the students and that he couldn’t be more thankful for their generosity. Isaac further said “LookFX truly prioritized Armani’s project and put it into their production schedule. They worked well over 5-6 days to shoot and produce the effects for the film. We can’t thank them enough”. LookFX has expressed an interest in working on future projects with Idyllwild Arts’ Moving Pictures department and we look forward to continuing that relationship.
In addition to “Life After Death”, the Moving Pictures department will be screening two short documentaries by alumni Luke Sherman ’11 and Sean Stromsoe ’09. Theaw documentaries were funded through a grant by the Arts Enterprise Laboratory (AEL). Through the grant, Sean & Luke, along with Idyllwild Arts Moving Pictures faculty Ira Abrams, traveled to Ethiopia with the Tropical Health Alliance to produced several short documentaries.
Another documentary by Katherine Kearns ‘13 entitled “A Family Like Mine” will be screened as well. In this documentary, Katherine explores her family situation of being raised by a gay father and discusses with others their experience of being raised in a gay household. This is a deeply intimate and honest documentary for Katherine and a complete labor of love on her part.
Other narrative films have also been produced as part of the film program. The audience will have an opportunity to see Gabrielle DiMarco’s “12 screenplay for “The Wingman” starring alumni Russell Bomgardner ‘10 & Connor Farrell ’11 and “Love Without End” by Ziquing “Rosie” Xu ‘13 .
The Moving Pictures Screenings will take place at the IAF Theatre on Friday and Saturday, May 25 & 26 at 7:30pm.
Four Seniors Respond About Their Idyllwild Arts Experience
This week we continue our conversation with four more graduating Idyllwild Arts Seniors and their experience at Idyllwild Arts – what they’ve experienced, lessons they learned and where they’re going next year.
Corbin a Music major, Mauricio a Dance major, Paulina a Musical Theatre Major and Anna a Moving Pictures major took the time to answer our questions. They each have taken full advantage of their time at Idyllwild Arts Academy to learn about their art and themselves while looking towards the future and the lessons to be learned here.
1. Tell me about your experience at IAA? How has it affected you as an artist, dancer, performer or musician?
Corbin: My time at IAA has allowed me to mature in a way that took me off depending on my parents for things, and realizing that if I need to get something done the only person that is going to make that happen is me. This has affected my music by making me go after my own musical education proactively, as opposed to simple waiting for people to feed it to me. This is also the lesson that I have learned here that will stay with me far beyond the short time I spent at Idyllwild Arts.
Mauricio: I think it was amazing and awesome. At the beginning I wasn’t sure if it was the place for me. I’m a post-grad but I didn’t want to take academics I just wanted to dance. This school embraced me. I didn’t know anyone and I missed my family and friends. It was a huge change. Also, I only had a year of English before coming to Idyllwild so it was really challenging to be immersed in a new language.
Additionally, at Idyllwild Arts there’s a huge connection to the Dance community and opportunities for doing more beyond school. I danced with Inland Pacific Ballet and competed to the semi-finals in the Spotlight Awards. The teachers here are the best and it was a good opportunity to study with Patrick Frantz, who is the founder of the Pittsburg Ballet, I had no idea of the quality of faculty I would study with before coming here. The faculty is equal to those at universities and other dance programs.
Paulina: My experience at IAA has been extremely multifaceted. Moving away from home and coming to a community like this at the age of fourteen was an odd, yet rewarding experience. The people, as well as the curriculum at Idyllwild Arts have been the building blocks to my character. Powerful and supportive mentors (both within the department and outside) have provided me with support, advice, guidance, and tough love that surpass anything I have experienced. These past four years have undoubtedly been the most influential of my life thus far, and I attribute the majority of that to the wonderful people I have had the honor of experiencing, the classes I have had the privilege of participating in, the performances I’ve had the privilege of attending, and the community I have been gifted enough to thrive in. All of my experiences here have influenced my art, and studying under the guidance of Howard Shangraw has made me in to a better performer, person, and artist.
Anna: I came as a semester student in my junior year. It’s been exciting and very different from my old school as I left to pursue a career in science. I want to be a bio medical engineer. At my old school my dean wanted me to drop theater as it was “useless”. Creativity is a huge part of my life and even though I’m not going to pursue the arts in school I need the arts. I had been here once for the Summer Program for “Acting for the Camera” so I knew that Idyllwild Arts would be a good option for me. When I auditioned for the school, I initially thought I would be in the theatre program but I afterward Marek suggested I be part of the Film program and that has worked out perfectly.
Being in the Moving Pictures department is natural. My family is actively involved in the film industry but I had never been a part of it myself. On my first day in the Moving Pictures department I had a camera put in my hands and was given instructed in how to shoot a scene following standard rules. I was instantly encouraged to become involved in the filmmaking process and just do it. It wasn’t about theory as the Moving Pictures program makes you learn by doing and to be engaged.
2. What’s been the most critical lesson that you’ve learned as a student? Is it something in the academics or the arts?
Corbin: This school gives students every opportunity to succeed, but it is also arguably easier to not take it seriously, and allow the experience to instead hinder a student’s potential. I learned I needed to have the drive for this school to work in positive way. If at least a part of everyday isn’t solely dedicated to a student’s art in some way I have found that there is usually a lack of drive or desire, which is only detrimental to a career in art. Therefore, Idyllwild showed me that I had that push to dedicate myself to music, and that using the resources provided by the school, I can advance incredibly fast. This work ethic is something that was given to me by this school, and is a habit I’ll take with me to the Eastman School of Music, as well as wherever else my future leads me.
Mauricio: I’ve learned to work hard and never give up. There’s not a lot of competition here as we’re all friends. Outside though there is a lot of competition and people who are always better. Other students started calling me a “bunhead” as I would get to class early and start working and warming up. I’ve only been dancing ballet for the last two years so I’ve really had to fight to catch up. It’s been important to open my horizons and see what else is out there. Building contacts with teachers inside the dance world makes a huge difference.
Paulina: I would say that the most critical lesson I had to learn was to be independent. Admittedly, I come from a family who wants to give me the world and more; so coming here and not having that forced me to grow up very quickly. This was a valuable and critical lesson that I NEEDED to learn before college, and I am so thankful that I can fully take care of myself.
Anna: It’s a combination. I grew up with a philosophy of doing one thing really well. Here you do everything. You do your physics homework and learn how to make a film. I’ve learned a lot about concentration and time management. Also, my first big lesson was remembering to eat dinner. Last year I had to make sure that I learned to stop filming before the dining hall closed and go and eat a meal.
3. Where have you been accepted and where are you planning to attend college/university/conservatory or art school? How did Idyllwild Arts education prepare you for the college audition/application process?
Corbin: I was accepted at the Eastman School of Music, Cal State Long Beach, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory of Music, and wait listed at the Curtis Institute of Music. Idyllwild helped me by supporting me every step of the way with college counselors who were on call to answer ANY question, and music faculty that pushed me every step of the way to be the best I could be.
Mauricio: I auditioned for the Pittsburg Ballet, Washington Ballet, Ballet Austin and Boston Ballet and I was accepted to Boston’s summer program with a full-scholarship. So I’m going to Boston Ballet this summer and then will have to find a place to live and a job to help pay the rent to stay and study with them afterwards. I did attend the senior seminars but chose not to apply to colleges because I really want to dance and be in a ballet program.
Paulina: The theatre faculty at Idyllwild Arts prepared me (maybe even a little too much) for Chicago Unified Auditions. First semester, we met with Howard once a week to review and get critique on audition monologues. We also met with Bonnie Carpenter once a week to work on scheduling, and audition etiquette. I honestly don’t know if I would have been able to get it together as well as I did without their help.
I was accepted to Point Park University, University of Hartford (Hartt), Columbia College Chicago, Pace University, Cornish College, Birmingham School of Acting (UK), and Boston Conservatory. I will be attending Boston Conservatory (my first choice since freshman year) for the fall of 2012. I will be a student in their BFA Musical Theatre program.
Anna: The college counseling process was really helpful. I had a weird transcript since I switched schools mid-year in my junior year. Fortunately, I have great SAT scores and have tested well. I worked closely with Erin Latimer, my college counselor and she helped me gage what colleges were realistic for me to apply too.
I was accepted to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. Through my college essay I was able to demonstrate my leadership skills. Erin was very helpful in helping me craft my essay. I talked about being sick and how I overcame that and how I learned that I wanted to help other people who were unwell. I demonstrated that I knew what I wanted to do. Also, I’ve been an active volunteer and worked in a retirement home where I played the harp and taught residents to play mahjong.
Also, even though I’ll be working towards a career in bio medical science I still plan on making films. It’s going to continue to be a part of my life. There’s no reason why I can’t continue to work on screenplays and continue to pursue my need to be involved in the arts.
IAA Jazz Combo Wins 1st Place at Berklee Jazz Festival
Idyllwild Arts Academy’s Jazz Combo won, for the second year in a row, won first place in the Jazz Combo division at the 2012 Berklee Jazz Festival. Additionally, senior Lake Jiroudek won first place in the outstanding musician combo division.
In the competition Paul Carman, jazz instructor, said, “We were limited to 18 minutes, one second over and we’re disqualified. I was conservative on the timing because I want the students to have control over the length of their solos. Most schools time it perfectly with set solo lengths but this is not how jazz goes in the real world.”
The students performed the three following songs:
1) Moments Notice by John Coltrane
2) Monks Mood by Thelonious Monk
3) Straight Up And Down by Chick Corea
The Festival competition is divided into divisions by school enrollment and there is also a category for specialized “arts” schools. Idyllwild Arts competed in the “arts school” category considered by many the highest level. Paul states, there “were 15 schools in our division. Seating is limited to about 50 audience members and is usually made up of a few parent/chaperones and a hand full of participating students and teachers from other schools. For our performance the room was packed with 70-80 people, standing room only, and others were turned away at the door. Apparently our reputation from last year filled the room with people wanting to hear the school that won last year. So the energy was very high, and the pressure was even higher for the kids, although playing for a packed room helped them to forget the judges.”
“Marshall and I were as proud as we could be. Even though we prepared them well it was up to them to handle the pressure and play great music” said Paul.
To hear a recording of the performance follow this link:
Student Profile: Lake Jiroudek, jazz guitarist
Lake Jiroudek, a senior Music major in jazz from Oregon, first picked up the guitar while he was in the fourth grade. His older brother Evan was in a punk band, which inspired Lake to start playing. He says, “Initially, my Dad and brother showed me a few key riffs and chords to play, and that helped me start to learn.”
Before coming to Idyllwild Arts Academy at the beginning of his junior year, Lake played with the Pacific Crest Orchestra directed by Thara Memory. Lake says that it was during those lessons when “I had to gain selflessness and think more about the music. Mr. Memory taught us many valuable lessons and worked us very hard.”
When asked how he found Idyllwild Arts Academy, he said that it resulted from not being satisfied in his public high school. His Dad started surfing the Internet, looking for options and determined to find a school that would support a student like Lake with significant financial aid. Idyllwild Arts Academy’s Admission Office worked closely with the Jiroudek family to make it financially possible for Lake to attend. The Idyllwild Arts Foundation is committed to supporting talented young artists in need of financial help so that they can attend the Academy and the Summer Program.
At Idyllwild Arts Academy’s Jazz program, Lake has found a community that he says “offers more personal interaction with other players. Last year, I developed a close friendship with saxophonist Jacob Scesney, and Caleb Hensinger, a trumpet player. Before, I’d only played in big bands, but now I was able to focus on inventiveness, getting musical ideas on the spot and learning to be more honest.”
Lake studies privately with Bruce Forman, adjunct instructor of studio and jazz guitar at the University of Southern California. With Bruce, he’s spent the last year working on his own musicality as well as awareness of the music and other players. Lake says, “It’s important to get out of my own head. Bruce has taught me to be more creative and not rest upon muscle memory.”
As part of the Idyllwild Arts’ Jazz program, Lake talks about being able to work with and learn from the iconic Marshall Hawkins. In the course of Marshall’s long career, he’s worked alongside jazz legends Shirley Horn, the Miles Davis Quintet, Roberta Flack and Richie Cole. Lake says about his studies with Marshall, “It’s an incredible opportunity everyday to work with someone who has had that kind of experience.”
During his two years at Idyllwild Arts Academy, Lake has already received numerous awards. At the 2011 Berklee Jazz Festival in Boston, the Idyllwild Arts Academy jazz ensemble placed first in Class 4 and Lake received the Superior Musicianship award. At the Reno Jazz Festival, the Idyllwild Arts Academy jazz ensemble placed third in their category. From that competition, Lake was selected as one of the top six musicians and was asked to play in the Reno All-Star Combo.
This year, Lake was recognized as a semifinalist in the YoungArts Competition, selected as the only guitarist for the Jazz Band of America and was a semifinalist in the Los Angeles Music Center’s Spotlight Awards where he received Honorable Mention.
Currently, Lake is applying to Juilliard, The New School, New England Conservatory, Berklee and other prominent schools. His hope is to study with an instructor that will help him conceptualize ideas and build upon traditional concepts; “My goal is to continue to evolve to another level and build a solid foundation for myself as a musician.”
Students Create Word Cloud
At All-School on Friday, February 17 every student wrote down the first word that came to mind when they thought “Idyllwild Arts”. Diane Miller, executive assistant to Brian D. Cohen, then entered the words at Wordle.net and generated this word cloud.
Word Cloud created by Idyllwild Arts Academy students
February 23, 2012 at 12:45 pm Idyllwild Arts Leave a comment
Senior Theatre Majors Attend Chicago Unified Auditions
Our Theatre department seniors and faculty just returned from our annual trek to Chicago, Illinois to complete the Unified Auditions for theatre training programs. This year 14 seniors completed 81 auditions from February 5th through the 9th and these students were able to access one of the biggest collections of theatre programs to date. Idyllwild Arts has developed the tradition of attending the Chicago auditions since it brings the most programs together in one small geographical area. This year the students were able to audition for 48 different programs, all within walking distance of the Palmer House hotel downtown. The schools represented range from 2 year certificate training programs to comprehensive university programs offering BA or BFA training, mostly within the US and England. Our students tend to want many different things in their next phase of education so this trip has something for everyone.
Senior Theatre Majors in Chicago for Unified Auditons
While in Chicago we also try to experience a little of the city life and expose students to new and different dining options. For the alums reading this, we still carry out the tradition of “family dinners” in Greek Town and Russian Tea Time. This year we also hosted an alumni brunch on Sunday morning. It was nice to see the alumni mingling and sharing their experiences with the current students. This year, Natalie Bayard Boone ’04, Brooke Hebert ’11, Angie Caravaglia ’11, Juwan Lockett ’11 and Shane Prentice Walz and Jamie Cahill ’10 were able to attend. Larkin Bogin ’05 had just gotten to town while touring with American Idiot however due to rehearsal calls he wasn’t able to meet up with the group. Hopefully we’ll be able to see him when the tour comes to LA this spring.
As hectic and stressful as this week can be, it is wonderful to see the students using their training to pursue their future goals. Each one has such different visions for their future after leaving Idyllwild Arts yet for these few days, they are working together as a team to help each other achieve.
Past to Present – Alumni Visual Art Show & Opening Reception
Alumni Visual Art Show
In addition to Shepard Fairey, featured artists include Monica Lundy, who is making waves in Northern California with her inmate portraits on linen. Nate Lowman, currently shredding the gallery scene in NYC, will lend one of his bullet holes. Artists Paul Waddell, Arianna Sikorski, Jiwon Yoon, Youree Jin, Laurel Sparks, Kaelen Green and Richelle Gribble will exhibit, while artist books by Alison Yates, Sung Yun Yang and Erin Latimer invite your hand.
In the field of photography, Jovielle Gers will show a few images from her time working at Naropa, including one of the Dalai Lama. Greg Jensen is an Art Director who documented the fall and aftermath at Ground Zero.
Hawkeye Glenn is using his sculptor skills in metal and design to make functional fixtures. Jonathan Taube and Tada Kono are playing with politics and prickly pears, Krista Peters is creating portraits in brass, and Daniel Gray will make a site-specific installation. CJ Dunn has lettered the gallery with his design.
Past to Present: the Idyllwild Arts Alumni Show opens February 10, 2012, running through March 3, in Parks Exhibition Center on the Idyllwild Arts Campus. For more information see the Facebook Page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Idyllwild-Arts-Parks-Exhibition-Center or call the gallery (951) 659-2171 x2251.
English as a Second Language
My name is Jeni Kets, and I am the chair of the ESL Department, and I’ve been working with international students for the past four years at IAA.
The ESL Department is focused on several specific objectives in serving our students here at IAA. First, we work hard to help students reach their artistic and academic goals through the development of their English language skills. This is the key to their success in all facets of their lives here in the US. We facilitate this by providing as much opportunity for immersion in their classes and in the dorms as possible so that students will be able to write, think and speak in English. We seek to cultivate a sense of confidence and comfort with English, so that our students can thrive in American academic culture. Developing this confidence in English also helps students to integrate successfully into the wider student population here, which allows students to have a richer and more fulfilling experience.
Once they have developed their language skills, we look to mainstream students as soon as possible in order to give them the invaluable opportunity to work more closely with native speaking students and non-ESL academic faculty. In short, we strive to give our students as much opportunity to gain and polish the essential communication skills they need as students here and beyond.
Our most successful students are those who meet us halfway in our mission by seeking out opportunities to speak English outside of the classroom and to meet as many students as possible. These are individuals who break out of their shells and take what many of our students perceive as a risk in putting themselves out into the greater community in order to define who they are beyond the ESL label. I can tell you from experience that stepping out and speaking your second language to native speakers can be a nerve-wracking experience. Yet once they have, these students soon discover that American students are often just as shy about speaking to them. Breaking the ice is the toughest part, but it is incredibly rewarding.
This summer, we will be offering an ESL summer intensive for students who will be moving into intermediate and advanced levels in the fall. Students can earn one credit toward graduation, develop and polish their academic writing and vocabulary, as well as receive weekly TOEFL prep. We will also be offering fun weekly trips and activities to allow them to relax and have a little fun as well! This program is intended to help students meet the UC graduation requirements and lighten their academic load the following year.
The first set of students that I worked with back in 2007 when I was a new teacher here will graduate this June. It is hard to believe that those beginning students, many of whom were so shy and quiet, are now confident young men and women ready to attend universities and conservatories. I am proud of my students both past and present and hope that the ESL department at IAA has served them well in reaching their goals and realizing their dreams.
To learn more about the ESL Summer Intensive visit our website.
What is preprofessional?
Our mission statement at Idyllwild Arts says that we provide preprofessional training in the arts. It also says we provide college prep academic training in an atmosphere conducive to positive personal growth. Recently, at our beginning of the year faculty orientation, we asked each other to consider that mission statement. Not in a judgmental, revisionist way, but more in a “what does that thing mean to me?” kind of way. We broke into small groups to discuss and I would imagine that the answers to that question were as varied as our colorful faculty is.
I had already pondered this question during the summer, more specifically, the preprofessional part of the question. What is preprofessional training? I felt like I did it everyday, but really didn’t know how to define it. Does it mean that I’m providing the last bit of training that a person gets before they become a professional? No, because most of my piano students go on to college or conservatory music training. But when they go on to that other training does it make my training NOT preprofessional? I don’t think so. I think of the word professional as an adjective, not a noun. I’m training my students in a preprofessional way. Or even more accurately, a professional way.
As I was considering this topic I also happened to be reading the new Julie Andrews memoir, Home. She recounted her early singing training in her teen years, with Madame Stiles-Allen. Her teacher said, “Julie, remember: The amateur works until he can get it right. The professional works until he cannot go wrong.” It was like the sun suddenly came out. That’s it! I thought immediately of the number of hours I’ve spent practicing a passage on the piano, one that I can play perfectly well, repeating over and over and in different ways, making sure that it will not go wrong in front of an audience. It’s about building-in redundant systems. It’s like an airplane. Don’t we trust that the plane has redundant systems so that it absolutely won’t fall out of the sky? I wouldn’t say that a failing artistic performance is like a crashing plane, but it certainly feels that way when you’re the one on the stage experiencing it. You want your training to have supported an overabundance of perfection, not just enough.
It’s really all about the relationship between the vocational and avocational. For example, I love to cook. (My students are groaning now, they LOVE my food analogies) I whip up something in the kitchen and it’s usually pretty good, occasionally great or okay. Sometimes bad. I move on. But Julia Child made beurre blanc a million times until she knew American cooks could make the recipe perfectly every single time using American ingredients. She had a different goal than most people.
So do our students.
Art In 3D 