What is an image, and how do we create imagery and design to tell stories?  Led by award-winning projection designer and educator Wendall Harrington, this two-session, hands-on, workshop will help you better understand how we communicate with non-verbal symbols to express ideas and emotions in support of realistic and abstract narratives.

WE HAVE RECEIVED FUNDING TO MAKE THIS COURSE FREE. REQUIRED THAT YOU ATTEND BOTH SESSIONS. Donations are gratefully accepted.

Expected Learning Outcomes:  Upon successful completion of this course, the student will:

  • Discuss visual storytelling conceptually and practically with effective language and vocabulary.
  • Apply connections between historical periods of theatre, art, culture, and society to their visual storytelling.
  • Critically analyze graphic choices in design to communicate visual, conceptual, and emotional responses to an audience in support of the story, actor, the director, and the design team
  • Engage in the learnable process of imagining new possibilities for visual storytelling that involve risk-taking, use of multiple strategies, and reconceiving in response to feedback.
  • Engage in creative activity by conceiving and executing original visual storytelling work alone or as part of a team.
Price: FREE Session.
Program Facilitator(s):

Wendall Harrington

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“Why We Make Cues” is a series of workshops with leading lighting designers Jennifer Tipton, Natasha Katz, and Mark Stanley, designed to increase your understanding of cue placement, cue rhythm & timing, and compositional sequences to support story, movement, emotion, and musical expressions.  Each session will focus on the unique aspects of either text, music, or movement that impact cue placement and composition.

Sessions include discussion of source material, how to develop cue lists, and hands-on cue creation with feedback from the professional designers and participants.

An in-person, hands-on workshop. October 28, November 4, and November 11, 2023 Three Saturdays: 10:30 am-6 pm
Target audience:Emerging artists to experienced professionals. The workshop is designed to be learner-centered, and the projects will focus on real-world lighting problems and solutions.
Expected Learning outcomes: By the end of this workshop, the learner will be able to:

  1. Create and place cues for text, movement, and music to tell compelling visual stories and support scripts, design collaborators, actors, and the director’s work.
  2. Describe the reasoning supporting a cueing structure.
Price: $250 each; $700 for all three in-person sessions
Program Facilitator(s):

Jennifer Tipton, Natasha Katz, Mark Stanley

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Studio School of Design, Local USA 829 and SDCF present:
Director, Choreographer & Designer In-Person Networking Event for Theatrical Performance

Studio School of Design is partnering with Local USA 829 and Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation to co-host an in-person director/choreographer-designer networking event in NYC.

It will primarily consist of one-on-one meetings where directors/choreographers will be paired with designers.

SPACE IS LIMITED – Please sign up by July 16th. This series is open to designers, directors, and choreographers at all stages of their careers. This is open to union, and non-union designers in all categories, and directors and choreographers do not need to be members of SDC to attend.

THIS IS A TWO-HOUR EVENT. Since it is structured as a series of one-on-ones, we ask that you stay the whole time. ASL interpreters are available. To help us book the correct number of interpreters, please let us know if you would use this resource by July 16th.

Price: FREE!
Program Facilitator(s):
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We are offering a free IN-PERSON course in design for current High School Students this summer from July 26 – August 2 in Manhattan. Targeted at Rising Juniors and Seniors currently studying in High School, this seven-day course will include hands-on work with working professional lighting designers, a visit to see a New York show and tour backstage, and culminating in a public showing of the work accomplished during the workshop.

Course availability is strictly limited. Applications are open to students studying at all High Schools. Priority will be given to students in US Title 1 Public High Schools.

This program is sponsored by:

Hemsley Lighting Programs, ETC, 4 Wall Entertainment, PRG, The Chelsea Factory, The Joyce Theater Foundation, Lighting and Sound America, Available Light, Theater Projects, the Lighting Design Group LDG, Mickey Rolfe, Brad Schiller, Al Crawford, Rosco, SSD Board Members, and many other generous donors.  We appreciate your support!

Price: FREE, entrance by application only
Program Facilitator(s):

Mark Stanley, Clifton Taylor, Stacey Boggs, Cat Cusick, Emmanuel DelGado, Venus Gulbranson, Lee Magadini, Tyler Micoleau, and Guests

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Clifton Taylor and Anne Militello are joining forces to present a special 4-day in-person workshop.  This course will be an in-person, problem-based, hands-on learning intensive for beginning to advanced lighting designers covering topics like Color and Light, Working in Non-Theatrical spaces, Connecting meaning to your design choices, LED considerations and much more.

Price:
Program Facilitator(s):

Clifton Taylor and Anne Militello

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Of course, your live event is being captured by the camera! We’re covering creating and adapting for the camera. Interfacing with a video director, video engineer, and director of photography. Plus metering lights, managing color for video, and working in both HD and 4K+ environments.

Eight (8) 2-hour Sessions meet Saturdays March 4 – April 22, 2023

See the free one hour introductory video here.

Price: $600
Program Facilitator(s):

Robert Barnhart and Guests

A LIVE online interactive course

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This two-session IN-PERSON, professional development workshop will provide Secondary School Educators with tools for teaching students about the art and technology of lighting design. We will cover career paths for lighting designers and experiential lesson planning to increase your learner’s capacities in lighting and prepare them both for work on your school’s productions and a path into college and career. All of the activities have been prepared with NJ and NY state educational standards and coding, and participants will be given lesson plans that they can use in their own classrooms.

Feedback from prior HS Professional Development Workshops from Studio School of Design:

Wow. That was an amazing experience at the lighting workshop. Made great connections, got awesome ideas, and was super inspired. -Helio, HS teacher,  Queens

I loved the subject and the execution of it. [SSD] gave great lessons that were really transportable to the classroom. I can see myself really enhancing my unit on Lighting with this material and though this experience. –Peter, HS teacher, Bronx
I enjoyed this group and am actively recruiting students to be part of their summer program. I think we discussed this at one time – but I am a big believer in this this is a great opportunity for many students (as an entry point) as well as those who love  ‘design’ – and of course a great and fun way to look at storytelling.  Thank you!  -Sean, HS Teacher, Manhattan

No prior technical or lighting experience is necessary to participate in this fun & impactful professional development workshop. This program is targeted to all teachers who may be interacting with their students in theatrical productions or theater courses.

Price:
Program Facilitator(s):

Mark Stanley, Aja

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Using 3D tools for sectioning and better light placement; setting up projects to share documents, resources, layers across a diverse network; creating a workflow among diverse teams. The participants will work together as a group and in smaller cohorts to create and manage large scale project to arrive at usable solutions in this hands on, problem-based course.

Three (3) three-hour Sessions, Saturdays:

January 13, 20, 27, 2024

Price: $300
Program Facilitator(s):

Nick Solyom and Guests

A LIVE online interactive course

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Studio School of Design is partnering with Local USA 829, Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, and TSDCA to co-host another series of director & choreographer-designer networking events, held via Zoom, in January. Meet and reconnect with directors, choreographers and designers from across the country!
Price: Free ZOOM event
Program Facilitator(s):
Studio School of Design and United Scenic Artists, USA IATSE 829 and Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation co-host a series of zoom-based director/choreographer-designer networking events. 
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This full day IN-PERSON summit will be bringing together College and Graduate level Lighting Educators to share pedagogy, challenges, and successes as we emerge from the global pandemic. This event usually takes place during the Hemsley Portfolio Review Weekend in March in New York City.

 

Price:
Program Facilitator(s):

Mark Stanley

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This course will take an intensive look at lighting for dance and movement.  How do we think about movement and light connect?  How do we talk about it with a choreographer?  What useful ways to create a cue list? How do you create a light plot from contemporary equipment? What are the challenges of managing a repertory plot and database for large scale dance companies?

Three (3) online sessions: April 8, 15 and 22, 2023, 12pm – 2pm EDT, UTC-4.

Price: $200
Program Facilitator(s):

Mark Stanley

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Working as an Associate or Assistant on large-scale projects has emerged as a viable career option. This course will take an in-depth look at the Associates and Assistants role on a large-scale Broadway production and gaining skills that can be applied in other areas of lighting careers

As with ALL Studio School of Design ONLINE Courses, each session will be videotaped and shared with participants for a limited time in case you can not attend a specific session. 

Studio School Courses are open to participants from around the world. 

Eight (8) 2-hour sessions meeting online on Thursday June 9, and then Mondays from June 13-Aug 1, 7pm – 9pm, UTC-4 (EDT).

*NOTE:  FIRST CLASS ONLY HAS BEEN MOVED TO THURSDAY JUNE 9, 7pm – 9pm UCT – 4  EVERY OTHER CLASS WILL MEET ON MONDAYS.

 

This course is designed for early and mid-career professionals

 

 

Price: $600 ONLINE
Program Facilitator(s):

Craig Stelzenmuller and Guests

Photo: “Billy Elliot” Scenic Design by Campbell Baird and Robert Andrew Kovach; Costume Design by Dustin Cross; Lighting Design by Craig Stelzenmuller. Pictured: Sam Faulkner Photo by Curtis Brown. Production at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium, North Carolina Theater.

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Studio School of Design (SSD) and the Theatrical Sound Designers and Choreographers Association (TSDCA) are partnering with Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation to co-host a series of director/choreographer-designer networking events, held via Zoom throughout March. Meet and reconnect with directors, choreographers and designers from across the country!

 

Price: No cost to participants!
Program Facilitator(s):

Daisy Long and Jane Shaw

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“Lighting for Televised Live Events” will explore the techniques, science and art of designing lighting for live events and entertainment that otherwise would be a standard presentation—usually with an audience in attendance—except for the presence of television cameras that will capture the performance for broadcast on a TV or cable network, streaming on the internet, or perhaps to improve the overall quality of live camera shots on IMAG video screens. Those cameras change the game.

As with ALL Studio School of Design ONLINE Courses, each session will be videotaped and shared with participants for a limited time in case you can not attend a specific session. 

Studio School Courses are open to participants from around the world. 

This course will meet for 5 sessions on Saturdays from February 19 – March 19, from 12pm – 3pm EST UTC -5 (EDT)

This course is designed for, but not limited to, working theatrical lighting designers looking for more understanding of lighting live events for the camera.

Price: $400 ONLINE COURSE
Program Facilitator(s):

Jeff Ravitz

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Previz is a fast-growing part of the lighting design process and is becoming a necessity for shows, events and installations alike. Throughout the Introduction to Pre-Visualization course, students will gain foundational knowledge of the previz process as it relates to the creation of a show in the live entertainment industry. Students will be presented an overview of the various softwares available to programmers and designers and will have an opportunity to learn about the necessary tools in the previz process, including many case studies from the shows that earlybird visual has been a part of creating. The Earlybird team of programmers and previz specialists will give students a first hand look at benefits of previz in a live environment across various disciplines, and will take students through their previz workflow to show them the benefits of previz as a tool in overall creation of a live or broadcast show.

This is a two-day online seminar presented by earlybird visual in collaboration with Studio School of Design.

Price: $400 for this important ONLINE course.
Program Facilitator(s):

earlybird visual

Some scholarship/program fee reduction opportunities are available for students with demonstrated need. Please apply via the registration form.

 

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How do we combine research images, color, movement and the design idea into content for projection design. This course is an introduction to the elements of craft that go into creating a projection design for live performance, and how projection design interacts with the other design disciplines in a production. Although some aspects of the course may be structured with lighting designers in mind, lighting design experience is not a prerequisite for this course.

Seven Wednesdays from 6pm – 9pm EST (UTC-4 for first class, then UTC-5 for subsequent class sessions) from November 3 – December 15, 2021. All classes will be held over ZOOM. All class sessions will be recorded for limited time review by paid participants in the course.

Software used in the course:
Vectorworks a basic understanding of Vectorworks is necessary for the course. Student licenses are available from Nemetschek Vectorworks.
After Effects (a student version can be purchased for a month at a time, if you don’t already have a license to this software, please hold off until needed within the course to stay within the 1 month window).
QLab This software is rentable by the day, but only runs on a Mac Computer. Having access to this platform will be needed for course content to be relevant.

Price: $600 ONLINE
Program Facilitator(s):

David Bengali and Calvin Anderson

Some scholarship/program fee reduction opportunities are available. Please apply via the registration form.

Photo: , Projection Designer faculty member David Bengali, Photographer:

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This online, zoom-based course will cover the ins and outs of setting up your own business, working as a freelancer under the new and changing tax codes, negotiating skills, and other parts of our life that are not generally covered in designer training.

As with ALL Studio School of Design ONLINE Courses, each session will be videotaped and shared with participants for a limited time in case you can not attend a specific session. 

Studio School Courses are open to participants from around the world. 

This course will consist of Six (6) 2 ½-hour Sessions meeting on Wednesdays from July 6-August 10 7pm-9:30pm, UTC-4 (EDT).

This course is designed for theatrical designers in all disciplines and at all stages of their career

Price: $600 ONLINE
Program Facilitator(s):

Amith Chandrashaker and Guests

Photo: Fairview at the Soho Rep, Scenic Design by Mimi Lien, Costume Design by Montana Levi Blanco, Lighting by faculty member Amith Chandrashaker, Pictured: MaYaa Boateng as Keisha, Photograph by Julieta Cervantes

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This FREE IN-PERSON seminar in Manhattan with Lighting Designer, Educator & Author, Clifton Taylor and Product Manager for Entertainment Controls at ETC, Nick Gonsman will take place on Saturday, March 19, 2022.

Clifton and Nick will present their ideas about color control and manipulation and tools for success in working with our hybrid, mixed-source fixture world coming out of the pandemic.

Price: This is a Free, IN PERSON event
Program Facilitator(s):

Clifton Taylor and Nick Gonsman

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