Full Sail’s Got Talent

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After class on November 29th, I went to the Full Sail Live venue to sketch the talent show. When I got there the place was pretty empty but it quickly filled up as I blocked in the stage on my sketch. The
Student Community Association presented “Full Sail’s Got Talent,” a
showcase featuring some of the school’s most talented performers.
Students competed on stage to be crowned the winner of this annual
event. Full Sail’s Got Talent was free and open to all students and
staff. Four faculty members sat in front of the stage to act as judges. One female judge was brutally honest in her judgements and the audience full of students at times booed her.

I spent my time watching the camera operator as  he danced around with the tripod on wheels. He never stopped moving and the student responsible for feeding the electrical cord had to keep up with him. Lighting also changed constantly which made for a challenge as I painted. Evan Frazer and Brandon Mirador (Replay &
Frazer) won the Annual Full Sail’s Talent Show. They performed as a dance team to many of the most popular dance songs. It was sort of a history of dance. 0ne dancer wore a blank faced mask which added to the edgy mystique of the act. Abruptly the music stopped and the two performers stood on the stage, not sure what to do. I’m not sure if that was part of the act or a mistake.

Allison Gammill was the Runner up. She had a sweet voice and sang from the soul. Most of the other acts were fast paced rap singers, whose words were garbled and often lost. When Allison performed, standing center stage in her elegant dress, her talent shone and her stillness stood in stark contrast to all the gesturing on stage. One of the judges said he had a crush on her. That is what happens when you sing from the heart.  I don’t understand this pop-cultural obsession about standing on a stage to be judged however. The caged birdsings of freedom.

Graham Toms

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At Full Sail University, Larry Lauria brought in Graham Toms, a former co-worker from Disney University. Today, Graham is a spokes person for New Tech Lightwave 3D modeling software. He basically showed us samples of his work using the software. He was asked by a Texas cattle rancher once to paint his prize bulls. Graham modeled and posed the bulls in Lightwave and then used those renderings as reference for his painting. I had never considered using 3D software in that way. Having a traditional background and embracing new technology gives him more ways to express himself.

His daughter was traveling with him and she sat in the corner doing her homework. Most of his modeling is of fantastical creatures. His paintings are extremely detailed allegorical works.  He showed us how he loosens up when he draws by drawing circles and waving lines just to get his hand and brain warmed up. He doesn’t like to listen to music when he works although he knows of other artists who do amazing work while listening to classical music. It seems like a pretty sweet deal to show samples of the work you love to do, while discussing your process.

Graham also demonstrated the software by modeling a horse quickly in 3D using Sub-D’s. The fact that he has sketchbooks full of drawings of horses made modeling a quick and intuitive process.

Full Sail GPS

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As a Studio Artist at Full Sail, there are certain classes that I am required to take. Dan Riebold told me about this class on GPS so I agreed to go. Most of the instructors hunkered down in the back row like deviant students. I sat in the second to last row with a fair view of the room full of instructors.

The GPS program was started after Full Sail students were sent to help out a local production company. Of the ten students sent to help, only two were considered hire able by the company. The students knew how to use the equipment, but they lacked motivation or that extra spark of knowing how to solve problems even before they cropped up.

When a student starts their studies at Full Sail, they are given 100 GPS points. If they are tardy they can loose 5 GPS points. If they fall asleep in a lecture they can loose points. Each teacher decides if point reductions are needed. On the flip side, points can be awarded if a student goes above and beyond by assisting other students or volunteering in the classroom or community. It was this community volunteering that perked up my ears as I imagine it might offer sketch opportunities and good human interest stories.

Sexual Harassment

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All the Full Sail staff were required to take a seminar which outlined Full Sail’s policies on Sexual Harassment. Kathy Blackmore invited her crack team of instructors from 2D Animation to meet for lunch at Mellow Mushroom on Aloma before the seminar. It’s always nice to get together as a crew to laugh, gossip and discuss ways the course might be improved over time. My Hawaiian pizza was delicious. As a crew we then arrived at Full Sail live before anyone else showed up. The back rows were the first to fill up. There was plenty of uncomfortable joking about harassment and slowly the room filled. I left the 2DA crew, thinking I might sketch from the front row. Kathy informed me that much of the presentation would be a video, so I changed my focus and decided to sketch the growing crowd.

Sexual Harassment is bad. It was defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. A lawyer went through his 29 power point slides being sure to read each of the bullet points. About 70% of women and 20% of men have experienced sexual harassment. About 15,000 charges are filed each year. The bottom line was that Full Sail employees must report all harassment if they are aware of it to the Human Resources department or a quick call to the Full Sail president.

The video showed a fictitious court case in which a female employee was filing a sexual harassment charge. She met a guy at a company picnic and they talked. She let slip that she used to work for a 900 number. The audience murmured. The guy kept asking her out and she declined. He parked outside her home one night for several hours. She contacted HR and they suggested the guy stop. He didn’t. Eventually the guy was fired, but the woman got cat calls from the rest of the shipping department. She decided she had to leave.

The Full Sail staff were asked to break up into groups of six to act as juries. The interesting thing about the video is that the case left room for interpretation about weather HR had done enough to stop the harassment. The juries all agreed that she was the victim of sexual harassment. They varied widely in the matter of how much to offer in damages. One jury offered $300 in compensatory damages, $300 in punitive damages and $300 in back pay. The video jury offered $75,000 in damages. Larry Lauria on the 2DA jury offered 10 million dollars in damages, but it was a hung jury because no one could agree on the final amount.

Cotton Club

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The Cotton Club was a famous night club in Harlem New York that opened during prohibition. The club featured some of the greatest African American entertainers yet it generally denied admission to African Americans. Boxer Jack Johnson first opened the club in 1920. Full Sail students helped convert Full Sail Live into the Cotton Club for the night. Robin Nicole, dressed in a sleek white dress, announced that she was the president of the Full Sail Black Student Union. Cliff, the VP, had a natural gift in keeping the audience charged. When he got on stage he asked everyone to come up front and fill up all the round tables that had been set up in front of the stage. Robin asked for a moment of silence while they showed a video of African American performers who had recently died. Images of Bo Diddly, Don Cornelius, Ertha Kit, James Brown, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston flickered on the screen.

Then it was time to sing! “Adonis” was the house band that had formed just 2 months prior, consisting of Full Sail students. The music paid tribute to Black History Month. The performances were passable but I wasn’t blown away. After the jazz-themed portion of the evening ended, the Producer’s Guild would transition things into 2012 with a Beat Battle Competition, in which producers went head-to-head with their tracks, allowing the audience to choose the grand prize winner. I didn’t stick around for the battle. I preferred to linger in the nostalgia as I packed up my antiquated art supplies and walked out to the parking lot to head home.

Mulan Screening 2DA

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Each month at Full Sail, we have 10 classes instructing the 12 Principles of Animation in the 2D Animation Lab. On the last day of class, students get to enjoy a traditionally animated film as they put any finishing touches on their animation projects and flip books. Often students are illuminated by the warm glow of the animation disks as they sketch. There is usually a rush of activity at the animation cameras as scenes are shot and re-shot.

This month, the class decided to watch Mulan, a film which I put plenty of blood sweat and tears into. This was the first full feature film Disney produced entirely in Florida and the small crew had to put in an astonishing amount of overtime to get the film finished. It was trial by fire, and I loved the pressure. I stayed late without being asked to re-work all the keys in a scene that showed fish swimming underwater. By morning I finished the scene, locking down the stripes and patterns on the fish bodies. All that work garnered quick promotions. Ironically after all the water ripples were added, all that work was distorted, but I still feel pride any time I see it. I haven’t experienced that kind of intense community creative effort since production on that film. I suppose my daily deadlines are my way to keep that pressure cooker active as I strive to grow as an artist.

City Arts Factory

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As part of ArtsFest, City Arts Factory opened its doors for free. Actually, I’m pretty sure you can walk into City Arts Factory anytime for free anyway, but they were also offering a chance to register for a chance to win gift pack including tickets for two to SAK Comedy Lab and Jazz Brunch at the Grand Bohemian Hotel. Since I had time in the afternoon before going to Full Sail, I decided to go to City Arts to sketch. Of course the place was empty.

The hallways were lined with “Youthful Expressions” from children from the Boys and Girls Club of Central Florida. It was fun to see some of the pieces awarded red, blue and yellow ribbons, just like in a Country Fair. The work was from children in the surrounding four counties. The winners of this exhibit would move on to exhibit in the Regional South Eastern competition. Winners from that would move on to a National exhibit. I still remember the thrill I had as a child when I won a blue ribbon in a county fair in New Jersey. Any one of these kids could one day become great artists if their work is valued. Perhaps one day, I can help inspire these kids.

I decided to sit in the hallway and sketch “Orlando Guitartown” created by Munte Olinger. The large Guitar was inspired by Counting Crows and contributed to the space by Ford Keane and Jennifer Quigley. I remembered that Ford Keane is the owner of the building that houses Avalon Gallery and he is the President and CEO of City Beverages. Jennifer Quigley is Principal of WBQ Engineering. Children’s art consisted of, a bowl of spaghetti, a sea monster, and a series of colorful circles.

I was most intrigued by hand prints in cement in an indentation in the tile floor. These were hand prints of Mayor Buddy Dyer, Ford Keane and Jennifer Quigley. This must have come about when Orlando had lofty ambitions of becoming Hollywood East. A pair of pliers and some nails were placed on the cement and then the hole was filled with a piss yellow resin. The only people that entered the hall were searching for the restrooms in the back. A husband fingered his cell phone as his wife was in the bathroom.

Full Sail Construction

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Construction at Full Sail is an on going process as the school takes over store after store in the strip mall where I work. Once the tenants leave, the whole facade is usually stripped of all its brick work and then a new facade is put in place with strips of aluminum and paneling. Birds nest in the stripped facade and they get angry, chirping loudly when their nests are confiscated by construction workers. Glass paneling is decorating the building that used to be an Albertson’s Supermarket. All the temporary fencing just means I have to walk further to get to the few remaining restaurants when I want to get some lunch. A new coat of stucco usually polishes off the job before students start filing in.

Valentines

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On Valentines Day, I had to work in the evening from 6pm to 1am at Full Sail. That late night shift meant I wouldn’t be able to take Terry out to Dinner. I also needed to figure out a daytime event to sketch. I looked in the Arts Fest booklet and the only event I could find was an exhibit at the Holocaust Museum in Maitland. Somehow, sketching at a Holocaust Museum on Valentines didn’t work for me. I decided at the last minute to call Terry at work and ask her if she would like to meet for an early dinner at 3pm. She met me at the Grand Bohemian.

The Grand Bohemian main dining room was being decked out with red table cloths and linens for the evening’s festivities. We were offered a table in the bar area. Terry had accepted the fact that I had to work late and didn’t expect any special Valentines treat. When I called, she realized she did appreciate the chance to spend time together. The orders took a long time to come out but we relaxed in the midst of a busy work day. Terry was hungry and her order came out first. We shared her dish of eggs and ham on a thick slab of toast until my chicken dish came out. The waitress put on an extra piece of chicken to make up for the wait. My dish was delicious with a sweet caramelized glaze and plump potatoes with greens.

A woman at the bar was showing off a new line of flavored vodkas to the bar maid. As we finished our meal, the bar began to fill. Several of Terry’s co-workers sat at another table and ordered drinks. Late afternoon employees in business suits drifted in from work. The sun light sweeping in through the windows got warmer as the sun set. I kissed Terry goodbye and she marched back to her office in high heels, a bright red blouse and a vibrant black and white stripped skirt that looked like it just came off a model’s runway.

I trudged back to my truck to head off to work. I had an hour to kill so I stopped into Avalon Gallery to look at a group show of watercolors from members of the Central Florida Watercolor Society. I brushed past work that was too pedantic and sweet but I did find some inspiring work. I studied a rough landscape by Ken Austen, and I really liked a painting called “American Craftsman” of an old Orlando home. I learned a thing or two from the paintings on display, leaving me itching to splash some color around. Jeffery Shonkwiler, the gallery director, was seated with Donna Dowless in the cushy gallery seats. Donna is Orlando’s ambassador of love. Much of her work incorporates a heart shape. As I left, Donna said to me, “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” I replied, “It sure is!” Walking towards Lake Eole I realized it truly was a gorgeous day.

Walking around Lake Eola, I stopped at the swan boat dock and realized, that I had to sketch. The light was golden. Couples walked out on the dock in a constant stream. No one used the black mini Venetian Gondolas. As soon as a swan boat returned to dock it would fill with another loving couple looking for adventure. A black and white swan swam near where I was sketching. A couple was shooting photos. The boyfriend suggested to his girlfriend that she get a shot where the swans necks formed a heart shape. She waited behind the lens for that magic moment. The white swan reared up in the water flapping its wings. It honked loudly and then lunged forward at the black swan, snapping it’s beak. The swans weren’t lovers, they were two males competing for territory.

Orlando Philharmonic Sneak Peek

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This is the 20th anniversary of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. A sneak peek event was held at the brand new Full Sail Live facility on 436 and University Boulevard. The event was for Friends of the Philharmonic and the Press. I made the mistake of putting my Full Sail lanyard around my neck thinking it would make me blend in. It must have made me look like a lost student instead. One of the women at a reception table asked if she could help me. When she realized I wasn’t lost, she offered me a press pass.

All the front row seats had purses, programs and persons seated in them. A string quartet was playing and I decided I should start sketching right away. I wandered back stage a bit and sat down in my artists stool to sketch. When the music stopped, David Shillhammer, the executive director of the Orchestra, addressed the crowd. The 20th Anniversary season will kick off on September 29th with Mahler’s Symphony # 3, the Pastorale Symphony. On October 13th “Wicked Divas” will hit the stage with Andrew Lane conducting and Broadway stars Alli Mauzey and Nichole Parker singing songs from Wicked, Gypsy, Chicago, Ragtime and Phantom. November 17th Bronfman & Beethoven will come to the Bob Carr. Yefim Bronfman will perform on the piano. Local composer Stella Sung will unveil a new piece commissioned by Lynn & Chuck Steinmetz, the recipients of the 2o12 John Blackburn Distinguished Service Award.

David Shillhammer made an announcement that Sharon & Marc Hagle donates $750,000 that morning to the Philharmonic. This was the first gift towards establishing a family foundation endowment fund to continue endorsing the orchestra going into the future. The Bryce West foundation also supports the performing arts in Central Florida. Harriett Lake is Sponsoring “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.” This show about corporate ladder climbing will be on May 11th at 2pm and 8pm Saturday.

Opera is being kept alive as the Philharmonic joins forces with the Florida Opera Theater Company to stage, Rigoletto on March 2nd & 4th, The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart on November 9th & 11th, and Madam Butterfly by Puccini on April 5th & 7th. Frank McClain is directing these productions which are semi staged featuring the music by having the orchestra onstage as the actors sing. Cirque De La Symphonie on March 30th at 2Pm & 8pm Saturday sounded thrilling. Featuring the music of Bizet, Saint Saens, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak and others along with acrobats, contortionists, jugglers and strongmen. Aerialists will sour overhead as the orchestra offers suspense.

For the first time the Orchestra will be collaborating with the Shakespeare Theater to bring “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to like. There is also “The Summer Series”, “The Focus Series” and “My Funny Valentine” featuring Michael Andrew & Swingerhead on February 9th. There is plenty happening as the 20 year old Symphony forges forward into its mature years.