Near Final Draft (I think)
Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 1:57 pm
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I think it is close, which is exactly why I'm interested in hearing what TLS has to say.
The best work I’ve done in my career has gone unnoticed, and I’m proud of that fact. As a theatrical lighting designer, I work behind the scenes. While the audience always sees my work, if I’ve done my job effectively, they don’t consciously notice the intricate details that go into enhancing the natural spectacle of theatre with light and shadow. It is a subtle and benign manipulation that at its best can help to leave an audience cheering for more, or at its worst leave them wondering what it was they saw on stage. For seven years I have worked as a lighting designer, and it is from this experience creating art that I have developed invaluable tools for my future success.
During my senior year of college, I discovered my artistic medium. I was studying theatre and political science and was equally passionate about both. Political science satisfied my hunger for research and legal debate, while theatre provided an opportunity to create and explore. A lighting design course showed me an outlet for exercising my creativity in ways that I hadn’t previously considered. I still remember the long hours, excitement, and frustrations that went into drafting my first light plot, the self-doubt that accompanied choosing colors for my first major design, and the feeling of adrenaline as I stumbled through my first technical rehearsal. This was my art form; my other interests would have to wait—I was hooked.
I began to design professionally after graduation, and my confidence grew with each production. I made bolder choices as I became more comfortable painting the stage with colored light. I was becoming more adept at communicating effectively with my colleagues, from discussing concepts in initial meetings to communicating focus information to a stagehand balanced precariously on a lift twenty feet in the air. Perhaps most importantly, I was becoming a true collaborative artist. During one memorable production, half of the lighting system failed on the first day. I worked with the director and the technical director of the venue to come up with a solution: I moved some lights, changed some concepts, and we moved forward the next day having only lost a few hours of rehearsal. No matter what problems arise in theatre, there’s no time to panic: the show, as they say, must go on.
As the years passed, I realized that lighting design made me more receptive to new experiences. This allowed me to create opportunities in other fields, and I shifted my career focus into arts administration to advance an organization which meant a great deal to me. Though my career moved in a new direction, I still found ways in which my background continued to influence me. As technical director at _________, for example, I fostered a spirit of collaboration in my staff, and as a marketer and grant-writer, I found parallels to play analysis and concept development. I acquired this kind of adaptability as a necessary part of the creative process, and yet it is the very skill that ultimately allowed me to remain open-minded about the direction of my professional life.
After seven years in the arts, the time is right to pursue my other interests. Throughout my career, my passion for the law would resurface with ever-increasing frequency. Whether I was navigating copyrights for my own design work, or writing contracts for performers at _________, my desire to learn more was growing at a rate I could not ignore. I knew that one day I would revisit my studies, and as I now take steps toward returning to academia, I am grateful for everything I have learned in my theatre career. I see the world differently because I have been a theatre artist. It has helped me to realize the importance of attention to detail, work ethic, time management, and collaboration. It developed my confidence and my creativity, and I have come to recognize that process can be as important as the final product. In law school and in my future as an attorney, I am confident that these skills will stay with me and continue to influence me—only this time from behind the scenes.
The best work I’ve done in my career has gone unnoticed, and I’m proud of that fact. As a theatrical lighting designer, I work behind the scenes. While the audience always sees my work, if I’ve done my job effectively, they don’t consciously notice the intricate details that go into enhancing the natural spectacle of theatre with light and shadow. It is a subtle and benign manipulation that at its best can help to leave an audience cheering for more, or at its worst leave them wondering what it was they saw on stage. For seven years I have worked as a lighting designer, and it is from this experience creating art that I have developed invaluable tools for my future success.
During my senior year of college, I discovered my artistic medium. I was studying theatre and political science and was equally passionate about both. Political science satisfied my hunger for research and legal debate, while theatre provided an opportunity to create and explore. A lighting design course showed me an outlet for exercising my creativity in ways that I hadn’t previously considered. I still remember the long hours, excitement, and frustrations that went into drafting my first light plot, the self-doubt that accompanied choosing colors for my first major design, and the feeling of adrenaline as I stumbled through my first technical rehearsal. This was my art form; my other interests would have to wait—I was hooked.
I began to design professionally after graduation, and my confidence grew with each production. I made bolder choices as I became more comfortable painting the stage with colored light. I was becoming more adept at communicating effectively with my colleagues, from discussing concepts in initial meetings to communicating focus information to a stagehand balanced precariously on a lift twenty feet in the air. Perhaps most importantly, I was becoming a true collaborative artist. During one memorable production, half of the lighting system failed on the first day. I worked with the director and the technical director of the venue to come up with a solution: I moved some lights, changed some concepts, and we moved forward the next day having only lost a few hours of rehearsal. No matter what problems arise in theatre, there’s no time to panic: the show, as they say, must go on.
As the years passed, I realized that lighting design made me more receptive to new experiences. This allowed me to create opportunities in other fields, and I shifted my career focus into arts administration to advance an organization which meant a great deal to me. Though my career moved in a new direction, I still found ways in which my background continued to influence me. As technical director at _________, for example, I fostered a spirit of collaboration in my staff, and as a marketer and grant-writer, I found parallels to play analysis and concept development. I acquired this kind of adaptability as a necessary part of the creative process, and yet it is the very skill that ultimately allowed me to remain open-minded about the direction of my professional life.
After seven years in the arts, the time is right to pursue my other interests. Throughout my career, my passion for the law would resurface with ever-increasing frequency. Whether I was navigating copyrights for my own design work, or writing contracts for performers at _________, my desire to learn more was growing at a rate I could not ignore. I knew that one day I would revisit my studies, and as I now take steps toward returning to academia, I am grateful for everything I have learned in my theatre career. I see the world differently because I have been a theatre artist. It has helped me to realize the importance of attention to detail, work ethic, time management, and collaboration. It developed my confidence and my creativity, and I have come to recognize that process can be as important as the final product. In law school and in my future as an attorney, I am confident that these skills will stay with me and continue to influence me—only this time from behind the scenes.