Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2004 - 13

résumé typed on a typewriter to a prospective employer or graduate
school. In the past, one assembled a collection of paper plans, drawings,
renderings, and photographs into a portfolio and sent the package to a
prospective employer or training program via the U. S. Postal Service.
"Now it's not necessary to lug that thick, black suitcase all around
town. No longer is it essential to entrust prospective clients with irreplaceable originals, which had the potential to get lost, damaged, or stolen while passing through several hands before being returned."
(McKenna 2000, 10)
In an age when much of the conceptual and creative process is done
with digital tools, it only makes sense that the portfolio, as a representative
sampling of one's abilities, should be created on a digital platform.

Digital Design at Colorado State University
The theatre program at Colorado State University began exploring digital
design technology in 1992. At that time the primary goal was to conceptualize and communicate design ideas to the entire production team in
an efficient and timely manner. Not only is theatre a collaborative art, but
also the process of creating a production is driven by the ever-present
deadline of "Opening Night." The interdisciplinary nature of the theatrical process requires complex decisions to be made by many different individuals, creating a situation in which:
"Each [member of the production team] has, somewhere inside
him or herself, an inherent understanding and sensitivity to the theatre to
begin with. But playwrights speak in action/dialogue and think within
their own parameters. Directors speak in their own language, which is
similar to, but also different from, the language of the playwright. It is
rooted in the reality of the theatre-movement, sound, and physical action. Scenic designers speak of the world in a language of atmospheres,
environments, or emblems, which frame the actions occurring on the
stage. Costume designers speak of the world of the play in terms of characters expressing their unique qualities through their garments and accessories. Lighting designers speak in a language which not only
amplifies the world created by the other artists, but also lends its own extraordinary impact to the production." (Braddy, et al. 1993, 15)

Assessment Portfolio - Highlighting Skills
(used with permission Josh Gregory)
12

S P R I N G

2 0 0 4

TD & T

The use of computer technology in the design process provided a
means by which ideas could be visualized and manipulated while still in
the conceptualization and planning phase. If a workable unified design
concept can be conceived more quickly and accurately, more time is
spent executing the designs rather than undoing mistakes.
Over the next three years, several significant changes were implemented in the curriculum. By 1995, manual drafting was dropped from
the curriculum and students were only instructed in CAD methods. In
spring 1996, analogue audio recording, editing, and playback were
abandoned and replaced by digital audio equipment and software. In
1997, funding was secured to equip a twelve-seat computer lab dedicated for use by music, theatre and dance students, and, by 1999, computer-aided technology became the cornerstone of the theatre program's
design and production curriculum.

Developing Digital Portfolios: Curriculum and Culture
A review of sophomore level students has always been a part of the assessment process in the theatre program. In this review the faculty considers all of the class work the student has done in his or her first two
years and evaluates any practical performances or presentations. Although it was a required part of the theatre program, the structure of the
review process was not very clear. Students were given instruction for
preparing a résumé and had an opportunity to gather their materials, but
most of the presentations consisted of a haphazard mass of loose papers
and projects. At best, the work was organized into notebooks, but the
student had no idea how to guide the reviewers through their work. To
complicate matters, the various faculty members, with their range of
"theatrical languages," were often unable to respond to a variety of presentation materials. No single faculty member was willing to take on the
task of portfolio preparation, and few students availed themselves of

In an age when much
of the conceptual and
creative process is
done with digital
tools, it only makes
sense that the
portfolio should be
created on a digital
platform.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2004