REGISTER ONLINE BY DECEMBER 15, 2023!

There is no differentiation between regional (non-realized) design and national (realized) design registrations.

 

See below for further information.

Scenic, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Allied Design & Technology Categories

There will be many regional and national awards. However, there is no differentiation between regional and national registrations.

Presentation Information

 We CELEBRATE all the diverse and innovative work being done in the nation in the areas of Design, Technology and Management.  

This festival season has already proven to be a very unique and unprecedented year in academic theatre. We want to celebrate all your efforts in creating theatre in this unique time in our world today. Whether your 2023 design and technology work was fully “realized and produced” or “non- realized and non-produced”, we want you to submit your work to be showcased

All work is eligible this year to participate in the National DTM Program and will be considered for national honors and awards. This includes realized productions created at the your institution as well as non-realized projects created via our Regional Design Projects plays. 

To be eligible, students must:

  • Have designed or created a technology project at their home institution in 2023.
  • Be a bona fide student in 2023;
  • Be registered for and attend the Regional Festival to showcase their project and participate in response sessions.

Students will present a design or technology project comprised of materials which clearly tell the story of the process, evolution, and art of the design or technology component. A team of theatre design and technology respondents will serve as selection panelists and respond to the projects.

Supporting materials that have proven most useful include combinations of the following: production photographs, a design statement, research images, preliminary sketches, white models, color models, color sketches, drafting including sections, recording of sound cues and manipulations that lead to those compositions, design bibles, story boards, costume plates, fabric and trim swatches, costume plot, cue synopsis, tracking sheets, and the like. This is in no way meant to be a definitive list. Choose elements that best articulate and document the conceptual approach, process, and the production.

Students will be presenting live at the festival as well as submitting materials for upload to our online Design Expo. 

Registration Deadline: December 15

Presentation Upload Deadline: December 31

All submissions should include: Student’s name, student’s discipline title, event/play/piece title with playwright’s name, and other designers/collaborators clearly labeled with an easy- to-read font; A design statement somewhere in your materials; Do not include the name of your school on any of your materials.

Design Categories

  • Costume Designers may include examples of some process work such as preliminary sketches, or paperwork along with sketches (swatches) and realized work should include production photo(s).
  • Scene Designers may include examples of some process work such as preliminary sketches, ground plans, or final renderings and/or models. Realized work should include production photo(s).
  • Lighting Designers may include a plot, associated paperwork and the process you used to arrive at your design choices. Realized work should include production photo(s).
  • Sound Designers may include clearly identifiable links or digital files with selected cues plus organizational/paper work such as sound plot and sound system design. Please include your process for arriving at your design choices. Realized work should include production photo(s).

Allied Design & Technology Category

  • Production & Shop Managers may include work that gives a thorough presentation of the scope and complexity of the project.
  • Technical Directors, Master Electricians, and Sound Engineers may include examples of drafting and associated paperwork.
  • Costume Technologists, Craft Artisans, and Hair and Makeup Artisans may include photos of the project worn by a model, or on a dress form, or wig stand and detailed process photos of the interior and exterior of each project.
  • Prop Artisans and Scenic Artists may include detailed process photos of each project.
  • The project samples should reflect the range of technical challenges that you can solve and provide details on the process and the finished quality of the project. Realized work should include production photo(s).

Students are responsible for their own festival registrations, DTM registration, and other forms.

*Additional questions should be directed to your regional DTM Chair. 

 

Design Expo

Students will present their work live at the Region III Festival in Flint, MI. Please visit https://www.kcactf3.org/dtm-exhibit-format/ for information regarding what to bring to the festival and what to upload for the online archive.

Schedule: The initial schedule will be done by January 5th. Each student will get a 5-minute time slot, and then there will be a final presentation round where each student gets a 10-minute response session. In the first round, students should keep their presentation to 1 minute, in the second round, they may prepare a 2-minute presentation. 

Preparing the Design and Display

Please read the Region III Exhibit Format Recommendations for a description of the display panel you will be given and for some suggestions on how to plan your display.

Region III Exhibit Format

In order to help the respondents understand your design process and intentions, it is important that designers in all categories present supporting materials, which most clearly tell of the story of the process and evolution of the design.

Supporting materials that have proven most useful include combinations of the following:

Drafted ground plan, graphic presentation of the design that incorporates color, texture, value, atmosphere, and scale. This may be in the form of research, renderings, sketches, model, photography or a combination thereof. Scenic models should be done in 1/4″ scale. Larger scale models may not be able to be displayed in the exposition.

Six to twelve representative renderings or color plates with costume fabric swatches attached; a color chart or color board to give an overview of the designer’s approach to the play as a whole; presentation of the design that incorporates color, texture, value, and scale in the form of research, renderings, sketches, photography or a combination thereof.

Drafted light plot, section, cue list and magic sheet; visual presentation of a significant moment in the play showing how the design uses the variable properties (color key, light sketches, storyboards, etc.); support materials such as research or visual representation from other media (paintings, photographs, collage, etc.), which might help clarify the design idea. Type of space, setting or other restrictions are at the discretion of the student designer, but must be clearly indicated in the presentation.

Renderings of each character; separate makeup character worksheets with the colors listed for each area (i.e. base, cheeks, eye shadow, lips, hair color, etc.); research or visual representation from other media (paintings, photographs, collage, etc.) that might help clarify the design idea.gs.

Research and sources of inspiration that demonstrate the designer’s process and evolution; paperwork (such as sound plot, board hook-up, speaker placement, etc.) illustrating how the design should be implemented; explanation of five or six cues created for the play. 
In addition to their poster, a 5.1 Q-lab system with a large 1080p display will be provided. Students will each be scheduled 15 minutes of tech time to test their Q-lab presentation. Students should make a Q-Lab with their sounds and 1080 x 1920 images/slides to provide context for each cue. The presentation should run from 1-3 minutes of length. This will not be shared with the respondents during your presentation. Instead, during your presentation you need to provide two to four specific cues you can ask a provided board op to play. Respondents will have access to your full Q-Lab presentation. With such limited tech time students will only be successful if they come with a well programmed Q-Lab project that they are simply testing on the display system. Students with questions should contact the Regional DTM Chair.

Research and sources of inspiration that demonstrate the designer’s process and evolution; paperwork (such as projection plot, control network diagram) illustrating how the design should be implemented; five or six cues created for the play. 
In addition to the poster, a Q-lab system with a large 1080p display will be provided. Students will each be scheduled 15min of tech time to test their Q-lab presentation. Students should make a Q-Lab with their visuals. The presentation should run no more than 3 minutes of length. This will not be shared with the respondents during your presentation. Instead, during your presentation you need to provide two to four specific cues you can ask a provided board op to play. Respondents, will have access to your full Q-Lab presentation. With such limited tech time students will only be successful if they come with a well programmed Q-Lab project that they are simply testing on the display system. Students with questions should contact one of the Regional DTM Chairs.

Design Expo