A Tech Week in the Life

   

Costumes: Melanie Mortimore
Photo: Sarah Matlow

    Tech week is what we theatre people refer to the week before a production opens.  This is when the actors enter the space and all the technical elements of the show come together.  We add costumes, lights, set, props, sound, makeup, etc. during this week.  This process, bringing it all together, takes a long time.  Our tech week starts on Saturday night for our spacing rehearsal.  This is the first-time actors get to do the full show on the set and readjust the "blocking" aka the movements for the show.  After this run is over, we go home and rest up for the longest day of the week.  On Sunday I arrived at the theatre at 1p for our Cue to Cue run.  This is when we go through the entire show adding in lighting and sound cues.  This process can take anywhere from 5-10 hours, sometimes more!  Our Cue to Cue ended around 7:30p that night after an hour and a half dinner break from 5-6:30p.  This was the quickest Cue to Cue I have ever been a part of, and it was fantastic.  We were able get another run of the show in before we left that night at 11p.  

    Monday was our first day with costumes.  This is a period show set in the late 19th century, so we have been rehearsing with a corset, petticoat, and heels for the whole 5-week process.  We added our full blouses, skirts, and hair extensions on Monday.  Before running the show in costumes, we went through and ran the quick changes.  There are three quick changes in this show, two for our main character Nora, and one for me.  Luckily, I have two amazing cast mates who help me change in about two minutes or so.  It is vital to rehearse the quick changes to get a feel for how much time we have, what costume pieces you work with, and the best process for getting everything off and on.  I have been a costume dresser for my last four shows I've been a part of so to be on the other side of it is quite exhilarating.  After running the costumes changes, we ran the full show.  It was very stop and go since all of the cues were still so new.  

    Tuesday, we added hair and makeup and took some promo shots.  2020 ONU alum Sarah Matlow came to photograph us while we did our run.  I was in a pretty bad headspace for this run because I had a hard day for my self-confidence.  My costume pieces were built for me, which means the fit beautifully, but they also take a long time to finish so my costumes weren't finished when we got the pictures.  I also didn't get much guidance with how I should do my hair.  I keep my hair fairly short, so I have to put in extensions for the show so it's hard to put all my hair up.  However, after I got over the initial self-consciousness and I got into my character and had a really great performance.  

    Last night, Wednesday, was the invited final dress rehearsal.  We sent out an email to our department and invited other friends to come see the show so we could have an audience.  It was incredible to have that a real audience who had never seen our show before.  I am incredibly proud of this production and all the hard work we have put into it.  This is my last show here at Ohio Northern University and I am so blessed to be a part of this incredible cast!  We have shows Thursday Feb. 24 at 7:30p, Friday Feb. 25 at 7:30p, Saturday Feb. 26 at 2p and 7:30p, and Sunday Feb. 27 at 2p.  Tickets are available at the Freed Center Box Office or online at www.freed.center!  

Twitter!

     I guess I don't really get the hype about Twitter.  I had a Twitter account for many years, starting from about middle school until college.  However, I didn't really know why I was using it at all.  I just knew that when I got into middle school, and then into high school, we just used these certain social media platforms.  I was supposed to have a Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.  Social media has been hard for me to put intention behind.  I never really knew if I was doing it "right".  With Twitter, I just followed random people who I wanted to know about.  Actors, politicians, and other random celebrities.  It was hard to feel like I was in control on a platform that I knew nothing about.  I found myself letting the notifications pile up and not wanting to open the app.  If I did open the app, then I wouldn't enjoy myself at all.  So, when I got to college, I deleted the app from my phone.  Suddenly there wasn't any more confusion, I wasn't worried about whether I was doing it "right" or if I enjoyed myself.  

    I recently made a new account for our upcoming assignment, and honestly, I had no interest in making it a long-term installment.  However, this chapter was so helpful in trying to make the Twitter match my brand, whatever that ends up being.  I think the advice on a clever bio is fun and I tried to emulate it as much as I could.  Trying to establish my Twitter as an extension of my other platforms seems like a good idea in theory but I'm just not sure how to get to a place where I enjoy using that platform and have a desire to interact with it.  I think it’s fascinating that the shelf life of a tweet is only 24 minutes.  I think it’s crazy how most of the people that will see a tweet are going to see it within three hours of it being posted.  I guess it would make sense if the best times to post are early in the morning 9a-10a.  This reaches anyone scrolling over morning coffee into their lunch break.

Happily, Ever After?

Valentine’s Day and I have always had a complicated relationship.  Growing up, I grew up believing in fairy tales. Disney, princesses, princes, and fairy godparents populated all my expectations around love.  I always felt like love was this epic adventure that carries you through the rest of your life together.  It comes when you least expect it (always when you are young) and there is a love at first sight moment! It’s magical, monumental, and life-altering.  I always thought my prince would come one day and life would be infinitely better.  Needless to say, that isn’t real life.  

I grew up watching my much older brother go from woman to woman, desperate to be loved and needed by his partner.  I began to realize that he wasn’t the night in shining armor and thinking he was had actually made him kind of a jerk.  It seemed like he could never find someone who was “worthy of his love” and who could “be the perfect God-fearing wife”.  He used to try to teach me what I needed to do when I came to the age when I started dating.  I shouldn’t be too desperate, he must be Christian, and Jesus has picked out the perfect person for me so don’t rush it.  This is the same man who married a woman after six months of skype dating from another country.  That relationship, like most of his others, fell apart.  But he is married now, and he has a kid.  So maybe, this one will stick? I won’t hold my breath.  

In addition to my brother, as I got older, I began to realize that my parents didn’t have the perfect marriage that I saw on TV, and they weren’t divorced like some of my friends’ parents.  When I was younger, I couldn’t comprehend why people stayed together if they didn’t like each other all the time.  As an adult, I understand it more, but it’s a lot more nuanced now and a lot less magical.

My sisters have given their hearts to many toxic boys throughout their years of dating, and I have seen them lose parts of who they are in these bad relationships.  My little sister is engaged to a man who, to my limited knowledge, has no desire to do anything with his life but play video games.  I have held my older sister so many times as she has cried about this boy, or that one, who she thought could have been “the one”.  I have had to watch many people in my life be dumped, abused, bulldozed, and stuck in unhealthy romantic situations, and I have just about had enough of it!  It is hard to see the lovey dovey Valentine’s sentiments when I am surrounded by heartache on all sides.  

In high school, my godmother told me that she wished she hadn’t dated so young.  She didn’t know who she was, so how could she get to know someone else?  I took that question to heart and swore off dating in high school, and honestly it was the right decision for me.  I took control of my mental health struggles, dedicated myself to school and theatre, and I figured out that I am queer.  It took a lot for me to reconcile my queerness with my faith, and to process my trauma and depression.  Honestly, I could not have brought anyone romantically along on that journey.  However, I felt at a severe disadvantage when I got to college, and everyone knew how the whole dating thing worked.  I just went on my first date in January of 2022, and it was not good.  I’m talking “dead fiancé, cheated in the past, last ex was a month ago” not good. With all this swirling around, a part of me wants to give up on love and just grow old with my dog.  It would save me a lot of awkward conversations, potential heartbreak, and compromises. And yet, a large part of me is still a hopeless romantic, just a lot more realistic.  I think that I can chose who “the one” is.  I now know that dates aren’t as much pressure as I thought they were.  And you don’t have to give yourself up to be with your partner, at least I won’t be doing that.  I like who I am, and I think I’ll find someone else who does too.  It’s just going to take a lot more daydreaming, overanalyzing, and conversations with my mom before I figure it out.

Influencers

Influencers are a fantastic new strategy utilized on social media to promote products and personalize companies.  With the new frontier, there is increased visibility for "ordinary people" who succeed in the algorithm.  These people become celebrities on their social media platforms and are bestowed the name "Influencer".  This name is given because of the major reach that they have over their followers.  Companies will use these influencers to personalize them and market their products from “ordinary people” to “ordinary people”.  I know I have personally used meal services, taken skill building classes, and have purchased many planner accessories that many influencers I follow have vouched for.   

Influencers are important to the selling of products in this new social media age.  People are accustomed to seeing the picture perfect “reality” on their platform of choice, and they don’t want to be constantly bombarded with the same impersonal commercials.  Social media feeds are personalized via the algorithm to what sparks each person’s interest.  No two people have identical feeds so the influencers that they are drawn to are different.  In addition to a variety of influencers, companies must adjust how they decide to market.  They must decide which type of influencer they must target, how they want their products to be marketed, and where they want it to be.  

My personal YouTube is populated with lifestyle vloggers and wellness influencers.  The type of companies that I see most frequently promoted by the people I follow are Hello Fresh, Skill Share, Better Help, and Princess Polly.  In addition to these sponsorships, they constantly share what they are wearing, what they are eating, and where they are shopping.  Many times, I will find myself striving to emulate the lives of the people I watch online.  This leads to me looking online at the things they use and giving into the influencer marketing strategy.  

My Dilemma with "The Social Dilemma"

    The Social Dilemma is a Netflix documentary that we watched in class this week, and honestly, I think it is manipulative, melodramatic and, does not attempting to inform or fix any of these social media companies’ valid critiques.  It seems to me that this documentary was created for the express purpose to scare people about using social media.  The filmmakers used a myriad of traditional scare tactics (for example: horror music underscoring, framing of the shot during interviews, montage of horrifying news clips, and the use of darker colors, etc.) to fear monger, and there are no contradictory opinions presented in this film.  I would be very interested to know why these people were selected for this documentary.  Why are they no longer working in social media? What did they gain with this exposure?  There is no way that I can talk about everything I didn’t like about the film, however I can start.

    There are many big and oversimplified claims made in this documentary meant to garner a fear response in their audience.  The biggest is "we are the product".  This is an oversimplification of the interaction between social media companies and businesses.  They brought Shoshana Zuboff into an interview to talk about social media since she created the term “surveillance capitalism” in reference to this industry.  The reference to human futures trading seems like a great tagline, but what does that really mean? What is futures trading and does that metaphor hold up? I don’t know.  I am not a business major, but it seems to me that if they aren’t willing to show any elaboration on what they mean, it probably isn’t a strong point.  The film is littered with one-liners that are meant to frighten the viewers about social media. 

    The next point the documentary tries to make is that social media dictates our perception of reality, which is true and concerning to a point.  However, the way that the documentary has displayed this idea about algorithm, pushing content, and so forth is melodramatic, oversimplified, and misleading.   The advertising element of social media is pushed as an evil entity that is buying people.  For one, if you don’t know that advertisers pay to get their content shown to you, that seems to be on you.  That is the very job of advertisement.  However, this film takes almost all agency from the people being advertised to which is silly!  We the people still have the ability to scroll away, to turn something off, and to not make a purchase.  Implying that we do not just because social media exists is just plain wrong.

    Probably the most concerning claim is the mental health implications of social media use.  Social media addiction is a term that was thrown around in the film.  While it can become a problem, I don't believe social media is any more addictive than anything else that creates dopamine.  If you find yourself struggling with social media addiction, absolutely get help.  But that isn't a common experience.  Another big topic was the spike in teenage depression factors.  This is a real concern and should not be treated lightly, however social media use and reported cases of depression are, at most, a correlation.  There is no evidence to suggest a direct link between these two, and it should fall onto the parents and role models in a child's life to educate and guide the younger generation about interaction online, just like they educate them on interaction in the real world.  

    How do we navigate the legitimate path forward while addressing some of the concerns raised in the video? Let's look at what the interviewees are trying to do.  Tristan Harris is a prominent figure in the crusade against social media, however if we look at his businesses actual proposals for how to change the online world.   Nowhere is an action plan to solve the problem that Harris has made a name for himself to fight.  If the people condemning social media can't even figure out a logistical solution, how can we put all our trust in what they have to say?  This isn't a one size fits all solution and there is no way that the world online is going away.

    So, why are we watching it in our class about utilizing social media? I think it is important to learn how to decipher every bit of media you consume.  Obviously, I am incredibly biased against this film.  To me, it was almost laughable in its attempt to paint social media as a villain, falling victim to tropes that destroy a lot of credibility in my opinion.  I don't think the concerns about privacy and mental health implications are completely wrong or should be ignored.  It is a great place to start a conversation about safe social media practices, but we need to acknowledge the manipulation and fear mongering that this documentary employs to sway their audience so that we can make the best decision for our lives. 

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 To learn more about this, check out the Foundation for Economic Education's YouTube two part video critique, "The Social Dilemma is Dangerously Wrong...".  It helped put this film into a little more context for me.

Link to Part 1: The Social Dilemma Is Dangerously Wrong... Part I

Facebook and the Rule of Thirds

    Something that I found interesting to learn about this week from our textbook was the rule of thirds.  It is all about finding balance, so the consumers aren’t bombarded constantly with promotional material.  Experts say that one third of the content that is published should promote the business, one third should be content coming from other businesses/prominent figures for your brand, and one third should be content that comes from personal interactions.  This is a really cool tip on navigating my own social media, since as an actor I am running myself like a business.  I have always been confused on how to use social media for myself, because I didn’t feel like I was worth advertising.  But using this rule, I don’t have to be constantly thinking about what I am going to post about myself, but rather spreading the wealth so it can be a well-rounded page. 

    It also goes on to give percentages of what type of content should be posted on Facebook.  I know Facebook is probably my least active profile in terms of posting so using these tips and tricks should help me as I prepare to enter the “real world” and need to be able to market myself online.

Preparing for Snowmagedon

    If you didn't know, we are projected to get anywhere from 5-16 inches of snow.  This is the biggest snowstorm I have seen since my freshman year when temperatures got down to around -40 degrees with windchill and snowfall was massive!  When we found out that storm was coming, my best friend, Grace, and I were living in the Maglott Hall complex.  We went to the grocery store and stocked up on microwave meals so we didn't have to walk over to Mac.  We visited each other's dorms a few times, but I had just been injured so I didn't want to walk a lot during that time.  

    This time Grace and I are living in a house off campus together and we have a close knit little group of friends.  We have a kitchen and went to the store to stock up on real food.  We invited our best friends, Reagan and CJ over to spend the snowstorm with us! They brought so many snacks, we are going to bundle up, watch movies, talk, and just enjoy the time we have together.  Grace and I will be graduating in May and we will be going our separate ways.  Reagan has one more year after us and CJ is a freshman.  It is so hard to think about leaving this little community and having my life change so dramatically.  However, I am so excited to spend this next 24 with my best friends in the world!