A student-operated publication at Santa Rosa Junior College.

The Oak Leaf

A student-operated publication at Santa Rosa Junior College.

The Oak Leaf

A student-operated publication at Santa Rosa Junior College.

The Oak Leaf

“Anon(ymous)” sound designer ready for D.C. competition

Sound designer Jared Newman’s favorite scene from SRJC Theatre Arts’ production of “Anon(ymous)” last semester was when the main character, an immigrant to the U.S. named Anon, and his guardian angel, the goddess Naja, were at sea. He nicknamed the scene “kissy kissy,” because the two characters fall in love.

“Everything seemed to flow just right with that scene. Music, lights, projections; it clicked and the actors played off that really well,” Newman said. He never got tired of watching it.

Newman, 26, won first place for his work on the scene in the sound design category at the American College Theater Festival, Region VII on Feb. 18. Because of his win, Newman will travel to Wash., D.C. to attend the ACTF’s national competition at the Kennedy Center and present his work from “Anon(ymous)” to a new panel of judges April 19-24.

At the regionals, contestants gave presentations that highlighted their production process from start to finish.

“I made a display board with some snapshots from the show, and snapshots from my computer working on sounds within recording software I used (Cubase 5),” Newman said.

During the verbal portion of the presentation, he spoke of the challenges presented to the design team, and how they overcame them. “I focused on a few themes of the show. In this case War and Nemesani’s Lullaby, and the process of making those sounds and songs.” Artwork by Nine Inch Nails helped inspire the sound and music. He also brought speakers to give the judges examples of the sounds.

After Newman’s presentation, the judges had an opportunity to give feedback. They were impressed by how well put together his presentation was. They said that his sound design fit the scene and it flowed very well. It was inspiring feedback for Newman, and much less harsh then he had expected.

Newman has been to ACTF twice. “This year was far better. I am not just saying that because I won,” Newman said.

He enjoyed watching scenes competing colleges entered, especially the comedia del arte scenes. Comedia del arte is a classic Italian style of theater featuring the use of stock characters such as “the lovers” or “the wise old man.”

Newman thinks that at ACTF nationals he will need to “swagger around like fancy pants.” He expects it will be nerve-racking, but he hopes to do his best and plans to take his presentation from ACTF in February and expand and fine-tune it.

Newman works part time at C47 Inc. editing video and audio for websites. “Their most popular site is Extreme SFX, which specializes in Halloween contact lenses. Really cool stuff,” Newman said.

He plans to transfer to Pyramind College in San Francisco to study music production and multimedia in September. “It’s more a trade school than a college,” Newman said. “I love theater, but I am more interested in music. Theater is a bit limiting. If more opportunities come up, movie production is where I aim to go.”

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