story | Lian Szu-Jin, Contributing Reporter
photo | Lian Szu-Jin, Serena Quay
In line with the array of end-of-semester shows currently taking place, The Octant is proud to present an up-close-and-personal feature on Arts and Media (A&M). Three of our reporters learn about how A&M facilitates the Yale-NUS College arts scene. Szu Jin, a dancer, then speaks about a lighting workshop she attended:
As part of the sYNCD dance camp, I attended a Lighting Workshop conducted by the A&M crew. They taught us the basics of stage-lighting in the Black Box.
Mr Md Shafei Seri, Technical Manager at A&M, led the workshop. He took us on tour through the facilities of the Black Box and the Multi-Purpose Hall. He then let us play around with the par, profile and fresnel lights, using color gels and gobos (a kind of stencil): these modify the texture and atmosphere of the lighting. Supporting him was Indra Hardi Jemadi, an expert at lighting. Alexandra Chan, Farhan Md and Mark Andrew Fernandez and Khairul Kasmat took charge of sound. At the end of one of his mini lecture segments, Shafei cheekily said to us, “Next time if they [his team] tell you they cannot do this, you can tell them you know they confirm can.”
The workshop was very useful for us dancers, expanding our room for creativity, as a performance routine can only do so much without the special effects that give it that added oomph. Lighting plays an often overlooked but important role in highlighting the profiles of the dances, enhancing movements and creating rhythm.
I later learnt that A&M has led other workshops for students. In facilitating student engagement with the arts, A&M also facilitated the Hwa Seng Tailor’s Pocket Square Workshop,which many Fashion Society students attended,and the Cake Theater Workshops with Natalie Hennedige in 2015. A&M also set up a webpage https://arts.yale-nus.edu.sg for anyone from the Yale-NUS community to publicize their upcoming arts events or workshops that are happening anywhere in college, not just the west core!
This article is part of a series on Arts and Media. To read the others, click here.