Moving…

We are moving!

Check out the new digs at .. www.productivesmog.com !

Productive Smog – Nailing the Hammer Auditions (Hamilton Fringe Remount)

So nice we’re attempting to do it twice! And sadly some of our favourite smoggies can’t make it back in the summer, so we need to find some new castlings to help us through! It promises to be a thrill, so come on out, show us what you got and bring along any theatrically inclined or theatrically curious friends you have lying around.

The auditions are taking place:
Tuesday, June 12, 2007 from 2:00pm – 8:00pm
at The Downtown Arts Centre “The DAC”
28 Rebecca St. Hamilton (map)

Let us know if you’d like to audition but can’t make the time listed.
We may be adding another date for auditions if needed and can arrange alternate times.

Hope to see you there!

Nailing the Hamilton Fringe

As many of you no doubt have heard, as we have been planning this since February, we are putting Nailing The Hammer on again as part of the Hamilton Fringe Festival. But what makes it worth mentioning now is that we have showdates!

So mark your e-calendars, book off work, make facebook events, find someone to look after the cat… Nailing The Hammer is happening at the Downtown Arts Centre (28 Rebecca St) at the following dates and times:

Saturday August 11: 7:30 pm
Sunday August 12: 1:00 pm
Monday August 13: 7:30 pm
Friday August 17: 9:00 pm
Saturday August 18: 5:00 pm
Sunday August 19: 3:00 pm

Hope to see you all there!

AUDITIONS

We’re quite pleased to announce that auditions are taking place:

Tuesday Nov. 21 6-9 pm
at Mohawk College Room C04
Wed Nov. 22 6-9 pm
at Commons B108, McMaster University
Thurs Nov. 23 5-7 pm
at Commons B108, McMaster University

We will be auditioning groups of roughly five people at a time.
No preparation is required. No experience is necessary.
We’re looking to find enthusiastic people with the adaptability for a unique performance that incorporates a variety of styles.

If possible, please bring your schedule as best you know it for Term 2 (if in university/college).

a scale model set

Simulated below is a rough version of how our set might look when it is constructed. Note that the Robinson Memorial stage has a lip-type wall that extends 8 feet from each side wall, thus there will be less empty space in the final version.

Featured in this model set are:
3 delightful free-standing cardboard cutouts illustrating the size of actual life-size humans
1 skinny l’il deciduous tree that can be dragged to and fro as needed
4 large metal smoke stacks of irregular height and width to represent the steel industry that forms Hamilton’s backbone
1 rear-projected multimedia screen under the guise of a billboard
3 steel cage type constructions and 1 board that will be used to assemble various set-pieces
2 rear walls of corrugated steel or fiberglass immitation corrugated steel depending on viability to be graffitied at a later date
1 swath of lustrous astroturf
1 unseen construction that allows actors to poke heads above rear wall of corrugated steel

Scale is 1 inch = 2 feet

“restlessness, frustration and discontent are the first necessities of progress” -thomas edison

While it has been quite a long while since out last post, work on the the show is now in full swing.

We now have several scenes down on paper, as well as outlines for scenes that we hope to workshop with the actors.  In our writing of the show, we have covered one of Damon’s bedroom walls in paper.  We stand scratching our chins, Sharpies in hands, and brainstorm our scenes across the wall.  This allows us to visually connect our ideas and use drawings and diagrams to express ideas for blocking, set and multi-media.  We hope to have a working copy of the script by the end of this month.

We have scheduled auditions for the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of this month.  In order to best represent the Hamilton community, we are holding open auditions, with one night at Mohawk College on the mountain.  We hope to audition small groups together in order to create a comfortable, creative atmosphere.  Warm-ups, improv, and brainstorming will be a part of the process.  Further details, including times and locations, will follow within the next week.

Last Friday we made a trip out to Dofasco and Stelco for our second photo/film shoot.  While the weather was great, we found it difficult to capture the shots we wanted.  A security guard ran from her booth to inform us that we had nearly caused an accident in out quest for arty smokestack shots, and when we asked if we could photograph the factory from its front lawn, we were informed that this was against the company’s policy.  We parked across the road, and while an overpass and a “Dofasco: Supporting the Hamilton Community” sign were a bit of a barrier, we photographed the high-security entrance, and vast panorama of smokestacks and corrugated steel.  We also photograped dunes of scrapmetal over two stories high!  Since traffic was so heavy along the skyway, we drove acros it several times, photographing from inside the car.  We were struck by the unexpected and apocalyptic beauty of the sun shinning off of the lake, and the smoke-capped factories rising up out of the water.  Soon we will schedule another shoot that will allow us to walk along the bridge and hopefully receive permission to shoot on Dofasco and Stelco property.  Expect the results of this shoot to be up soon.

Today we have completed one of our first major requirements of our thesis project:  constructing a scale model of our set.  Over the past 2 days, we have spent a combiined nine hours in the set and props shed on campus measuring and rearranging minniature flats, set pieces and 2.5inch people around in our tiny blackbox rendition of The Robinson Memorial Theatre.   Our set, pending approval, is based on the design concept, “The Driver’s Handbook meets Sesame Street”.   While it does sound a bit strange, what we have designed is a very modern set featuring bright colours, astro-turf and geometric shapes and a stage painted with road markings…..with a little graffiti, to add a touch of urban decay.  There will be 3 mesh cages, a plank of wood, a tall skinny potted deciduous tree, and several other moveable shapes that the actors will be able to move, creating their own performance spaces for each scene.

We are also very excited to welcome our stage managers, Colleen and Meredith, as part of our team.  These girls have already given the project so much dedication and passion.  We can’t wait to contnue on to the next stages of the project, and we hope to keep you all updated.  More to come on auditions and the rehearsal process soon!

our first shoot

This is a bit delayed in getting up here, these were taken on the 18th of September.

We got up at 5 o clock and headed downtown to take some pictures and video of Hamilton.

Here’s some of the photos we took (might take a while to load):

mark your calendars!

Things are starting to come together, as they have been doing for the last few weeks. Obviously we are in the extremely early stages, but we are planning auditions (look for an announcement perhaps soon) and always batting various ideas back and forth. Lots of research and brainstorming to form the basis of our show. Coming up in the next few weeks we will have a rendezvous with a local historian and construct a miniature model of our set.

The most exciting sort of concrete thing we have now is performance dates for the show. This might change within the next few weeks, but it’s looking likely that you will be able to see our production in its completed state on February 15th, 16th and 17th, 2007. So that’s something for us to work toward (141 days from now); and don’t forget to mark your calendars!

Air Pollution in Hamilton – Health Effects and Sources, Some Surprises

September 28, 2006
HSC-1A3 (Health Sciences Centre)
McMaster University12:00 – 1:30 pm

Bring your lunch. All are welcome to these free seminars.

Talar Sahsuvaroglu, PhD.
Gartner Lee

Health effects attributable to air pollution exposure in Hamilton have been calculated by different researchers and government bodies, such as Clean Air Hamilton and the Ontario Medical Association. The results reveal differing outcomes. Some of the reasons for these differences, including co-pollutant effects and measurement errors, will be presented. We will then have time for discussion of further ideas, suggestions and comments.

and

Denis Corr
Audit and Research Manager, Rotek Environmental
Adjunct Professor of Engineering Physics, McMaster University

A mobile monitoring survey was undertaken in Hamilton to identify the sources of health impacting pollutants, including the impacts of vehicle idling outside schools and in traffic, road dust trackout and resuspension in dusty areas of the city and point sources identified through Environment Canada’s National Pollutant Release Inventory and Environment Ontario’s databases. Idling and road dust resuspension led to very high local levels of some pollutants and pre existing databases did not agree well with measured ambient levels.

Sponsored by the McMaster Institute of Environment and Health

And so it begins…

So for the next 8 months this blog will be our way of keeping track of the project. Tomorrow night we will hopefully have some pictures that we took of the downtown core. Thanks for your interest, stay tuned for more posts.

Cheers,

Damon, Kristen, and Marco