Creating shared folders for submitting drawings, class notes, and research project

96 Replies

Please set up a shared Google Drive or Dropbox folder dedicated to this class. Make sure you put your first and last name in the title of the folder (see below). Within the course folder, create three subfolders: drawings, class notes, and research project. Please make sure that all these folders are shareable and can be viewed by all. I should not have to ask for permission to view the documents or folders. 

FOLDER: Theatre History 2280ID, Section ___, Christopher Swift
   SUBFOLDER: Drawings
   SUBFOLDER: Class notes
   SUBFOLDER: Research project

Once you have set up the folders, simply post a link to your master folder (Theatre History 2280ID, Section ___, First Name Last Name) by replying to this post. Going forward, all you need to do is upload your drawings, class notes, and research project assignments into the appropriate folders. You should not post links to the files themselves. Post only a single link to your master folder by replying below. Nothing more. I will be going into your folders throughout the semester to check on your progress. 

Thank you for setting up your folders in this manner and posting links to folders only (not to individual documents). Please make sure that your folders can be “viewed by anyone with this link” when you share.

96 thoughts on “Creating shared folders for submitting drawings, class notes, and research project”

    1. Christopher Swift Post author

      Drawings: You have included all the required drawings, but I think you needed to take more time with a few of them — particularly the Kiesler stage (final drawing) and Serlio’s Tragic Stage. You seem to be rushing to complete the drawings. Have you seen the tutorial on drawing a straight line? I think drawing a free-hand straight line is your biggest challenge: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/swiftthe2280d273spring2024/resources/ If you want to improve your grade on drawings, redo these two drawings after you practice drawing a straight line.

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    2. Christopher Swift Post author

      Research project: I think you need to do a more careful observation of the area around the theater. It is not equally industrial, commercial, and residential. You will discover this when we do the GIS analysis. Also, there’s little attention to the level of tourism in the area. The area is extremely expensive (Madison, Fifth, and Park avenues are the most expensive in the city). Your research questions are excellent. See if you can find the answers in Act II. Drawings are very good as well.

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    4. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act II: Great work! Very well organized and you gathered quite a bit of information. Looking forward to your presentation. Make sure you time yourself and cover the most important areas (especially the conclusion).

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    6. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act III (with Stephen): Good opener to get people involved. Good cooperation in presenting the material. Good use of terms (theatre arrangement types). Map was well explained (two maps — zoning, demographics, and transportation and restaurants). Old people don’t commit petty theft? Why is there a 1920s “feel” to the neighborhood? I didn’t quite understand. The theater itself is quite modern (glass facade).

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    1. Christopher Swift Post author

      Drawings: Since your pencil is quite heavy, you were unable to draw some of the finer details in Serlio’s Tragic Stage. Also, the Hellenistic Theater is not drawn accurately (single point perspective). For full credit, please redo these two drawings using a finer pencil to get the details. If you need help with single-point perspective, please see me during office hours.

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    3. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act I: Good observation about the industrial past that lives on in the contemporary urban scene. I think you could go deeper in describing the particular nature of the place — what kinds of people inhabit the space? Think about class and ethnicity. Do the shops cater to a certain group? Are the locals lower, middle or upper class? How does the urban situation reflect class tastes? The transportation situation is unclear too (be more specific about train and bus depots — and this could have been mapped on your birds-eye view drawing). Finally, your research questions need work. Are you sure there is an active theater community in the area? Perhaps people come from other neighborhoods to attend productions at the Chocolate Factory. Are there other theaters in the neighborhood? If not, this suggests that the Factory is unique.

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    4. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act II. Overall, good work. Make sure you’re able to explain the space during your presentation by taking the audience through the various areas of the plan (flexible seating arrangements, off-stage areas). How is offstage created if the space has no proscenium and the set up can change? Also, where did you get the information about the industrial past of Long Island City? I don’t see a source in your bibliography.

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    5. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act III: The text on your slides was too small to read from audience. Larger font and bullet points needed. Good explanation of ground plan. It wasn’t purpose built — it’s a converted warehouse, right? Show the other arts organizations in the area (and restaurants). Great explanation of the change in the neighborhood over time! Historical map was very interesting. I really understood the mission and operation of the theater company and site after your presentation.

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    1. Christopher Swift Post author

      Drawings: Serlio’s Tragic Stage is excellent — I can see that you have improved in single-point perspective drawing since the Hellenistic Theater (which is not correctly drawn). Your sketch of Kiesler is rushed. Please redo for full credit. Remember to anchor your drawing in the most prominent attributes so that your drawing maintains its integrity.

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    2. Christopher Swift Post author

      Class Notes: Good. You might want to flesh them out some more to improve your quiz scores. For instance, the most important information about the IRT subway in terms of our class is the impact it had on creating the Broadway district. (This is just one example). Make sure you make these connections in your note taking.

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    3. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act I: Very strong in-person observations about the neighborhood. The high-end restaurants and boutique shops, residential aspect, and height of the buildings. Your summary analysis seems like it was AI generated — where did you get all that information about the diversity of all the high end downtown neighborhoods? Or families and comparisons with adjacent neighborhoods? Please make your own observations, and if you do research, make sure you cite your sources (ChatGPT is not a “source” — it just steals from sources around the internet without giving credit and monetizing the information for its own profit). Your research questions are excellent. See if you can find the answers in Act II.

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    5. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act III: Well designed slides, slide viewer, table of contents. Need multiple bullet points for each slide, followed by phrases, not full sentences. The performance space is a “black box.” Are the pillars on the stage permanent? Zoomed into Chelsea area — but didn’t see 5 block radius. What else is going on in that Port Authority building? Map legend needs to go on map. Synthesis: off-off-Broadway — influence of Living Theatre (in the tradition of OOB), intimate storytelling.

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    3. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act I: very good work. Terrific drawings. There really is very little Art Deco architecture directly around Lincoln Center — you need to do a bit more careful research here. Your research questions are very good. When you work on the next stages of your project, pay special attention to two things. 1) Look to the west of the Lincoln Center area. There is some subsidized housing and a high school. In other words, the massive performance space (good observation about the calm created by the wide open spaces) divides two different kinds of neighborhoods. 2) Discuss DS&R’s redesign aspects of the LC spaces. There was a idea behind the redesign of the original architecture — see Liz Diller’s Ted Talk.

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    5. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act II: Great work. Excellent bibliography and research. Strictly speaking, the theater is not a proscenium type since there is no proscenium (stage frame). It is an “end stage” arrangement and the stage is not square since it has an apron. Try to be very specific about what kinds of music performance the space was designed to hold. Is it for chamber music or orchestral music?

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    6. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act III: Excellent work. Good historical image of neighborhood and discussion of San Juan Hill. Good GIS map with radius Didn’t see legend for Pluto info. Good job mentioning the DS&R improvements — glass, sidewalk additions, etc. The entire hall was renovated as well for acoustics and lighting (sound panels). Nice sketches! Epidaurus comparison was a little odd since it’s an outdoor theater. Appia’s Hellarau is a much loser comparison (lighting behind walls, stripped down, indoors). The synthesis should have come at the end (after the Mission).

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    1. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act I: Excellent work. You have conducted thorough in-person analysis of the spaces around the Flea. Research questions are good — just make your second question more specific. Do you mean architecturally or do you mean the artistic company at the Flea or the mission statement?

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    2. Christopher Swift Post author

      Drawings: the drawings are very professional, but I wanted everyone to avoid using a straight edge. It appears that you also drew the Serlio stage using a transparency over the original. The sketches should have been done by eye and free hand. You are missing the Appia sketch. If you’d like to do a couple of drawings over again free-hand, please let me know if you submit them.

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      1. Jesus Diyarza

        I will get to completing the Appia sketch as soon as possible, but as for the Serlio stage sketch, I did that one free hand and only used the reference photo you provided to complete it (I did not trace over it)

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    3. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act II: very good work. A couple of outstanding questions: 1) from the sectional plan, there seems to be three theater spaces at the Flea. Can you discuss each and explain what each is for? 2) When comparing the Flea to area theaters, you should restrict yourself to the downtown area, below Canal street. I don’t consider all of Manhattan a “community” or “neighborhood”. Work in the 10-15 block radius around the theater.

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    3. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act I: Overall, a good report. Nice point about BAM serving as a visual anchor for the area. I wouldn’t say that the street patterns are “normal” at all. Flatbush is a diagonal street that cuts through the rectangular grid and its intersection with Atlantic make the area a major traffic hub. I was surprised you didn’t mention the Barclay’s center or the MTA station. Nearly every train the city goes through the Atlantic/Flatbush stop and it’s also a station for the Long Island Railroad.

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    4. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act II: Very good work. A small detail, but the Google Earth image is of the main BAM building, not the Harvey. Great historical photographs! I don’t see that you answered the research questions you posed in Act I. I’m looking forward to your analysis of how you believe the theater fits into today’s community (Act III).

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    5. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act III: Good coverage of the history of the theatre building (and preservation of the “dilapidated” look). You spoke with authority and knowledge. How is there a video of a 1903 fire?! Good description of the four architectural spaces of BAM — including the gala space and park. What are the historical design styles of the PJS and Harvey theaters? The PJS is modern?? Pre- and post-renovation images are good. Good mention of the Prince’s Perspective and how the size of the stage overcomes this. Since you both did different buildings, it would have been helpful to talk about how BAM programs different kinds of productions for each space.

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    3. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act I: Excellent observations of the local buildings and people. Your hand-drawn map needs more landmarks. Please also use typeface that’s easily read and give yourself credit for the photographs (not “student”). You did not write two research questions.

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      1. Christopher Swift Post author

        The research questions are not bad, but they need a little honing so they directly engage with the performance site. For instance, you might ask how productions at NWS have used technology, and what technology is available in the theatres. For the second question, I’m not sure that the conversion of the space from a movie theater to a live performance venue reflects a general trend in the entertainment industry. Perhaps a better question would be to find out why the producers decided to make the transition. Perhaps that particular movie venue was not doing well. Or maybe they had a particularly good contract with a production that would run in the new performance space.

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    4. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act II: The responses to your research questions were generated by AI. Did you go on the theater’s website? You will find floor plans there, as well as information about the aims of the producers (and the producers names!!). The original Horse Exchange was not converted. It simply sat on the same property. There is no architectural relationship between the current form and the 19th century building. Please re-do using new research questions, write using your own words. Since you ran many of your questions through AI, many mistakes were made and your report is filled with generalities.

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    5. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act III: good historical map showing the space of the old Madison Square Garden. Good description of theater interiors. Need to use bullet points on slides. It is a for profit theater, not a non-profit — which means their mission is to sell tickets and fill seats. Didn’t discuss general areas, which are very unique in the theater (lobby, bar, etc.). Needed a more careful discussion of audiences and community.

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    6. Christopher Swift Post author

      Revised Act II: Your bibliography does not contain anything that would answer the question about the neighborhood and history of the neighborhood. Where did you get that information? 8th Avenue midtown was never predominantly “industrial”. This needs work. Otherwise, very good work gathering information. I’m looking forward to Act III and your discussion of the goals of the producers and the best types of productions for this commercial theater.

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    3. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act I: Excellent work, overall. A few notes:

      • Your particular neighborhood is not at all homogenous, and this needs to come out in your report. It’s on the edge of Ft Greene which is heavily residential, and on the other side (Flatbush) — there’s BAM, Barclays, and the shopping center. Make sure to include this diversity in your report.
      • Your research questions are excellent and will help you understand the history of the area from the last 40 years. It was not always upper middle class or a commercial center. It would be interesting to know how the theatrical activity followed the redevelopment. Did Barclays and the shopping center come before TFANA?
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    4. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act II: Great work. Great images. I hope you will be able to explain the different stage/audience arrangements in your Act III presentation. A couple of notes. The rise in property values around the theater cannot be directly linked to the presence of the theater. There are, of course, many other factors in the increase in real estate values over the years. It would be very difficult to draw a direct cause and effect relationship — so I don’t think the question itself is very useful. Also, note that the most common arrangement (3/4 stage, with audience on three sides) intentionally mimics a very famous theater arrangement from history. Considering the focus of the company productions, can you guess what that theater is? Explain in Act III presentation!

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    2. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act I: Very good work. I especially appreciate your comment about how more careful awareness of the neighborhood can lead to observations about the buildings that are surprising. You are missing a final analysis. I don’t understand your second research question. I think I understand your first research question to mean how can BAM use digital technology to increase audience involvement? It’s unclear. Both your research questions should engage directly with the Fishman (not generally about theatre).

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    1. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act I: Incomplete. Please use the “Site Report” as a template. You need to include photographs (and attribution), drawings, your name, name of the theatre, etc. Will wait for you to resubmit. Please let me know when you do.

      Nothing every resubmitted.
      1) It seems you only have one research question, although the one you have is very good.
      2) No birds-eye view sketch of the neighborhood (10 block radius).
      3) Your descriptions are not precise. At points, I can’t tell if you are discussing the Lincoln Center complex or the surrounding neighborhood. The residential buildings to the west of Lincoln Center are VERY different than the neighborhood to the East. This needs to be observed. I’m not sure what you meant about height restrictions. How do you know about zoning before we did an ARC GIS analysis?
      4) Your observation about places to sit is not quite accurate, particularly since the renovations to Lincoln Center by DS&R. These changes must be part of your final presentation. They added a grassy area for sitting, some architectural objects for sitting, and overall, made the complex more open to the general public (like the public lobby for Avery Fischer Hall).
      p>

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    2. Christopher Swift Post author

      Almost identical to Conrod’s. I cannot accept this work.

      From Conrod: “The theater was originally built in a residential area. It still resides in a mostly residential area however there have been additions of learning institutions, commercial stores, entertainment businesses and workspaces. Since it was the first theater in the area it was known for that. It wasn’t a known theater district since there weren’t multiple theaters around, The closest one being new
      theaters introduced with schools. The theater was built to perform Italian opera but since then has expanded to perform other operas from other places. The audience is anyone that would enjoy operas. There isn’t a specific demographic.”

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    4. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act III: The opera house on 39th street has no relationship with Lincoln Center’s Met — other than name (different organization, — Lincoln Center is a public works). The names of the architects need to be on the slides so you don’t forget! Good job combining all residential buildings in your Pluto map. You should know the name of the college (John Jay and Fordham). The space in front of the Met is used quite a bit for Summer Stage — so your conclusion that it isn’t uses is incorrect. There are also cafes and restaurants at the site and leisure areas around the Met. Yes, a proscenium theater. The smaller theater is not where you said it is — it’s under the lobby (not the stage). Under the stage is a massive scene changing machine. Good observation of the ambiance of the space (peaceful, quiet). White stone imitates marble — very interesting. The side seating are box seats. Good observation about the movement of the orchestra onto the stage. Did you know there are tiny speakers planted all around the auditorium? Yes, non-profit. It can’t be the largest theater in the world — where did you read that? The audience does not sit around the sides of the stage.

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    1. Christopher Swift Post author

      Class notes: very sparse. I know your attendance has been spotty, but while you are in class you need to be taking more thorough notes. This will improve the scores of your tests. Remember quiz 4? You needed to post lecture notes for the first four classes of April to get credit for quiz 4.

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    3. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act I: Much improved. The research questions are excellent. I don’t see the drawings, however (facade and interior element). Note: you say the building built in the early 20th century have a “gothic” feel. Careful here! We learned about gothic architecture earlier in the semester, and the buildings around E59th are definitely not gothic.

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    1. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act III: Fantastic work, overall. Well designed slides, with table of contents. Question — what does a glass facade do to a structure, for the viewer/user? Good point about commercial shift of neighborhood. Good point of modular design of seats — you explained how the seats and stage is adaptable to meet the mission for “flexibility.” Did observed the connections between the Shakespearean courtyard stage and Polansky stage. Are the older buildings more residential? Great point about the lobby and additional user spaces in the building. You covered community outreach and education (student-priced tickets). Good comparison to St. Ann’s — but isn’t seating/stage arrangement serving the artist even more than it does the diversity of audience? I think all types of audiences would appreciate varieties of set ups.

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    1. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act I: great work. Your research questions are spot on, since the goals and size of programming of the organization have changed over time. I hope you were able to discuss the architectural style of the old PJS building in Act II. I thought your hand-drawn map of the area could have contained more landmarks (you mentioned parks — I don’t see any on the map). Also, where is your facade drawing and your interior drawing? What production did you see at the Peter Jay Sharp Bam theater?

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    2. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act II: The answers to your research questions in Act II were AI generated. This is not research and you did not write using your own words. Part of the reason I know this is that you did not include a bibliography (as assigned). Here’s what ChatGPT spat out when I entered one of your questions (please notice the similarity): The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) has been a cornerstone of cultural and social life in Brooklyn since its establishment in 1861. Initially founded as a venue for performing arts and education, BAM quickly became a focal point for the community, offering a diverse array of programming that appealed to a wide range of audiences.

      In its early years, BAM played a vital role in shaping the cultural and social fabric of the neighborhood by providing a platform for local artists and performers, as well as hosting renowned national and international acts. Its presence helped to elevate Brooklyn’s reputation as a center for arts and culture, attracting visitors from across New York City and beyond.

      Over time, BAM’s role has evolved in response to changes in the neighborhood and broader cultural landscape. As Brooklyn underwent periods of economic and demographic shifts, BAM adapted its programming to reflect the diversity of its community while also staying true to its mission of presenting innovative and boundary-pushing performances.

      In recent decades, BAM has expanded its reach beyond traditional performing arts to include film screenings, literary events, and community engagement initiatives. It has also become a hub for experimentation and interdisciplinary collaboration, fostering partnerships with local organizations and artists to create dynamic and socially relevant work.

      Overall, BAM continues to be a driving force in shaping the cultural and social identity of Brooklyn, serving as a catalyst for creativity, dialogue, and connection within the community and beyond.

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    1. Christopher Swift Post author

      Act III: Slides not complete — you needed a title slide with image of theater and project title. Also, a table of contents. Pluto map was missing radius, but your legend was effective and the color coding clear. Good analysis and explanation of the various spaces in the building. No bibliography and no final synthesis.

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