David Weiss Award for Design Excellence - Description

Named for David Weiss, Scenic Design Professor Emeritus of the University of Virginia, the goals of this competition are to recognize and encourage outstanding student talent in the areas of design for the stage and to foster camaraderie among design students throughout the southeast region of KCACTF. The purpose of this competition is to provide an opportunity for students to participate in a design competition and to enter design work, produced or otherwise, that was not part of a production entered in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. PLEASE NOTE: This is an award to Region IV. Winners will receive a certificate and cash award but are not eligible for the National Festival.

The Vice-Chair for Design & Technologies/Exhibition Manager and the exhibition staff will hang all work. Consider this when preparing your presentation. The space is 4 feet wide and 8 feet tall, 32 square feet. If not already mounted and ready to hang you may include a detailed drawing of how you wish it to be hung. If for some reason the work does not come in at required dimensions and thus cannot fit into the space the staff reserves the right to select which pieces might be displayed. You will not be allowed to alter the exhibition once it is hung. Prepare your project!

Guidelines & Prodecures:

1.  Only bona fide students are eligible for this award.  For the purposes of this award a bona fide student is one who, during the period of initial screening, is: an undergraduate student registered for at least six semester hours or nine quarter hours; a graduate student registered for at least three semester hours or four quarter hours; a continuing part time student enrolled in a regular degree or certificate program

2.   Students who meet the above “bona fide” eligibility requirement and who attend schools within Region IV may enter this competition. Only those realized projects NOT entered in KCACTF during the festival year and those paper projects completed during that same festival year may be entered. [The KCACTF Festival Year extends from December to December, the time of regional selection of Festival participants.] In other words, any design eligible for Barbizon Awards is NOT eligible for entry.

3.   Each student is allowed only one entry in each area of scenic, costume, or lighting design.

4.  All design materials must be labeled with: Title of Production, Act and Scene and Designer's name. The institution must not appear on any documents other that drafting templates as per professional industry standards. The designer's return address should be on the back of each item of the entry.  The complete design presentation, when mounted and displayed on a vertical surface should not exceed approximately 32 square feet [ 4 feet wide by 8 feet high ]. When size limitations of scaled presentation materials require xerographic reduction, such out-of-scale reduction should be noted.

5.  The student designer will send the design materials requested to the host of the Regional Festival two weeks prior to the festival or bring materials to the design exhibition space in person prior to the scheduled deadline for submission as determined by the Regional Design Chair.

6. Participants must pay the registration fee for the festival but are not required to attend. It is to your great advantage to be present for the open critique session The respondents reserve the right to decline presenting an award if suitable designs are not entered.

7. NO PHOTOS ARE PERMITTED ON “REALIZED” DESIGNS. This levels the playing field for paper projects. NOTE: If photos appear on the presentation the work will not be eligible for competition. NO EXCEPTIONS! Exhibition personnel will NOT alter presentations.

Requested Materials:

All requested materials listed in the Barbizon Award information [appearing here below] are
requested for David Weiss Award competition with the following exceptions:
a. NO PHOTOGRAPHS are allowed to level the field between realized and paper projects.
b. Include in Statement of Purpose a description of the nature of the theatre housing the production, the reasons behind the design choices in relation to the script, and the director's interpretation.

NOTE: Following is a list of requested materials. Not all designers at the regional level will have all of this material but this should not discourage or prevent them from participating in the competition. These are to be considered "guidelines" for presentation.
It is our hope that the materials presented will reflect the creative process used in developing the design as it reflects the designer's unique vision and understanding industry standards for scene design, costume design, and lighting design. The guidelines for design materials requested are:

Scene Design

1.  Ground plans and color sketches of the setting in a medium of the designer's choice. Blue-line (or equivalent) plans and color sketches or renderings should be of appropriate size to represent the design in relation to the display space available. All material must fit in 32 square feet of space, 4 feet wide and 8 feet high. A model and ground plan may be substituted but KCACTF cannot assume liability for damage or loss incurred to the model during shipping to the regional or national festival.  Models must be built in suitable scale for shipping and exhibition.

2.  All materials must be labeled with: Title of Production, Act and Scene, and Designer's name. The institution must not appear on any documents other that drafting templates as per professional industry standards. The designer's return address should be on the back of each item of entry.

3.  Visual materials which serve to show research, preliminary sketches, photographic images, and any other sources of inspiration which demonstrate the designers' process and evolution should be included in the presentation.

4. A single paragraph statement of the design approach to the production should be prominent in the display. Include a description of the nature of the theatre housing the production, the reasons behind the design choices in relation to the script, and the director’s interpretation.

Costume Design

1.   Six to twelve representative renderings, with costume fabric swatches attached are expected.. Color copies of rendering may be used but fabric swatches must be original.

2.   For productions requiring more than twelve costumes, the designer should include a graphic color scheme showing the palette for the entire production. An action chart and costume plot may also be included.

3.  Renderings or color sketches should be of appropriate size to represent the design in relation to the display space available and may include more that one costume on a plate. Additional sketches may appear in an accompanying book placed at the base of the display. All materials must fit in 32 square feet of space, 4 feet wide and 8 feet high.

4.   Visual materials which serve to show research, preliminary sketches, photographic images, and any other sources of inspiration which demonstrate the designer's process and evolution should be included in the presentation.

5. A single paragraph statement of the design approach to the production should be prominent in the display. Include a description of the nature of the theatre housing the production, the reasons behind the design choices in relation to the script, and the director’s interpretation.

Lighting Design

1. Light plot, color key (or any method of showing color choices), magic sheet and traditional paperwork (such as hook-up, instrument schedule) for the production should be mounted in an orderly, logical fashion. Ares used for this material should be of appropriate size to represent the design in relation to the display space available

2.  Representative color photographs of the production should be labeled as to scene/locale.  At lease one photograph should illustrate the entire setting and its relationship to the stage and theatre space. Slides, computers, videos or any other equipment which relies on direct current, may not be used.

3.  Sample production cue sheets should be accompanied with a description of the moments and "looks" desired. Paint and fabric swatches should be provided to give a sense of the overall scenic and costume color and texture schemes.

4.  Visual materials which serve to show research, preliminary sketches, photographic images, and any other sources of inspiration which demonstrate the designer's process and evolution should be included in the presentation.

5. A single paragraph statement of the design approach to the production should be prominent in the display. Include a description of the nature of the theatre housing the production, the reasons behind the design choices in relation to the script, and the director’s interpretation.

To register for the David Weiss Award for Design Excellence please visit the Region IV Festival Design Registration Page here.

Return to Design/Tech Page