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Monthly Archives :

February 2022

The Color Purple
 The Color Purple 1024 768 OK Coffman
By:

Light Focus and Sound Effects Assistance

Layered explosion sounds for war scene. (Recreation of cue sequence)

Show: The Color Purple
Lighting Designer: Jim Othuse
Sound Designer and Resident Electrician: John Gibilisco
Live Sound Designer and Mix Engineer: Tim Burkhart
Costume Designer: Lindsay Pape
Scene Designer: Jim Othuse
Director: Kathy Tyree

For this show I was able to assist with light focus on the Hawks Mainstage at the Omaha Playhouse. I was assigned the Front / Rear beams, HL splays, and HL Cove [see plot for detail]. I also worked on implementing sound effects with John Gibilisco using SFX6 software. There were several successful effects created, from layered bird noises to bomb impacts. Additionally, I took care of microphone packs and assembled / tested each unit before applying labels.

Key:

  • Yellow = Hung
  • Blue = Focused
Black Dirt Promo Video
 Black Dirt Promo Video 1024 571 OK Coffman
By:

Americana Score for a Promotional Video

Video Recording and Editing: Skyline Entertainment Productions

I was hired to compose a 2-3 minute Americana inspired piece to underscore an advertisement video for Black Dirt Land Sales. The project featured live drums and guitar which I wrote and recorded, and resulted in a finished mix for the client.

 

[Isolated version of the project with only the music and no overdubbing or video:]

The Maids International Promo Video
 The Maids International Promo Video 1024 571 OK Coffman
By:

Orchestral Scoring with The Maids International and Mr. Clean

Animator: Michelle Reagan
Illustrator: Justin Michaelson

I was hired to write and produce an orchestral, heroic score for an advertisement which announced the joining of Mr. Clean products and The Maids International. The resulting song featured an emboldening orchestral arrangement and a passage which combined the Mr. Clean and T.M.I jingles into the score (see 2:15 to 3:00 in the file below).

 

[Isolated version with just music and no voice over or video]

Constellations
 Constellations 1024 768 OK Coffman
By:

Light Technician and Sound Operator

Show: Constellations
Lighting Designer: Jim Othuse
Sound Designer and Resident Electrician: John Gibilisco
Scene Designer: Jim Othuse
Director: Denise Chapman

For this show I was able to hang many of the lights used in the catwalks over Omaha Playhouse’s Drew Theatre. I also worked as a sound cue operator using SFX6 and a QLV 96 board for the run of the show.

Key:

  • Yellow = Hung
  • Blue = Focused
Murder On The Orient Express
 Murder On The Orient Express 1024 512 OK Coffman
By:

(Thumbnail / header photograph by Robertson Photography)

Lighting Technician

Show: Murder On The Orient Express
Lighting Designer: Jim Othuse
Sound Designer and Resident Electrician: John Gibilisco
Director: Anthony Clark-Kaczmarek

For this production I was able to help hang lights and operate the lighting console during focus to bring up individual channels. Specifically I managed to hang nearly the full first electric and work to run cable for an extra electrics batten upstage. [The Light Plot is unavailable to me at this time]

Key:

  • Yellow = Hung
  • Blue = Focused
Sitcom
 Sitcom 1024 739 OK Coffman
By:

Sound Designer and Composer

  • The first highlight for this show would be the piano underscore for the split monologue scenes. This three part story served as the show’s only through line, so each piano piece maintained a congruent style while  also exploring different moods and tonalities as the storylines progressed. Note that the examples are long because they needed to be looped in some places to cover the full length of the monologues.

Monologue 01 (The beginning)

 

Monologue 02 (Starting to falter)

 

Monologue 03 (Falling apart)

 

  • The second highlight was arranging the channel-surfing-inspired interludes presented a unique sound design challenge to a variety of my skill sets. I was forced to think out of the box to create a natural variety of “programs” and channels one might flip through when searching for something to watch. This provided us a narratively eloquent way to cover scene changes that felt right in context.

Interlude 1 (Note that this was used at the very top of the show as a way to hook the audience into our televised world.)

 

[HEADPHONE WARNING for Int. 2 through 4] Interlude 2

 

Interlude 3

 

Interlude 4 (Note that unlike the other transitions, the end of this trails off into the scene that follows it.)

 

  • Next, here are three pieces I created to act as scoring for the two scenes in the show that involved choreography. Seeing my music set to movement was one of the honors I was able to experience for the first time with this show!

Movement 01

 

Movement 02 Part I

 

Movement 02 Part II

 

  • Finally, I’d like to point out some of the sitcom intros I was asked to make that took inspiration from songs we wanted to use in order to avoid copyright claims. Adapting to challenges like this is something I am practiced at, and I firmly believe in abiding by copyright laws wherever I am contracted.

Intro 01

 

Intro 02

Show: Sitcom
Company: “The After School Club”
Lighting Designer and Director: Annaleesa Telford
Premiered at the Omaha Fringe Festival, 2021

For this original devised theatre piece, I worked with a director and talented team of local actors to create unique sound elements to support the segmented storylines that we envisioned. It debuted at the Omaha Fringe Festival to one of the largest houses at the festival (as I was told). I designed several transition sequences inspired by channel surfing and also composed underscore for both monologues and dance / movement pieces. I enjoyed the challenge and am very proud of the work I have to show for it!

Christmas In My Heart
 Christmas In My Heart 1024 768 OK Coffman
By:

Sound Tech and Live Audio Mixer

Here is a document I received from Tim Burkhart and then edited to include the cues he noted, It served as my script for executing new scenes  and mixing entrances / exits on our Yamaha M7CL console.

CIMH 21 Set List with Scenes

Show: Christmas In My Heart – A Concert Featuring Camille Metoyer-Moten
Live Sound Designer and Mix Engineer: Tim Burkhart
Scene and Lighting Designer: Jim Othuse
Costume Designer: Lindsay Pape
Soloists: Camille Metoyer-Moten; Kathy Tyree; Beth Asbjornsen; Rebecca Noble
Director: Susan Baer-Collins

I was tasked with maintaining an audio mix of 4 live musicians, 3 special guest, and 1 lead singer as they performed reimagined holiday classics. With a beautifully designed mix from Tim Burkhart to guide me, I was able to adjust elements that changed during each run to ensure a consistent listening experience.

Outside Mullingar
 Outside Mullingar 1024 768 OK Coffman
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Sound Design Work and Light Focusing

Show: Outside Mullingar
Scene and Lighting Designer: Steven L. Williams
Sound Designer and Resident Electrician: John Gibilisco
Costume Designer: Quinton Lovelace
Director: Susan Baer-Collins

Before tech, I was able to assist with light hang and do a full ‘spot focus’ to ensure fixtures were oriented correctly. This helped to speed up the process of focusing in greater detail later on. I also assited John Gibilisco with mixing, labelling, and implementing sound effects like dimensional rain (featuring backstage monitors for effect), a nest or two of birds, and peacefully grazing cattled.

Key:

  • Yellow = Hung
  • Blue = Focused
  • Red = Spot Focused
Bright Star
 Bright Star 1024 512 OK Coffman
By:

(Thumbnail / header photographed and provided by the Omaha Playhouse)

Sound Effects Design and Light Tech

A full sequence I designed from a rehearsal video that was sent to me. Included are river and frog ambiance, train noises, and a baby in distress.

 

Here is a partial effect I created (not in the final show) where time slows down on a train car.

Show: Bright Star
Lighting Designer: Jim Othuse
Sound Designer and Resident Electrician: John Gibilisco
Sound Designer and Mix Engineer: Tim Burkhart
Director: Roxanne Wach

Our sound designer John asked me to design the sound effects using both OCP stock and sounds I collected and arranged. Once I had made the first draft, John refined it during tech week in preparation for the show. I was also able to assist with some of the light hang earlier in the process. Sound effects range from frenetic frogs to foggy flashbacks.

The Mystery of Irma Vep A Penny Dreadful
 The Mystery of Irma Vep A Penny Dreadful 1024 684 OK Coffman
By:

(Thumbnail / header photograph by Robertson Photography)

Asst. Stage Managing, Electrics Apprentice, and Sound Designing

  • For the first effect I want to showcase, I was tasked with designing the sounds of an offstage animal attack on one of the main characters. The result was an outlandish fistfight between a werewolf and the grounds-keeper, that ends in the man loosing his leg (thrown on stage by a props artisan).

 

  • The next sound effect was the equally unrealistic sound of power tools being used to screw a leg back into place. As with most sounds in this show, the extremity deliberately leans into the farcical wit of playwright Charles Ludlam.

 

  • These next two ambient effects were part of the setting of the second Act, where two of the characters travel to Egypt. With almost no set constructed for this act, the location was established mainly by the lights and sound. The first is a hollow cave deep among the tombs of the pharaohs, the second is the bustle of a bazaar in the daytime.


 

The final two sound effects I pulled were two of my favorite iterations of our footstep sounds. Since they needed to be edited heavily throughout the rehearsal process, instead of using a regular audio file I programmed a virtual instrument that allowed me perform and edit the timing of each file manually, allowing ultimate control of both timing and timbre. It is a method I will certainly be using in the future!


As assistant stage manager to SM Avi Littky, I got to work through some detailed paperwork and line notes. However, the one document I took the most pride in working on was our entrance and exit tracking sheet. It’s a large color coded grid to help track the entrance and exit points (which is critical when notating a two-hander with 6 ‘characters’ to quick-change between!)

Irma Vep – Entrance and Exit Tracking – Oliver Coffman

Additionally, I was able to step in and assist John G and other overhire who were working on the light plot (designed by Chris Wood) in the time I had during the day after working on Sound. Though I do not remember what lights I hung specifically, I will point out that it was only a small amount of the overall plot since most of my efforts were focused elsewhere.

Show: The Mystery of Irma Vep A Penny Dreadful
Lighting Designer: Chris Wood
Sound Designer and Resident Electrician: John Gibilisco
Scene Designer: Matthew Hamel
Guest Composer: Tim Vallier
Director: Jim McKain
Stage Manager: Avi Littky

This show was a major project in my career. Not only was I able to Assistant Stage Manage with Avi Littky, I was also given creative control over the sound design along side John Gibilisco, having been involved in rehearsal processes for weeks in advance. I designed sound effects such as werewolf encounters, offstage prosthetic leg antics, and sarcophagus reveal sequences, all while working the compositions of Tim Vallier into a unified, well-structured cue list.

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