Jonny Burns: Show services technical manager, Thorpe Park Resort

摘要

»Jonny spent his school days helping the drama department light their performance exams and wasted no time in hiring in intelligent moving fixtures instead of the generic washes and fresnels that they had - mostly to get to play with them, but also to wash the stage with colours and shapes that enhanced the performance and set the scenes for the audience. He struggled to decide what to study and finally settled on a BA in Film and Television Production, which seemed to allow him to develop passions for sound, moving image, lighting and storytelling. Throughout his studies Burns worked as a freelance audio visual technician, doing everything from running mobile discos "where I cared more about if the lighting reflected the song that was playing (ever been to a wedding where the elegant first dance is mashed with flashing light boxes and pulsing lasers?) " to installing projectors and sound systems in classrooms, churches and anywhere else that would let him. He also worked for entertainment venues including play centres and bowling alleys where, despite being in customer service roles, he was fixated on resolving why the venue audio was limiting or videos played in the wrong aspect ratio on venue screens and projectors. "Between my second and third year of study I decided to travel to Orlando and participate in the Disney College Program, a three-month summer program working at the Happiest Place on Earth which saw my appetite for working in the AV side of the theme park industry soar. On my days off, 1 spent my time shadowing the cast members who maintained the show systems and audio infrastructure at these humongous theme parks and became hooked on show control, DSP and automation. After graduating I quickly found myself responsible for the integrated systems at an astonishingly distinguished private school in West London. This was not a job where any speaker would do, and I worked hand in hand with the school's ambitious theatre manager to develop solutions which integrated beautifully into the Grade II listed buildings and turned the heads of students, parents and staff.