Hello, friends. Today, on the Inspiration series, we have Isaac Burrier talking about his theatre experience as well as his outlook on life. He has recently started a blog called Eeh-Dah-Bluh (yes, that’s the name! Based on his initials: IDB, get it?) and I really liked the overall concept of it. He blogs about positivity and it’s so great to see someone who does that. Also, he likes photography- so the pictures you see below are all taken by Isaac. His attitude to photography would probably be exploring different topics, perspective and an overall quality of finding the good in what he sees.
Read on to hear what he has to say!
Please tell me a little bit about yourself.
My name is Isaac Burrier. I am 19 years old. I am currently going to Belmont University and majoring in Production Design in Theatre. A few of my hobbies include the following: technical theatre, photography, designing, blogging, drinking hot tea, and listening to vinyl records. I started my blog because of several reasons. One reason is just because I wanted to encourage people. I know that life is tough and that it can be hard on someone. So, I wanted to share encouragement to those who are either going through a difficult time in their life or just want some encouragement in their day to day life. Another reason is that I wanted to have a platform for me to launch my company. I do not know how long it will take to launch my company, but once I do, I would like to launch it through the blog.
What got you started in theatre? How did you decide your major?
Growing up, I always had access to technical equipment, such as soundboards and lighting equipment. I was so intrigued by all of the equipment from a young age, which made me want to use it. Soon, my interest in the equipment led me to being able to run it for different events. When I got into high school, I realized that I was able to do what I loved, which was and still is technical theatre, by joining my high school’s theatre program.
I decided on my major all because of my mother asking me a simple question. This is how I remember her asking the question, “Why don’t you do something in the technical theatre for college?” I had never thought of my passion being something that I could actually pursue as a career until then. From there on out, I had always wanted to pursue technical theatre and production design in theatre.
Can you describe a typical day in your life?
In a typical day of Isaac, I start my day off with a couple classes in the morning and occasionally one in the afternoon. I then start to do homework, which can include anywhere from reading to making a schematic for my stage makeup class, with the occasional break to take a breath and relax a little. If I have a deadline coming up for a show, I also spend time working on whatever it may be for that show. The work for the shows will normally be intertwined with my regular schedule, whether I spend an hour or so in the morning working or spending several hours in the evening putting work in the theatre. Finally, I get some rest after a usually long day. And if you were wondering, I do make sure to eat amongst all of the seemingly busyness of my life.
What are some theatrical themes that are currently inspiring you at the moment?
Currently, I am working on a show that is a drama, and I am really enjoying doing the lighting for it because I am getting to use different saturated colors to represent different emotions. Overall, I really enjoy working on any kind of theatrical piece as long as I am doing what I love to do, which is technical theatre.
Where do you see yourself in a few years?
In a few years, I expect myself to have graduated from college with a degree in BFA Production Design and start working with either a professional company/theatre or a touring show.
What would an ideal theatre day be like for you?
Ideally, I would love to be able to go into the theatre for a show and be able to work on a lighting design for the show, whether that be working on a lighting plot for the show or leading the light crew to hang and focus the lights for my design. I would also love to be able to go into the theatre and work alongside the light crew for each show that I get hired for.
What are some emotions that you love to portray in your work?
For my theatre work, it honestly depends on the show. Every show is different, and every director has a different visual concept for a show. If the show is a comedy, then I want my lighting design to be bright overall. If the show is a drama, then I want to make my lighting design have more dramatic lighting, whether that is darker colors or more downlighting (that is when the light is focused downward). For the most part, I wait until I read the play and get a feel for the show, then talk with the director and other designers to see how everyone wants the show to feel overall.
For my blog, I want to bring people hope through the encouragement that I write in my blog. If the blog can help at least one person through a tough time, I believe that the blog has succeeded. If the blog helps more than one person, that’s even better. I just want people to be encouraged by what is written. I want the readers to be able to find the hope, peace, and joy in life that I believe everyone deserves in life, and that is what I try to bring people through the blog.
Can you share any tips for aspiring bloggers/producers?
To anyone aspiring to be a blogger, I want to tell you that you should be passionate about whatever you write on your blog. Do not follow the trends of famous blogs if that is not you and you’re not passionate about it. If you cannot be yourself through what is written in your blog, the blog will not be as intriguing as it would be if you wrote about things you are passionate about. If you like to write about silly stories from your life, that’s awesome! If you like to write about things that are happening in the world, that’s awesome too! Just be you in your writing. If you write about things that you are passionate about, then your blog will be just as awesome as who you are and the things you love.
Your dream world location, all-time favourite record and fave food?
Right now, I would love to live in Sydney, Australia in the future.
My favorite record: California Nights by Best Coast
My favorite food: That’s hard because I like a lot of different kinds of food, but if I had to give you just one, I’d say that Nashville-style Hot Chicken is one of my favorite foods.
Who inspires you in your field of study? Or any other inspiration in general?
Currently, I do not have any inspirations in the field of Production Design or blogging. I do have a few inspirations that simply inspire me to be the best that I can. One of my former teacher high school teachers, named John-Michael Ritchey, invested so much into my life and inspired me to see the best in everything, even the hard times. While he was alive, he continually impacted the people around him, whether he started being silly to bring a ray of joy to someone’s bad day or sat down with someone to talk about the Bible. Seeing what he did to positively impact others, even in his personally rough days, showed me that no matter what I am going through, I can use that moment to positively impact the people around me. He inspires me to be the best me that exists and to desire to positively impact those around me. Two others that inspire me are two of my close friends, Maddie Mobley and Laura Miranda, because they are both wonderful examples of how to be a true friend to others. They have always shown me how to be strong in every part of life through their own lives. I am constantly reminded that I can get through the hard days, and even will give me advice and help me through those hard days by being there for me always. Their friendships mean the world to me because they never cease to amaze me through their impact on and care for the people around them. Their love, care, and kindness towards others are truly inspirational to me. These three people are only a few of the several people who have had a giant impact on me and inspired me in different aspects of life.
I know that this isn’t a part of this question, but I was realizing how these people affected me in a sense of the blog. They have all inspired me to positively impact those around me. Thinking about the blog, I can definitely see how their effect on and inspiration for has caused me to want to impact others in my own way, which is encouraging others through the use of the blog.
How would you define creativity when it comes to theatre and also just generally in life?
Expressing yourself and your passions through creating beautiful things, whether it be a lighting design for a theatrical show or painting a piece of art or even creating a new product that can help people out.
Can you remember any old memory that brings a smile to your face?
Wow! There are definitely a lot of memories that bring a smile to my face, whether it was spending the holidays with my extended family or oddly dancing at a party. There are also a lot of memories from my work in theatre that make me happy and smile. One memory that I just remembered is a memory from one of the shows that I was working on in high school. The show was The Sound of Music. During one of the performances of the show, my stage manager and close friend, Allison Humphrey, who was besides me in the tech booth, and I decided to dance along to one of the songs as the actors were doing the same thing. It was funny and silly as we danced along, but it is definitely a great memory that brings a smile to my face.
I see you like photography and exploring different subjects and ideas. Can you elaborate on that? Also, what editing programs and photography equipment do you use on a regular basis?
My photography definitely does go to a lot of different ideas and subject matters. As you can tell while looking at my photography, a majority of it involves a regular portrait or a building. Those two things (photographing people and buildings) are definitely two of my favorite things to take photography of. The reason why I love taking portraits is because I love getting to know people better as we are doing the photo shoot. I also like seeing if I can tell a story of someone through either a single photo or a series of photos, which is what I like to do when I take photography of buildings as well. I love giving different perspectives of buildings through my photography. I think that is cool to try to present the story of a building, or even “write” a new story for the building, through the use of my photography. With the love of taking photos of people and buildings, I sometimes explore different ideas of how I can make a simple photograph of a person or building more beautiful through photo editing, which can be seen in a few of my photographs. This exploration of different ideas and subject matters is really just an elaboration of my idea of creativity, which I stated was, “expressing yourself and your passions through creating beautiful things.” Taking photography of people and buildings, which is something I love to do, I can create something that is beautiful in my eyes and hopefully beautiful in others’ eyes because it is something I am passionate about, whether it be a simple picture of an abandon building or a photograph of a person repeated several times to create a pattern through the use of photo editing.
The camera that I use is the Canon EOS Rebel T5 with a Canon EFS 18-55mm lens and a Langly Paracord Strap. I usee Adobe Photoshop CS3 as my editing software. Occasionally, I will use a tripod or a camera stabilizer, which I primarily use if I am shooting videos.
Thanks for sharing, Isaac! Find Isaac on his blog, instagram and facebook.