Page 12Wednesday, October 14,1998
UNL instructor
teaches, designs
Hollywood sets
By Jason Hardy
Senior staff water
You may recognize her work in
such films as “Father of the Bride,”
“Home Alone 2” or “Dead Poets
Society.''
You may recognize her face from
seeing her on campus.
She’s Sandy Veneziano, Lincoln
resident and visiting instructor in the
Department of Theatre Arts and
Dance, and for the past 18 years she
has been the brains behind the scenes
of many a Hollywood blockbuster.
Veneziano, who received her
undergraduate and graduate degrees
from University of Nebraska-Lincoln
in the '70s. now works as a free-lance
Hollywood production designer.
But she certainly hasn't forgotten
her alma mater.
She splits her years by spending a
semester leaching film classes at UNL
and working much of the remainder in
Hollywood.
As a production designer,
Veneziano works w ith the film’s direc
tor and the director of photography to
coordinate the look and feel of the
film. This includes props, costumes,
color, camera angles, lighting and
effects. It's often a daunting task but
one from which she reaps many
rew'ards.
it s a lot ot work. You re mere Irom
5 o’clock in the morning to 11 o’clock
at night for about six months,”
Veneziano said. “But it's fun being able
to one day do a castle and another day
do a space ship and
1 .1 r* i n 4 4
uavc uic iiccuuiii ui
design”
Though a far cry
from spaceships and
castles, the class
room offers its own
set of rewards,
Veneziano said. That
is where she helps
groom the actual
students who will
eventually fill the
mythical worlds she
... Its fun being able to one
day do a castle and another
day do a space ship and have
the freedom of design.”
Sandy Veneziano
production designer, UNL professor
MATT MILLER/ DIN
SANDY VENEZIANO, a Lincoln resident and visiting professor in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance, has spent the past 18 years designing
scenes in Hollywood movies such as “Terms of Endearment” and “Dead Poets Society.”
creates in Hollywood.
Veneziano moved from Los
Angeles to Lincoln four years ago and
began teaching at UNL a year later. She
currently heads two classes, Art
Direction in Film and The Art of Film
making. Through her teaching, she
attempts to instill in her students the
same values taught to her more than 20
years ago.
“They gave me the basics of design
but also the confidence to go out there
and get a job,” Veneziano said. “There’s
a work ethic that they teach here and
they live by here that a lot of people
around the country don’t have.”
And seeing her students follow a
dream she now lives is a reward in
itself.
“Watching the talents of the stu
dents emerge and their drive reminds
me of me when 1 was young,”
Veneziano said. “Watching them go
out, graduate and go to Los Angeles
and get a job is a good feeling”
It was 22 years ago Veneziano her
self did just that. After she graduated
from UNL, she went from the comfort
ing halls of the Temple Building direct
ly to the mean streets of Hollywood in
search of work.
“I just packed up my little portfolio
and hit the streets,” she recalled.
After scouring the town for work,
her perseverance paid off. She landed
her first job as a set designer for the
television series “Dallas.”
Since those early days working for
a daily television show, she has gone on
to design for Hollywood’s lengthier
exports.
Her fingerprints are on such pieces
as “Home Alone 2,” “Terms of
Endearment” and, most recently, “My
Favorite Martian,” as production
designer. Premiering in March, the
film features Elizabeth Elurley,
Christopher Lloyd and Daryl Flannah.
Despite the glamour and excite
ment of Hollywood, Veneziano misses
her time away from the true Star City -
Lincoln. In the future Veneziano hopes
to move away from the stress of show
biz and into the classroom full time.
“When you’re doing a movie there
is just nothing else in your life,” she
said. “You don’t have time to do or be
anything else. Thank God they feed
you, or you wouldn’t have anything to
eat.
“But I still want to do this for a
while yet. I’m still young enough that I
don’t mind it.”
Widespread Panic succeeds with improvisation
Courtesy Photo
IMPROVISATIONS GRASS-ROOTS BAND WIDESPREAD PANIC plays Omaha’s
Sokol Hall tonight. Widespread Panic has considerably more success in
Omaha than in Lincoln.
By Patrick Miner
Staff writer
Widespread Panic percussionist
Domingo Ortiz is not shy about what
his band has to offer.
“Omaha is a market that needs
good entertainment. We bring a bit of
culture into the town,” he boasted.
Tonight, Widespread Panic will
perform its good-times sound to
hundreds of happy listeners at
Omaha’s Sokol Hall, 2234 S. 13th St.
After a playing to little fanfare
in Lincoln several years ago, Omaha
has proven to be a big market for the
band. Tonight's show will mark
Widespread Panic's second appear
ance in Omaha since July.
Ortiz describes the act’s style as a
cross between the Allman Brothers,
Santana and the Neville Brothers.
Widespread Panic also has drawn
comparisons to Phish, mostly
because of a solid fan base as well as
songs that can be clocked in any
where from four to 20 minutes during
a live performance.
The greater length of some songs
is due to the band’s use of improvisa
tion, which has been a major draw to
its shows.
“We try' to make it so (fans) don’t
get tired of coming to hear us,” Ortiz
said. “We don't let one night’s perfor
mance dictate the next.”
Before the current tour,
Widespread Panic was busy in the
studio. From the sessions, the band
released the home video “Panic in the
Streets," which documents an April
concert from the band’s hometown of
Athens, Ga.
The act also recently released the
double-disc live album “Light Fuse,
Get Away.” Containing 19 tracks, the
album comprises songs recorded
across five concerts in late ’97.
“We tried to create a live envi
'onment with the record,” Ortiz said.
‘We think we captured the effect of
3ur live show.”
Much like “Light Fuse, Get
Away,” fans will be entertained by
wo sets tonight. The band will play
an hour-long first set, take a 20
minute break, then reappear for
another hour.
However, other than concert
length, anything goes at a Widespread
Panic show. All of the band’s songs
are fair game, including some num
bers the band has yet to record.
Widespread Panic is heading back
into the studio next January to record
a new release, so a few of those songs
also might appear in tonight’s set list.
Doors open at 7 p.m., and the
show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are
$20.50.
