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| Photo by Lara Neves |
John Watza recently earned an Honorable Mention at KC-ACTF (Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival) for his Sound Design Project of Shakespear's "Twelfth Night."
1. Why did you choose to major in Sound Design at Tech?
I knew I wanted to go into music and specifically Sound Design because I wanted to learn the technical as well as the artistic side to music. From a college fair I learned that Michigan Tech had a Sound Design program and I came to visit and really liked what I saw. I also love snow and Michigan Tech sure has snow.
2. What has been your favorite part of working in Sound Design?
Being able to collaborate with other creative students, whether its making radio dramas or composing music for a play, it is a lot of fun to work as a part of a team to create something bigger than you could have done by yourself. It's always exciting to see a big project come together.
3. What is the most important thing you have learned in your major?
Designing Sound is about telling a story or creating an emotion and there are countless ways to use sound to tell whatever story needs to be told, or create whatever emotion that needs to be created.
4. What inspires you?
I love music and I love movies, that's why I chose to go into this field. I also find working with a group of people on a project to be very inspiring because everyone is trying to create something and collaborating together which is a great atmosphere for creativity.
5. What are your goals after graduation?
I want to work on movies, I really love composing music and to be able to do that for film is my goal for the future.
6. What advice would you give others hoping to major in Sound Design?
Work hard at learning as much as you can. Listen to everything, music, movies, everyday sounds--just listen. Networking is huge, make as many contacts as you can and always be looking for opportunities.
