Upcoming Tech Workshops
Nov 28th, 2009 by Alex
Listening to my RJD2 station on Pandora, I’m feeling upbeat and slightly introspective.
Learning by example — by doing, really — is my favorite way to learn, and that is how I learned most of what I know about the technical side of theater. I’ve sat in on a few classes at Towson, but that’s the extent of my formal education.
Part of why I do work with high school theater is that I enjoy teaching. As we prepare for a show, we try to teach by example. However, the hustle and bustle of preparing a theatrical production doesn’t always leave quality time for instruction. There’s noise. There’s deadlines. There’s three things you’re trying to do at once, with a new student in front of you asking for direction. It can be difficult to sit down and teach someone to the point of comprehension. This rushed way has always felt a bit half-assed to me, but at the same time it was all we had.
I’ve just scheduled two workshops for our students. Evenings where they can come in and learn about some of the technical aspects of what we try to do, without having to worry about an upcoming opening night. Learn a bit, socialize, and get to play hand’s-on with some of the equipment.
The first of these workshops is going to focus on lighting. I’d like to be able to display some of the instruments that we have available, note their differences and what they’re usually used for. I’d like to go over how to mount them on the truss with a C-clamp, and how to make the adjustments and be able to see the resulting effect. Simple knowledge — like how to lift an instrument and which parts are hot to the touch — is often some of the most immediately important, more so than the theory behind design. Even if a student isn’t interested in doing lighting design, it’s helpful to have everyone be comfortable with the gear.
The second workshop will focus on audio, particularly our sound reinforcement needs. I think we’re looking to do Microphone 101, the same as our RNR cast members get every year. It only makes sense that our crew be educated at least to the level of the cast. I like we pull out a few different types of speakers and note some of the differences. After that, have a few small consoles out on stage and cable them up to some small amps and speakers. At a minimum I’d like everyone to know how to make basic adjustments on a mixing console, even if it’s only to mute a channel or change the volume.
In both cases, I’m not looking for scientific details (like the physics of refraction or sound) but more to get people familiar with the gear that we have available to us. I think this will benefit us in a few ways.
First, we might get more students interested in pursuing these areas in the future. A lot of times, we gloss over the fact that there’s lights, sound, and set. We take it for granted, but our newer students have no idea what that means. There’s a whole world of opportunities out there and many times I feel like we barely scratch the surface.
Secondly (and much more important), our crew will be more educated, in a better position to help, and more likely to ask questions of us. It’s hard to help if you don’t know what you’re working with. Building that familiarity — no matter how basic — can make things immensely easier. It’s also hard for many kids to approach an adult to ask a question, especially if there’s no familiarity. We want to be approachable and accessible. We want our students to feel like they can ask us questions, technical or otherwise.
I’m looking forward to these sessions. I’m hoping to have a decent turnout. Hopefully they’ll be considered useful and fun.
