Training the trainer. New techs and no idea

[calwalker1]

Hello all,
My School has recently had an intake of about 10 techs. these people are more students interested in tech work as they have NO experience in this field. I have been asigned by the school to train them (as I am the new head tech) however I have not done this before and I am wondering what I should teach them and in what order.

I am reffering to tech as in lighting and sound (design and operation). What I am hopping is that I will start training them and then we will hopefully let them work their way to one area (we are hopping to get an even number in lighting and sound), I want to start training them in a few weeks time and I am just trying to work out what I train them and in what order I am thinking something along these lines. I want to get them learning how to use everything but i don't want to bore them to the point of leaving tech either.

So here is what I am hopping to teach them (in this order) Please let me know what you think or how you do it

• group introduction (just so I learn their names and they learn eachothers)
• basic safety and rules (to stop them from being blown up)
• what is involved in this course
• what is involved in tech
• The tech behind this (eg, 3 phase)
• advanced safety (how to tell if that light is dangerous etc)
• introduction to lighting
• introduction to sound
• How to run a basic show (that is what these guys are for, running simple information nights by themeselves)
• and then more advanced lighting and sound

At the end of the year I am hopping to get them to put together a show for themselves and their parents. just to show their parents what they have learnt. and also for a bit of fun.

Does anyone have any feedback on this program?
Any help would be greatly appriciated
many tanks
Cal Walker

 

[Footer]

How did you learn what know?

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[calwalker1]

How did toy learn what know?

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I'm going to assume you are asking how I learnt to do tech work... I don't really know, just asked people questions, I never got taught how to do anything (which is actually rather annoying) and the problem is, with the creative stuff that's okay. but say learning how to use an audio compressor and patch a mixer is a different thing. I mainly just had people show me how to do things, I started in the same boat as them

 

[Footer]

I'm going to assume you are asking how I learnt to do tech work... I don't really know, just asked people questions, I never got taught how to do anything (which is actually rather annoying) and the problem is, with the creative stuff that's okay. but say learning how to use an audio compressor and patch a mixer is a different thing. I mainly just had people show me how to do things, I started in the same boat as them

In a HS situation that really is the best way to go about it. If you try to make it too much like a class, people won't really want to stick around because it will take the "fun" out. One day of safety is great. One day of general stagecraft stuff (stage directions, parts of the theatre, etc) is great. You don't need to teach power theory. That comes with time. If people want to know that, they will ask. Just go in head first and have them do stuff as stuff comes up. People learn best when they want to learn something. Send them to controlbooth.com as well so when they do have questions, they have more places to go them just you.

 

[JChenault]

As I read your sylabus, there is a lot of talking at the front. For many students this is likely to turn them off to the field.

An approach that I think is better would be to flip things around and think of the specific skills that are needed. Each day you spend some time doing something practical. So ( for example ) after your 'Hi my name is Fred and this course will teach you ... '. I might jump into. 'Let's learn how to hang lights properly. Here is a batten, some lights, and a plot - Watch me do one, then you guys do the rest'. Then do a critique.

I would do this 'Hang a light' before I talk about ladder safety ( because they will be on the deck ) and I would use it as a way to talk about the different fixtures ( because you have different fixtures on the plot ). When it is time to focus the batten, that is a natural lead in to how to use a ladder ( or genie or whatever you have ) safely.

Each session should have a specific skill to be mastered. Something like.

• Hang a light from a plot.
• Focus a pipe
• cut and load color / gobos / kinds of frost.
• repair a plug / make a twofer
• Safely operate a counterweight system.
• Patch a console and write / run simple cues.
• etc etc etc.

Just some ideas from the top of my head - looking at this list some items are too big, some are too small.

Doing tech work is ( in some large part ) about muscle memory and learning how to do things with your hands. Folks learn by doing - especially when they have no experience in the field. You need to find a way to let them get their hands dirty in a safe manner where you can correct mistakes immediately. Use the skill sessions to add the intellectual part of the curriculum. For example, when you hang a batten you can give lead ins to types of fixtures, what they are used for, dimmers -vs- circuits, reading a light plot, etc.

Once you hook them into the fun of doing this stuff, then you can have some classes about more intellectual concepts like three phase power. It will make more sense to them because they have foundational concepts of how things work from their work with hanging lights, patching a board, etc.

 

[Anvilx]

I agree with footer don't teach them about 3 phase. Ohm's law is fine for the basics. I started doing tech 4 going on 5 years ago and am now going to be a junior in high school, and I didn't really learn or understand 3 phase or anything much above Ohm's law until last year. The only reason I taught myself about that was I was tying in a 3 phase distro twice a year, something you shouldn't have your students doing, especially since it is bare wire, but this is a topic for another thread.

Besides that teach them about safety and basic first aid - it could save your life!

Oh and how to Properly coil cable.

Sent from my HTC Liberty

 

[calwalker1]

hmmmm. great suggestions everyone. I think I will change it around to do as much as possible hands on. I will still start with talking about safety, as that is the TOP priority, to me at least.

Maybe we will start with hanging lights and positioning speakers. excellent suggestions.
Thanks everyone once again

 

[DuckJordan]

I would like to say everyone has had a great response. Except for one, DO not in any circoumstance teach them how to wire anything. Firstly i'm assuming you are a student yourself. This could cause you to be liable if they do try what Anvil has done and attempt to tap into 3 phase, which i'm almost sure must be done by a qualified technician but I'm not going to get into that. otherwise make everything as much as you can hands on, instead of telling them how to make a light plot, have them make one. Instead of saying how a soundboard works give them hands on experience. Too many times I've run across a freshman in HS talk about how they know how to do all these things but when i ask them to do it, they respond with well "in the book it was this way." and then it doesn't work and they can't figure out how to solve the problem because they don't THINK.

I was taught at a school where spoon feeding students was the faculties policy. also a reason why we have one of the highest drop out rates in the country. If they aren't learning something about how it works and doing the work, then all they are doing is filling their brain with knowledge that they probably won't be able to figure out how to use.

This is a very good article, Building and Training a Running Crew , also Here for some basic material for a running crew they should also probably know since not all of them will just be on board.
I like to think of it this way. How would you like to learn how to drive by reading a book then immediately going out to take your only driving test. Probably wouldn't do very well right? well tech is pretty much the same way, As far as what to teach them,

 

[briancon7]

I have only taught other students lighting, but what I do is start with safety, move them to hang and focus of lights, then spot light operation, and finally using the board. I don't teach them how to design because that was something I learned myself with minimal help from others.

 

[gafftaper]

Start with a Brief "safety first" lecture then constantly mix safety in as you go. It's impossible to teach someone how to safely hang a light fixture when they have no idea what a light fixture is. Next get their hands dirty doing things. Setup demos of the different lighting instruments you have in your inventory, preferably low to the deck where everyone can get their hands on them. Show them the different qualities of light, have them focus, have them hang the light. Mix in safety every step of the way. Also mix in standard theater vocabulary every step of the way as well. Don't start with lighting if you are a sound guy. Start with the area of tech that you are most comfortable. Demo everything. Talk about sound waves and frequencies... then play frequency samples for them to hear. Get out a decibel meter and let the class see who can yell the loudest. Mix it up.

Don't just talk about the parts of a sound system, assemble the whole thing piece by piece. Ideally, take a microphone and plug it into an electric guitar amp. Then plug add in a mixer board. Then replace the guitar head with a real amp and speakers. Next install a compressor or EQ into the system. Let the class get hands on experience every step of the way.

For lighting I start with a bare household lamp. I then take flat mirror and hold it up to one side. Then pull a lens out of a fixture and have someone hold the mirror while you put the lens in the path. Then I talk about how much light is lost to the sides because the mirror is only collection on one side, which leads to me pulling out a parabolic mirror. Build a lighting instrument before their eyes so that they see the why and how as they go.

 

[shiben]

For lighting I start with a bare household lamp. I then take flat mirror and hold it up to one side. Then pull a lens out of a fixture and have someone hold the mirror while you put the lens in the path. Then I talk about how much light is lost to the sides because the mirror is only collection on one side, which leads to me pulling out a parabolic mirror. Build a lighting instrument before their eyes so that they see the why and how as they go.

Thats actually a good idea. I might try that...

When I learned how to do tech, I got no formal training, and I think that might be why im sill doing it today. For sound, I started running our youth group's praise band in jr. high. Then when I got to college, i tarted working as a stage hand and worked my way up to a lighting tech, where the extend of my formal training was "this is a light. point at the stage. make nice wash and go". I worked one orchestra show (whitewash), and then got thrown onto being the house tech for a major touring band coming through. Guess who learned real quick about DMX, Company switches, and how to focus lights? Obviously you want to take it a bit slower and not throw huge shows with 3 universes of DMX and a whole load in to make sure didnt blow up the venue before they have worked a few smaller shows, but letting kids learn by just getting out there and doing things is something I totally agree with the others on here. Another note, if the kid is not really digging the ladder, and you encourage them to go all the way up to see that its ok, stop them when they start shaking. I had a kid that we needed to get 2 more ladders and the TD and I carried him out of the grid because he was so terrified, but didnt realize he was scared until he noticed the floor was 20 odd feet away. Thank god I wasnt showing him a fly tower or something.

 

[WideEyed]

I can't really add anything to what has already been said, and I agree with shiben about the ladders. I for one am not the fondest of hights, however I am always the one to go because at one point I was the only one with the experience to take the light off, and it just kinda kept going from there. There will be a point when they have to be the one to go up, and hopefully by that time they can stay focused on the task and not the height.

 

[ParodicUserName]

Get out a decibel meter and let the class see who can yell the loudest.

He actually made us do that, too. My throat hurt for days.