Dissertation Help - Technological Advancements In Theatre

[HullBorn]

Hello everyone,

 

My name is Jamie King and I'm currently studying Ba Hons Technical and Theatre Productions at Hull College.

 

I'm currently writing my dissertation and I'm looking into how the industry has changed over the last 70 years with the technological advancements that have been made. I'm currently at the stage of collating information regarding to how industry has adapted to using automated fixtures within performance pieces and what individuals think to using this technology over generic lanterns.

 

I would really appreciate if you could take the time to fill in my quick questionnaire. Click here to answer survey

 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JHBMYB5

 

Any feedback is welcome and will be taken on board.

Thank you in advance

 

Jamie King

Jamie.King_93@hotmail.com

[paulears]

Sorry - but I completed your survey and being very honest, it's very poorly constructed and will produce really random data. Some questions are closed, inviting yes or no answers and some questions are just really silly -

How much would you generally spend on a fixture?

Do you believe that automated lights provide the same light coverage as generics?

Do you find yourself using more automated fixtures or generics in a performance?

 

How on earth does any of this provide useful data? without some idea of a person's area of work, how can this provide any information you can analyse? Somebody doing lights for the local amateur group may have a few pounds and somebody sourcing kit for a major production could have hundreds of thousands?

 

We get loads of surveys, and I think somebody worked out that around 10% are appropriately designed with suitable questions that will generate data that can be wrangled.

 

This is sadly a rather shallow and meaningless survey - I expected a question on my favourite colour, or something about buying vs hiring. The end equation about buying kit has no purpose does it. What will you make of the answers.

 

If your dissertation is a real one, and not a college project (which it looks like) then you really need to be working at a much higher level.

 

If it helps, this question is now so old, you've missed the boat - these questions were being asked ten years ago, and now people seem to know better - they select equipment that is appropriate.

 

Sorry to be so blunt - but it really is a pretty awful questionnaire.

[HullBorn]

Thank you for your feed back Paulears.

 

I will rewrite and re-word the survey to make it better. I have perhaps been a bit foolish in how I have gone about with this survey.

[paulears]

To be honest - we get dozens, maybe even hundreds over the year, and lots fall into the trap. It's perhaps not your fault - your tutors really should have provided you with the techniques to generate good results.

 

I'd also suggest that you tell people what you believe, because this inevitable spin often influences the questions, and you don't want that.

 

If you feel that generic lighting equipment is on it's way out, perhaps you think there is no requirement for it, then you could consider lighting equipment as features and benefits. The features are in the web sites and glossy literature, but people don't actually buy features, they buy the benefits.

 

The answer I gave about things like shutters is a good case in point. Since moving mirror automated lights there have been a few that included shutters - the one feature most FOH profiles do very well. The ability to slice off the spill on set, pros, and other features on stage. None of the automated lights that had shutters were cheap, usually, the shutters were one extra feature. Nobody makes, to my knowledge a cheaper moving light that has them. So you can't really replace your FOH lighting because even the simplest and cheapest generic profile can do something unique. I've tried to replace my usual profiles on the front truss with moving heads quite a few times, thinking that I can use them stationary, and save hassle focusing from a ladder - but I prefer zoom profiles for my needs, and using a zoom mover with no shuttering is a waste of resources - the movers do a much more useful job elsewhere.

 

You have also missed the entire hire network in your questionnaire. Venues buy a few for their own shows if they are a receiving house, but most of the tours hire kit. The choice is made based on the design - so purchase price is irrelevant, it's the deal price for the hire that matters. many designers have close links with hire companies, so their designs feature the kit their favourite hire company has. If they just retired hundreds of old models, and bought the latest, then the designer gets access to new benefits. You need to look at who you are talking to - I tend to buy the kit I use often, and hire the specials. I've just bought some beam lights, and now I have them, they won't really do much for me, so I may sell them on, and hire when I need them. The job I bought them for has evaporated and the replacement has no need for them - and anyway, to look good you need piles.

 

The products that have impressed me the most are LED wash lights - and I think others have the same feelings. Oddly, the video people I meet have nothing nice to say about them at all. They are noticing the popularity and as many video cameras do not handle them at all well - they hate them with a passion. If anyone answering your survey is into TV, rather then theatre and events, they may well have very different answers.

 

Blue Room advice on movers for many users always revolves around hire, don't buy. For some users, it's not an option. For others, buying is totally out. You need to consider this a bit too - it can really skew the data.

 

So - tell your respondents your views, and perhaps get them to tell you if you are right or wrong - what do YOU think, and let them support or suppress your statements. You will get much more useful data.

[Robin D]

Without wishing to start another "let's all knock students" thread, can I add to Paul's constructive criticism. Your response to him is sloppy with at least three errors and not what I would expect from someone doing an honours degree. Surely, grasp of language, accuracy and conciseness are still vital to a degree and you need to well rehearsed in them? Or am I showing my age?

 

Feedback is one word; in effect, you've either thanked Paul for giving you (animal?) feed, or for vomiting. :o

If you re-write something, surely by definition you are rewording it?

I suspect your final sentence needs to lose the 'with' to make sense.

[ojc123]

I'm looking at this from the perspective of working in a poorly funded state school.

 

The big change is the cost dropping into range of even very small budgets like schools and small amateur groups.

LED PARcans and moving wash lights are now attainable for me where they weren't a few years ago. Two years ago it was all generics but recently we've moved towards LED technology and it has helped in all sorts of ways. Benefits include that it is easy to change the lighting when teachers/students/management have ad hoc wizard wheezes. Most of my FoH lighting is still generics for the same reasons as above.

 

Until recently I totally agreed with the hire in movers approach. However, with the cost of movers coming down then I can afford to buy relatively cheap movers and take the risk of them packing in. The benefit is that the students can learn how to use them and we don't have to spend time getting to grips with new fixtures hired in for an event.

 

Programming time is more but I gain such a lot in setup time that it's a benefit overall.

 

The light quality and coverage is different but is definitely improving. It's good for some things but not for others. I still like a piece of serious drama simply lit with generics but give me some rock and roll with coloured lights going every which way and I'm happy too.

 

I often think that when a new piece of technology comes in there are two opposite reactions. The first is to try to make it do what the old technology did and the second is to try to do new things that the old technology couldn't do. I'm in the second camp with this stuff. I've got generics to do what they do well but I'm trying to use my new fangled technology to do new fangled things. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it's just tacky but I keep experimenting.

 

The cheaper lights are not as good as the more sophisticated offerings but they work reasonably well at the price. I'm not putting on professional productions so they're adequate for my needs.

 

£0.02 for what it's worth.

[HullBorn]

Thank you to everyone who has taken part in the survey.

 

Whilst I must admit in hindsight my questionnaire was actually quite poor in its layout and in the wording of the questions, your feedback and answers have provided me with enough information to provide an answer for what I was looking for.

 

I also did further research on other forums and topics on here to add to the secondary research part of my paper.

 

 

 

 

I fully understand what could have been done to make this questionnaire much better and provide me with better results and I have taken all feedback on board for the next time.

 

Thank you to paulears, Robin D and ojc123 for your posts on here, you've all been a big help in either giving me answers to the questionnaire or by giving me feedback.