BTEC Crewing - lesson ideas

[RoyS]

Hi All,

 

I work as a performance technical manager in a secondary school which is considering offering a one year BTEC level 2 in crewing. I’ve read through the BTEC specification booklet but, not being a teacher would like some specific lesson ideas. The pupils that it will be aimed at are not the most academic and in one case can only just read & write, so using video and audio as evidence might be a possibility. It’s been put to me that these kids have low self esteem and without completing a practical course like this will probably walk out of our gates with near zero qualifications.

 

Does anyone know of any publications that cover what I’m after?

 

Thanks to all..

[gareth]

Paul's been quite heavily involved in BTEC courses in the past, so I'm sure he'll have some words of wisdom to offer.

 

As a point of curiosity, though - what does a BTEC in "crewing" cover? I've never heard of it before.

[paulears]

Crewing is one of mine - the thing to remember is that the unit is meant to be the support unit for a production - so if you have performance programmes on the go, it's ideal - it's not much use as a one-off, because the content needs real shows/productions/events to betaking place - using the crewing students to be the production people.

 

For Gareth - the content is split into these areas:

1 Know the roles, responsibilities and terminology involved in general stage operations

2 Be able to operate as a member of the crew preparing for and during performance

3 Be able to implement safe working practices when carrying out processes and using tools and equipment.

 

So really, it's area 1 and 2 (3 is there to make sure 1 and 2 are safe!)

 

They get taken through the roles and the responsibility that each one has, then - they tackle real jobs. They can be complex or simple - not too important.

 

The three areas are subdivided into more specific task areas - with suggested content

1 Know the roles, responsibilities and terminology involved in general stage operations Roles: eg stage crew, stage management team, flying crew, followspot operator

Responsibilities: eg following cues, management of self and others, handling flats and scenery, managing props, adhering to health and safety requirements

Terminology: technical eg cues, prompt copy, strike; theatrical eg wings, trucks, revolve, pit, tabs; conventions eg reverse positions, substitute props, control of weapons

2 Be able to operate as a member of the crew preparing for and during performance

Processes: plans/drawings; get-ins/outs; fit-ups; strikes; technical rehearsals; plotting; presets Stage scenery: setting; handling flats; rostra and other scenic elements

Cueing: cue sheets; talk-back; verbal cues; visual cues

3 Be able to implement safe working practices when carrying out processes and using tools and equipment

Safe procedures for: handling, lifting; communicating and coordinating with others; hazard identification, assessment and reduction

Tools and equipment: access equipment; hand tools; power tools; mechanical stage equipment; followspot Documentation: risk assessments; record keeping

 

I won't bore people with the assessment section - but it's pretty clear that there must be proper productions to work on.

 

 

There is no real need to do much writing - some drawing is needed, but only one grading area requires identify, describe and explain type work for assessment, and there is no necessity to make this writing - audio, or most frequently, Big Brother style diary room set-ups can let the students demonstrate their understanding.

 

So my advice is that if you need people to do lights, sound stage, management, set construction etc - it's an ideal unit. Not much point without the actual performers though - it wasn't written to be delivered in isolation - and to try to bend it will make decent grades almost impossible. Feel free to PM me with any specifics.

 

If the age group is 14-16, there is a new BTEC Level 2 specifically for schools being launched in 2012 - this is quite different. Schools (although not all of them) have found the more industry style of working quite difficult, so we've been producing a more school friendly version. Crewing, though - isn't in it as it's just not really appropriate to what schools do.

Paul

[gareth]

I sort of guessed that it would be that sort of thing - and I was wondering how on earth it could be stretched out to a full academic year!! Must be some fairly slow and painstaking learning going on ;-)

[Ian der Laan]

Not necessarily.

 

 

More a case of them repeating tasks over the year -on a programme ofperformances- and improving grades as they go (through evaluation and repetition).

 

 

To the OP (I also teach this unit)-

 

One good session plan is to go on a tour round a local theatre, speak to thecrew and get your learners to make notes. Real world examples are the best wayfor your group to learn the roles, responsibilities and terminology.

 

[paulears]

In a college environment, students tend to always be working on real projects - the gaps in between are where you do the classroom stuff. So when the head suddenly announces people are going to a local old folks home to put on a carol concert, it's the crewing people who jump in to make it happen. When a department need a PA system, they do it. THis is a problem for schools where it's expected an entire year is planned out in details. Production units tend to have

wk9 prepare for show

wk10 work continues

wk 11 work continues

 

It's impossible to itemise anything to any depth - just have expected headings.

 

In one class, a student came up with an excellent idea - better than mine. I looked at the Ofsted inspector in the corner, and ripped up the session plan and went with the new idea - and got a mention for having the willingness to "embrace the possibilities of on the spot modifications to the lesson plan".

 

In many schools this just isn't possible - especially if the staff don't have sufficient real world experience. "We need lights and sound for this afternoon - GO" is an excellent grade earning method - but it's tricky to manage.

 

Crewing (and most production units) are essentially support units for performance. For those times when there are no real projects to work on, this is where you can do the plans, the planning, the safety etc etc. You can't expect everyone to find equipment interesting - it's what you do with it that makes the sessions interesting.

 

Ian's comments on the repetition and grade improvements are spot on! Loads of people do each task once - then move on. This is NOT how it's meant to be. Some jobs will be prescriptive - and unlikely to mean more than a pass. This is fine - especially if EVERYONE can get the pass. Move on secure they're going to achieve, then revisit when deeper work is available.

 

Crewing was written to enable lights, sound, set and everything else to be available to make sure shows happen.

 

In the new, new spec - we've made sure people do proper shows - AND they're externally looked at (or at least thats the plan if we can get this idea approved). This means schools will have to actually do some performing - proper performing, not GCSE/A Level style excerpts.

[RoyS]

Hi All and many thanks for all your contributions so far,

 

I guess one of my fears is running out of things to teach.. But from what I understand of the crewing BTEC It can incorporate LX, Sound + the more general crewing topics already outlined. This is still in the planning stage but I think I may only have two small groups of Y9's (13 Years old in old money) for one hour long lesson a week, so wont get much momentum - As opposed to 6th form college where student are doing the BTEC 3 days a week over 2 years, as I understand it from one of my old pupils.

 

Trips to local rental companies, theatres, etc would obviously take longer than an hour but I guess this could be accommodated..

 

If I'm being honest and not being a formally trained teacher I am lacking somewhat in my own confidence at the pure teaching side of things. My line manager (a drama teacher for this task) has offered support and I have been in this business 30+ years and have lots of real-world global experience and don't have any significant knowledge gaps and have taught (receptive) adults pretty well I guess..

 

For my own peace of mind I like to do some research on lessons for this project..

 

Bearing in mind that these are not the most gifted cohort, and bearing in mind these kids are 13 and will see me one hour a week...

How can you make a practical discussion on a small zoom profile last for an hour, short of getting into photometric data and inverse square law... Go on, you try it.....

I guess if short term memory is an issue for them, I can repeat the lesson 4 weeks later..

 

I can see how to build a lesson around a task like 'tomorrow evening we have a speech presentation in front of 200 peeps - what sound & LX do we need...'

 

Being a regular secondary school (..sorry an Academy now...) we put on one large show a year - more's the pity...

 

Sorry if I'm starting to ramble....

 

If there's a single salient thing I've learnt in 30 years it's don't be under-prepared....

 

Are there any Focal Press books I should be asking Santa for? (prob not as searching the FP website for BTEC came back with nix...)

 

Thanks again and seasonal greets to you all...

[Brian]

Are there any Focal Press books I should be asking Santa for?

No, but you might look at this...

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/1408123576.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg

...or Skip's 'Give Me Some Light'...

[the kid]

Quick jump sideways.

 

MAke you get a teaching wage for it!!!

 

Back on topic - 1 hour a week is TIGHT to teach, However I did teach sound editing with 5 people for PTTLS in 15 mins so it is possible (just)

 

The issue I have found with short lessons is not under teaching but over teaching. The things I have done I have completed SUPER fast (planned to take 2 lessons and it took 3/4).

 

I would dive in with showing a clip from an event, maybe Bejing or a concert or even xfactor and discuss what makes it happen, then break off in to what is required to make it, then split down to different types of lights easily cover 2 or 3 in a lesson THEN get them playing with them, hanging on t-bars and focusing, try to make it as hands on.

 

You mention photometrics, why not make it practical and put the light on a table hight so you can explain how wide it goes etc?

 

Alternate sound and light lessons, and you can easily demo what kit (connectors and hardware etc) in 1 lesson and setting up in another. Depending on how good they are as well, with sound at least make them do the work, don't power up until you are happy but why not let them work out why its not working?

[Brian]

...or Skip's 'Give Me Some Light'...

Just found the review I wrote for the ABTT magazine...

 

‘Give Me Some Light’ is a set of three DVDs, supported by a wealth of printed material, which provide an interactive lighting workshop. It is aimed at students taking the Lighting Coursework options at GCSE, AS & A2 level drama and BTEC Performing Arts courses. They have been devised and produced by educational consultant and practicing lighting designer Skip Mort.

 

The idea for them grew out of a series of workshops investigating ways of teaching the art of lighting to groups of students and teachers. Skip’s experience in providing technical support in schools had highlighted the fact that many drama teachers have little technical training which in turn meant that they were often unable to effectively use their lighting equipment and to support the small groups of students wishing to offer lighting as a coursework option for their GCSE and A level Dramas. Following a chance meeting with the Chief Examiner for A level Drama, he had the idea of producing a series of interactive DVDs to support student study.

 

Each DVD is accompanied by a student workbook, typically around 20 pages long, which comes with full permission allowing it to be photocopied for individual students. The general format is that the students watch a demonstration of a technique on the DVD before carrying out an exercise which is then followed up by the recording of key facts in the workbook. The workbooks each contain 12 exercise or ‘scenes’ as they are called. All the exercises are structured for groups of 8 or 16 students as equipment allows and uses lanterns rigged onto lighting stands with local dimmers.

 

The workshops start with ‘Act 1 – Need a Technician’ which aims to introduce the practical skills needed to carry out the rest of the exercises and to provide a basic understanding of lighting equipment. The student exercises include lantern identification and rigging. It was particularly nice to see a full range of equipment likely to be found in schools and colleges including those old favourites (!) the Patt 23, Patt 123 and Patt 137 alongside newer equipment. It covers the five main types of lantern, using dimmers and control desks, lantern accessories and using the lighting system. This section also covers health and safety issues along with risk assessments.

 

Act 2 is subtitled ‘Taking the Drama out of Lighting’ and explores the principles and techniques of lighting. It covers the different angles of illumination before covering colour, special effects such as gobos and then finishes with an exercise where the students are given six simple scenes to light. The aim is to explore the principles and practices of stage lighting by looking at…

The angles of lighting and how they can be used to create different effects

The art of using colour

Special effects

Using previous experience to light a small show

 

‘So You’re Lighting the Production?’ is Act 3. It aims to answer the questions of where to start, how to make sure the actors are adequately illuminated and to address the process of lighting ‘from page to stage’. Its key objectives are…

Creating and using a ‘Lighting Palette’

The different ways of lighting the performance space

Dimmers, power supplies and lighting control desks

And then applying these to lighting a show

 

The whole package is supported by a teacher’s resource book. The resource book is particularly impressive as it contains over 100 pages of additional material ranging from labels and posters through details of practical exercises to more in-depth information which is likely to be useful to teachers in supporting their on-going professional development. The amount of information in there puts many lighting textbooks to shame with many high quality illustrations and photographs.

 

Overall I was very impressed by the package. The printed material is well organised, clear and has a consistent style. I was particularly impressed by the quality of the DVD production. Each segment is well presented both in its content and the technical quality of the material with the presenter taking care to get the important points over. They are well lit and the camera work is of a high standard.

 

In writing this review I took the opportunity to show the material to a drama teacher. She particularly liked the teacher’s resource material and the additional sheets it contained. Her only criticism, or more accurately her plea for help, was that it would be nice if the teacher’s material contained the answers for the student’s written exercises, or at least some hints!

 

And how much does this all cost? Each DVD, with its student workbook, is £80 or the whole set, with teacher’s material is £234.

 

Further details at www.lighting-dramaineducation.co.uk

[paulears]

I'd suggest you plan each session around a set scenario - many of the industry style concepts are just too distant to make sense.

Remember that the spec uses words in a very specific way so as to give you 'bendability'7

Be able to operate as a member of the crew preparing for and during performance

Processes : plans/drawings; get-ins/outs; fit-ups; strikes; technical rehearsals; plotting; presets

Stage scenery : setting; handling flats; rostra and other scenic elements

Cueing: cue sheets; talk-back; verbal cues; visual cues

My bold.

 

What exactly is a scenic element? BTEC won't tell you - it's up to you.

 

So how about the scenario of return to the forbidden planet, where you need a B Movie planet landscape?

 

Set them the task of making one that can be video'd to use in the show. You can grade it by criteria 2,4 and 6 - they will all fit.

Watch selected bits from the movie to show them what a 'B' Movie actually is(was), then draw some plans and diagrams to scale, then using the plans - build the set and paint it, lastly, light it and shoot the movie. The video becomes part of the evidence, and you just need to monitor and detail who does what, and to what level for the grading. A nice 4 week project, and they'll love it - AND get messy. Chicken wire, papier mache, paint, plaster - all great stuff, and maybe, if the group warrants it - split them into teams to encourage the best end product.

 

Treat the spec as a guideline and hint sheet - with just a few rules.

 

 

If they are 'arty' how about A3 size backcloth design, or maybe even a DSM simulation? Pick a scene from a popular musical, with a song/dance in the middle - total time, no more than 5 minutes. Then with the aid of the internet, produce a tweaked script with lots of sound effects, fly cues, truck cues, lx cues and maybe even dressing room calls. Mark the script with all the features and then play the track - I used Miss Saigon, because there was some dialogue before and after - I used the Miss Saigon routine at the start of the show.

 

Then you get them to simply read the book, and do the calls - make sure it is doable and if you can have two mics - one to the crew and the other to dressing rooms. Then secretly, you practice until you can do it perfectly. Then show them how it's done. Then they have a go and of course go wrong. Run the thing against the clock and see who can go longest before messing it up. You can add things like standbys and replies if you want - nobody wants to mess up so they concentrate. This knocks off criterion 5.

 

Make sure you make it tough enough - they may only get passes at first. Do something else and then return to it later to improve grades.

 

With a group like this - I'm not certain the theatre visit may be worth that much. If you have time, fine.

 

Remember that if you don't have productions to really work on, why not consider making a set in miniature - I'm thinking of something in maybe Action man size scale - this isn't mentioned in the spec, but it is still set, scenery, plans, probably even some lighting. Pictures - video and the actual plans become evidence. Things like the proper get ins/outs etc can be done when you have some kind of event to work on. At this age, they won't want to be bored - keep them working. Plenty of real activity you can generate - even without actors, singers and dancers.

[J Pearce]

I think it's important to distinguish between 'how to do it' lessons/segments - this is a 15A plug etc, and the more artistic 'how would you/what would you' lessons/segments.

 

One is very suited to teacher led lecturing with practical application, the other better suited to individual or group explorative work.

 

To be honest though, as a non qualified teacher you should only really deliver content from a scheme of work designed by a qualified teacher (quite potentially in conjunction with you and your specialist knowledge) and if you're not getting paid teacher's wages for it I'd be very wary. It's a big jump in responsibility and commitment.

[paulears]

The thing here is that you have two levels of scrutiny - so the assignment has to be suitable for use, which means somebody else has to look at it and say if it's ok or not BEFORE you use it. The assessment you do has to be looked at by the internal verifier and of course the centre appointed lead verifier (who can lose their status if you mess up) also has an interest.

 

Personally, although schools faff around with 'status' colleges don't. They get a resting actor, or experienced set construction person in to teach what they need - and just check their assessment system - which to be honest, anyone can learn quite quickly. They only worry about qualifications when total teaching hours exceed their threshold for sticking them on a teacher training course. Maslow and Pavlov are things for when people really want to be teachers.

 

In a way, this is why there's a new BTEC for schools about to be approved - because school teachers don't have the required industry experience, and are using BTEC on younger kids. The special version is designed with a more rigid content and better guidance on what to teach - colleges love the flexibility, but the schools sometimes get lost.

 

I'd rather be taught stage stuff by somebody who's done it for real than somebody who only knows what's on next weeks page, written by somebody else. The spec actually provides a list of typical activities that could become the scheme of work.

 

Many schools get their technicians to teach this part of the subject, because they often are the right people. Some pay them as a separate contract at an hourly rate - others don't. Jon's dead right about the responsibility. If you mess up you can be the cause of the entire cohort of kids having their qualification blocked until things are fixed. It's a big responsibility and happens all the time - not always with good solutions.

Paul

[RoyS]

Hi and many thanks for all your contributions to this thread.

 

You have all been most generous and constructive with your advice and I am looking forward to putting some lesson plans/teaching objectives/outcomes together over the Christmas break.

 

To that end I’ve ordered Skip Mort’s book & DVD from Amazon... I already have the usual library on LX by Reid, Pilbrow and others but Skip’s book looks very suitable for my needs....

 

The point about being paid teacher rates is a good one. In this scenario, could I be justified in asking for the additional time at a teacher’s rate for the prep? In the early stages I could easily spend twice as much time in prep than the actual lesson...

 

Again, sincere thanks & seasonal best wishes.

[paulears]

In part-time contracts the prep is never mentioned, just the teaching time - so depending on level pay for an hour could be from 15 to 30 quidish. Some places are really uneasy about special arangements because the teachers union don#t like it, and neither do Unison. Individual negotiation is the key. My old college often had the technicians doing specific classes, but the teachers did the assessment, the technicians just said bye and walked away, certain somebody else would do the nasty time consuming bit.

 

If they want lesson plans and schemes of work - and you aren't getting proper pay, then to be honest, it's a damn cheek. Also - realistically, are you ok with planning a scheme of work and matching it to the spec? It's not the simplest, and for the first time ever, last spec update, we had to produce an example one because many teachers couldn't!