Hi, Dana,
Thanks for your response, and you're right: It is a great conversation starter.
In my own experience (trained as a set designer, went into architecture right after school, then back to entertainment design years later), I found that most "techies," as well as most architects, tended to specialize in either the design end or the management and construction part. They all had to learn the same material, but discovered, just like in med and law schools, that they had an affinity for a specialty. I started out as a techie in sets and lights, decided lights weren't for me, then discovered that I liked the interaction with directors (and the problem-solving of how to design a space to support the action ) more than I liked building and painting sets. Still, I had to build and paint a number of sets while in school, and frequently also to draft the shop drawings. And you're absolutely right, this did help me understand what could be built and what could not.
And this is a good part of the reason I really like the program that Cory and several others began, focusing strictly on design. What this will hopefully do is get students to learn to use their imaginations to focus on the story, the characters, and the action instead of on the technical aspects. Ideally, students who are serious about the non-acting parts of theatre will do both programs and get a good grounding in design and in tech before they go to college and focus on a specialty. But some will decide they don't like dealing with research, script analysis, sketches, myriad details, directors, producers, budgets, and all the rest (including the prima donnas), and decide to become outstanding builders, painters, lighting technicians, or something else.
I had a professor in college who used to kid "us techies" all the time. She had a union card in set, light, and costume design (meaning she had to pass three very strict acceptance exams), then quit teaching after a few years and went to LA and later Vegas as a designer. One time she asked me how you can tell when a techie designs a set. I said I didn't know, and she said that all the lines are straight and all the corners are right angles. It took me about a week to realize how right she was and to forgive her, but I've remembered that comment ever since. And, sadly, I've seen how right she was any number of times over the years.
To answer your question "How do I know what to teach?" -- I don't know. However, thinking out loud, and if it were me, I'd probably go with what you're doing and ask for a complete design incorporating all tech elements (to demonstrate that they understand them), but figure on grading the project mostly on the technical parts and not too heavily on the design part. I'd be open to the idea that someone may blow my socks off with a gorgeous and practical design that totally supports the story and the director's vision, but, after all these years, I wouldn't expect it. Yet, whatever they learn from the exercise would be valuable.
Thanks again for your response. It made me think.
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George F. Ledo
Set designer
www.setdesignandtech.wordpress.comwww.georgefledo.net------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 11-14-2022 17:12
From: Dana Taylor
Subject: The BACKstage Exam as a Curricular Tool
Hi,
George, you have brought up an important point and a great conversation starter:
Teaching design is not the purpose of these exams. Both NOCTI and BACKstage are about work preparedness, gauging an individual's technical knowledge and skills. In creating the exams (I helped write both), we looked at what students need to know to enter post-secondary education in theatre or the workforce.
It is my belief that being a designer means you have an understanding of the materials and techniques you use. A lighting
designer would have an understanding of the lights available and their capabilities, and a scenic designer would have an understanding of available materials, construction techniques, and the likely skill sets required to build what they design.
When non-technical people talk about technical theatre, they almost immediately speak of design. I think the issue is they don't know how to talk about the nuts and bolts of technical theatre, but they are aware of designers. Like many of us, they also speak aspirationally about tech, and design seems to be the apex of that vocational arc. But I also believe it ignores a more urgent issue; knowing how to use the tools at hand. In the standards, we see:
HS Advanced
TH: Cr1.1.111
b. Create a complete design for a drama/ theatre work that incorporates all elements of technology.
How do they create a complete design if they don't know how to use the tools? And, how do I know what to teach?
Thanks,
Dana
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Dana Taylor
Educational Consultant
www.techtheatre4teachers.com
Evansville, IN
Original Message:
Sent: 11-14-2022 15:46
From: George Ledo
Subject: The BACKstage Exam as a Curricular Tool
One of the issues I've seen over my past fifty or so years in theatrical design has been the lack of instruction in design itself: how to design a set, how to design lighting, how to design costumes, props, sound, all of the above and then some. Knowing how to build a set doesn't mean you know how to design a physical environment that supports the story; knowing how to hang, focus, and run lights doesn't mean you know to design lighting for maximum effect; and so forth. Designing in these areas requires a completely different set of skills and a different mindset.
Recently I've been taking part in the backstage curriculum project here at EdTA, where professional set, lighting, costume, and sound designers are invited into classrooms via Zoom to discuss what they do and how they do it, including script analysis, research, and sketches. In my case, when students ask me how to become a set designer, I tell them to enroll in a college or university that provides a comprehensive professional training program that includes lots of art, art history, drawing, and architecture in addition to the theatrical design areas. At my schools, we also had to take acting, directing, mime, stage management, and similar subjects. Yes we had to learn how to build, paint, hang lights, sew, and all the rest, but we were focused on our own design specialties.
I wrote a post this morning about this EdTA project, and said I was very impressed with how it stressed design as such, even though it's impossible to teach set design in a week. However, I think it's an amazing opportunity to teach an area of theatre that not too many people seem to know about, and possibly even to interest students who want to be in theatre, but don't want to act, direct, or become techies.
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George F. Ledo
Set designer
www.setdesignandtech.wordpress.com
www.georgefledo.net
Original Message:
Sent: 11-14-2022 14:33
From: Dana Taylor
Subject: The BACKstage Exam as a Curricular Tool
Hello,
Recently, I wrote an article for High School Today magazine, a National Federation of State High School Associations publication.
The article's purpose was to highlight the importance of our National Core Arts Standards but also to acknowledge the lack of curricular
guidance they provide for technical theatre. How do we fit in "miter saw" or "2x4" into the standard, "Create a complete design for a drama/ theatre work
that incorporates all elements of technology"?
The article describes a methodology of reverse engineering our curriculum based on one of two available technical theatre exams. The NOCTI Exam for Technical Theatre was written in 2007, and the BACKstage Exam was recently released by EdTA and USITT.
This does not pretend to be a comprehensive approach to our curriculum but does provide a way of figuring out what to teach or teach next.
https://www.nfhs.org/articles/technical-theatre-curriculum-training-for-high-school-participants/
Thanks,
Dana
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Dana Taylor
Educational Consultant
www.techtheatre4teachers.com
Evansville, IN
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