# Visual resources for teaching rigging?



## Sayen (Oct 19, 2010)

Part of my district's new evaluation process requires that we have secondary materials for all lessons, including rigging. I have plenty of materials for other technical areas, but nothing for rigging. I'm not looking for anything fancy, but can anyone recommend a basic textbook or source for images dealing with hanging flats and the like? I'm looking for something I can scan into PowerPoint, or just keep in the classroom as a reference for students. I have books _about_ rigging, but nothing that shows _how_ to rig, which is sort of the nature of the subject, considering the risk and all.

It's a dumb requirement. When they do inspections (I mean, evaluations...) they just check off the box to see if it exists, and my evaluation is right in the middle of our rigging unit. It's almost as much fun as being told I needed to display student work, and the set the class built didn't count because it wasn't on their list of approved items.


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## MPowers (Oct 19, 2010)

In a nutshell look at 

Amazon.com: Stage Rigging Handbook, Third Edition (9780809327416): Jay O. Glerum M.A. B.A.: Books

Good source, accurate and reliable info, easy to understand at any level and lots of pictures. HTH.


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## MNicolai (Oct 20, 2010)

JR Clancy has some great white papers.

I'd be cautious teaching more about rigging to high school students than basic counterweight operations, as they tend to learn just enough to be dangerous.


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## ruinexplorer (Oct 20, 2010)

I second both above resources. You could also try: Fly Systems

For some ideas on buiding your PowerPoint, here's one already done.


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## erosing (Oct 21, 2010)

MNicolai said:


> I'd be cautious teaching more about rigging to high school students than basic counterweight operations, as they tend to learn just enough to be dangerous.



Agreed. I would reccommend Sapsis's book, Heads! & Tales, as a possibility for a text book, might just scare them enough to need a change of pants. It doesn't cover hanging flats though. 



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Sayen (Oct 26, 2010)

Great, thank you all! I forgot about Glerum's book, I have that around here somewhere.

Nicolai, I think you'd like the way I teach it. We spend about a week on safety and procedures, and I show them pictures of rigging disasters and really emphasize safety and knowledge. I have a collection of quality and cheap gear to show them, as well as failed gear from a few gigs I was on. By the time we fly anything, which is seldom more than a couple of flats, they're a little paranoid and overly cautious, which is what they should be when dealing with rigging. I've overheard them lecture other non-technicians about why we won't fly people and how not to act around rigging too, which is a great bonus.


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## MNicolai (Oct 27, 2010)

Sayen said:


> Great, thank you all! I forgot about Glerum's book, I have that around here somewhere.
> 
> Nicolai, I think you'd like the way I teach it. We spend about a week on safety and procedures, and I show them pictures of rigging disasters and really emphasize safety and knowledge. I have a collection of quality and cheap gear to show them, as well as failed gear from a few gigs I was on. By the time we fly anything, which is seldom more than a couple of flats, they're a little paranoid and overly cautious, which is what they should be when dealing with rigging. I've overheard them lecture other non-technicians about why we won't fly people and how not to act around rigging too, which is a great bonus.



Sounds a lot like how I teach fire safety. Nothing gets the point across better than having the students watch the video of the The Station nightclub fire. After that, they all have a deep respect for how quickly a problem can escalate into a massacre.


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