# Nocti Test for tech theater?



## bobgaggle (May 11, 2021)

so my high school theater teacher sister asked me to proctor for a nocti test for her tech theater course students. The course instructors or other school employees aren't allowed. I'm a third party so here I am. Having done 4 years of drama classes in high school I'm really confused about what kind of exam they're running these kids through for tech theater, 99% of my tech education happened in college and the real world. Anyone taken this test or taught kids who have done it? What are they testing these kids about?

edit: google answered my question. Jeez this is a lot for a high schooler, or maybe I was just lazy haha

https://www.noctibusiness.com/assessments/technical-theater/


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## NJJerrySmith (May 11, 2021)

I would have 100% failed this coming out of my public high school's extra-curricular theater club. Even now as a professional with almost 10 years of professional experience I know I wouldn't be able to do period makeup and hair styling, and patterning and sewing an apron might be a stretch.


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## aeh20s (May 11, 2021)

The majority of people who work as professional hands wouldn't be able to pass this test. There is a reason why people specialize.


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## SteveB (May 11, 2021)

This is absurd. Technical theater is a world of specialists. With over 40 years experience, I couldn’t pass anything related to costumes, hair and makeup and I don’t know any costumers who know squat about electrics.


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## soundman (May 11, 2021)

I would be very interested to know how much this test cost. I feel any amount is more than questions like the one below are worth.


> Stage safety suggests that hard hats are to be worn by the
> 
> Audio crew
> Stage managers
> ...




I'm sure the test would say 4 is the correct answer. But who should wear a hardhat more, the rigging crew tossing iron on the loading bridge, the audio crew member checking chains as the up rigger adjusts a bridal, or the running crew member who is reloading the kaboki drop from a lift preshow? In my pandemic job hunt I had to take a couple of tests like this for PLC controls positions. 60% of the questions were simple, 20% required you to have seen a PLC before, 10% required you to have written some PLC code and 10% required you to be a subject matter expert on a PLC that went out of production before you were born. My guts tells me tests like these are HR's way of ticking a box.


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## josh88 (May 12, 2021)

soundman said:


> I would be very interested to know how much this test cost. I feel any amount is more than questions like the one below are worth.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm sure the test would say 4 is the correct answer. But who should wear a hardhat more, the rigging crew tossing iron on the loading bridge, the audio crew member checking chains as the up rigger adjusts a bridal, or the running crew member who is reloading the kaboki drop from a lift preshow? In my pandemic job hunt I had to take a couple of tests like this for PLC controls positions. 60% of the questions were simple, 20% required you to have seen a PLC before, 10% required you to have written some PLC code and 10% required you to be a subject matter expert on a PLC that went out of production before you were born. My guts tells me tests like these are HR's way of ticking a box.



5. Everybody if there's any overhead work being done. 

It does make me want to see the full test. As a TD and someone who has spent most of my career jumping specializations and being a generalist, it makes me curious. I used to know nothing about costumes but since I have to work with costume heads all the time, my understanding has shifted. That being said I have a feeling this is an extra ridiculous ask of high school students.


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## Amiers (May 12, 2021)

I say @dvsDave gets us the test pro Bono we all take it to evaluate the validity of said test. It’s not they we don’t have a whole lot going on .


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## TimMc (May 12, 2021)

Amiers said:


> I say @dvsDave gets us the test pro Bono we all take it to evaluate the validity of said test. It’s not they we don’t have a whole lot going on .



Well... I have work trickling in, as Local Crew and the production shop I manage. I'm streching muscles and brain cells 14 months dormant. Still leaves some time...

So who wants to form a study group?


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## Amiers (May 12, 2021)

I would gladly give some of mine to help QA this test.


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## cbrandt (May 13, 2021)

Maybe I'm reading the brief wrong, but it appears that this is more of an assessment in each category, more than it is an overall rating or grade.


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## sk8rsdad (May 13, 2021)

This looks a lot like my son's Technical Theatre 101 course curriculum. 10 or 12 weeks of introduction to all aspects of theatre with no requirement to be proficient in any of them.


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## ruinexplorer (May 17, 2021)

The trick is to see who actually wrote the test. That was the issue when I first started helping out with USITT's eSET program. It seemed that they had a lot of regionally specific jargon along with questions that were specific to educational theater and not professional theater. 

Who is the test really aimed for? Is this to show that someone can complete an educational exam or be prepared for an entry level job? Being that it is from a "business solutions" site, it makes me wonder who they got to author the exam.


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## bobgaggle (May 17, 2021)

Ok so that was interesting. More clarification. There are individual written tests (multiple choice) and practical test modules for each specialty. I proctored and evaluated the practical test for the scenery module. The students had to draw and build a 2'x4' soft covered theater flat. The teachers were provided a list before hand of materials and tools to provide, so its not a real secret as to what you're building when the list says: 1x3, luan, muslin, chop saw, scale rule, t50 stapler, etc...

They needed an industry person because of the evaluation portion of it. Once they were done I had to inspect the work and grade it based on 18 different points. Like, is the drawing to scale, is the cut list accurate, is the flat square, is the muslin properly tensioned, are the corner blocks offset correctly etc. I was told passing this test can get them college credit because this is a dual enrollment class. I'm not in education so I don't really know about all that. 

I do have questions for whatever committee wrote the test. The grading criteria I had to follow was kind of wacky. For example, I had 3 options for the corner block placement scoring; A was 'corner blocks are offset 3/4" from the edges of the framing". B was 'Corner blocks are flush with the edge of the framing' and C was 'corner blocks are placed erratically'. So I tried to score on that but there's no mention of grain direction or what to do when the blocks were all very consistently offset 1/4" from the edge... 

another example, square was scored as well. Only two scoring options given to me, pass or fail. Square or not square. Made sense to whoever wrote the test but they didn't give me any tolerances. I gave everyone a pass if it was within a 1/4" on the diagonals. 

I wish there was an overall 'feeling' score I could have given. Like, one flat had a lot of technical issues but the muslin had no wrinkles and it was square, for me that's a pass. Or one kid's drawing didn't follow any drafting standards but all the info was there and _I_ could build it without having to ask the girl who drew it any questions or making any assumptions, for me that's a pass. 

Side note, would anyone consider mus covered flats standard anymore? I know its a strong tradition in theater history but I'm seeing them less and less. I've built maybe 1 set in the last 5 years that required soft covered flats. Seems like building a hollywood hard faced flat would be a much better test of competence these days.


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## macsound (May 17, 2021)

bobgaggle said:


> Ok so that was interesting. More clarification. There are individual written tests (multiple choice) and practical test modules for each specialty. I proctored and evaluated the practical test for the scenery module. The students had to draw and build a 2'x4' soft covered theater flat. The teachers were provided a list before hand of materials and tools to provide, so its not a real secret as to what you're building when the list says: 1x3, luan, muslin, chop saw, scale rule, t50 stapler, etc...
> 
> They needed an industry person because of the evaluation portion of it. Once they were done I had to inspect the work and grade it based on 18 different points. Like, is the drawing to scale, is the cut list accurate, is the flat square, is the muslin properly tensioned, are the corner blocks offset correctly etc. I was told passing this test can get them college credit because this is a dual enrollment class. I'm not in education so I don't really know about all that.
> 
> ...


I've worked in theatre since I was 13 and I've only done *one show* that used stretched muslin flats and it was because the venue didn't have a fly system but the designer wanted hard legs. 

Also, I didn't even know what broadway vs hollywood flats were until I worked on a short film. 
In all theatre I worked in, in house, we always built hollywood flats. Only rentals were built as broadway and that was only at the end of my musical theatre life because the companies had less and less money to spend on building their own sets.


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## ruinexplorer (May 17, 2021)

Though, with the cost of materials these days, we might start to see more Broadway flats.


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## josh88 (May 18, 2021)

ruinexplorer said:


> Though, with the cost of materials these days, we might start to see more Broadway flats.


That was my thought, I have a feeling there may be a resurgence in soft flats for a bit, especially in the school/community (ie smaller budget) segment.


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## JChenault (May 18, 2021)

ruinexplorer said:


> Though, with the cost of materials these days, we might start to see more Broadway flats.



Not sure I agree. Back when I was building scenery, ( 20 + years ago) The 'classic' broadway flat with 1x3 lumber ( 1x4 if you must ) needed really good, straight lumber. Good straight lumber is pretty rare these days, and not cheap. With a hollywood style flat, the covering material ( say luan) helps keep everything square. Not the case with muslin.


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## ruinexplorer (May 21, 2021)

JChenault said:


> Not sure I agree. Back when I was building scenery, ( 20 + years ago) The 'classic' broadway flat with 1x3 lumber ( 1x4 if you must ) needed really good, straight lumber. Good straight lumber is pretty rare these days, and not cheap. With a hollywood style flat, the covering material ( say luan) helps keep everything square. Not the case with muslin.


Unless you are like @gafftaper who will build a jig to make squared flats.


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## gafftaper (May 22, 2021)

ruinexplorer said:


> Unless you are like @gafftaper who will build a jig to make squared flats.


Not a bad idea!


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## gafftaper (May 22, 2021)

bobgaggle said:


> I was told passing this test can get them college credit because this is a dual enrollment class. I'm not in education so I don't really know about all that.


There are a lot of high schools that have an agreement with a local college or university to earn college credit. For example my school offers an English class to seniors that earns an English 101 credit at the university. That said, I think earning theater college credit is rare. 


bobgaggle said:


> Side note, would anyone consider mus covered flats standard anymore? I know its a strong tradition in theater history but I'm seeing them less and less.


Broadway flats are very common in high schools around here because we don't have the storage space for Hollywood flats. 

My college TD was a big fan of hard Broadway flats. They are thin for storage but much more durable. If you are building them more than 8' high he would cover the Luan with muslin. The end result is a very strong, thin flat, with a perfect smooth surface.


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## Kristi R-C (May 22, 2021)

NOCTI came out of NY state about 15 years ago - it was intended to assess career readiness realizing that not everyone needed to go to college to be able to work in the field. 

USITT’s BACKstage exam is a better version (IMHO) because it was created by both HS teachers and professionals working together - with several of us being both. It’s in the piloting stage this year with planned introduction next fall. 

Yes, Broadway flats are coming back big time. I’ve answered numerous questions about building them just this week.


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## derekleffew (May 22, 2021)

ruinexplorer said:


> Unless you are like @gafftaper who will build a jig to make squared flats.


I have built such a jig, several times in fact. Complete with 3/4" inset for correct placement of corner block s.

Clinch nail s optional. Let's fire up the animal gluepot, and mix up a batch of wheat paste!


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## TechQuestions (May 6, 2022)

bobgaggle said:


> Ok so that was interesting. More clarification. There are individual written tests (multiple choice) and practical test modules for each specialty. I proctored and evaluated the practical test for the scenery module. The students had to draw and build a 2'x4' soft covered theater flat. The teachers were provided a list before hand of materials and tools to provide, so its not a real secret as to what you're building when the list says: 1x3, luan, muslin, chop saw, scale rule, t50 stapler, etc...
> 
> They needed an industry person because of the evaluation portion of it. Once they were done I had to inspect the work and grade it based on 18 different points. Like, is the drawing to scale, is the cut list accurate, is the flat square, is the muslin properly tensioned, are the corner blocks offset correctly etc. I was told passing this test can get them college credit because this is a dual enrollment class. I'm not in education so I don't really know about all that.
> 
> ...


Do you remember anything else about the flats. How was the muslin glued? Did they require diagonals?


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## What Rigger? (May 6, 2022)

soundman said:


> I would be very interested to know how much this test cost. I feel any amount is more than questions like the one below are worth.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm sure the test would say 4 is the correct answer. But who should wear a hardhat more, the rigging crew tossing iron on the loading bridge, the audio crew member checking chains as the up rigger adjusts a bridal, or the running crew member who is reloading the kaboki drop from a lift preshow? In my pandemic job hunt I had to take a couple of tests like this for PLC controls positions. 60% of the questions were simple, 20% required you to have seen a PLC before, 10% required you to have written some PLC code and 10% required you to be a subject matter expert on a PLC that went out of production before you were born. My guts tells me tests like these are HR's way of ticking a box.


The answer for this one is "It depends on the work being done" and I will die on that hill.


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## What Rigger? (May 6, 2022)

I'm looking at what this test wants you to be able to answer and it struck me how much it matched the job description for Technical Theater Specialist recently advertised as open at Cal State Dominguez Hills, with a very heavy emphasis on being able to research, design and build 18th century costumes, in addition to mid-to-late career proficiency in Vectorworks, programming, audio, rigging, temp power...._all_ crafts really- and they were offering $70k/yr for all that, expecting you to live on the south end of LA County. 

So hey, pass that exam in high school and in 30 years, you can make the big bucks.


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