# new wannabe techies



## LDash (Oct 10, 2008)

hello controll booth members.
i am a yr 10 and we have some yr 7's who are intersted in backstage. i am keen to give them as much experience as i am allowed togve them(health and safety etc.) 
i was woundering whether any one new of a good place to start showing/teching them as i have just picked everything up myself and i am starting the techie side of things again in my school
thanks in advance


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## lieperjp (Oct 10, 2008)

Check out this thread: 

Tech 101

It has some useful information. Also, stop by the new members board and introduce yourself!


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## gafftaper (Oct 10, 2008)

Do you have others who know what they are doing working with you? When I have taught high school I always use a mentorship program. My best students are placed in charge of teams. Teams are mixed with students who are new and students who have been around. Everyone working in pairs as much as possible. I'm guessing by year 7's you are meaning someone about 12-13 years old. I've had great luck with young people helping out. I myself started doing tech work at my church when I was about 10. The important thing is having mentors working hands on with the younger students so that they have someone always watching the big picture. Someone to know when to say don't do that. Someone who knows what happens when you push "that button". 

One exception... no rigging or flying until they've been well trained and proven themselves to be very safe and reliable. Rigging is too dangerous to mess with.


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## LDash (Oct 10, 2008)

no unfortunently apart from one boy but he isnt 100% reliable.
thanks gafftaper
i will most probaly start them off on the basics(eg. light intesity,what gobos are what irises are how and when to use them) does this sound ok?

yeh i understand that.our drama teachers wouldnt allow it anyway im only aloud up there if theres a scaff tower erected. im not even aloowed up the ZARGE!!  oh well 

thanks again.


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## gafftaper (Oct 10, 2008)

That's not all that surprising that you are not allowed up to the lights. There are lots of schools that are very poorly designed and there is simply no safe way to access the lights. 

Start with Vocabulary. Stage directions. What the different types of lights are called. Let them take a look on the inside of one. Show them the difference in what they can do. How to turn them on and off. Any sort of programing you can do on your light system. Same for sound. Hook up all the different microphones you have and listen to the differences in how they sound experiment with how they pick up sound around them. Basics on running the sound board. How to coil cable. Just take it one simple step at a time and remember that they will be much better off if they get full understanding before moving on to the next topic. So don't go too fast.

There are lots of us here who are happy to help and don't forget the CB Wiki for a quick definition to many things.


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## thorin81 (Oct 10, 2008)

Basic safety is the most important thing in my book. I tell all my students that there is the potential for people to get hurt if you mess around, so my motto is "No death. No injury."


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## gafftaper (Oct 11, 2008)

Have to agree with both Charc and Thorin here. 

To often there is rivalry between high school aged technicians... and sometimes college. "I'm better than those sound guys" or "at least I'm not an actor". As you get older and start working for money, you will learn that the show is only as good as it's weakest link. You want the best sound guy, the best actors, the best running crew... if they are good they make you look good. You need to think of yourself as one piece of a large machine and the show only works perfectly if everyone is doing there part. If you see someone who has a hard time, the best thing to do is jump in and offer to help. There are no jobs too small for or beneath you. Learn that attitude now and it will help you go a long way in the industry. 

As for safety, it seems to me that you don't develop a true sense of what safety and danger really means until you are in your 20's. I knew that things were dumb and dangerous when I was your age, but the full meaning of those ideas just don't seem to make sense until you have a career, live on your own, start your own family. My wife says, "I used to worry about you at work. Now that we have children I know that you think twice before doing something dangerous. Because I know you want to come home at night and see the boys." It's true. So until you reach that realization of just how important safety is, you have to impose strict rules on younger technicians. The idea that I might get injured or killed won't stop them... but the threat of getting kicked off the crew will.


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## TimOlson (Oct 11, 2008)

what is a ZARGE???

peace, Tim O




LDash said:


> no unfortunently apart from one boy but he isnt 100% reliable.
> thanks gafftaper
> i will most probaly start them off on the basics(eg. light intesity,what gobos are what irises are how and when to use them) does this sound ok?
> 
> ...


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## LDash (Oct 11, 2008)

http://www.ladderstore.com/part-skymaster-ladder-trade-p-186.html?osCsid=e73cbb04cfe865e4be530db99903b932 basicly one of those there handy for lighting in small school or thearter were a hydrolic lift is not suitible or you don't have enough height for a proper thearter ladder(tallescop)

ok thankyou for all your help
sorry charc i was just infering that they want to be a techie i didnt meen it in a negative way.

and again thank you it was been very helpfull


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## derekleffew (Oct 11, 2008)

Thanks TimOlson, I was wondering the same thing, but didn't want to appear dumb. 

If this is a ZARGE,


I can't blame administration for not allowing students on it. It looks scary to me!

An "A-frame" or trestle ladder I have no problems with:

Although I suppose they are becoming outlawed because when straddling the top rung, it is impossible to maintain the "three points of contact" rule, unless one's derriere counts.


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