Drama studio - who looks after it?

[newpersn]

Just wanting to know. Who looks after your drama studio?. (Sound, lighting, projection ect)

 

Our last drama teacher used to look after this by his self but now we changed it dosnt get looked after aswell.

 

So many lights out. Speakers don't sound right. The list goes on.

[Steve21]

Projection as in computer/speakers etc is ours. Lighting desk/sound/lights etc is theirs, although we obviously help if there's any queries/questions

 

Steve

[nickbro]

Sound/Projector/Lighting Software is IT, support in the PA Department for the lighting but they are in charge of the lighting.

[southhamster]

It has a plug on it so we must know how to fix it......

Actually audio yes, but lighting is a bit of a mystery with all the talk of gobos and gels. We are just getting quotes to update it all #lotsofmoney

[Kingstech]

As a IT department we look after the projector and sound system in ours but I mainly look after the lighting in the drama studios and main hall. Any major problems with the sound gets given to me as well. Generally I'm the AV engineer across the school.

[unixman_again]

The a/v technician looks after ours.

[michael2k6]

In previous roles as Data manager, exams manager, IT manager, to name a few, (various schools), I've always adopted it just because I enjoy it. There are times where I think it was a mistake, for the amount of time it can take, but getting the learners involved was a definite good idea.

It's where I started out though, through Year 9 I reorganised and patched a lot of it to pair the lighting which was never setup correctly (there were around 90 sockets on that one), and from Year 10 onwards I ran tech for all the school shows, music evenings, etc, and tech drama for the a level learners during their exams and rehersals.

The lad I did the majority of that with took a different direction to me and now runs sound and light for a 1000 person gig venue, and stages at outdoor festivals, has his own PA hire company and is the only Logic Systems reseller in the north of the country He's a good contact to have, too!

 

I do miss all that stuff!

[dhicks]

Who looks after your drama studio?. (Sound, lighting, projection ect)

 

I look after what sound, lighting, projection and (given the chance) pyrotechnics equipment we have. We don't have a dedicated drama studio as such, but we've now bought some new portable staging and set up a semi-permanant stage area in our main hall - I'll need to spend some time over summer getting it all set up. We move our kit around a fair bit, so I've been getting it all into flight cases so it's all easy to move. I don't know a great deal about sound or lighting, I just read up on stuff as I go along, so my approach tends to be that of a software developer - if I can write a program to control something, I will, hence our lighting has a Javascript-based control system.

 

If it's any help, I've found modern LED lighting to be much easier to deal with than traditional PAR cans. You can set the colour without having to go and change gels, and there's no bulb to blow and replace. You're probably best off with a mixture of LEDs and PAR cans so you can always get the effect you want.

[Oaktech]

That would be me... I have way more bits of paper and training courses in PA/AV and lighting than I do IT!

[kennysarmy]

We have a drama apprentice and music apprentice - between them they look after everything lighting and sound wise for productions or "events" - all we ask is the sound system in the hall is put back to "normal" so we don't get caught out when setting up assemblies!!!

[pcstru]

A couple of years ago when the school was 'downsizing', the PA technicians post was made redundant and we took on technical support for the equipment as well as the PA technician who now does much more IT than PA. So, we (IT) now do all that stuff. A lot of the things that he used to do now have to be done by Teachers - so any classroom support or actual production of stuff. I basically try and draw the line at technical support - helping people to do things themselves, not doing those things for them.

[VeryPC_Anthony_L]

Having worked in schools as both IT/AV tech and a performing arts tech, it was always myself who did the bulk. On the other side, many of the students were also good and doing some of the maintenance. Personally if you can get a student tech crew together then I would highly advise you do as apart from major things, stuff like lamp/gel/gobo changes, moving/rigging lights students really love this. Yes there are things to be aware of and health and safety but as long as you are supervising them they can generally do most things.

 

 

If anyone is looking for support the 'School Theatre Support Group' School Theatre Support Group are worth joining.

[NB9457]

If I'm asked, I'll help.

 

I love lighting desks, so many buttons! And moving heads, it's just more expensive toys to play with.

[mthomas08]

Not us, unless it's apart of the IT Setup in the classroom.

[thebatman]

We look after the Projector and Computer, but due to my other job out side of school, I end up looking after all the Lights, sound, desk ect.

[mikeatactive]

In our experience as audio & lighting suppliers the situation varies completely from school to school. In one school it can be a dedicated drama/music technician, in the next it can be the IT department and in another it can be the site manager or caretaker. Lighting is one of those areas that seems to fall between the cracks. However, as mentioned in a couple of the posts above, the latest LED lighting fixtures are far easier to bring into an IT remit, especially as there is frequently a need to integrate the lighting control system with laptops, macs or tablets. Like it or not, I suspect many IT departments are going to be asked to get increasingly involved!

Mike

[Sagima]

The A/V technician but he's primarily an IT technician so I suppose the IT dept does but personally I have nothing to do with it.

[Oddbod]

Drama department has its own AV tech, however I help out when I can. I was instrumental in installing q-lab with art-net on enttec so that the teachers could control the lighting and sound desks from their iPads, which they liked… as it prevented them from losing the attention of the class mid-rehearsal.