Working in the Theater

For the last school year I’ve worked in a few different places, such as the school cafeteria and the atrium in an old Amsterdam monument. However I’ve never done any work inside an actual theater, until last Wednesday. As I might have mentioned before, the media department at my school often helps out the fashion department when it comes to organizing fashion shows and stuff like that. We often build the stage and take care of the audio and lighting.

This year was no different. As usual the students from the fashion department had to organize a complete fashion show for their practical exam assignment, taking care of clothes, make up, music, choreography, you name it. The exam location for fashion changes each year as far as I know and this year the location was the old Gooiland Theater, right here in Hilversum. Great of course, because that makes it really close to home.

The Stage

Since we had exams earlier that morning, me and the classmates who were also coming to help out arrived at the theater around noon. A lot of the work had already been done; moving heads were already in position above the stage, audio equipment was already up and working and they were just about to begin building the primary stage construction. The idea was to create a sort of banana out of cloth on which we could project colors and shapes using a set of 3000 Watt moving heads and another set of 2500 Watt. Needless to say these things emitted a huge amount of light but the effect in combination with the ‘banana’ was very cool to see. My compliments to the stage designers (probably my teachers… cheers!).

The Spotlights

When the stage was done, all lights had been programmed, every cable taped down and everything was working it was time for the waiting game. Most of us hung around aimlessly while the light guys were doing their best to program the light table in time for the big show.

After about an hour the dress rehearsal started and me and a classmate were sent up to the balcony to operate the two spotlights. I’ll tell you right now that being a spotlight operator is not as easy as it looks since you have to try to predict every single move a person is going to make. Especially the first act was hard to follow since it was a sort of African dance, this guy was jumping all over the place. I’m actually glad I got to see it during the dress rehearsal a couple of times otherwise I would have majorly screwed up during the real performance.

In the end we did good though. We got a lot of compliments from people sitting at the Front of House about how good we spotted for a first time which did make me feel good. It’s always nice to be appreciated.

You Break It, You’re Broke

When the show was over and the audience had left the theater the entire crew started to break the stage (which luckily always goes a lot faster then building it). The ‘banana’ was being torn down again, audio equipment packed up and cables rolled up and tossed in crates.

However in our hurry to be done as soon as possible me and one of my teachers kind of forgot that especially the 3000 Watt moving heads might take a while to cool down again. As we lifted one up and tried to tilt it over, the head had a sort of ‘FUCK YOU’ moment and started twisting and turning in all directions, making us lose our balance and almost dropping the damn thing lens down onto the stage. And just to paint a picture, regular 250 Watt moving heads already cost about € 3000,- a piece. These 3000 Watt moving heads cost about € 15.000,- a piece and we almost demolished one. Quick as I am I managed to save it by quickly grabbing the head and holding it up, but that also came at a price. Since the lamp was still hot I received a small yet very painful burn on my hand which proceeded to bleed for the remainder of the evening. But hey, at least I won’t have to cough up my share of 15 grand.

Holland’s Got Talent

A fun fact about this particular theater is that Holland’s Got Talent was done in this very theater, on the very stage we were working on. I generally don’t like those kind of shows though I must admit the *’s Got Talent shows were a lot more amusing than their Idols and Popstars counterparts, mostly because of the live audience present at the auditions.

It was very fun to see and reconize parts of the theater, such as the place where the jury sat and some spots backstage. Check out the video’s and photo’s below and see for yourself.

Final Thoughts

I have to say it was a very fun project to work on. For the first time I’ve actually worked in a theater and also had a chat with people who work there on a daily basis. Speaking to one of the employees really informed me about how things work in an actual theater.

After the stage was clean and everything was loaded up the entire crew had a few drinks in the theater’s bar. It’s fun to be socializing with your teachers after an event like that, especially because you start to know them from a completely different angle. I hope to participate in a few more projects like this next year. For now all I have to look forward to is building and breaking the school dance, but you will read about that next week.

Robin

Photos and Videos

Exams – Part 3

The practical exam is done! Yay!

And it wasn’t even that hard. All we had to do was build a small piece of stage, install four lights and install some audio. The catch was that we had to follow the rules of the Labor Inspection. Things such as lifting with your legs, not with your back. Or carrying certain things with two persons instead of one. They are simple rules but also very simple to forget when you’re on the job.

In total we had four hours to load up the equipment in our studio on the ground floor, transport it all to the first floor, build the stage, break it down and then transport it back to the studio. The timer would be stopped when all of the equipment was back downstairs and everything accounted for. Me and my teammate managed to do the entire assignment in a little under three hours, clocking in at 2 hours and 57 minutes. And that included two small breaks.

Of course this exam was not a race for the best time. We were being graded by our teachers on following Labor Inspection rules, the way we work, neatness, logic and safety. And judging by how little they had to say during and after the exam, I’m assuming for now that we didn’t make any huge mistakes. In fact, we even caught a few mistakes they put in the exam on purpose. More points for us!

The results of the exams so far will be announced next wednesday.

Robin

Exams

Almost nine months have passed since I started my study in media and ten days from now I will be doing my final exam for this year. When and if I graduate I will be automatically accepted in the Audio Video Production Level 3 study, which is what I’ve been aiming for since I started.

AV Production Level 3 focuses less on the actual building of stages an goes more into, well, production. Instead of just putting in the lights we will now be programming them using a light table. Instead of hooking up the sound system we will actually be behind the audio mixer, producing the audio. I’m sure you get the picture.

But all this only happens when I pass my exams. I’m not to worried about the theoretical exams, we’ve done enough tests this year and slapping the term ‘test’ or ‘exam’ on it doesn’t really change much. Besides, if they are anything like the other tests we had this year I’m sure I’ll pass with flying colors.

However I also have to do a practical exam, which basicaly means I’ll be doing some basic stage building with a fellow classmate, but this time we’ll be heavily graded on everything we do (the way we lift, our eye for detail, safety issues, etc). Two of the people grading will be our teachers and a third person who is from the actual stage building industry. I’d say if you get his approval you’re doing it pretty damn good.

In any case, it’s the practical exam I’m a little shakey for. Anyone can fill out a paper and hand it in, but physicaly building something with three people looking over your shoulder doesn’t make me very comfortable. Especialy since those three people will be grading everything I do.

Once the exams are over of course I will post the results here, if only for my own memory. Let’s just hope I’m nervous for no reason, eh?

Robin