Materials Needed:
Pack of crayons, gels, script library for students to pull from, stage makeup practice sheets, blank paper
Learning Objective:
Students will demonstrate their competence and mastery of the tech skills they’ve learned throughout this unit (as well as skills they may have gained throughout the year) by competing in groups in a tech Olympics.
Hook (3-5 minutes):
It’s time for the tech Olympics! The winning team gets extra credit- so pick your best team right now! Your teams can be between 4 and 6 people.
Activity 1 (60-65 minutes)
Teams will take an Olympic scoresheet. There will be 7 different categories that students can compete in. Under each category will be a variety of tasks each worth a different amount of possible points. The team with the most points at the end of the Olympics wins. After each item is complete groups will need to take it to a TA or instructor in order to get their work scored- so just completing a task will not assure them full points. The categories and tasks are as follows:
Lighting
Design the light for a scene. You must select 3 gels (complete with name and number) and describe why you want to use them. You must also draw a mood picture to the best of your abilities with the crayons available and describe how it fits the lighting in the scene. (20 points)
Sound
Sound Q&A where teams send one member of their group to the instructor to answer various sound questions.
What is a balanced line? (5 points)
How do mics work? (10 points each)
Describe what feedback is and how it works. (5 points each)
List and describe the different type of mics. (5 points each)
What does a mixer do? (10 points)
What are gain and EQ? (10 points)
What are the benefits of using a wired mic over a wireless? Why might you prefer a wireless? (10 points)
Makeup
Design the makeup for a character in a scene using crayons on a stage makeup practice sheet. (20 points)
Set
Design the set for a script. Draft a full design on paper with pen/pencil. (75 points)
Publicity
Design a publicity flyer based off of a play (not Fiddler on the Roof), or a scene. Students will have paper available and crayons. (50 points)
Stage management
Take down the blocking for a scene (50 points)
Stage management Q&A where teams send one member of their group to the instructor to answer various stage management questions. (25 points each)
● What do you do about an actor who’s always late?
● How might you handle a situation where the actor keeps paraphrasing a line?
● What do you do if an actor starts to change blocking/direction during a show for laughs or some other effect?
● What type of paperwork would you need to complete as a stage manager? How would you handle so much paperwork and scheduling?
● In what ways will you always be prepared as a stage manager? (Always have your SM kit)
● How familiar do you need to be with a script as a SM?
● What would you do if the director came to you upset telling you that you were missing a prop? What would you do if he or she was upset about a prop being made incorrectly/looking wrong?
● How would you mediate an argument between crew members or actors?
● How would you handle a rehearsal where the actors won’t stop talking?
● How would you handle time during a meeting or rehearsal?
● What will you do if you miss a cue during a show?
● How will you anticipate problems within your crew, the actors, and the design team? How can you always be proactive?
● What can you do to make tech week run as smoothly as possible?
● What will you do if you can tell a director has lost track of time? What if it seems they will run late? Who should be the one to stop rehearsal for breaks/lunch?
Miscellaneous
Complete an actor scene breakdown for an entire script (100 points)
Design a prop for one of the shows using scrap wood from the tech shop (100 points)
Complete a design breakdown for all of the visual elements in a scene (100 points)
| C | S | L | P | Sd | M | Fx | ? | Note | ||||||
| # | pg | Location | Quote | |||||||||||
| 1 |
Wrap up (3-5 minutes):
Ask students to total up all their scores to determine the winner. Everyone congratulate this team and award them extra credit. They truly are the masters of technical theatre in the class! If there’s time briefly discuss what students learned/their experience in the tech olympics.