ENT4410 Technical Direction Spring 2014

Sandwich Shop Debriefing

What follows are notes from the group discussion (post mordem) of the Sandwich Shop project

Define Problem:

Instructions / Documentation

Ingredients

Fit in box

Fresh

Did you understand the problem?

Did you revisit the problem and its elements?

Did you create/include:

–          A checklist?

–          Design drawings?

–          Make a test sandwich from your instructions?

How successful was your project?

Were instructions read correctly?

The goal of good instructions is to make every step clear, even “givens”

e.g. opening packaging, cleaning your hands before food prep…

You don’t want to frustrate the crew

More instructions are better, pictures are nice, make wording clear

What are examples of products we all encounter that come with instructions?

–          Ikea furniture (minimal words)

–          Lego build sets

What are the common aspects of instructions that make them effective?

–          Pictures (of final product followed by step by step assembly)

–          Steps (not too much in each step)

–          Packing list (1^st instruction should be to check contents against list, packing list that is noted by packer also creates confidence in project outcome)

–          Clearly state what instrucions are for  i.e. what you are building

You want your crew assembling to know what the final product looks like to help them make educated inferences and involve them in the quality control of the final product, create a goal for the crew.

Applications of this exersice in “the real world”

–          How would the problem be different?

• The crew might not be familiar with the object being constructed

–          What was missing from this exercise that would be present in a “real” problem?

• Redundancy
  • How much redundancy is important?
• Labeling of all parts
  • Labeling of use of part vs part name or description based on application and knowledge of users

Today in class we discussed, What is a TD? We talked about the roles and responsibilities that TD has or might have. We touched upon the different people that the TD has to communicate with , like the Producer, the director, the designer(s), and the managers.

Talking points

• Non profit, doesn’t heavily rely on ticket sales for a production. About 80%-90% are donations and grants, and the rest is from ticket sales.
•  commercials rely 100% on merchandise/product sales.
• The TD needs to show the producer the budget proposal/show that you need a certain amount.
• The producer know how much money they have and approximately how much each department needs to spend.
• The technical drawings are considered a “contract”. A change in drawings means a change in contract.
• “This is whats i needs, can i has.”
• The TD has to explain how much it will cost to do what the director wants.
  Artistic Vision Vs. Budget, Allocating resources.
• To achieve all you have to present your idea in a way that the director can understand.
• The TD should know what stock scenery might be available.
• The TD should know possible places to get the best priced materials, and where to get specialty hardware and fixtures.
• Is every piece of scenery treated equal? Is it used ten times or once? Is it worth spending more on something that is used once or something that is used multiple times.
• Is it unattainable?
• What can actually be delivered?
• Why cant i have what i want?
• You have to be able to explain why something is not possible/not feasible/ not practical.
• You can not just say, this cant be done. That would make you look lazy.
• The ideal situation is having what you need when you need it and having the money to get it.
• A good TD is someone who can communicate problems, solutions, and alternatives.
• The three C’s of being a TD.         COMMUNICATION, COST, COMPROMISE.
  (CADD) 4th C?

Today, Fabruary 4, 2014, three ambitious project management teams from Hudson Sandwich Studios were presenting their perfect sandwiches. Actually, we can not call this big event a ‘presentation’, because it was more like an ‘implementation’ of the projects. Project implementation was brilliantly handled by the award-winning local crew of PBJ-2K – Pat.

At 8am, before the trucks load-in, all participants were informed about V124 Performing Arts Center rental prices (very decent, btw):

After that teams were required to put all their materials and construction drawings inside the 9″x9″x9″ trucks within a 5 min time frame. Each team had its own, very personal approach to this procedure:

All goods were then shipped to the venue extremely quickly:

Local crew Pat was already there and ready to work. After unloading the first truck, he immediately started the assembly of the sandwich, heroically wading through 7 pages of boring instructions. In a couple of minutes the first sandwich was constructed.

Not having any rest, Pat began to unload the next truck and assemble the second sandwich. The main emphasis in the construction of this one was given to the aesthetic component of the final product, and, it was, undoubtedly, the most eye-catching sandwich among the three.

The third sandwich was constructed based on minimalist style, without a pile of paperwork, in a ‘simpler is always better’ way.

As we can see, each team had its own approach not only to the construction principals, but also to the choice of materials and even to the aesthetics of the final project.

As of the venue rentals, only one short and friendly phone call was used during the construction process:

Today in class we discussed the greatness of OpenLab!

• Open Lab is Great, we must all use it
• Post something kool that everyone might be interested in.
• Post the notes every day like this!

We also discussed the projects. Good luck on those. There was a hand out given to everyone and we should all use it as a guide for the project. If you get lost talk to the Professor.

Just remember the backstage badger always says to avoid buying the Batman signal Gobo!

Here are two videos about the Hossfeld Bender that we talked about in class today. We should have the machine up and running in the next couple of weeks. I will keep you posted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0P3aubl1W0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhV0MpEU8Ug

Hey guys here is a quick summary of everything that we did the first class:

-Introductions, Hi All! We went around and said who we were and why we are taking this class.

-Overview of class. What was this class all about and introduction to the Problem    Method of teaching.

-Communication, Keepin in touch! We talked about how we would all be connected to each other to help eachother out, make sure we are all up in time for class. (smartphone app?)

-Question Time! We asked a few questions around, talking about how to support each other with projects, what we are looking from out of this class, and the punishment of those who bring us down.

-Whats our Motto? We started talks about what our class motto should be. Something that reprecents us and what we are doing as technical directors.

-First Project, Make Me A Sandwich! We broke up into our first groups and recived our first of four projects.

And thats about it. I got a good feeling about this class.

We will be using ePortfolios throughout the semester to document and showcase our work.

You can find a lot of useful information about portfolios here.

Welcome to Technical Direction. This course will give you an opportunity to learn and practice the skills necessary to be a professional theatrical technical director. To make this practice as close to the real world as possible, the class will be structured using the problem-based learning model. In small groups, you will work on several problems over the course of the semester, each one based on a real show and real scene design. The most important skills you will learn are how to work on a team and how to direct your own research.