Stagecraft: Lighting & Sound

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• Explain the basic principles of electrical & sound physics
• Develop a working knowledge of the instruments, components, and accessories involved with modern stage lighting and sound systems
• Learn the Functions and Controllable Properties of stage lighting
• Learn theatrical lighting & sound skills such as hanging instruments, focusing instruments, coiling a cable, basic wiring, mic installation, and cable routing

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
Attendance and Participation	10%
Quizzes	40%
Hang/Focus Demo	5%
System Setup	5%
Wiring Projects	10%
Lighting & Sound Journals	20%
Production Response Papers	10%

Grading Scale

Percentage	Letter Grade
≥ 93.0%	A
90.0%-92.9%	A-
87.0%-89.9%	B+
83.0%-86.9%	B
80.0%-82.9%	B-
77.0%-79.9%	C+
73.0%-76.9%	C
70.0%-72.9%	C-
60.0%-69.9%	D
<60.0%	F

Participation: Students will participate by coming to class, engaging in class discussion about the lectures and the productions in relation to Lighting and Sound, and asking questions.

Hang/Focus Demo: Students will participate in an in-class demonstration of how to hang and focus a light in preparation for their required hours for the Lab section of this course.

Quizzes: An in-class, closed-note assessment of material covered in the lectures. Quizzes will be given at the top of class, and will cover lighting and sound throughout the semester. There will be two quizzes for Lighting and two quizzes for Sound.

Wiring Projects: Students will work in small groups during class on two (2) wiring demos, one each for Lighting and Sound. A successful project will power on and transmit light/sound. The lighting wiring project will be to assemble a working edison to stage pin cable or DMX cable. The sound wiring project will be to solder an XLR microphone cable.

Journal (Lighting): Students will take two pictures of light per week for three weeks (total of 6 pictures). The images must focus on creating a strong, visual composition, capturing a unique or powerful image of light on the surrounding scenery/subject. For each photo taken, the student will write a short paragraph describing the image using the controllable qualities of light as a guide (direction, color, texture, intensity, movement, edge, size, shape).

Journal (Sound): Students will choose a location where they can sit comfortably and quietly to assess, reflect and document all environmental sounds that are heard, for one hour. Students are encouraged to ignore conversations, but document all other human and environmentally generated sounds (wind, walking, reverberance, etc).

Production Responses: Students will attend all mainstage department productions (Too Much Light, Guys & Dolls, Slasherland, POTUS) this semester and write a one-page response paper. The response paper examines how the technical elements supported or enhanced the following aspects of the production; the central idea(s) and/or theme(s), characters and their relationships, the action of the play (the structure and events), the setting of the play (time, sequence of time, and locations), the design elements, focusing on lighting and sound. Students assigned to a crew position who are not able to watch their production will write their response on their role and how they contributed to the process.

Sound System Setup: Students will follow the order of signal flow to produce a fully functioning sound system, identifying each part in the chain.

Attendance/Participation:

Attendance is central to success in this course. You are allowed one excused absence to use at your discretion. If you are more than 15 minutes late, you will be marked absent. Please discuss any anticipated scheduling conflicts with the instructors at the beginning of the semester, as each unexcused absence beyond the one allotted will impact your grade.

3 unexcused absences = -5% from final grade

4 unexcused absences = -10% from final grade

5+ unexcused absences = Final grade of “F”

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

Stagecraft Fundamentals, 3rd edition by Rita Kogler Carver. Focal Press, 2018