Tech Classes

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News Letter
Welcome to the Lighting class
Set Construction Welcome

Get involved with Theater Tech!

If you've ever wanted to get involved in theater but didn't want to get on stage, join the back-stage crew. Included here are many of the technical theater activities happening at Murrow.

You have Daytime and After-School Options

Set and Stage Design	Set Construction	Stage Lighting
K-Band	Costuming	Scene Painting

Yes, your daily high school schedule will be busy. You may think that you just won't be able to fit one more thing in. But, you may find yourself wondering about the building during your Opta's, looking for something to do. If so, you can earn extra credits for your transcript by taking any of these electives.

Some of these classes carry some credits that you may need for graduation! Set & Stage Design counts towards your Fine Arts requirement. The others carry Art, Occ-Ed and/or Technology credits.

Set and Stage Design Class

The fundamentals of designing a set are covered in this two-cycle course. Class participants' range from new freshmen to experienced stage technicians.
And there is a BONUS! This class counts towards your Fine Arts graduation requirement. Here's the class welcome letter.

Topics include:

	Reading and analyzing a script;
	Creating a list of requirements for the production;
	Drawing sketches of sets;
	Drafting ground plans of the theater;
	Creating technical construction drawings;
	Creating colors set renderings;
	Building small hand props and/or scale models.

Set Construction Class

Students start with learning basic carpentry skills. Theatrical building techniques are introduced according to design requirements of Murrow's upcoming productions. The emphasis of the class work will be to support Murrow's two large-scale musicals. Set Construction Welcome Letter

The skills learned during set construction include:

	Safe use of a hand and power tools
	rigging for the stage.
	If eligible, serving as running crew for Murrow's productions.
	Advanced students will serve as technical directors, stage managers and crew supervisors for Murrow's major productions.

Beginning level student technicians will be encouraged to volunteer their services in a supervisory position on one of Murrow's many student club productions. Members of this class have first choice in working on the stage crew.

Stage Lighting Class

Designing lighting for a play, musical, or concert is the basis of this class. Members of this class have first choice to work on our lighting crew. Welcome Letter

Design topics include:

	Reading and analyzing a script
	creating the paperwork. (Drafting light plots. Creating hookups)
	Picking gel colors for our plays and musicals.

For those more interested in the technical aspects of lighting, these areas are equally focused upon as we also:

	Hang lighting units
	Focus lighting units
	Learn wiring, care and feeding of theatrical lighting equipment
	Run follow spots
	Operate manual and computer lighting control boards

Scene Painting

Painting scenery for theater is an art unto itself. Students learn the fundamentals of paint application, mixing tints and shades of color, creating faux marble or wood grain patterns and more. Students demonstrate what they've learned by working on Murrow's major productions. Beginning students are gathered together in small teams to paint sections of the overall stage setting. More advanced students act as team leaders and are given the opportunity to design parts of the overall color scheme.

Costuming

Costume design and costume construction involve creating and building costumes for every actor who appears on the Murrow stages. Beginning students will start with basic sewing techniques. The students will learn the proper and safe use of modern sewing machines. Advanced students will take on a leadership role to execute the designs for Murrow's major productions.

After School

If you don't have any time in your school day schedule, you can still join the crew. Everyday we have a class called Technical Production, a.k.a. K-band. Anyone is free to join and you can even earn an additional class credit. See Mr. Parker (room 184) or ask any of the tech crew kids for details. Website: www.hstech.org