Evaluations
In keeping with my planning timeline (shown below), I will be completing ongoing evaluations of the overall process at regular intervals. I will also do a final evaluation of each show, followed by a final project evaluation at the end of the whole process.
As I also set out in my proposal, I created a short feedback form which I sent to a variety of people I worked alongside on projects to compare outside perspectives on my performance on each project to my own, and these are referenced throughout my individual evaluations.
Individual Evaluations
Each internal gig was evaluated at the end of their respective production journals, clicking the photos below will take you to these.
Ongoing Evaluation
#1 - 4th April
It is very early in the process for me as most of the college shows happen at the end of May so it is difficult to plan too much for them this early, hence as scheduled in my proposal I have been trying to focus on getting external placements. However, I have found quite a few problems in obtaining these, some were predicted and some overlooked in my problem solving. I had predicted difficulty in getting external placements particularly with communication difficulties as even with identifying effective communication channels, unfortunately I cannot do anything to improve reply times of whoever I am corresponding with. However an issue I had overlooked was that in planning external placements, especially when living quite rurally, I need to consider travel costs and at certain distances, accommodation options. This created particular difficulty in trying to arrange a date for shadowing 'Cruel Intentions', as I had to try and find a date that worked for both of us as well as it being at a location that I could easily travel to, or that is near someone I can stay with as hotels are out of budget for me.
As I had foreseen issues in successfully getting placements, I was able to use my solution from my SWOT analysis by looking at my back up venues, in this case selecting the Theatre Royal in Dumfries as it is more local to me, reducing the issue of travel costs.
To supplement for this struggle's impact on the diversity I aimed for with these projects, I have also taken on extra in-college projects, such as lighting for a music video. This means within this project I am covering the three main industries for freelance lighting tech; music, theatre and media.​
Another issue I have come across affecting organisation is that while planning, multiple projects can require dates to be scheduled near each other, but neither party can give a precise date so I cannot fully commit to either of them. It's difficult to avoid this as it is out of my hands, but the only way I can try and reduce its impact is maintaining good communication with both parties. This correlates to the potential scheduling conflicts I identified in my SWOT analysis, which I planned to avoid by doing this organisation and planning as early as I can, and keeping track of all agreed dates into a calendar. I had slight issue with choosing the best format for the calendar, as it had to be easily accessible and simple to view. At first I was using Microsoft Outlook, however while it was simple to view, it was not easily accesible as it requires log ins and multiple menu navigations. Instead, I switched to a simple calendar app that allows colour coding and time windows.
#2 - 2nd May
After the issues I had previously in getting external placements, I found unexpected success by being flexible and adaptable, able to take on roles at short notice. With these placements so far, I have been pushed to work on my confidence in both my areas of weakness identified in my SWOT analysis, socially and practically. Both Theatre by the Lake and Theatre Royal pushed my social confidence while asking for and organising the placements, as well as introducing myself and speaking to various people to maximise my efficiency and the benefits I get from the role. Theatre Royal especially was a real challenge for my practical confidence in my skills, as with no mentoring I did technical setup and operation for a professional theatre performance independently. While this experience at the Theatre Royal did not provide much education, relying more upon my previous knowledge and problem solving skills to fulfil my role, it was paid industry freelance work that gave me experience of the full freelance process in the real world. Being at Theatre by the Lake however provided great technical research and an insight into industry accurate processes for professional theatrical shows that I take forward with me and apply to college projects in order to maximise the quality of the technical aspects of these shows.
Unfortunately, I have been unable to have any external shows I have worked on recorded so far, which means at the moment my showreel will be very reliant on college projects, however they still help provide me a broad CV and experience for the future.
My calendar solution has successfully helped me avoid the problem of scheduling conflicts identified in my SWOT analysis, so I will continue to use this along with my effective organisation and communication as I begin collaboration on the performing arts college projects this months.
#3 - 16th May
Lighting plots began this week, for which the main struggle has been getting adequate time in the theatre, as this space is very much in-demand. As I cannot get extra time, it has been very important to be efficient with what time we do have, requiring good collaboration and communication with the students I am working with. I want to be able to fully realise their ideas, and have thoroughly enjoyed some of the challenges they have given me in doing this, however going forward I need to ensure I balance this with staying within the timeframe. If an idea is taking too long to figure out and create, I need to be prepared to accept and create a simpler alternative, but hopefully as my knowledge of ChamSys gets ever deeper with more experience, this won't be necessary.
One issue which arose that I had predicted as a threat in my SWOT analysis was a slight scheduling conflict, however this was not necessarily cause by me but confusion and bad organisation from the group I was supposed to be working with. Nonetheless, I aim to do what I can to avoid this moving forward and so I plan to send reminder messages beforehand to ensure we have clarified the correct date and time to avoid confusion, and if there are further issues with this I will maintain as much open communication as possible to see how they can be resolved. In this, I will ensure that with the difficulty in accessing the theatre, I make it clear that there is very little time available, and it is their responsibility to book another slot in the theatre if they pull out of the agreed one that was already scheduled.
With this marking the beginning of college shows, it also marks the end of my external placements as projected in my planning timeline (seen at the top of the page or in my proposal). Through these placements, I have learnt a lot about industry standard practices across multiple technician roles in theatre including for things like show stops or fire alarm isolation and delay, which I had not thought about much before. I gained good experience on ETC software which is the industry standard for theatres as identified in my research, and I even received paid work which can go onto my CV as I move forward into a career.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to have any productions I worked on videoed, so my showreel will rely on college projects but this will still include a wide variety of projects covering music, media and performing arts, so I should still be able to create a diverse reel to go onto my LinkedIn as planned in my proposal.
#3 - 26th May
Having done my first week of college shows, I feel they have generally been three technical successes. I have had a high satisfaction rate from those I've collaborated with, receiving 5/5 on all my feedback forms for satisfaction with the final technical result of each event, and also responded 'Yes' when asked whether they would consider me for future technical roles in a professional context based on my work on their event.
For the performing arts shows, I've been working very independently as the only tech working these shows despite the use of head mics. There has been a lot of testing of my problem solving skills as I have faced consistent issues with head mics both in connection and quality, and with moving heads in whatever their unidentified signal or power issue seems to be. Despite the persistence of these problems, I have not stopped trying new solutions and these have yielded improvements, and have managed to ensure these issues haven't stopped the shows being successes.
In one of these shows, I had the opportunity to operate sound with head mics, which is my first time ever operating live sound. This went well as I was able to apply my prior knowledge, but this time put it into use and use my adaptability to carry out the role. This has given me a great confidence boost in my live sound skills, which will provide a level of comfort and confidence should I need to do this again if another sound tech pulls out. I am also advancing my knowledge of QLab, which I know is common within the industry from my external placements, meaning a deeper knowledge will serve me well in the future.​
The music show provided another element of variety to my project, and experience with an industry standard software within this sector of live events, meaning I have now used all three software identified within my research. This shows good progress in the development of my limited knowledge of other software, a weakness identified in my proposal. This development, knowledge and experience will help me greatly moving into a career in the future.
FINAL EVALUATION
I have thoroughly enjoyed this project, and feel it has successfully developed my skills and behaviours as a technician, and given me a valuable insight into my potential career path of freelancing, and the realities of working in the industry. This project certainly kept me very busy, truly testing my organisation skills and leading me to finding ways to improve my planning and communication. It has also provided me real professional industry links with directors, technicians, stage managers and venues who I have worked with through my external placements, and I can carry these forward into my future career, as well as providing me paid work that can go onto my CV when applying for future roles.
I have been able to drastically broaden my knowledge across industry standard lighting software, with a much deeper understanding of ChamSys, a great introduction to ETC and some more experience with Avolites. This means I have successfully developed my knowledge across all 3 software identified in my research, which is great progress from my analysis in my proposal where I identified my lack of knowledge of software beyond ChamSys as a weakness. There is still a lot to learn, but I have taken a large step forward and will be much more prepared to step into venues and continue developing this.
​Due to the nature of the internal show scheduling meaning everything happens rapidly right at the end of my project, I was only able to gather videos and photos from the various projects at the last minute meaning I have not yet been able to edit together a showreel. However, I still have all of the material collated on portable SSD along with a lot of previous projects from my time at college, so everything I have done can contribute to any future portfolios I make while advertising myself as a freelancer. I was still able to apply my video editing skills on DaVinci when creating a short reel demonstrating the range of effects I used in the Vibe & Thrive gig.
The main reflection I have made on how I could've improved this project for myself, and something I keep in mind stepping forward into my career is ensuring I don't oversubscribe myself. As well as the large projects I have included in this portfolio, I was also asked to assist with quite a few other (supposedly) smaller, less technical ones, and I was not very good at saying 'No'. This did create extra unnecessary stress which could have threatened the quality of my work.
Thankfully, even with this additional challenge I was able to maintain a high quality standard. Across my feedback, I have always received a 5/5 rating for satisfaction with the final technical result and a 'Yes' when asked whether, in consideration of my work on their project, they would consider me for future technical roles in a professional context. This feedback is very valuable to me, as in freelancing your reputation is vital to getting hired for shows and projects, so knowing not only my technical work but organisation, communication and personability have built me a positive reputation give me great confidence as I continue on my journey into the industry.