NCDT assessors have started to visit our public productions again -
which caused a little stress in some quarters. I was not directly
involved, but the at least one of the assessors seems to have been very
poorly briefed; not aware that our students are specialists and assuming
that the whole design team was professional (which they were not). It
might be as well to make sure they are assessing your courses /
activities based on some knowledge of what your institution is striving
to do - though I suppose there is an argument that they want to see that
the graduates we send into the "profession" are appropriately prepared -
regardless of our institutional agendas. My personal feeling is that the
institution is old fashioned in attitude and expectations - maybe we
should get involved...

The Meeting of Lighting Teachers previously advertised is a meeting
Steve H & I attended last year. They are focused on architecture - a
subject that we discovered at last year's meeting is in near terminal
decline at undergraduate level. As Nick H has said, they are in an
interesting bunch, and as Scott has found, their journal is deadly dull
- and has no pictures! It would be good if one of us at least could
attend - at the moment I am no more than a tentative.

Student Focusing - No it is not just a Scottish thing. I don't get so
much of the looking into the light thing - but I do get lots of walking
away to "have a look at what it looks like". I have put some of this
down to a tendency to try and light the floor rather than the performers
faces, and also to shyness. I don't think we can underestimate how
intimidating some students find speaking in a loud voice whilst in the
centre of the only light in the space!. (Incidentally I use the idea of
lighting cubes of space from Nigel Williams book to get over the
tendency to light the floor.)

And finally - a cautionary tale of building work, contractors,
consultants and facility enhancements. The building work on our CETL
facilities is still ongoing - and we are now in the 3rd week of the UG
term. The works are already 4 weeks over schedule, which on a 16 week
project is going some. The light at the end of the tunnel - an
achievable handover date - was put out late last week when the
consultant electrical engineers sent round a paper pointing out what
they obviously assumed we all knew already, that we would not be able to
use the theatre while any of the power in the new facilities was being
used - They assuming that we would not want to, since theatres only use
power in the evening, right? When it was pointed out to them that "our
theatre spaces use power throughout the day and into the evening" they
came back to state that the only power we will have in the enhanced
facilities will be for room lighting and low powered computer equipment
- moving lights and digital sound desks do not fall into this category.
(and ironically they have not run in most of the data cabling for
network enhancement, having persuaded out acting head of information
services that this should be done "later"). At the same time, the new
building - fed from a different sub station, has, for some unaccountable
reason, 60A three phase boxes in every rehearsal room, and 100A 3Phase
in the lecture space (white walls and curtainless windows) non of which
was on the Schools specification and non of which will ever be required!
Needless to say I was left spitting feathers on Friday afternoon, and
looking for a generator! (This would be the same electrical consultants
who have specifies Hi-Bay discharge fittings for all the rooms in the
new block, with no hot-restart. When some poor soul plunges the room
into darkness by mistake - it then takes up to 3 mins for the lights to
come back on again - interesting risk assessments are expected...)

Best wishes


Nick Moran [log in to unmask]

Direct Dial (+44) 020 7559 3972

-----Original Message-----
From: The Profile Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of David Ripley
Sent: 21 October 2005 17:18
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: NCDT

HI all

They told us that out of the blue that we were due and they expected all
our paperwork this month. We told them to clear off so we are now being
'done' 
next autumn

On another point does anyone else have students when focussing who,
despite being told to stand in the light and looking it at what it doea,
with their back to the lantern, insist on either

a) standing in the light looking at the lantern or b0 stand in a totally
different part of the theatre looking at a pool of light.

They insist that that's how they prefer to focus but it drives me mad! I
don't see how they can see what is happening unless they are at the
focus point. Or is it just a Scottish thing?

What is everyone else's focus technique?

David
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nick Hunt" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 5:03 PM
Subject: NCDT


Hi all,

Rose Bruford's Lighting Design programme is up for NCDT re-accreditation
this year (together with Costume Production, Scenic Arts and Stage
Management programmes).

Has anyone been through the new NCDT systems yet, or going to be doing
it
this year? It would be useful to compare notes.


Best wishes,

Nick.


-- 

Nick Hunt
Lecturer in Lighting Design, BA (Hons) Lighting Design
Production Programme Coordinator
Rose Bruford College
020 8308 2650
[log in to unmask]


Nick Hunt
Programme Director


Lamorbey Park Campus, Burnt Oak lane, Sidcup, Kent.  DA15 9DF. UK
t +44(0)20 8308 2600    f +44(0)20 8308 0542     ddi +44(0)20 8308

www.bruford.ac.uk


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