the gig factory

about roles

If you are the Music Director, these notes are for you.

The basic principles

If your team members are all learning new jobs, they’ll be nervous and will easily make mistakes.

Principles Reasons

Each team member should have no more than one job at a time. Multiple roles can confuse people.
If the schedule changes a little, they can’t be in different places at the same time doing different jobs.
Note: The students with graphic arts roles will be finished well before the gig, so you can then give them other roles. But they still only have one role at a time. Several other similar roles can be done by the same person, because the roles are done at different times: costumer and wardrobe supervisor, roadie and stage hand.

Each job should be described:
• on one sheet of paper
• in simple language
• in step by step form if possible. If they’re new and nervous, they’ll easily forget what you explained.
Make the instructions easy to understand and as helpful as possible, so they can at least re-read them.
Of course, some will lose the piece of paper and might be embarrassed to say they lost it. Have a way for them to see a master copy or get a replacement.

Each team member should be responsible to only one supervisor. Prevent confusion. They want to go to one person when they need help.

Team members in some roles might need a diagram of the venue with relevant places and equipment highlighted. Verbal explanations on the fly don’t explain this kind of information very well.

Each team member should focus on what they need to do at this gig, so teach them only that. They can get very confused if they have to understand other jobs as well. (They can put the big picture together later.)

Go through the Job Description with them, show them what to do, and answer questions. However, they will still need help as they go. They probably won’t really understand it until after they’ve tried doing it. Hearing an explanation on how to do something is not the same as actually doing it.

Some bigger jobs

Risk management and financial management are essential to professional productions, and tgf assumes that you will do them.

The sound technician’s job is much larger than can be taught this way, and the job description cannot really list everything involved.

I have redistributed the tasks in graphical design, into text, artwork, and marketing and sales.

You’ll probably find the backstage manager’s role hard to fill. That person needs to be well organized, decisive, time-conscious, not easily distracted, not error-prone, but still good with people. The best pathway to the role is to master a subordinate role first.

You might want to split the role into two:

one specifically for getting people on and off stage in liaison with the sound desk

one for the rest of the job.

Some optional jobs

The role of videographer/video editor is relatively uncommon.

You won't need roadies if the show is held completely on one site. Stage hands will do any extra moving gear around.

Smaller gigs don't have staff for wardrobe, hair and make-up. Performers do their own.

Smaller gigs don't have an Assistant stage manager or any production assistants.

Smaller gigs have one tecnician to do both sound and lights, but this is definitely not recommended for beginners.

Very big gigs

Props and sets are separated into different roles.

Hair and make-up are separated into different roles.

Some gigs use audio-visuals, usually a PowerPoint presentation shown over a data projector. Some AV presentations include movies, use multiple data projectors, and/or have different versions of the same thing running simultaneously. Slide changes need to be timed perfectly and any errors are highly visible.

The gig

I’d love to say to you as Music Director, "Go to the gig, greet the guests as they arrive, have fun, and let the team do all the work. Just sit in the audience and make notes." But I suspect you’ll go backstage, and get busy and stressed anyway.

Learning roles

A single concert isn’t enough for team members to learn the skills in one of these roles. You might have other options to get your team to learn them, get extra practice and gain confidence. Consider the following:

Other earlier rehearsals, especially full-program rehearsals (not only dress rehearsals)

All your music gigs over the year

School drama productions

Other in-school gigs (e.g. sound-techs can do assemblies)

Community gigs outside school.

Other options include:

Give your team members experience in a lesser role before considering them for a stage manager role.

Give them focussed observation tasks where they observe more skilled personnel doing the job, and discuss their observations. This is more useful for some roles than others.

Give them reading and Internet search tasks, especially for graphic design/artwork.

About accredited training

The job description forms are also designed to gather evidence for assessment.

The stage hand role is well suited to the Cert I and is a good pathway to other roles.

Many of these roles are suited to units in general work skills at Cert II level, such as Work effectively with others and Organise and complete daily work activities

The sound technician's role has more materials available and leads to the two sound units in the Cert III.

Some specialized roles (lighting technician, stage manager) are appropriate for awarding extra units if students can do a good job with minimal supervision at a series of gigs:

Apply a general knowledge of lighting to work activities

Prepare, install and test lighting equipment

Apply a general knowledge of staging to work activities

Keep the potential in mind. Students who enjoy some of these roles and get skilled at them can continue them at WAAPA.

Principles	Reasons
Each team member should have no more than one job at a time.	Multiple roles can confuse people. If the schedule changes a little, they can’t be in different places at the same time doing different jobs. Note: The students with graphic arts roles will be finished well before the gig, so you can then give them other roles. But they still only have one role at a time. Several other similar roles can be done by the same person, because the roles are done at different times: costumer and wardrobe supervisor, roadie and stage hand.
Each job should be described: • on one sheet of paper • in simple language • in step by step form if possible.	If they’re new and nervous, they’ll easily forget what you explained. Make the instructions easy to understand and as helpful as possible, so they can at least re-read them. Of course, some will lose the piece of paper and might be embarrassed to say they lost it. Have a way for them to see a master copy or get a replacement.
Each team member should be responsible to only one supervisor.	Prevent confusion. They want to go to one person when they need help.
Team members in some roles might need a diagram of the venue with relevant places and equipment highlighted.	Verbal explanations on the fly don’t explain this kind of information very well.
Each team member should focus on what they need to do at this gig, so teach them only that.	They can get very confused if they have to understand other jobs as well. (They can put the big picture together later.)
Go through the Job Description with them, show them what to do, and answer questions. However, they will still need help as they go.	They probably won’t really understand it until after they’ve tried doing it. Hearing an explanation on how to do something is not the same as actually doing it.