How are your stage lighting control skills and knowledge right now? Do they include a strong busking element or is this something you’d like to get a whole lot better at?
BUSK201 is a step up from beginner level BUSK101 course, and actually quite a significant one. Upon completion, you will be ready for pretty much anything when it comes to designing and implementing a busking setup. You will leave the course better equipped for this enjoyable style of stage lighting control than many people working in the industry right now!
The course runs over a 10 week timeline with 4 different units plus a final assignment. This gives you the chance to complete the work at a pace and schedule that fits around your other commitments.
The BUSK201 content is a comprehensive tour of busking strategies, tools, and workflows, and enables the learner to design and use their own busk file. The course demonstrates specific ideas using the free Cham Sys MagicQ software and visualiser but the learning is applicable to all professional grade lighting controllers.
To help you understand the outcomes of the BUSK201 course, here is the details of learning outcomes and the final assignment that you will be able to complete:
BUSK201: Intended Learning Outcomes
Upon completing the BUSK201 Intermediate level busking stage lighting control course, the learner will be able to:
Design and program a busking setup suitable for a wide range of performances.
Use the busking setup to respond to multiple stage lighting situations.
BUSK201: Final Assignment
For a fictional multi-genre festival, you need to design a busking setup for a range of incoming acts that include both concert/DJ and theatre performances that runs over a number of days. On this occasion, you will have little time for any artist-specific programming or rehearsal and will have to rely on being able to respond to all of the shows in real time.
You will have access to some snippets of information in advance, an example piece of text from a rider or some suggested cues from one of the artists. Most of the acts will provide no information at all other than a genre or name, so your setup needs to be prepared to provide appropriate lighting based on what is happening on stage.
Based on a fixed rig design, your busking show file will provide you will all the tools you need in order to run all the shows to a good standard within the preparation limitations you are working under. You are also restricted to using 2 pages of 10 playbacks and 48 Executors. You will choose and implement different busking strategies and develop the file around the existing rig and the wide range needs of the festival.
Course Delivery and Assessment
This online course is taught asynchronously over the lifetime of the course through a combination of original digital content, online interaction and the course tutor (me). This means that you do not have to worry about scheduled session times or time zones. Each unit is released upon completion of the previous unit including a short assignment, culminating in a final assessment which presents the evidence of your learning.
For the final assignment, your final show file will be demonstrated to the tutor through a 30 – 40 minute digital viva at a mutually convenient time using Skype, Hangouts, TeamViewer or other similar means.
Booking and Enrolment
This course is currently full. However, if you have a training need just email me directly at learn @ on stage lighting .co.uk. Please include important information in the email, including:
- You or your organisation’s needs from the learning after completion (use case, competencies etc.)
- The current level of learning for the participants. What so you/they already know?
- Your expected budget. Time, commitment, and money.
BUSK201 Graduates
A few words from Chris, BUSK201 graduate.
The greatest dedicated advanced programming course I’ve ever taken!
Coming from the background of an arts high school, a college degree in theatrical design technology, and another 5 years working professionally on a wide range of production types in the industry as a Production Electrician, Lighting Designer, Lighting Director, and more often these days as a Lighting Console Programmer, I honestly feel like I should be much better than I am at programming lighting consoles. Don’t get me wrong, I’m the guy people call when they need someone or they have a console question, put me in front of any modern day desk and I’ll get your show up and running in no time; but, being a jack of all master of none, high level and on the fly programming techniques have always felt just over my head.This is what drew me to Busking 201. If you’ve spent the hours I have pouring through console user manuals, then you know they love to droll over the basic functions, designating a very small footnote in the back for advanced usage and programming philosophy. I have no problem playing with offline editors until I gain the skills I need, but I’ve always known a dedicated mentor can expedite the learning process exponentially. Insert Rob Sayer, the console busking guru I didn’t know I needed, because frankly, an online course never occurred to me as an option. Rob has a 101 course if you’re still learning the basics, but for those, like me, looking to take their skills and understanding to the next level this was an invaluable resource.Using Magic Q, as it’s very similar to the big name preset desks, the exorcises build logically through the course of a large multi-act production process. Each week Rob gives you a new set of ideas and skills to implement, and is ready and attentive to any questions or confusions that may arise. I will say being an advanced course, it is not easy. There is a definite investment of time and effort to learn the software, plan your show-file, and then get everything firing the way it is supposed to. That being said, I’ve always wanted but been intimidated by the idea of busking big rigs with lots of modern moving fixtures. Having gone through and completed BUSK201, I have total confidence in the tools I’ve picked up, to be able to approach and tackle a job of any size on any console.
Chris came to us as a theatre Master Electrician and LD with a strong background in that field. We worked with Chris and it allowed him to say “Yes” to a range of new work in events and confidence in tackling a new console. Here he is telling us about a show that would have been, prior to BUSK201, outside of his comfort zone.
Every step, from the install and programming, to the show itself, went about as good as I could have hoped for. Compared to my normal theatre setting, corporate events can be an absolute cluster of ever-changing schedules and content. So being able to setup and think about the console from a busking perspective was invaluable. I definitely would not have had the confidence to impulsively say yes to this gig if I didn’t have the recent Busking 201 course to lean on!