Wakakirri National Story Festival

The Production Schedule

Step-by-step checklists for schools participating in Story-Dance, Story-Telling or Story-Singing

These are simple, step-by-step checklists for Wakakirri school Item Coordinators to use to stay organised and on track, including lists of things to do before the show, a run down on how the rehearsals work and lists of things for teachers and students to bring to the show:

• The lead up to the show
• Day of the show
• After the show
• Country production schedule

The Production Schedule:
The Lead up to the Show

This information leads school Wakakirri Item Coordinators through the tasks and deadlines for putting together Wakakirri items for live performance.

There are checklists at the bottom of this page of what teachers and students should bring to shows.

Timeline
Teacher Workshops ..................................................................February and March
................................................................................................See Teacher Workshops

Registrations Close .......................................................... Friday 4 April 2008

Confirmation of registration......................................................Emailed to school/teacher upon registration,
................................................................................................please provide an email address

APRA Form Due ........................................................................Friday 2 May 2008

INFO PACK 1 sent to schools: .................................................Upon registration, from February 2008
• Confirmation of registration
• Forms to complete
• Info on how to use website

INFO PACK 2 sent to schools: .................................................After close of registrations
• Performance and rehearsal
• Preference sheet
• Principal’s Confirmation Form to complete and fax back
• Merchandise order forms

INFO PACK 3 sent to schools: ................................................By the end of April 2008
• Confirmation of performance date and rehearsal time
• Ticketing information and order form

Tickets sent to schools ............................................................ In the two weeks before your performance

Merchandise orders and payment sent to Wakakirri................ At least two weeks before your performance

DVD orders taken ....................................................................From end of your first show to end of November 2008

Judges’ Feedback sent to school ............................................. After finals for your state (by end November 2008)

Checklist
Before the City Wakakirri Heats or Regional Festivals teachers and Item Coordinators should have:
Returned following sheets:
.... - APRA Music Statement
.... - Principal's confirmation form
- Performance preference sheet
Completed following forms (to be brought along to show with you)
- Judges Information Sheet
- Lighting design sheet
Had their music cut and ready to bring along on CD (have a spare!)
Received notification of their venue and rehearsal time
Collected all their permission notes including the Publicity Consent Form (to be kept at school)
Informed the Wakakirri office of any special student needs or disability access requirements
Double checked the rules
Selected someone in the school to administer the sale of tickets (You’ll find some useful hints on how to do this here)
Confirmed item title and description, coordinator names etc with the Wakakirri office (you’ll be faxed a copy of your details for you to check and send back)
Selected three students to be spokespersons on the day
Organised transport to and from the venue for students and props
Organised dinner (and lunch if applicable) for students and helpers
Allocated one adult to sit with the Lighting Operator during rehearsal and the show to explain what lighting you want
Allocated your schools security passes to your adult helpers (more info on this in your info packs)

The Production Schedule:
At the Show

This pages takes teachers and Item Coordinators through what exactly happens on the day of a Wakakirri show, including how your rehearsal will be ran.

Timeline – Show Day

HEATS & REGIONAL
Schools arrive at venue ............................................................At least 1 hour prior to rehearsal

Sets delivered ..........................................................................Varies for each venue. See venue details

Crew Lunch break ....................................................................1 hour. See info sent to you at school

Your school’s rehearsal .............................................................See below

All schools in dressing areas ..................................................... 6pm

Box office opens .......................................................................6pm

First school taken to stage ....................................................... 7pm

Curtain up ...............................................................................7.15pm sharp

Show ends ...............................................................................Depends on number of schools Eg: 7 schools = approx 9.30pm finish

FINALS
Schools arrive at venue ............................................................At least 1 hour prior to rehearsal

Sets delivered ..........................................................................Varies for each venue. See venue details

Crew Lunch break ....................................................................1 hour. See info sent to you at school

Your school’s rehearsal ............................................................ See below

Schools in dressing areas ......................................................... 6pm

Box office opens .......................................................................6pm

Show running order Posted around venue................................ 6pm

Pre-Show VIP function for teachers and
special industry guests.............................................................. 6pm (presentation to teachers 6.15pm)

First school taken to stage ....................................................... 6.50pm

Curtain up ...............................................................................7pm sharp

Show ends ...............................................................................Depends on number of schools Eg: 10 schools = approx 10pm finish

Rehearsal Timeline
Your school will be allocated a rehearsal time, during the day of the performance, to practice your item on stage with costumes, sets, sound and lighting. This is a combined technical and dress rehearsal.

HEATS & REGIONAL
Arrive at venue .........................................................................At least 1 hour before allocated rehearsal time

Met in outside venue/in foyer by Marshall
and/or State Coordinator.......................................................... On arrival. 5-10 minute talk

Taken to dressing area ...........................................................

Change into costumes for rehearsal......................................... approx 40 minutes

Collected by Mashall and taken to stage.................................. 10 min before allocated rehearsal time

Lighting rep goes to lighting desk ............................................ 10 min before allocated rehearsal time

Rehearsal: ............................................................................... 30 minutes total for Story-Dance
.................................................................................................20 minutes total for Story-Singing & Story-Telling

Rehearsal involves:
Stage craft talk by Stage Manager .......................................... 5 minutes

Head Judge assesses sets and props ..................................... during Stage Managers talk

Two run throughs of item, with lights and music....................... approx 20 minutes for Story-Dance
................................................................................................approx 10 minutes for Story-Telling & Story-Singing

Leave stage and store sets and props..................................... 5 minutes

Three student speakers talk to host ........................................ After rehearsal

Return to dressing area to change .......................................... After rehearsal

After your rehearsal your group is free to sit in the auditorium to watch the rehearsal of other schools or to leave the venue for free time until 5pm (when all schools have to be back inside the venue to get ready for the show).

FINALS
Rehearsals for the finals are the same as for the heats and regional shows except:
• In some states full day activities are scheduled for the finals (info on this will be send to you)
• The rehearsal time is 20 minutes only for all items – that is, one run through only
• There may be less than three speakers required at finals and the questions they answer will be different

Show Timeline

HEATS/ REGIONAL
The evening performance will be conducted by a host. They will introduce each item.

School collected from Dressing area by Marshall.......................10 minutes before your performance

Students set the stage .......................................................... .2 minutes maximum

Lights/ music up ................................................................... .Your performance time officially begins:
............................................................................................. .5 minutes maximum for Story-Telling & Story-Singing
............................................................................................. .7 minutes maximum for Story-Dance

Lights/ music down ................................................................ Your performance ends.

Students clear the stage .........................................................2 minutes maximum

Host interviews three student speakers...................................Each speaker has 1 minute each

At the end of the student interviews the judges will speak and give feedback on the item to the students and audience.

School returns to dressing area/video screen viewing areas

20 minute interval ................................................................ After all the items have been performed

Presentation ceremony ...........................................................Three speakers represent school on stage to collect certificates

Students collected by parents...................................................The process for this will be explained to you and the audience at the show.
...............................................................................................Meeting areas with school names are usually set up.

Collect CD ...............................................................................Remember to take your CD home!

FINALS
The performance operates for the finals are the same as for the heats and regional shows except:
• There may be less than three speakers required at finals and the questions they answer will be different
• In some venues the students will be watching the show from the audience and will be collected from here to perform and returned to the audience after their performance
• The judges won’t make comments after each performance

Checklist
On the day of your show:

Things to bring – teachers:
• Class roll
• CD with music on in – two copies
• Copy of your Lighting Design Sheet & Judge Info sheet- THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR ALL CATEGORIES
• Any costumes, make up, sets and props
• Drop sheets if you’re using make up or coloured hair spray
• A small table and mirror (not all dressing areas have these)
• A small portable clothes rack for hanging costumes, if you need one
• A calm perspective – after all, it’s your turn to have fun too!

Things to bring – students:
• Plenty of water to drink
• All the food you’ll need for the day
• Any medication you need eg asthma puffers – tell your teacher you need these
• Your costume (or a change of clothes if you wear your costume there)
• Books, cards or games – but nothing valuable or breakable
• A sense of fun and all your nerves and excitement

The Production Schedule:
After the Shows

This information explains what happens after your performance day.

Announcing the finalists (City Wakakirri)
The list of schools progressing to the finals will be announced online to all schools two working days after the last heat in that state.

Awards
Eco-Zone and offstage awards will be presented at Heats, Regional Festivals and Finals.

Head Judge assessment certificates will also be presented to schools at Heats and Regional Festival along with participation certificates for all students, however these results will not be read out on stage.

Regional winners may be announced on the night with prizes given out, otherwise results will be posted online.

At Finals, winners will be announced on the night with prizes given out. Head Judge Awards will also be given out.

Evaluations and Feedback
At your heat you will be given an evaluation form for you to provide your assessment and comments on Wakakirri. Please fax this back to the Wakakirri office, your feedback really is important and is always taken into account when planning future events.

Evaluation of your item
At the conclusion of the entire series, schools will be sent the Head Judge Evaluation of their item. This evaluation looks at the strengths and areas for improvement in their item and as such will not be available to grand finalist schools until AFTER the finals.

TV Special
Read more about the annual TV Special and national winners here.

Things you might want to do after the shows
• Order DVDs of the performances
• Order photos taken of students in the performance
• Call or email the Wakakirri team to let us know how it all went and what we can do to make it even better next time
• Perform your item again at school or community events
• Organise a TV Special viewing party with your students
• Talk to other schools in your area and encourage them to get involved next year
• Give yourselves a HUGE round of applause for your efforts and participation – you certainly deserve it

Country Wakakirri:
Production Schedule

Schools can submit Story-Dance, Story-Singing and Story-Telling works via video as part of the Country Wakakirri.

In this section:

• Timelines
• Forms to fill in
• Checklist for filming the performance
• Checklist for sending in the tape
• Hints for putting together an Country entry
• Sample schedule for production

Timelines

Registrations close.................................................... Friday 4 April 2008
Tapes due.................................................................Friday 13 June 2008

Forms to fill in

APRA Music Statement Due...................................... Friday 2 May 2008
Publicity and Consent Forms......................................Students complete. Keep at school
Cover Sheet..............................................................Due with tape Friday 13 June 2008

Checklist list for filming the performance
Leading up to the final filming of the performance, teachers will have:
Rehearsed the item with students
Put/ mixed all the music onto a single tape or CD
Located a video camera (note: entries must be received on MiniDV tape)
Located new, unused video tape
Planned and prepared credits
Selected students to be interviewed about the item at the end of the tape (optional)
Allowed enough time for their entry to reach the Wakakirri office by the due date, including time to re-shoot if needed and dub the footage to a MiniDV tape

Checklist for sending in entry
Sent in a APRA Music Statement (Story-Dance only)
Collected completed Publicity and Consent Forms from students
The filmed item is on a MiniDV tape
Completed a Cover Sheet

Hints for putting together an Country Wakakirri entry

Creating the Performance
• Check the rules
• Keep it simple
• Focus on story

Lighting
You don’t need any special lighting, we just have to be able to see the performance clearly.

If you are filming in a school hall or theatre, use brighter lights than you would for a live performance as red and blue lighting often comes up very dark on camera.

Location
Think about location – many schools don’t have access to halls or indoor areas to film in, but even if filming outdoors (which is perfectly okay), there are things you can avoid to make your item easier to view and to enjoy:
• Noise levels (avoid the highway outside the school)
• Background (avoid big reflective classroom windows)
• Disruptions (avoid bells ringing or kids changing classes in background)

Some great Country Wakakirri entries have been filmed in school playgrounds, on dusty ovals, in the bush and even in the rain! Is there a way your location can be used to tell the story?

Filming
Use a tripod – or at least mount the camera on something steady that won’t move.

Zooming and panning – sometimes schools place the camera too far away and it is difficult to see what is happening. You are allowed to use zoom, panning, or you can cut between a wide angle and a close-up of your performance.

Tape the item more than once – video it, watch and review it and then refilm to iron out any problems. This is also a great way for students to review their work.

Use new video tape – old tapes give poor audio and visual quality and the footage cannot be used in the TV Special.

Give the camera person a rehearsal.

Do a test shot on camera – how does the picture looks? Can the whole performance area be seen properly? Are there any objects obstructing the view (tree branches, ceiling beams, flag poles etc)? Is there enough light?

Know your sightlines – mark out on the ground (with tape, chalk, rope etc) the area that can be seen through the camera lens so the students know when they are ‘on stage’ and when they are ‘off stage’.

Make sure the ‘cinema bars’ / ‘letterbox’ function on the camera is turned OFF. These are the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. Works with cinema bars can’t be used on the TV Special.

Music
Put the stereo/ CD player close enough to the camera for the soundtrack to be picked up in the recording.

Credits
Remember you can use credits to tell us who you are and what your item is called. You can be creative in how you do these.

Student interviews
You can also include interview with some of your students at the end of the tape.

You might want to select one student as interviewer and two or three to answer the questions.

Questions they might ask are:
1. What is the name of the your school?
2. Where is your school located?
3. What was your story called?
4. What was your story about?
5. What did you reuse?
6. Who would you like to thank?

SAMPLE SCHEDULE FOR PRODUCTION
How to create an Country Story-Dance entry in 8 weeks
(this example is based on NSW 2006 term dates):

Week..........Date...............Tasks
1.................1-5 April...........Select group of students to work with.
...........................................Brainstorm ideas with group.
...........................................Select story.
...........................................Select music.
...........................................General drama and dance games.
2.................23-29 April.........Drama and dance games related to story.
...........................................Look at story – break it down into scenes/ sections.
...........................................Assign characters/ parts.
...........................................Sets and costumes – brainstorm with group.
3.................1- 7 May. .... ..Rehearsals – step through scenes in small groups.
...........................................Play with music and movements in character.
4.................8-13 May.......Rehearsals – Step through scenes in small groups adding movements.
...........................................Sets and costumes – begin gathering together. What can you use from around the school?
5.................14-20 May.......Rehearsals – rehearse scenes in small groups. Add sets and costumes.
6.................21 - 27 May .Rehearsals – all groups together to show each other their work.
...........................................Discuss and reflect on performances.
...........................................Begin linking each scene/ section.
7.................28 May-3 June..Filming – rehearse first then perform to other students or whole school.
...........................................Send DVD in correct format to Wakakirri. (due 13 June)