1. Describe the learning setting. Include where it took place, the role of other persons who were involved with you, and any materials and methods employed which assisted your learning.
My carpentry learning took place on the Farm in Tennessee and in the television scenic shops in Hollywood. In Tennessee I was apprentice to Peter Hoyt, head carpenter for the Farm, in a
traditional master-apprentice model. In Hollywood I was working under various supervisors in shops at ABC, CBS, NBC, and channel 11 and channel 5. The stage scenic shops I worked for included Penrose, Grosh, and the Music Center Theatre Group.
2. Describe your participation and responsibilities in this setting.
On the Farm I was made the junior member of a crew which was to build the three level sorghum mill. Peter Hoyt had designed this building in conjunction with an old time sorghum miller from Alabama. Peter had me digging the foundation with a shovel, holding the marker as he leveled the foundation, using a shovel to spread the concrete poured into the form, hammering the form into the ground, mixing mortar for the cinder blocks which made up the first three feet of the wall, white washing the cinder blocks, measuring, cutting and bolting the frame timbers into place, measuring, cutting and nailing the roof, and measuring, cutting and nailing the oak siding.
In the scenic shops I was usually part of a three or four man crew working under a lead man. We would be given a project for a day, such as to build an interior scene for a new TV series. The lead man would work from the blueprint and assign groups of us to build or locate certain standard-sized hardwalls. After a while I could construct these hardwalls by myself to any specifications. In the theatrical shops we would more often build softwalls, which are also called flats, and use muslin stretched and glued on a frame rather than Masonite nailed to a heavier frame. In addition to shop work I also did truck loading, warehouse work, and on the stages worked as a grip, prop man, and lighting adjustor. I also participated in crews which demolished scenery after shows were through shooting, salvaging stock scenery and putting it back into the warehouse.
3. Describe new skills and/or knowledge derived from this learning activity which contribute to your Degree Plan.
Before starting the apprenticeship on the Farm I had never worked with any kind of tools in my life. Everything that I have mentioned was new skill or knowledge. Things I had never done before included: cutting a straight line with a hand saw, using a hammer to drive nails, use of the portable power saw, measuring and cutting boards to specification, mixing mortar for bricklaying, erecting framing, walls, and roofing members.
The new learning in the scenic shops resulted from the first use of large stationary power tools such as the band saw, drill press, radial arm saw, and bench saw. Other new power tools I learned to use included the rotary grinder, belt sander, screw gun, and power drill.
The construction techniques that are peculiar to the stage which I learned included how to build a hard wall and a soft wall, and how to put them together on a rolling platform so as to create an interior scene. I also learned about finish carpentry as I was required to install doors, molding, and door knobs and other hardware into scenery we were building.
4. Self-Assessment: Evaluate this learning activity. Mention such things as the quality of the experience itself and its personal significance to you.
In working with Peter Hoyt on the Farm I was getting the good old-fashioned master-apprentice relationship. As Peter worked he simply had me trail along and hand him nails and tools. Rather than feeling like a nuisance I was able to observe very closely every movement of a master builder, while he felt I was useful and being trained to do more complex tasks. I feel that the quality of my beginning in carpentry is very well grounded.
As far as the personal significance, I had given up the idea of an academic career, which had sustained me all through my childhood and I had given up the idea of a musical career, which had sustained me for the preceding five or six years. I felt a need to start a whole new life and learn a whole new way of supporting myself, and this carpentry work was very exciting and gratifying for that reason. Even if I didn’t do it for a career I felt the learning would always make me a little more self-sufficient in any situation.
In Hollywood the professional quality was rather high, as there was a lot of money to be made in the shops and competition was pretty rough as to who would be able to get the jobs. During the time I worked as a stage carpenter I was able to pay off $1500 in college loans, buy a car, a set of drums, go to UCLA for a quarter, and put $1000 in the bank. This put me out of debt and self-sufficient for the first time in my life. But after a year and a half I saw that there were only a small finite number of projects that they had us do, the hours were very long and hard, and there were men who had been doing the same work all their lives that I was just starting to do, and making the same money I was making. I felt that I was squandering my resources by not using my mind in any sort of a creative way, and so I looked for other kinds of work, moving next to the mental health field. But I will never regret the experience of becoming professionally competent in the scenic shops. I hope to eventually settle down somewhere in the country and advance and utilize these carpentry skills much further by building my own home.
5. Describe the methods of evaluation and feedback used during the learning experience itself.
On the Farm Peter would have me doing a menial task while watching him do the next most difficult, until he felt that I had become familiar enough that he could trust me to try it. This is how I would know when it was time to advance to the next stage. In the scenic shops, if you were doing well they would call you back for the next day. Sometimes I would work two or three weeks in the same shop. If you were having difficulty they would not call you back, and so I would always know what sort of tasks I needed to concentrate on more.
6. Describe the material products of this learning experience, if any.
On the Farm, the three story sorghum mill and the foundations of two of the first houses. In the scenic shops, the sets for dozens of TV shows and plays.
7. List the forms of testimony and evaluation that you will include in your portfolio as demonstrable evidence of learning. Please attach these.
Evaluation written by John Conroy
Evaluator: John Conroy
1. A brief self-description: your relationship with the student relative to this learning experience; professional and/or academic qualifications. You may attach a resume.
See attached resume.
2. Describe the student’s learning in this experience. Mention observable growth, skill development, information mastery, aesthetic sensibility, or other evidence of acquired learning. Use the back of this sheet if necessary.
During the years 1972-74, as my resume indicates, I was the construction foreman and/or Leadman for a great number of Television and Legitimate Theatre projects. I believe the first time I met Eddie Levin was in 1972 during the construction of the “Ben Franklin” 4-part Special for CBS Television. Eddie was called in from Local 33 Union as an “extra” carpenter. During the first working day of employment of “extras,” it is the supervisor’s responsibility to determine which carpenters have the ability and talent necessary to complete their assigned tasks. It soon became apparent that Eddie had some basic construction skills, and I recommended that he be kept at CBS for this project. Working with Eddie in the subsequent weeks, he showed his ability to adapt to the various construction techniques, carry out assigned tasks, and learn to make his own judgments regarding the construction of sets necessary for the entertainment.
At my request, CBS kept him employed in the scenic shops until that time of the season when all the “extras” are laid off due to lack of work. Subsequently I had a contractural (sic) dispute with CBS and left to find “greener pastures.” During the time I spent “bouncing” (as it is called in the industry), as a “leadman,” I frequently found Eddie coming in on assignments and working for me as an “extra.”
To best explain what exact skills Eddie learned from me (and others), it is necessary to describe the types of construction used in the entertainment industry. In brief, I will describe those types of construction which I feel Eddie has mastered.
Television “Basic Sets”
The Television Basic Set is generally a weekly series comedy or variety show. This set is a “3-wall,” “3-camera” show for “live TV.” There are functional doors, windows and stairways as an inclusive part of an interior set. There are scale perspective backings of houses in the neighborhood in addition to the functional set itself. The whole set is completely portable. It is constructed in modular units, set-up, “struck” and stored in a warehouse. This is a weekly process. The set is moved on stage, set-up, then the weekly series is shot. It is then dismantled and taken back to the warehouse for storage until it is again needed.
The second-story platforms for houses are generally off-camera platforms capable of supporting approximately 2000 lbs. Walls are of the same type found in the average home, in accordance with California and, in general, HUD construction specifications. The difference lies in the fact that materials used are 1 x 2s for studs and plates, and plywood for wall finishing; as opposed to 2 x 4 construction and plaster.
Windows (sashes, mullions, trim) are identical to residential construction. Doors are also identical, as they must be capable of being slammed! Kitchen cabinets, electrical outlets and some of the plumbing is also identical to residential construction. An example of this set would be “Archie Bunker’s House,” for All In The Family.
Sketch Comedy
Standard wall units (2’ X 8’, 4’ x 8”, 6’ x 8’, etc.), door units, window units, wall units. These are assembled, trimmed, decorated in the shop, and then sent to the stage for “one-shot” use. That is: they are used in a show, then struck, cleaned of trim, and re-stored in a warehouse. Examples would be sets for “Carol Burnett,” “Sonny & Cher,” etc.
Legitimate Theatre Sets
Legitimate Theatre Sets are generally built of canvas over batten construction, pin-hinged for set-up. The key concept for traveling show sets is light weight and portability. They are durable enough to withstand original basic set-up in the theatre, capable of being struck, shipped, and set-up again as the show travels from town to town. In addition, theatre sets are generally built in perspective, giving the illusion of greater stage depth. Examples of this would be Lacola’s “Gigi,” or the “Alice Cooper” rock show sets.
Special Effects Sets
Special Effects Sets are built for “one-shot” only use in Television. They are highly engineered pieces of equipment, generally cantilevered, or suspended in air, and have lots of special lighting effects built into them. The construction techniques for these sets have to be engineered and “worked out” as the set is being erected. They are usually “dream ideas” from designers for giving special effects, and may be only verbal concepts, or designer sketches & models. Example: “Midnight Specials” for NBC.
I feel that in working with Eddie in excess of 200 hours as a direct foreman, construction foreman, or leadman, I would show no hesitation on my part in handing him any assigned task. In other words I feel that he is fully capable of handling any job that requires any type of standard or specialized construction routines. I have seen him work from blueprints, sketches, or verbal ideas. Furthermore, I realize that he knows enough to realize that if he cannot complete a job within the framework of his background knowledge, he has the intelligence and initiative to seek out those people who can help him to complete any assigned task in a most satisfactory manner.
Eddie’s work in the Entertainment Industry might be comparable to an equivalent amount of time spent in construction, and/or interior decoration. In addition, he has the character and disposition to communicate with designers who by nature demand the impossible, and expect award-winning results.
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