Messages

1

Stage Management: Other / Opera Machine

« on: Nov 30, 2014, 09:32 pm »

Not sure if this has been posted before. Damn shame if it hasn't, but I couldn't find it in search.

The Opera Machine (http://www.roh.org.uk/opera-machine) is a 17 camera broadcast of Act III of Die Walküre from the Royal Opera House. Most cameras are back stage. Includes a commentary audio track and the show call, as well as a digital version of the Prompt Copy.

Fascinating stuff for when you've got several hours to spare.

2

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROPS: Break a wine glass with voice effect

« on: Feb 13, 2012, 10:24 pm »

+1 for mousetraps. You should be able to easily build it into the table top and the actor sitting behind the table could trigger it quite easily. The beauty of a mousetrap is they're designed to swing a full 180 degrees, so the wire will spring up, shatter the glass and keep on going to become hidden in the table again. A simple slit in the tablecloth should help to hide the gimmick if you've got a balcony.

One thing to keep in mind though is that some mousetraps fire with a fair bit of force. You might need to experiment a bit to get one that doesn't end up spraying sugar glass everywhere or knocking the glass sideways, which would ruin the effect. Securing the stem of the glass to the table could help mitigate the second of these possibilities.

3

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: The Seafarer- SM trying to figure out some card tricks

« on: Jul 08, 2010, 11:53 pm »

A quick search on YouTube turned up these little gems:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiokoNyk6R8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0uqVjgynBQ

There are plenty more examples out there, just search for "false shuffle" and "false cut".

By combining a bunch of them you could put together quite a flashy shuffle that preserves the entire deck order, just like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9lFe504i2s.

4

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: "ART" - anyone done it?

« on: Jul 29, 2009, 10:01 pm »

I did a student production of 'Art' a few years back. It is relatively straightforward, so I doubt you'll have much trouble picking it up. Really the only thing that you should be forewarned about is the fight between Mark and Ivan.

The only thing that we really had trouble with during our run was making sure that the white painting got repainted and dried completely in between the matinee and evening performances.

5

Tools of the Trade / Re: Language Learning Software

« on: Mar 29, 2009, 08:33 pm »

Rosetta Stone is a great piece of software. Particularly their online subscription service, which means that you don't have to buy the whole package, you can just try it out for a month or two before committing further. You do have to be connected to the Internet to use it, but in this day and age, that's becoming less of a concern.

One note of caution: Rosetta Stone use a fairly interesting teaching technique. Basically, they don't use English at all. Just pictures and the language you're trying to learn. Their theory is that what they are doing is mirroring how you learn language naturally, which makes a lot of sense. The trouble is, if you're used to learning languages in a more traditional way, with a focus on grammar, as well as vocabulary, it can take a little getting used to. But once you wrap your head around their method, you can pick up a lot in a very small space of time.