Author Topic: KIT: kit  (Read 18070 times)

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Kat

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« Reply #15 on: Mar 01, 2005, 08:11 am »
You can get the photo-flash at Wal-mart for under $10. Also, my SM kit is very expansive, and it didn't cost much. Here's my secret....the Dollar store. It has EVERTHING. Obviously, some of the specialty stuff you need to go to staples for, but between the dollar store and wal-mart, I created my kit for under $150. The dollar store is especially good for basic medical stuff and cleaning supplies. Enjoy your kit. There is no better feeling than an actor in a panic (oh my God! I'm in a childeren's show! I'm supposed to be 8years old and I forgot to shave!!) coming to you, and being able to reach in your kit and give them what they need right there. It makes them feel very secure and confident. I love my kit and never go to rehearsal without it. (even though it now weighs a ton) I need to get a new tool box on wheels =-) ~Kat
« Last Edit: Feb 23, 2008, 08:02 pm by Kat »
"I've done so much, with so little for so long; now I can do anything with nothing."

casper

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« Reply #16 on: Mar 01, 2005, 09:17 am »
hey kitty,
welcome to the boards.  speaking of box on wheels, i have just purchased a brand new kit!!!!  it was a very exciting day for me!  i found it at walmart in the craft section.  it is a rolling suitcase thing that people who do scrapbooking use.  i love it!  i actually went to walmart looking for the 2-1 stanley caddy that i read about on this board, but it wasn't big enough for me and didn't seem as sturdy as i wanted.  i can fit my binders, tape, first aid, hole punch, and EVERYTHING in this one rolling kit.  very exciting!

it was a little more money than i had planned on spending ($70), but i wouldn't trade it for the world!!!

Kjetil

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« Reply #17 on: Mar 01, 2005, 09:41 am »
I just looked at the kit list on newbielink:http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Stage/2203/SMhandbook2.html [nonactive]
Can some one tell me what is a runstop (see Wardrope)
Kjetil Skaaret
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Oslo National Academy of the Arts
National Academy of Dramatic Art
National Academy of Operatic Art
National College of Ballet and Dance
Fossveien 24 O551 Oslo, Norway

smejs

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« Reply #18 on: Mar 01, 2005, 03:00 pm »
Quote
I just looked at the kit list on http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Stage/2203/SMhandbook2.html
Can some one tell me what is a runstop (see Wardrope)


I don't know if this is a name brand, but I would assume it means something to stop runs in pantyhose.  Our dancers swear by clear nail polish.

Erin

supershorty

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« Reply #19 on: Mar 01, 2005, 10:30 pm »
Quote
You can get the photo-flash at Wal-mart for under $10.


Is it on the website?  I looked, but I can't find anything.
-Katie Paige

Kat

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« Reply #20 on: Mar 07, 2005, 12:46 pm »
Runstop..er stops runs in pantyhose and snaggy fabrics. If necessary it can also be used to tack up a falling hem(weakly), but I swear by the little thing I got in an as-seen-on-TV store called the buttoneer. It is an amazing little piece of palstic. It puts on buttons and reapirs tears and falling hems with a tiny piece of clear plastic. Though, its not good for thick fabrics. Oops got off topic...runstop. You can usually get it in good fabric stores. But clear nail polish works just as well on nylons as does hairspray if your in a pinch =-) ~Kat
« Last Edit: Feb 23, 2008, 08:03 pm by Kat »
"I've done so much, with so little for so long; now I can do anything with nothing."

centaura

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« Reply #21 on: Mar 16, 2005, 09:34 am »
I saw someone say that they had a deck of cards.  Yes!  I can't tell you how many times I've taken my deck out and handed it off to folks to play with.  I spend a lot of time working in children's theatre, and its a quick and easy way to keep kids/teens amused if they have to wait for a while for their scene to be worked on.  I am also never without my leatherman.  I use my leatherman so much, I ran into a dilema when I broke one.  I couldn't live without it long enough to send it in to be replaced!

For folks short on cash, which I was when I got my first one, putting it on a christmas wish list got me mine.  My mother even had my name engraved on the side.  Useful, when you're in a room of 10 techies each with leathermans!

-Centaura

Gina

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« Reply #22 on: Mar 16, 2005, 10:14 am »
I constaly add and remove items from my kit. Here are some things that I didn't think of originally when first building it though:

Scale rule
Gel Cutter
Gel Swatch Books
Shout Wipes
Coated Elastic Hair Bands
Extra Mag Lite Bulbs and Batteries
Lighter---smokers will love you
Adhesive velcor strips
Spare change
Germex Wipes--like purel but alcohol wipe style
Cuts of blue gel
map of the city
Extra USB cord
Blank CD-Rs (Some people don't have floppy drives any more)

I also have a small pocket sized box I got in the walmart travel bathroom section. It has several little dividers to it. In it I have:
Thin cuts of glow tape
saftey pins
pre threaded sewing needles
brads (For hole punch holes not for a brad nailer)
rubberband and hair tie
pre cut adhesive velcro strips
Shout wipe
Small post it note
mini golf pencil
Mag lite bulb

It is helpful for during tech and run, if I can't get to my kit (usually as an ASM) between the pocket kit and my leatherman I can get most things done.

Speaking of leatherman---I had a wave originally but I have seen the charge---it is amazing. The tools in the handle lock more like a gerber but it still has the accessible blades on the outside like the wave.

thesteff

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« Reply #23 on: Sep 14, 2005, 07:31 pm »
GLUCOSE TABLETS

Not just for the diabetics & hypoglycemics, but also for those actors who put so much energy in that they almost fall over offstage . . . pop a glucose tablet in the actor's mouth and nobody has to carry him downstairs . . .
Thesteff, aka Mommie Boo!

Responsibility is important.  Maturity is overrated.

Mac Calder

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« Reply #24 on: Sep 14, 2005, 08:52 pm »
Pair of Stringlines - great for marking centerlines, or a hundred other uses
2 large measuring tapes
Spike tape

A lot of people suggested a lot of tools - I did not see anyone suggest a grabba gun (aka cordless drill). These days you can get them for about au$30 with a pair of batteries. I inherited mine from my parents and it has 4. The main advantage - screwdriver bits. Combine that with my leatherman, and I can screw or undo almost anything

Condoms are a big thing for noiseboys - when I did gigs with wireless mic packs (cos I am part noise boy) I used to go to the chemist and buy multiple party packs - believe me, there is nothing worse than buying 5 dozen condoms then asking them to order in another 3 dozen. A tip if you need condoms en bulk is to get the catalogue from one of those mailorder pharmacies - often they allow bulk purchases to be cheaper. Just a warning though - make sure your Significant other knows that they are for business only - that avoids them getting jealous when the quantity goes down, or them deciding that they may be 'put to better use'. Some places will have EOL (End of Life) stock - you can ask them to put them asside for you and buy them for a small fee instead of being dumped...

Leci tape in many colours - Electrical tape in as many colours as you can possibly manage is a very useful thing. White and black are the most needed though. Noise boys and bubble blowers always forget the white gaffer or leci to mark up their boards. If you can chuck them a roll of whit leci and a sharpie, they will love you for life.

This may sound weird, but white cotton gloves and a baton. I have a set since I can conduct - I may not be able to MD, but I know how to lead a band. I have had many a show where the MD does NOT have a baton or white gloves and they come in handy.

Also: If you are going to have cosmetics in your kit, make it known that they are a LAST RESORT and anything taken out of them will be taken from the shows budget. I used to keep foundation, hairspray etc in my kit which makeup somehow found out about... so they 'borrowed' it, and it all suddenly evaporated

YesItsKat

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« Reply #25 on: Sep 16, 2005, 03:17 am »
I got my stage management kit from my family for my birthday.  I just passed around the list of the stuff and got it all plus some.  

I found that people ask me for sticks of gum more then anything else.  And change for the pop machine.  

I found a great scrapbooking backpack for my kit, but it costs $120 so I haven't gotten it yet.   Maybe after I have a real paying job.  Right now I use a Mary Kay sample bag that has littler bags inside of it that are clear and zip and velcro in.  I only scanned the previous entries, but did anyone say Tape Measures?  I also keep ear muffs in my kit, so if an actor is preparing they put the earmuffs on and everyone knows not to bother them.   It also blocks out some sound.  I also found this little pack of ten plastic bags in packed into a three inch flat square.  I found them in the check out line at walmart for 79 cents.

Also I keep a pair of big black socks in my kit, because nothing bothers me more then a crew member running around with white shoes.

giabow

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« Reply #26 on: Sep 17, 2005, 11:33 am »
I'll add to the list:

a box of crayons (for bored child actors, or any actor for that matter)

pixie stix (a director I work with is diabetic.  He usually takes good care of himself, but I keep some pixie stix on hand just in case.  They're better than glucose tablet because they dissolve in your mouth - no chewing or swallowing involved.  Good in case he passes out.)

mini golf pencils (you get get a box of them for about $2 at Staples.  They're handy for two reasons 1) when actors forget their pencils and use mine, they tend not to give them back.  I don't care if these ones disappear.  2) most people hate to use them because they're so small.  If they have to use them once, they tend to remember their own pencil from then on.

thesteff

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« Reply #27 on: Oct 11, 2005, 11:23 pm »
Rather than spending 120 bucks . . . I have one of those inexpensive rolling suitcases (the upright kind with the extendable handle).  I have smaller containers inside to separate "types" of supplies.  Works fabulously, and it only cost $50!  (I have actually seen them for less since then . . . ya gotta check out the close-out stores.)
Thesteff, aka Mommie Boo!

Responsibility is important.  Maturity is overrated.

BalletPSM

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« Reply #28 on: Oct 12, 2005, 09:39 pm »
My grandma bought me these pencils a few years ago that were day-glo pink, green, orange, and yellow, with my name on them.  (I have a VERY unusual first name, and she had my first and last name on there)

At first I thought they were really dorky, and they just sat in a drawer for the first couple years, but after I SMed my first show and realize that the one thing actors ALWAYS asked for was a pencil, I pulled them out, sharpened them all, and then kept them in one of the huge altoid containers for my next show.

A few days after the first rehearsal on my that show I saw one of my actors at the library with a day-glo pink pencil...and realized it was mine!  It was only then I realized the true value of these pencils -- now I know when people steal them!

They have since become a staple in my kit and people in my shows know them as my pencils (including the box that has a piece of gaff tape with "not altoids" written in big letters across it) always ask if they can use those pencils (they don't want the regular wood grain #2s that I supplemented the pencil box with).  I have NO IDEA where my grandma got them from but they're now on my christmas list this year because I'm finally starting to run out, erasers have worn down, etc.  

Other staples of my kit include a deck of cards, post its of all shapes and sizes and colors, various cables (cat5, USB cables, RCAs) an extension cord, rosin and lambswool (I work with dancers), those little oral-b brush ups, a lighter, rolls of spike tape in various colors, different types of pain meds (for people allergic to one kind or the other), tampons, cough drops, and a three-prong to two-prong adaptor -- just in case I go somewhere that only has two prong outlets and my computer is a three prong. =).

Also:  saline solution and a contact case.  I can't tell you how many times I've had actors whose contacts start bothering them in the middle of rehearsal and they are so thankful I have that so they can take their contacts out.  Just make sure to rinse and disinfect after someone uses it!

Sometimes I just throw some random things in there (like an old knick knack) so when someone's looking through it for something they'll pull it out and we'll have a good laugh over it.  =)

I always think of my kit as an ongoing process -- something I'm always working on.  Always finding new items to add to it.  These posts have all been great!
Stage managing is getting to do everything your mom told you not to do - read in the dark, sit too close to the TV, and play with the light switches!

Mac Calder

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« Reply #29 on: Oct 17, 2005, 07:13 pm »
I usually dont care when people nick my pencils - I buy them in a cylinder of 50 for about au$2. They are the cheap and nasty yellow ones with the red eraser on the top that never works. Same with pens, I buy the sh!te ones and no one steals them. I have of course my nice mechanical pencils and my expensive pens in my pencil case or in my pocket (a bad habbit I am yet to break... just like carrying arround a notepad everywhere I go in a leather compendium)

If you have things that may go missing (ie pens, pencils), always make sure you get the cheapest, yet effective. Ie - gaffer tape. One has a choice between AU$45 a roll, AU$25, AU$12 or AU$4. I usually carry arround a roll of AU$25 which I do not lend to ANYONE and a roll of AU$12 which goes missing all the time and I have to hold the cast ransom until it is returned. Same with electrical tape - There is your expensive tape (I have quite a bit of it) and there is your middle of the road (also have quite a bit of it) and then there is your AU$2 for 5 colour packets of pure crap which does not stick to itself let alone something else.  Be aware of those things - in your rush to keep the costs down, do not sacrafice quality, it is a balancing act.