ELECTRICS: Calling cues for the spotlight operator

[planetmike]

I'd love to hear some tips for calling cues for spotlights. I've only ever had to call spotlight cues a couple times before, but now I'm calling a show with three spotlights. Any advice or things to avoid would be helpful.

The light designer is thinking she should give the spotlight ops a cue list and let them do their own cues. Good or bad idea?

Edit to subject line-Rebbe

[Mac Calder]

Depends on the operators and your setup. If you are running one giant partyline, then cuesheet is almost essential. If you have split loops, and can trust your LX op, let LX call spot cues. Another way is a head spot op who has the cue sheet and listens on the show loop and calls spots.

3 spots can become very verbose when calling - I worked on a few ice shows (both on ships and on land) - one show I did, I did not stop talking for the entire show. It can be the same with fast paced dance shows and concerts too.

[loebtmc]

I have had all three situations: Master Elec called spots, I called spots, spots took cues themselves. It depends on so many things - how complex is the show, how long do you run, how tight are spot cues, how big is the cast etc.

Of course, it's easier when the ME calls the spots, but if you don't have that luxury, think abt how to best name the spots - ABC or by the spot ops names - and how to minimize words while making sure the cue is completed correctly. Either way, your spot ops need to make sure their personal run sheets are complete enough that all you need to say is the cue, they take care of size, color etc - you may need to make minor adjustments like an iris in or out, you shd just be able to call the cue without details.

I've also had situations with the spot ops calling their own cues, but I still call them in the warn or the standby.

[planetmike]

What does the phrase "split loops" mean?

I'm the only person calling the show. It's a very weird community theatre group. The sound board guy refuses to take cues. He does his own thing, he works the show and provides equipment for free, so that won't change. Historically, they've never had anyone call the show before, each spot op and light board op takes their own cues. The light designer wants the light board op to have his own list of cues as well. I think she's coming around on that though. The spot ops are high school students, and are very easily distracted. I like the idea of giving the spot ops a standby and warn reminder if they can handle a cue summary sheet.

Is a cue summary sheet something I generate, or the light designer generates, or each op generates?

[Maribeth]

(Correct me in I'm wrong, Mac) I think what he means by split loops is more than one headset channel, vs partyline (everyone on the same channel).

If the lighting designer has an assistant, in my experience, that is who usually generates the cue sheets.

My advice- make backups of the final cue sheets! There's no reason the cue sheets should ever need to leave the catwalks/theatre, but someone will inevitably lose them/accidentally take them home and forget to bring them back. Backups are essential.

I also keep the relevant spot information in my book- even if they are taking the cue information from their sheets. That way, you can give notes and make subtle corrections as the show is running.  "Spot One, you're a little wobbly- steady up. Spot Two tilt up just a hair so that his whole face is lit. Spot Three, nice pickup." If you have very easily distracted high school students, it will be especially important to keep tabs on how the spot cues are running throughout the show.

[VSM]

Exactly what Maribeth said.
I call all the cues on my shows.
One Ship; One Captain.

Yes, the Spot Ops have cue sheets. If the LD or their Asst don't generate the Cue List, I do.
I establish a default color, frost and size. If that deviates in a certain cue, I remind them.
I know it sounds like I'm talking all the time, I usually am, but this way a new operator/sub can step in at any moment and do the show as they are hearing directions as well as referring to the sheet.

[Mac Calder]

Some shows it is impossible for one person to call the entire show - I did a "spectacular" (one of those largish events with no real purpose but to look impressive and say "look out how much money we have") with 8 follow spots. As head LX & LD, I called all LX cues, I had 2 assistants calling follow spot cues. My workstation had 4 coms loops - Primary Show Loop, LX Show Loop, A spots and B spots. Primary show loop had heads of each department (AX, VX, LX, Automation, Rigging and Head Stage Hand) plus the PM/SM. LX Show Loop had me, 2 assistants, board operator and my systems engineer. Spots on the two loops. It meant that for most cues, the two assistants would call spot cues, however on timing critical cues, I would barge in and call them

Part of being an SM is knowing what to delegate. Many theatre shows the spot cues are fairly basic - follow this person when they enter, stop following when they leave - logical. SM calling this makes sense - generally you have a board operator who does not know the show well and is bought on at tech, giving them the f/s script would cause more problems than it solves.... When it is dance/roller skates/motor bikes/ice skaters, pickups are sometimes seconds long and may quickly move between multiple performers. Frames change frequently to complement mood and costume and there are often safety fades etc that need to be factored in. For short run, the LD is often onsite anyway or in the case of long run it is generally worth the trouble to train up the board operator.

[Aerial]

On the last show I did, I had 3 spotlights.  During tech, the ALD generated the cue lists (as other have experienced), and I also jotted down general things like frame numbers and size in the margin of my book.  Right before opening, the ALD finalized the cue lists and she made sure I had a copy of all of them for my records.  For the show, I chose not to call the majority of the spot cues.  Most were ordinary entrance/exit pick ups, and my ops were on top of it.  I did call any time two spots had to switch who they were on mid-scene (due to sightlines and spot throw), and there was one musical number that almost entirely spot bump cues, and I called all of those.  Again, though, I trusted these spot ops (and so did the LD) because they proved early on that they were attentive and focused.  If that hadn't been the case, if I had doubts, I probably would have called everything.

[babens]

Some shows it is impossible for one person to call the entire show -

So very true.  I don't remember the exact breakdown of who's calling what, but Spider Man has two SMs calling different aspects of the show.  True very few shows will probably ever reach that level of complexity once you leave Broadway, but it does happen.  The same goes for many tours where one spot op is a member of the touring staff and calls all spot cues for the locals who are typically on the other spots.  The ME for the first national tour of Aida did a masterclass back in the day when the show was in Cleveland and he talked about that process, including how descriptive they may sometimes get when talking about the next actor the local guys will be picking up in their next cue (i.e. "you'll be picking up Amneris/Kelly in your next cue, brunette entering SL wearing a blue towel, very sweet girl, can drink many of us under the table")

[BayAreaSM]

For Ballet, we tend to have anywhere from 2-3 spots for all shows. Since we archive all previous calling scripts (we don't use scores, we write down choreography), some shows had the ASM call the Spots, while the PSM called deck and LX.

When I work in "regular" theater, the ALD creates the spot cue sheets, and depending on the venue, the spots are either self-controlled, or run through the board. In the case where they are run through the board, I do standby/call everything for them - even if they remember on their own - because they are not controlling when their spots goes on or off.

For the ballet, I do all spots cues/paperwork. I watch the video from the last performance, I take the old SM cue sheets and I start typing. I have a very specific design for the cue sheets, as our ME/Spot 1 and I worked on designing what will work best for her and her team. Sometimes the LD fails to give me the frames, etc - so those spots are blank on the sheet, and they fill in the info with pencil during tech. The spots I work with are awesome, veteran IA spot ops, and they have the cue sheets on music stands in front of them to follow along as we go. Aside from Nutcracker, which has had the same 3 spots ops for the past 7 years, I call all spots. Generally our ballets only go for 4 performances, so the ops don't have enough time to learn the ballet in that time, so i give all standbys and "necessary" go cues. My ME/Spot 1 is the fastest to learn, and generally by show 2 or 3, unless it's a special calling location for a cue, I stop calling her cues altogether (per her request).

By "necessary" cues - I will give the standby "Standby Spot 2 to pick up Juliet entering through the SL Door." The spot is set and when they see the door open, they pick her up. I don't need to call spot outs, as that is pretty obvious - unless the spot out is someplace other than an exit. My cue sheets list the color of costume, and for the tricky pick ups, I will reiterate the color of the costume during the standby.

Though in the theater I work in the most, our Spots also have a private channel - as our ME/Spot 1 will give correction notes to Spot 2 & 3 as we're going along. I tell them what to do, and she corrects from there, so that I can concentrate on the rest of the show.

[loebtmc]

Interesting how many variants they are. The bottom line is, do what works for you and for the show. If you can trust spot ops, great (again, all of us keep copies of the spot cues and specifics, some fold in warns/standbys) - if they don't generate their run sheets, I give them a blank w all pertinent info and expect them to fill it in and give me a copy. As mentioned, I will say something if corrections need to happen (iris in, hold it steady, good work, etc).

On the big shows and tours I've done, the ME who traveled with us called and trained the spots on a separate channel for all except one big musical, when I prepped and called spots in each city (and, oh yeah, we had no ME on that tour). And there was one show in a house with no clearcom and tons of spot cues, so I had to train them during tech/previews, and then trust them to know the show.

On smaller and school-based shows, I call all spots.

With one company where I regularly SM, I train and warn but they run their own spots.

You can change midstream too, starting with too much info (blonde girl in yellow crossing from UL to UR), cutting back as your ops learn the show or you find they can handle it. But your voice as a back-up is always appropriate.

Regardless, it makes for a busier show, which is always a nice thing.

[BLee]

My personal preference is to make sure the spot ops have cue sheets with their needed information (cue #, size, person, area on stage/entrance) usually generated by the LD, ALD or ME. I then transfer only the key information into my standby. So I'm not calling every detail, but I'm reminding them just before a cue happens so they have time to hit their mark.

For my current show here is how I've called it:

"Stand by light cue 193, Spot 1 on Hamlet Spot 2 on Horatio, both downstage left...lights go."

I have found this system to work well both for student operators and non-union crews. I give enough information without muddying up what I'm saying. Both spots have their paperwork to prepare the next spotlight after their previous cue, so I am simply getting them alert in time for their lights to pop on.

[MatthewShiner]

On my current show we have have four stops, that are constantly on . . . we have hired a spot caller to deal with it . . . I don't think I could do the show AND call the sues.  It's interesting to let go and let someone else call . . . but as show gets bigger, it's a fact of life.

If I had to call spots, I would not be able to maintain the show at all; I would never stop talking.

[BlueRidgeSM]

I've only done two shows with spots - Beauty and the Beast, where we only had spots for Be Our Guest (the sound board op doubled as the spot op) and Oliver, where we had two spot ops with multiple cues throughout the show.  I called spot cues both times.  For B&B since it was very simple I'd just say "spot up on Lumiere - go" etc. 

For Oliver, we had a lot of spot cues.  Each op had their own cue sheet that they had worked out with the LD during tech with the info about color, size, etc.  In performance I simply called "spot(s) up - go" etc and they would know which one of them it was, who they were lighting, what color, etc.  There were a few that were tricky and so sometimes I'd remind them about those ("spot up for Fagin on the bridge - go") but for the most part they handled it themselves.  This was a community theatre show and both of my spot ops were mothers of children in the show - one was the mom of a teenager, the other was a mom of one of our youngest cast members (like 6 or 7 years old).  Neither one of them had ever done a spot before, so I have to hand it to our LD for giving them such good notes and preparing them well.

I can see how you could get to the point where calling all spot cues could be problematic, especially if you were having to remind the op every time about who they were lighting, which op, etc.  But I've had a great experience with them having their own sheets and following their notes so all I have to call is "spots up - go".

[PSMAK]

At my current theatre, where I function as the lighting designer from time to time. I create all of the spot cue sheets.

Unfortunately we have walkie talkies for communication and you can't always hear very well. I don't call spot cues via walkie talkie if I don't have to. The majority of the time I use cue lights. The spot ops just have to read their next cue and take the cue off of the cue light. There are times where I do indicated it on the cue sheet when they need to take a cue on their own.

My ops, who are usually teenagers from our acting class love using the cue lights. For them, it is much more clear when the cue needs to come and they don't have to worry that they couldn't hear me call a GO. I just need to make sure that I am very clear in the cue sheet of what they need to do. I usually give them a WARNING (cue light flash 3 times) when needed and then Standby (cue light on) and then GO (cue light off.) The cue lights are very simple. Each spot station has a very low voltage light bulb and then a small strand of blue rope lights. They are connected via to the booth by extension cord to a power strip for each cue light. So I only have two switches to worry about.

The really only difficulty comes with me and when I'm executing the cue lights for complicated or fast sequences depending on the show.