calling cues? (warning vs standby)

[SusiK]

I am a 1st year (well, I just finsihed my first year) undergraduate stage management student and I will have my first real SM job this summer, and I just realized that I know a lot less than I should. When I SMed in high school, the stage managers weren't really trained at all so I never formally called cues. (basically, we just said "ok, now um, move that piece of set on" and never called cues at all for lights or sound...) and I took a SM class last semester but it didn't really go over calling cues very well.

I don't really understand when I should say "warning light cue #..." vs when i would say "stand by" or if I always need to give a warning.

Would someone please just sort of give me the basic run down of the proper way to call cues? I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!!!!

[zayit shachor]

To start, you might want to check out these threads:

http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,2517.0.html
or
http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,2397.0.html
or
http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,2655.0.html

The short answer to your question is that you don't always need to call a warning - in fact, you usually don't.  Warnings are just that - a warning that a cue sequence is coming up (say, if a cue requires more prep time than normal).  Standbys are basically telling your operators to put their finger on the button and wait for your go to push it.  Standbys are always necessary; warnings are not.

I usually call my standbys about a half-page before the cue, depending on how complicated it is: "Standby light cue 104 and sound cue H."
You should get back responses from your operators: "Lights." "Sound."
Then when the cue comes, I say, "Lights 104 and Sound H GO."

Sometimes you might need to be a little more verbose in your standbys: "Stand by light cue 104 and sound cue H.  I will call lights first and then sound."

Everyone calls cues in their own way - as long as you don't hesitate ("Lights...um...go? I guess?") and speak clearly you'll be fine!

[SusiK]

Thanks!!! 

[captaincutlawn]

In my high school we only used warnings on special cues like a glass shattering backstage.

[ericjames]

Typically you will only here a standby and then a go.  Warnings tend to be reserved for something that takes an extra amount or prep or safety. (AKA.... pyro, large scenery moves, etc).    The other times that I have used warnings is if a crew person has to take a cue after having done nothing for a long time.  It serves as a "wake up" call before the actual standby and cue.

ps... If you feel slightly under prepared for your first professional gig, don't feel bad.  I remember going into my first job thinking that I knew what I was doing and then realizing real quick that I had no clue what was going.  It turned out to be a great experience for me, and I will always remember my SM for teaching me.

[avkid]

In my high school we only used warnings on special cues like a glass shattering backstage.

Live glass breaking?
Oh my!

[centaura]

The other times that I have used warnings is if a crew person has to take a cue after having done nothing for a long time.  It serves as a "wake up" call before the actual standby and cue.

That's the main time that I used warnings - if there had been quite a while since the last cue sequence.  I remember one show I did in college where we went most of Act II without any cues to call.  I remember having a really long warning for the end just to make sure that I had everyone's attention.

The other times I'll put a warning in is if we're going into a complicated series that needs more prep time backstage.  I.E.  "Warning on Boat Shift", and then I give each individual cue its own standby and go.

Standbys can also be used for sequences when cues are tightly packed - I.E. "Standby Light cues 54 to 63, and Sound Cues 29 and 30" and then each cue got a go.

-Centaura

[Katie ~]

I say,

Standby Q 143
They reply: Q 143 standing by

then I say,
"Lights Go!"

on the "ga" of Go...they should hit the button

[JDL]

Example:

Stand-by LQ 253
1 word before the cue line, "GO."

It seems to work every time! I also don't require my crews to say standing-by I know the majority of the world does, but I think that's a waste of time and I have tons of confidence in my crews!
Hope this helps!

[MatthewShiner]

I give a warning for deck,fly, automation or odd sequences.


5 seconds before a cue sequence, I give a standby - time for the board ops to move hand from book to go button.

Call the "GO" where we tech it.

[BLee]

I remember the first time I actually called a show in college I mixed the two up. I would say "Warning for Lights 12....lights 12 go." No one told me I was doing it backwards and I found out when we went over cue-ing two weeks later in my SM II class. I was so embarrassed that I had been doing it wrong, but it was my first time and it was a dance show rather than a mainstage musical. But it did explain why when I said "Warning for..." my crew usually replied with "Light standing...I mean warned...". 

No worries and break a leg with your first show. You will do great since you thought to ask the question.

[SMExtraordinaire]

Before I worked with cue lights I generally called warnings if we sat for a decent enough time (depending on the show that could range from 10 minutes to 30 minutes) and I wanted to pass on to the crew that organized chaos was about to ensue again so "wake up." Otherwise I didn't feel a need to call a warning for every cue.

I do, however, call warnings now as the cue light IS the standby so once I call that warning which is the crews cue to watch the cue light then switch that light on then off - that is my go. Can I just tell you how much I love cue lights?!

[sarahbear42]

I'd never even heard of giving "warning" until at my current company... one of the carpenters in our shop (who has taken over for me on one or two occasions when I had to be gone for a performance) apparently always says "warning" instead of standby... I always just thought it sounded weird to me.

My sequence is "Whatever Q 1 Standby"/response/"1 Go."

For the current shows that I do it's just me operating one board and my ASM operating the other one, so I don't do responses so much... but on other shows where I don't have a direct line of sight to all my ops, or where there's more than just lights and sound, I give standbys to keep things from getting nuts.

[nmno]

My sequence is "Whatever Q 1 Standby"/response/"1 Go."

If I can offer some unsolicited advice...  Typically a warn or standby sequence starts with that, ie. "Standby Lights 10...  Lights 10, GO."  Saying "Lights 10 Stand by" it is easy for an operator who has a brain lapse to take the cue on the standby.  Inverting it helps differentiate from the actual cue. 

Although it may not be an issue now, it can be as you work on bigger shows.

[amy francis]

i only use standbys nowadays (except for cases previously mentioned), but in the past, i remember the use of both warnings and standbys to be more common, i think because 2 scene preset boards took a lot longer to set up a Q on than just pressing a button...

The warning gave the board op enough time to either set up the Q, and/or time to check to make sure it is correctly set with time to fix it if it wasn't.  But most of my experience then was with school and community-type theatres (both as SM and as board op at different times!) - the professional world may not have needed the extra time...