Author Topic: Digital Show Binder  (Read 10322 times)

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PSMKay

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Re: Digital Show Binder
« Reply #15 on: Aug 15, 2011, 12:17 am »
I entered tech theatre at a time when digital light boards had already taken Broadway and were starting to permeate into educational culture. My college had one theatre with an ETC digital board, one with a very early programmable board, and one with a two-scene analog preset board.  (This was great as it allowed me to learn how to run both digital and manual boards!)  As I moved from college into the Chicago scene, the pro theatres generally had digiboards and the community theatres had manual boards, although over the course of the years that I worked in the industry here the balance tipped more and more in favor of the digital boards.  It also shifted gradually from multiple patches per dimmer to the now commonplace circuit-per-dimmer style of plugging.

I did not see much resistance, short of cost, in the implementation of digital technology on the lighting end and I don't see stage managers keeping manual boards as "backup" in the booth or backstage just in case the digital boards fail.  And they do - I had a couple crash on me at very bad times and we've discussed workarounds for these types of incidents before.  The designer would usually give me a backup disk and a printout of the cues but other than that it went to full digital very very quickly.

Some will see this as a false analogy, as lighting designers are not in the rehearsal environment dealing with the scrutiny of the cast and the director as frequently. However, there is still some value to the comparison. The designer still watches when appropriate (normally) and works on the board as needed.  Yes, there are times when the designer will have their head down in programming at an inopportune moment.  But generally it has become acceptable that the designer will use digital means, or have his/her assistant do so, in order to bring better techniques to the production.

The path of commercial>educational>regional>community in technological dissemination is certainly commonplace when it comes to hardware.  I'm seeing it now with LED instruments, time-cue systems and DMX.  I remember the first time scrollers made their way into the little theatre where I was resident - it was a big deal for us, but certainly a full decade after they were in use in the big commercial venues.

I keep seeing people asking "have you ever done a digital prompt book" here but am hearing from very few who have actually done it.  Hybrid models abound and the computer is definitely integrated into our reporting.  Matthew back in '05 said he would do pencil/paper during tech and then digitize during breaks.  StageMgrJon called from PDF but took blocking on paper. A scan of the Electronic Prompt Copies FAQ on this board shows a lot of partial digitization but I've yet to see anyone 'fess up to going totally digital for an entire production. I don't know that we'll ever completely ditch paper but we can minimize it.

To get this back to practicality, though, BayAreaSM has brought up the idea of archiving everything to digital form, which I think is definitely valid. What would be awesome is a standardized means of storing the files on that digital media so that any SM picking up the disk could find things as easily as they'd be able to find them in a tangible paper binder. 

Can we come up with a directory/file hierarchy and file naming system here that we could share with our peeps and make into a common standard for script archives? What format should the archives be in to achieve accessibility over time? (PDF? MS Office? OpenDoc? What formats will persist?) Should we embrace the cloud and only save in formats that are accessible in something like Google Docs? How can we make it so that an SM with limited tech skills can receive a digital media backup of a prompt book and readily access everything for a remount?  Or so that the poor intern who's tasked with printing out the archives to send with a production overseas can do so on the crappy Win98 computer in the tech office?  Let's solve these problems and leave the matters of style to those who follow fashion.

MatthewShiner

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Re: Digital Show Binder
« Reply #16 on: Aug 15, 2011, 11:04 am »
I guess this all sort of depends on what type of stage manager you are, and Nick, this is why I was a little playful in my response to you.  I always joke that my style is about dealing with people (I manage artistic people), and then throw in about 15 minutes of technological theater knowledge.    They toys are great, and yes they help do a lot of our job well, I just hate when I see a good stage manager (and often times a younger stage manager) let these toys get in the way of connecting with the people in the room (and often young stage managers use the vast knowledge of the internet to jump in and do other people’s jobs . . . but that’s another point).   Often, working with younger stage managers you do find yourself

Kay, what’s interesting, if we look to Broadway and commercial theater as the sort of precursor of what is coming down the pike, then yes, I think the technology is coming and is here to stay.  But, on the flip side, Broadway and Commercial Theater may not always be the best management style to emulate (commercial theatre tends to treat talent as completely replaceable, including stage management – not my favorite management style).  Where as technology in lighting, scenic, sound are a natural addition.  Technology is not always an improvement in communication; it may make it easier, but it may not make is “better”. 

At the end, Nick, it’s NOTE the technology that I am against (I am a HUGE tech fan), it is how it is abused in the rehearsal hall.  I am sick of actors being on their smart phones during notes or during rehearsal, within sight of the director.  I am sick of seeing ASMs on Facebook  - hell, I am sick of me getting bored sitting in the hall and working on paperwork, and then end up flipping to Facebook.   I am frustrated about the trend in stage management for everyone to be in the hall working on their laptops – and not really paying attention to the work going on in the room.  (I keep comparing it to have an actor come in an do vocal work in our stage management office.)

Now, there are those who can use it all, and never alienate anyone – and alienate few.  But there are others who can’t not.
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Anything posted here as in my own personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer - whomever they be at a given moment in time.

nick_tochelli

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Re: Digital Show Binder
« Reply #17 on: Aug 15, 2011, 12:16 pm »
So you're just a fuddy duddy, is that it? ;)

I misunderstood your initial post that sent us down this path, Matthew. It sounded like it was anti-technology on whole, not a rallying against the trend of absent mindedly flipping to facebook during rehearsal and thus not paying attention that way. I think we all could agree that trend sucks.

BayAreaSM

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Re: Digital Show Binder
« Reply #18 on: Aug 15, 2011, 01:35 pm »
I do agree with that. I find myself with my laptop closed, under my prompt. I take a note on a pad, then on the breaks, pull out the laptop and update the report, etc. I am training some new interns right now, though neither one's focus is on Stage Management (one's an actor and the other wants to be a playwright) - one of them has their laptop open, and pushed to the side, following along in her script during notes, rehearsal, etc. When a line change is given, she updates her script, then goes to the laptop to update the Line Changes sheet for the report. Though there have been times when I glance over and see she's on Facebook, Gmail, etc after she's done the update and it does bother me.

The second intern joined recently, and unfortunately there was no spare script for him to read during the Notes Session. During rehearsal he slouched forward, sometimes putting his head on the desk, and mostly playing on his phone. I passed him a note that said "An important part of Stage Management is being an active listener during rehearsal. Sit back in your chair and put your phone down." Which he did immediately. So yes, I do agree with Matthew, that while technology is great, and will make our jobs easier in the long run, it's best to know when the proper time is to use it.

babens

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Re: Digital Show Binder
« Reply #19 on: Aug 15, 2011, 09:55 pm »
I will admit that in my younger days I was indeed one of those young SMs with the laptop open and ready to take down any note and instantly update paperwork.  As I have grown older and moved out of the educational setting and the world of the short run I've moved more and more away from that.  Yes, the laptop is there next to me, but it typically remains closed until a break (or when the director specifically asks to shoot off an email/question to costumes, props, or who ever), or when the time comes to start running rehearsal sound cues through Q Lab.  I guess for me I have found the show a whole lot easier to maintain in the long run if I do become a much more active listener during the rehearsal process.

Maybe I'm approaching the "fuddy duddy" stage in my life/career?  ;)

MatthewShiner

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Re: Digital Show Binder
« Reply #20 on: Aug 15, 2011, 10:05 pm »
Dude, let's not say "fuddy duddy" is bad . . . it's just different.

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BayAreaSM

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Re: Digital Show Binder
« Reply #21 on: Aug 16, 2011, 02:35 am »
To bring this back to my original question which wasn't about working on laptops open in rehearsal, or creating digital prompts or making your crew carry iPads which don't fit in their pockets... My point was more along the line of what PSMKay went into. (See above.)

As I work in Ballet, every show is archived within an inch of it's life, both digitally and in hardcopy format, since the show will be remounted (several times) and having the most up to date information is best. Kay brings up good points with the issues of digital show binders/files, as our technology is constantly evolving. Speaking from experience - I have come across the old 5.25" floppy discs that promise cue sheets of a ballet not touched since 1982, but alas, we have no means to open that disc now. Thankfully a hard copy file folder was made for the show with the same information. Granted, I have to retype all of the information, but back in the 80's, we thought the giant floppy would last. Then we moved onto the 3.5" floppy - and while I still do have an external drive for those discs, some day my external drive will die. While we save our computer files for the show on our hard drives, clouds, or burn to CDs/DVDs - how long are we going to be able to access that information?

Kay's comparison to the lighting console evolution is an interesting one, but from my experience, I would be completely lost if I was asked to recreate a cue sheet and prop presets and deck sheets for a ballet that was on the 1982 5.25" floppy that only had a grainy black & white video which was taken from the back of the house. Thankfully with the hardcopy file, I can.

So perhaps I have just argued against myself that not keeping a hard record of all print outs is a bad thing. Though for the shows I've done since 2002, I still have my digital files and I can still access them.

The eternal question still remains...

 

riotous