Messages

1

SMNetwork Archives / Filemaker

« on: Nov 07, 2005, 11:13 pm »

My Company Manager uses it and she hates it because it doesn't allow her the flexibility that she desires, but she has to use it because the company has "decreed it must be so."

My world would be lost without Excel and .pdf's  I find Excel as flexible as Word and I do my calling script in Excel so that the ques all line up.  I have a rockin' calling script for Starlight Express and Chicago the Musical in Excel and once transfered into a .pdf...no one can screw with it...even your meanie master electricians who like to play practical jokes on you!  :wink:

But Filemaker...I don't think it's universal enough...and I'm on a Mac...so Word/Excel is my preference for ease of distribution and "everyone's got it!".

2

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Your book Left or right?

« on: Nov 04, 2005, 11:41 pm »

I see that everyone has a style and every style has someone.  Ultimately, what works for you is the best way to go.  Personally, I'm right-handed and like my script on the left and my blocking sheets on the right.  

I even cheat and print up my blocking sheets with SR on the top left of the blocking sheet and SL on the top right (just in case I'm writing so fast that I can't "figure it out")  Just a glance to the top of the page "reminds" me which side of the stage people are on.

A tip on calling a consistent show:  I put a bold "." where I should start winding up the que so that there is a consistent pause between the que and the "go".  I hate it when I hear myself wind up too soon and then have to say "wait for it...GO!"  When I figure out the rhythm of the que, it remains the same every night.

I learned this one when I took over a show from another stage manager.  It helped immensely.  I didn't have to panic about the timing of the ques because it was all laid out for me when I was learning the show.  It truly made the experience one of "if you can read, you can call a show".

Great blog...