Messages

121

Tools of the Trade / Re: Line Note- POST ITS!

« on: Oct 11, 2007, 10:21 pm »

On small cast shows, 6 or fewer, I usually do whole pages, front and back. For larger casts, I do strips. Maybe I'll try the stickie method on my next big show.

122

SMNetwork Archives / Re: Tech Haiku

« on: Oct 11, 2007, 09:33 pm »

Four weeks have gone by,
Looming, a week tomorrow...
Another &%$# tech!

123

Uploaded Forms / Re: Line Notes (for going "off book")

« on: Oct 11, 2007, 09:31 pm »

I love this idea!

Me too! Do you double up, as in back-to-back pages of the script, to save on pocket protectors? Doing Lear might make for a pretty thick book, with all that plastic...

124

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: How long does it take to create a rehearsal report? (Poll)

« on: Oct 11, 2007, 09:27 pm »

Just to address some of the above statements to which I haven't yet replied...

and purely out of curiosity, why did you choose to title this poll as you did?

and...

For people like me who missed the original title of this thread, what was it? (Did it reference Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky"?)

The original title was "Twas brillig..." for two reasons: #1, it was shamelessly eye-catching and #2, "Jabberwocky" accurately reflected the idea that all words are nonsensical until given meaning and weight by the writer/speaker and reader/listener. Yes, I am aware that there are many linguistic approaches between thought and language, but this isn't yet the place for Sapir-Whorf...

I finish my reports in 20-30 minutes, because I am obsessive about stupid things like line weight and margin spacing. Hey, we all get our kicks somehow.

In today's electron driven communications systems, a visual statement/conversation is almost, if not as frequent as, a verbal communication. This topic, meaning the specific visual presentation of our necessary communications, is for later on in the study. (My, this is turning out to be a study!)

Also, I'd like to invite those who may have missed the above link to take this survey. There have been 40 respondents to the above poll but only 11 to the survey.

**Edit- Thanks to all who participated; the survey has been closed.

125

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Giving actor notes and "Maintaining the performance as directed."

« on: Oct 11, 2007, 09:07 pm »

Here is another useful thread concerning this topic.

126

Tools of the Trade / Re: Line Note- POST ITS!

« on: Oct 10, 2007, 11:14 pm »

Maybe I'm just an old fuddy-duddy, but I just don't trust stickies in my book. I also betray an addiction to stickies...especially, fun-shaped stickies. Though it's an interesting idea, I'm curious to know how you gather all the line note stickies together for each actor. Stickies are notoriously unruly once they've been separated from the pack...

127

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: How long does it take to create a rehearsal report? (Poll)

« on: Oct 09, 2007, 10:11 pm »

Matthew, I agree with you that the particulars of creating any given rehearsal report depend upon the size of the show and the production's scope. I think though, that there are general guidelines we have created for ourselves and that's what I'd like to learn more about. That, and the myriad ways we choose to express "director-speak" and rehearsal notes. I think a more detailed "director-speak" survey will be next.

128

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: How long does it take to create a rehearsal report? (Poll)

« on: Oct 08, 2007, 02:50 pm »

can we clarify the poll to reflect that, depending on what you're actually interested in knowing?

At this point, I am interested only in the specificity and semantics of notes contained in the report. Here is a link to a brief survey. Polling will close one week from today; I will post the results as soon as I can organize the information.

**Edit-the survey has been closed. Thanks to all who participated.

129

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / COMMUNICATION: How long does it take to create a rehearsal report? (Poll)

« on: Oct 08, 2007, 01:47 am »

This poll was created to address a question in this thread.

Edit - Fixed the topic so people know what's going on in here.  Slithy toves optional.  -PSMK

130

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Book and Tabs

« on: Oct 07, 2007, 12:46 pm »

I use only 16 tabs for a straight play; I've found that for me, this is sufficient. If there is paperwork stored under a tab that needs further classification or there is a multi-page document under a tab, I use stickies on the side or paper clips at the top of the page(s) to keep them grouped together. I no longer use a tab titled "Contact" because I put all my contact sheets in sheet protectors at the front of my book and, if there are many I use these to dentote differences and also to demarcate acts and scenes within the script. I don't trust stickies to stay put in the most heavily-trafficked portion of my book.

This is how I order them:

CALENDAR      
BREAKDOWNS
SCHEDULE
ACTOR INFO
REHEARSAL REPORTS         
PRODUCTION MEETING MINUTES         
PERFORMANCE REPORTS
SIGN IN SHEETS         
SCENIC      
LIGHTING       
SOUND      
COSTUMES      
PROPS
SHIFT SHEETS      
MISC            
BOOK

The first 8 tabs are mostly administrative/performance and the last 8 are geared toward production. I always keep my script in the back of the book. I also use a piece of sturdy cardboard, such as the one that comes in the package of divider tabs that keeps them flat and un-crunched during handling. It's glossy on one side so I use that side up at the end of my script. This way, the pages don't get stuck in the back pockets or create friction with the plastic and get all wrinkly. I hate that. Wrinkly pages...my standard binder is a 2.5" D-ring. I will never, never, never go back to O-rings.

131

Tools of the Trade / Re: SM Software

« on: Oct 01, 2007, 08:00 pm »

I high light that day's notes, go through and Copy-paste into emails. Select the whole document, and un-highlight everything when I'm done.

I've done this with great success when I have access to an e-text, i.e. a new play or one that someone has already typed or scanned. I'm not spending my time scanning or typing a script into the computer. I don't think it necessary for my efficiency comfort level, but just convenient and cool. I want someone else to do the tedious part of getting, say, The Cherry Orchard into the the computer.

132

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: The Most Qs Ever

« on: Sep 30, 2007, 01:29 pm »

I did a show once with 303 cues; this was as combo of rail, sound, LX, SPX (snow, fog, haze), video, and scenic shifts. 32 of the rail cues happened on the last three pages of the script, in addition to the other cues happening at the same time. It was really fun!

133

Tools of the Trade / Re: SM Software

« on: Sep 30, 2007, 12:52 pm »

It would make me very uncomfortable to call a show from a computer screen; I don't know why, but the thought makes me uneasy. This is my dream of the most efficient, applicable and useful SM software:

Some fantastically brilliant SM geek creates a e-notebook (wireless!!) capable of taking electronic blocking and line notes. Drag and drop style things...tap this, highlight that...the stylus should be designed to look like a pencil in homage to the good ol' days. The menus would, of course, be customizable, say, like, the symbols library in VectorWorks, but of course there could be a starter menu of symbols included. This tablet would be able to print line notes to distribute at the end of rehearsal, or might organize them for e-mailing to the cast. Of course, you would need the script for this endeavor, so...

Another suave and exceedingly charming SM pitches a plan to the Frenchs and the Dramatists and the Whitmarks, et al, to create a subscription based service for e-texts of scripts. An SM, or theatre, would be able to download the e-text of a script into the above tablet. To try to mitigate copyright infringements, there would be a built in expiration date (like trial software) say, a few days after the opening of the show. The suave and charming SM would also suggest to the big publishers that there might be rate packages from which the theatre could choose, to determine how many full printings of the script would be allowed from the tablet. Printing information would be monitored, stored in the tablet and sent back, via the internet, to the publishers, maybe on a weekly basis. Line note printings wouldn't be monitored because the amount of copyrighted text printed in a line note is negligible. Maybe you can only store two scripts in the tablet at any given time. Most of us aren't working on more than two shows at once, anyway.

If any other SMs out there are interested in geeking out on this project, I'm gung ho to see if it can be done. If any other SMs out there are already doing something like this, I'd like to be involved, 'cause I thought of it, too.

134

Tools of the Trade / Re: SM Software

« on: Sep 27, 2007, 12:19 am »

While I wholeheartedly embrace the information age and technical revolution, I still feel that no SM software will ever compare to a #2 and a good Pink Pearl.

135

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Merged Topics - "Left or Right" and "Your book Left or right"

« on: Sep 27, 2007, 12:13 am »

I'm from the school of make one script that serves for rehearsing and calling.

I agree, no  matter on which side you prefer to put your whatever. I like trees waaaaaay more that I like a fastidious prompt script.