151
The Hardline / negotiating
« on: Mar 16, 2010, 06:24 pm »
Those of you who have been in on AEA negotiations, are there any books that you would recommend that someone who hasn't before read to prepare for a contract negotiation?
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152
Stage Management: Other / Re: How To call a Dance Show when your Unsure
« on: Mar 13, 2010, 01:57 pm »
Many dance companies video their pieces or rehearsals; or they recreate dances from previous performances that were captured on video. When I did dance, it was a huge help for me to go over the video again and again to learn the dance quickly.
153
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: COMMUNICATION: Actors want more info, but can't process what they already h
« on: Mar 11, 2010, 01:23 pm »
Do you all travel together in a van or bus? Is there some natural announcement time at the beginning of your work day? Once everybody's there, you could do some standard announcement "Today's show is long, we load out and then have lunch, etc." when you first see the actors, instead of wanting them to remember what they read (or didn't read) the night before.
154
Tools of the Trade / Re: An iphone app specifically for SMs!
« on: Jan 29, 2010, 11:36 pm »
I am playing around with it, and my first impression is that there's room for it to grow before I recommend it. But not really familiar with it yet, and have a couple of questions in to the designer.
155
Tools of the Trade / Re: iPad: What do you think?
« on: Jan 28, 2010, 01:06 pm »
The SDK for the iPad is already available; and the App store has proven to be a fantastic distribution point for anyone who wants to put the time in programming.
I can see iPad being very useful for other industries - law reference, medical records, retail stores. For consumers, it's great to have a comfortable viewing surface for websites. My favorite thing about the iPhone was having the internet in my pocket, and not some slimmed-down mobile version. I also love the integration between calendar, contacts, email, and maps, and all of those things are carried over to the iPad. And it does have bluetooth, correct? So shouldn't you be able to hook up a bluetooth keyboard to it?
For our industry, I think apps could be written that could be very useful. Imagine a line notes program that took a Final Draft script and highlighted lines as you moved your finger down the text; finger gestures to mark the line that was misspoken or called for; contextual keyboard that would allow you to type in what was said instead of the line; linked to your address book so that the line notes could be automatically sorted and filtered to each actor's e-mail address as soon as the run was over. Historical tracking to draw attention to the five lines that keep getting notes over and over and over. Wouldn't that be a useful program?
I agree with Mac, the inability to multi-task is a huge problem. I'm not going to get this first-generation product. A webcam/skype/iChat solution would be the tipping point for me picking one up, in the future.
I can see iPad being very useful for other industries - law reference, medical records, retail stores. For consumers, it's great to have a comfortable viewing surface for websites. My favorite thing about the iPhone was having the internet in my pocket, and not some slimmed-down mobile version. I also love the integration between calendar, contacts, email, and maps, and all of those things are carried over to the iPad. And it does have bluetooth, correct? So shouldn't you be able to hook up a bluetooth keyboard to it?
For our industry, I think apps could be written that could be very useful. Imagine a line notes program that took a Final Draft script and highlighted lines as you moved your finger down the text; finger gestures to mark the line that was misspoken or called for; contextual keyboard that would allow you to type in what was said instead of the line; linked to your address book so that the line notes could be automatically sorted and filtered to each actor's e-mail address as soon as the run was over. Historical tracking to draw attention to the five lines that keep getting notes over and over and over. Wouldn't that be a useful program?
I agree with Mac, the inability to multi-task is a huge problem. I'm not going to get this first-generation product. A webcam/skype/iChat solution would be the tipping point for me picking one up, in the future.
156
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: REHEARSALS: Volunteer crew who don't want to show up regularily!
« on: Jan 15, 2010, 12:57 am »
My advice may not be of much use, as I've only done community theatre once. However, I think this problem is not one you can solve. You need to alert your producer - the Board? - that a volunteer crew is not going to be sufficient for this show. It's never a professional SM's job to cajole an actor or a crew member into showing up to rehearsal, so I don't think it should be your job either. Kick the problem upstairs.
You do only one rehearsal a week - do you do more right before opening the show? Does your production have, in effect, a Tech Week? That seems to be the right time to bring the crew in and teach them their jobs. Keep them busy when they're there, rather than just sitting around while a scene is blocked for the first time.
The message your board is sending to the crew is that their time is not valuable. Since they're all volunteer, that's a horrible message to send. It's really de-motivating. Is there any way to make their time in rehearsal more productive for them? Maybe bring in the crew for the second half of each rehearsal, and reviewing what was done during the first half? Now I'm just brainstorming... Good luck!
You do only one rehearsal a week - do you do more right before opening the show? Does your production have, in effect, a Tech Week? That seems to be the right time to bring the crew in and teach them their jobs. Keep them busy when they're there, rather than just sitting around while a scene is blocked for the first time.
The message your board is sending to the crew is that their time is not valuable. Since they're all volunteer, that's a horrible message to send. It's really de-motivating. Is there any way to make their time in rehearsal more productive for them? Maybe bring in the crew for the second half of each rehearsal, and reviewing what was done during the first half? Now I'm just brainstorming... Good luck!
157
Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Blocking using a score
« on: Jan 05, 2010, 04:32 pm »
Scores are published with the assumption that the musician is reading a double-sided score. The arranger often places vamp bars or rest bars at the bottom of the right-hand, odd-numbered page to allow the musician to turn the page without missing a note. That isn't the case for the bottom of the left-hand, even-numbered page, which often needs your eye to look immediately up to the next bar at the top of the right-hand page.
So I always double-side my score pages, and for blocking notes, I insert a blank sheet between each. Blocking is written on the side facing the score. When in a run situation, I can hold the blocking page vertical and read the score directly from the left-hand page to the right.
To ease the flipping of pages, quickly finding a particular page of the score, I trim a quarter-inch off the right side of the blocking sheets before I insert them. This means my fingers always turn a score page and never mistakenly grab a blocking page.
So I always double-side my score pages, and for blocking notes, I insert a blank sheet between each. Blocking is written on the side facing the score. When in a run situation, I can hold the blocking page vertical and read the score directly from the left-hand page to the right.
To ease the flipping of pages, quickly finding a particular page of the score, I trim a quarter-inch off the right side of the blocking sheets before I insert them. This means my fingers always turn a score page and never mistakenly grab a blocking page.
158
The Hardline / Re: Half Hour Call
« on: Jan 05, 2010, 03:36 pm »FWIW I also always give a formal half-hour call for runs in costume - not basic techs, where we are just stopping for dinner and then picking up where we left off, but for the dress run/dress tech, since getting into costume/make-up is on the clock. If they need more time, and certainly for large cast shows I open up earlier, but the actual formal call stays the same.
This. I would consider it to be a part of the show-conditions full-dress run-through that most contracts require before the first paid public performance. Otherwise, I don't believe it's necessary.
Often, the half-hour call in tech is a handy way to coordinate crew set-up time and breaks with the actor prep so that all can start onstage at the same time. But in a pressed-for-time situation, a two-person show, or a really difficult tech, I would do the harder work of pushing all to get onstage as soon as possible.
159
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / REHEARSALS: prompting requests around the world
« on: Dec 30, 2009, 07:02 pm »
Most actors I've worked with in regional theatre say "line" when they need prompting on the next line to say. Occasionally I've worked with an actor who can say "word" when a particular word in the line falls away and they don't want to paraphrase. I was told some actors snap when they need prompting because they don't want to put any other words in their mouths, though I've never seen that in reality.
I'm now working with a Canadian cast and it's very prevalent for one of them to say "yes" as we in the U.S. would say "line." I find it a little hard to adjust to, but I think I'm handling it okay. I'm glad someone in the past told me that was the Canadian custom and it didn't throw me when it first happened.
Do actors in Australia or the U.K. do something different when calling for line? Just curious.
EDIT: expanded subject to be more descriptive. -- PSMK
I'm now working with a Canadian cast and it's very prevalent for one of them to say "yes" as we in the U.S. would say "line." I find it a little hard to adjust to, but I think I'm handling it okay. I'm glad someone in the past told me that was the Canadian custom and it didn't throw me when it first happened.
Do actors in Australia or the U.K. do something different when calling for line? Just curious.
EDIT: expanded subject to be more descriptive. -- PSMK
160
The Green Room / Re: "How to get a job as a stage manager"
« on: Dec 18, 2009, 06:29 pm »
"Difficulty: Moderate" Ya think? What could be easier that this?
LOL Three easy steps - 4 and 5 are the extent of the job description, after all.
And all this time, I've had my lighting and sound queues the same color!
Time to check out the "related" articles and see if any are useful or laughable!
LOL Three easy steps - 4 and 5 are the extent of the job description, after all.
And all this time, I've had my lighting and sound queues the same color!
Time to check out the "related" articles and see if any are useful or laughable!
161
The Green Room / Re: New web site about stage managers?
« on: Dec 07, 2009, 10:41 am »
It's legit? Not a phishing/spam hook?
162
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: CALLING: Musical number where I can't hear....countdown software?
« on: Dec 01, 2009, 06:56 pm »
Can you see the conductor, or get a monitor shot of the conductor? Ask him or her to give the camera a fingerpoint a measure before your cue, and then you don't need to count all the bass drum beats.
163
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Producer told me I had to me be nicer in rehearsal!
« on: Sep 27, 2009, 09:57 pm »
I agree with Matthew, there's little point in scheduling more than a day in advance unless you're dealing with a ton of conflicts or the rehearsal period is severely curtailed in some way.
Having said that, there are some events (as opposed to rehearsals) - first day of tech, promotional photo call - that are scheduled ahead. Sitzprobe is one of those events. The musical director or orchestra contractor has to get all the orchestra in the same room as the cast, and last-minute changes can't be allowed to interfere with the sitzprobe. Way too many people, who aren't involved in other areas of the production, ARE involved on that day. And it's really really hard to reschedule all of them! Maybe I'm reading too much into it, maybe you were just tossing out a hypothetical quote, but if the sitzprobe was brought to the table in a schedule negotiation the day prior to its happening, I can't blame the MD for over-reacting.
Having said that, there are some events (as opposed to rehearsals) - first day of tech, promotional photo call - that are scheduled ahead. Sitzprobe is one of those events. The musical director or orchestra contractor has to get all the orchestra in the same room as the cast, and last-minute changes can't be allowed to interfere with the sitzprobe. Way too many people, who aren't involved in other areas of the production, ARE involved on that day. And it's really really hard to reschedule all of them! Maybe I'm reading too much into it, maybe you were just tossing out a hypothetical quote, but if the sitzprobe was brought to the table in a schedule negotiation the day prior to its happening, I can't blame the MD for over-reacting.
164
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: ESCRIPTS Archive June 09-Dec. 10
« on: Sep 19, 2009, 12:58 am »
My favorite shakespeare resource is playshakespeare.com.
Their e-texts include shared lines, which in midsummer especially, is crucial for the blank verse to make any sense at all.
http://www.playshakespeare.com/midsummer-nights-dream/scenes
Their e-texts include shared lines, which in midsummer especially, is crucial for the blank verse to make any sense at all.
http://www.playshakespeare.com/midsummer-nights-dream/scenes
165
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re:
« on: Sep 15, 2009, 08:52 pm »
I'm with you 100% loebtmc. Yes, with a prop gun the front is blocked and the powder is expelled out the side of the gun - but that just means that you hold the gun away from your body (or from anybody else's)! Always aim a gun - any gun, even a water pistol, unless it's being used as a water pistol - off line, slightly upstage of your target.
If I were an actor, I would not take even a .005% chance that I could actually shoot a scene partner. Think what nightmares I would have for the rest of my life! However, as the actor I am not constantly in control of the firearm; I didn't select the prop or the round that went into it; I have no way of knowing if the prop was somehow switched backstage accidentally or with malice. The way I, personally, as an actor, make certain that I could never shoot an actor is I don't aim at my scene partner.
If I were an actor, I would not take even a .005% chance that I could actually shoot a scene partner. Think what nightmares I would have for the rest of my life! However, as the actor I am not constantly in control of the firearm; I didn't select the prop or the round that went into it; I have no way of knowing if the prop was somehow switched backstage accidentally or with malice. The way I, personally, as an actor, make certain that I could never shoot an actor is I don't aim at my scene partner.