Messages

211

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Shadowing: General Q&A

« on: Dec 18, 2009, 03:34 pm »

I asked someone who worked at Wicked about shadowing but he said since I am in high school I cannot shadow because of insurance reasons. I thought some people in this thread said they were in high school and still shadowed at shows.

Another issue with some of the more technical broadway shows is that some of their effects require the cast and crew to all sign non-disclosure agreements. I know I have been asked to sign some when taking a peek at a few shows that have toured over to Aus (Wicked was one). Maybe that is another reason they will not allow u18's to shadow.

But as Matt said, u18's on a show with that much automated scenery is a risk assessment nightmare... I would probably have second thoughts allowing a U18 to shadow as well (hell, I would have second thoughts allowing an adult with that many traveling set pieces)

212

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PEOPLE: Dear Abby: Trouble with Managing an ASM

« on: Dec 16, 2009, 03:33 am »

You also have to remember people have different strengths and work at different speeds. Maybe you could look at re-distributing work load a little bit - certain tasks you have (or your other ASM's do) may suit this ASM better, and a quick swap of a couple of tasks may allow everything to just click into place. It is an issue with long running shows, as turn over happens, sometimes you need to look at your processes again and just revise them to suit your tallent pool.

-Mac

213

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Automation Advice

« on: Dec 08, 2009, 01:44 pm »

When I have dealt with automation, the initial sheet has contained:
A/S/P/C#/Name - Axis # (Dead)/Description

Which looked something like:

Code: [Select]

1   |   1   |  1   |   3   | Main - 1 (out)                                          | Grandmothers house set.
    |       |      |       | Grandmothers house legs - 5 (Position 3)                | As main flys out, GMH flys in
    |       |      |       | Grandmothers house backdrop - 22 (In)                   | a nice slow pace, all sections appearning
    |       |      |       | Festoons - 12 (High 1)                                  | to move as one

After it is plotted, then I have usually received a printout from the automation software which contains every parameter the system has - allowing the show to be completely re-plotted by sitting down and doing a bunch of typing without having to physically re-plot

214

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Automation Advice

« on: Dec 08, 2009, 02:18 am »

A lot depends on the automation system being used. Some of the systems available can be rough-programmed off site, some cannot. Some are fully 3D production environment.

Generally the workflow I have worked with is something like what follows (it is very much like planning cues for manual flying and deck)

Full venue CAD is created. Set is cad'ed, and all measurements are taken. During pre-production, the basics of what is where are nutted out - ie a cue list and the automation system is specced.

Automation is installed and set-up.

Deads are programmed and the cues are run through manually and positions are noted (positioning done in collaboration with director and set designers)

A cue list is created containing the basic motions and some basic ramps and safety conditioning (ie this moves only after a is passed b or this slows down from this height to make sure we dont whack people on the head.) - this is generally done on site (overnight generally in a tight schedule).

Cue-to-cue timing session is run to make it all look pretty (sometimes done in the above step, sometimes done in the LX plotting session)

Tech is run.

215

Employment / Re: Where should I put it all???

« on: Nov 30, 2009, 07:21 am »

Another thing is to use your cover letter to "explain" your resume structure... something like:

Included in my resume are a selection of shows, which I believe best illustrate the diverse range of events I have been involved in during my 15 year career.

0r

I have included a selection of shows from my 15 year career which I believe best illustrate my suitability for this show......... yadda yadda yadda..

It illustrates that "here are a few highlights... but there are more I havn't listed"...

Cover letter is far more valuable than the attached resume when you are looking at SM's in my opinion... It reveals the charactor of the SM far more than a selection of shows will.

216

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Performance Reports Excerpted or Made Public

« on: Nov 23, 2009, 01:53 pm »

I have always been of the belief that show reports are internal documents, and quite confidential - because a show report is a log of everything that was abnormal that show - ie that a staff member came to work slightly inebriated etc - things which may result in a warning being given or even dismissal - these are things that have to be in the report, to cover your own backside, but it is something that I don't want every member of the production team to know. So normally I would send a copy to the director and the producer, with individual notes being distributed to the relevent departments.

-Mac

217

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Are your shows safe from busses?

« on: Nov 11, 2009, 01:40 pm »

How much of our "absolutely everything is written down" is actually true though. This SM had been working for the company for years. The ASM understood shorthand and her symbols (the SM team in this company has been the same for over 10 years) and the ASM had the stage plots in her binder (which was given to the replacement ASM I found out later). What traps do you think we walk into? Where do you draw the line between efficiency and thoroughness? How much redundancy is required?

218

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Are your shows safe from busses?

« on: Nov 11, 2009, 03:32 am »

I thought I would pose this subject to all those SM's who are new to the business after an experiance I had a couple of nights ago (and since I left being an SM, seems to happen quite frequently).

I get a call at 1400 a few days ago from a good friend of mine. He is an artistic director for a small theatre company in Melbourne. He is calling in a flat panic because his SM and ASM have both caught the flu, so neither would be in for that nights show. It was a fairly standard type show - a hundred or so LX cues, 30 or so sound cues, a bunch of deck and fly cues etc. 12 person cast. Could I come in and fill in? He had the show prompt book and a DVD, apparently their SM was really efficient.

Technical team coukd be in at 1700, and doors would be at 1930. That gave me a bit of time to look over the prompt book, and chat with the techs, run through things etc.

So he ran the DVD over to me at work and the prompt book, and I flip through it, instantly seeing that there is no way I could call the show based on the prompt book. At least not easily. The cues were all written inside symbols scattered over the page - LX in circles, AX in triangles, deck in squares - and there was no key. Preset notes were written in short hand and there were no copies of stage plots or anything of the sort. It was obvious that this SM had a system that worked really well for them, but it was quite left of field and unitelligable to people who don't know shorthand (ie the majority of people today).

Luckily I could call the SM and get the details about symbology and shorthand from her, but what if she was uncontactable?

Food for thought? Discuss? Do you live by the "hit by a bus" theory?

219

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: CALLING: Grouping Standbys

« on: Oct 30, 2009, 07:02 am »

Also, look at natural chains. Sometimes operators can be trusted to take point cues by themselves. Ie, you may only need to call LX 10, 11, 12, 15 and 16 because 10.5, 13, 13.5 and 14 are all closely related to their preceeding cue and can be left to the operator.

Another method is the count method. When things fire in a structured manner it is often possible to create a counted sequence - for example, the following cues may fire in a tight sequence over a 10 count:

10: LX 12, SD 4, Deck 14 to preset, line 5 out
9: LX 12.5, SD 5
8:
7: LX 13, Deck 15 on stage, line 7 in
6:
5:
4: Deck 14 to first position, line 7 out, line 8 in
3: LX 13.1
2: LX 13.2, SD 6
1: SD 7

And you can call it something like "Stand by LX, Sound, Deck, Flys for opening Sequnce. With a 10 count, Go!..9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...Sequence complete, standby whatever comes next...."

Provided you talk to your ops about how you want to call it, there is no right or wrong way to call complex sequences.

220

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Stage Manager as Disciplinarian

« on: Oct 24, 2009, 09:46 am »

I generally start with "Okay, lets go get a coffee...", then find a quiet area and invite them to sit. I pull out my notepad. Then I start with "Okay, I guess you know why we are here. Why don't you tell me what happened?"

Now that I am scheduling production crew, I get a bit more firm than when I was dealing with talent. Generally I just say "When you get a moment, can you come to the office" then when they come up, lead them out into the green room and get right to the point with my point of view, then ask them to justify. Generally crew appreciate it more than edging round the fire.

In the event of someone doing something really dangerous, I don't bother with niceties. I will call a crew member directly from the floor and rip them a new one, and in two cases so far have actually just walked up to a crew member, took the tools from their hands and said "you're services are not required for the rest of the day. I expect you in my office at 0700 tomorrow morning."

221

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Fight the flu?

« on: Oct 24, 2009, 09:40 am »

Purelle sanitiser is one of the only hand sanitisers which will kill H1N1 and the majority of other flue strains (very high alcohol content is what does it) I suggest wipe down frequently handled props with alcohol (do a patch test before you go and wipe the entire thing down though) and see if you can get your hands on a product called Microbac. It will not cause fabrics to bleach - spray on, and (if a hard surface) wipe off 10 seconds later.

222

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Require cast to have an email?

« on: Oct 20, 2009, 02:29 pm »

I am currently doing crew control at my venue. It's corporate AV - so the average technician age is 25 and everyone is generally quite computer savvy - or at least technology savvy. All full time staff are provided with e-mail, the rostering system is avilable over citrix to all staff (so home access is quite easy), all staff are required to have a mobile number registered with work. At the end of each day, I SMS everyone's start times for the next two days, I print out 3 copies of the next two days schedule and pin one to the crew board, one sits on my desk and one sits on my managers desk and I email the schedule to everyone. Guess what - people still turn up late... and when I drag them into my cubicle, they pick up my copy of the schedule and say "I check it on the board yesterday. I must have miss read it."

People like hard copies and people check hard copies... Best bet is to use it to your advantage.

223

Tools of the Trade / Re: Fog/Haze that wont set off a very sensitive smoke alarm

« on: Oct 15, 2009, 04:09 am »

There are 2 basic classes of smoke detectors, each with 2 main sub-classes.

1: Particle Detection - the two main types are  Photo-electric and Ionisation. Ionisation are the most common - they are the sort found in the roof of most homes, and most of the detectors tied into fire control boards are ionisation. Smoke machines of any description will set these off once the air reaches a certain saturation of particles (generally not overly high). Photo-electric are also known as beam detectors. They generally work by a laser beam being shot at a detector, and as particles occlude the beam, the detector triggers - haze is generally fairly safe, but smoke machines will eventually set them off.

2: Heat based detectors - the two classes are Rate of Rise and Set-point. It is all in the name really - RoR detectors will trigger when the temperature in the room raises faster than a set rate. Set-point detectors will go off when a certain temperature is set. A classic example of a set-point system is the fire sprinkler system. Neither of these will be set off by smoke machines or hazers.

If you have any type 1 detectors - issolation is the solution. Covering with plastic cups/condoms/plastic bags is compromising the installed fire-supression system and should an emergency occur will often involve lawsuits for all involved. 99% of systems will have some form of issolation available at the fire control pannel. Talk to the venue manager about it. If it is not available, your solution is simple. No haze.

224

Tools of the Trade / Re: Google Wave - SMNetwork Sandbox

« on: Oct 14, 2009, 02:17 am »

I'm in!

--Is a member--

225

The Green Room / Re: Where and when are you at your best?

« on: Jul 07, 2009, 11:13 pm »

I am best at a) Paperwork and b) Solving the unsolvable and I prefer high levels of task loading. I have a very technical mind, but I like to be able to focus on the details.

People skills are not my strongest point - whilst I am generally easy going and get along with most people I meet, I do not tollerate fools, and will not pander to ego's, and I am intollerant when it comes to tardiness and lack of effort and concentration.

When I was SMing, holding myself back from lecturing late casts and casts who did not take the job seriously was very hard for me, and caused me no end of mental frustration.

I also have to like the show I am doing, both content and personel wise. The level of care I give to jobs is proportional to how much I like it. I will always aim to do a very good job, but a show I love will result in me going above and beyond.