Messages

286

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: SM's problem with techies...

« on: Mar 22, 2008, 08:38 am »

It is more of a professional courtesy. When addressing actors/dancers/etc, we refrain from calling them "luvvies", "turns", "twirlies" or any of the more "inappropriate" names (at least to their faces), and expect the same in return.

"Techie" tends to be used to describe 14 year old boys who think they know it all, know they know more than you, and believe that their school needs to buy some movers and a nexo line array because they R0xorZ. These "techies" can usually be identified by the fact that they come up and great you saying "Hey, I am xyz, the schools techie." when you rock up to help them with a show. They can be further identified by the fact that they will talk pure bull, as they tell you that your console is crap compared to the ZXY Light Maker II they read about last week in the local "DJ Times" magazine. The final identifying mark is that you will ask them to please not eat and drink in the Bio box, and yet you will come up during the middle of the show, and find coke all over your desk... So yes, many techs find "techie" to be a degrading term

However, that is going far, far off topic.

287

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: sound cue debate - letters or numbers

« on: Mar 20, 2008, 08:01 pm »

Seeing as I always use numbers anyway, I never have an issue, but in the digital age, numbered cues are a bit easier than lettered cues in many applications.

For example, I have a piece of sound playback software which allows me to type in a cue name and press enter to skip cues, or just use enter to go. So I carry around a small USB number pad, and sit my playback machine (my laptop) up on a stand, and the number pad next to my sound desk. Typing 105 on a keypad is easier than typing CA for example.

If I am running the sound desk as well as the sound playback, I really don't have room for the laptop, except to sit it beside me on the drive racks - that puts me in a bad operating position.

As SM's, we really do need to be adaptable.

288

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: SM's problem with techies...

« on: Mar 18, 2008, 02:24 am »

I think part of your problem comes from the fact that you say you are "In charge" of them. Strictly not correct. You run rehearsals, you give cues, you act as an information hub, you look after the crew, yadda yadda yadda, but the Technical Director is ultimately in charge of them. If you go in with an I am the boss attitude (which is how your post came across) they will dig their heels in and resist.

Step 2 would be to stop calling them techies... Most Techs I know would rip someones teeth out for calling them a techie (myself included)

Finally, talk to them one on one, ask why they doubt your abilities to stage manage. Try to reassure them. Explain that you believe that for a show to run smoothly, during the rehearsal/tech/dress/show calls, the stage manager needs to be able to count on the cast and crew listening and taking on board what the stage manager is saying.

289

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Peter Pan

« on: Mar 11, 2008, 08:36 pm »

The better option, if you have the CapEx to spend on something regarding flying people (ie that is a specific wish of the venues) would be to get your fly floor upgraded to allow you to place high point loads wherever you wish - If you have it upgraded to something along the lines of 1/2T point loads anywhere on the grid with 10T UDL, a fly company like Fly by Foy will be able to come in and install a rig with little to no need for installing extra bracing or ground support etc - that will decrease costs significantly.

290

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: so nervous!

« on: Mar 05, 2008, 07:42 pm »

I respect people more when they say "Sorry, I don't know how to do that, can you show me?" than when they say "Sure" then do something incorrectly.

The company I work for runs a training program called TOPS. Basically, it is a short course for people who want to break into the AV industry, and at the end of the program, you are promoted to a "Level 1 AV Technician" within the companies internal ranking system. Sadly, a few Toppers come out of the program with the opinion that they know what they are doing, and are ready to handle shows, which is not the case (my personal opinion is that the TOPS program spits out graduates with a diploma in pushing cases and putting up drape lines who have at least 6 months of on the job before I would even consider them for babysitting a lecturn).

The Toppers that go far (and eventually move from Level 1 to Level 2, then Level 3 and finally to Technical Director (estimated time to TD rank is 10 years)) are the ones that admit to not knowing something and ask to be shown.

The Toppers that say they are ready to jump in the deep end and get given complex jobs and then do them badly, invariably become a member of the operations team, or leave the company..... Not sure if that is a good moral (be bad at what you do, and you will get moved to lower management)

So what I am trying to say is: If you are honest and up front about your abilities, yet show yourself to be willing to learn, you will NEVER taint your reputation. If you lie about your skills and don't live up to what you say you can do... well maybe there is a job in management for you... So it's not all bad...

291

The Green Room / Re: Things You'll Never Hear a Stage Manager Say

« on: Mar 04, 2008, 07:43 am »

No, it was an "Events theming designer" hired by a client, who wanted to hang large perspex rainbows above every table for a caberet/awards night I did last week. He wanted to put plaster hooks in the ceiling above everyones head.

As these hanging centerpieces had already been made without our consultation, we said "NO WAY!". In the end we put up two truss arches strapped to pillars of the room with rated ratchet straps and spansets, and strung high tensile wire (rated to 250kg) between the two, like a clothes line, then hung them off that... It was hell on earth.

292

The Green Room / Re: Things You'll Never Hear a Stage Manager Say

« on: Mar 03, 2008, 04:53 pm »

Of course you can just go and hang heavy objects willy nilly around the venue above the audiences head from the venues plaster roof. I am sure they won't mind the holes, and I am sure that nothing will fall down and brain someone!

293

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Calling from a moniter

« on: Mar 02, 2008, 11:32 pm »

I love calling with the aid of a monitor - Provided you get access to a decent amount of equipment, you can see exactly what you want, when you want. Before the great money drought of Christmas 07, I had 12 cameras - 5 IR and 7 normal, 2 monitors, a matrix switcher and a mass of BNC (which all ended up on Ebay, as I rarely needed it in the corporate world)

294

Tools of the Trade / Re: Presentation Software for MAC

« on: Feb 28, 2008, 07:47 am »

Budget of $0, with a list of features like that... You are probably going to have to re-think that one...

You could probably get something on Windows that does that (provided you already had Powerpoint, you could add screenmonkey to the mix and probably sort something out), however Mac's just don't have the wide spread developer base that is found on windows - so such specialty software is going to be hard to fine.

Macs don't tend to be used in the presentation arena too frequently either.

295

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Cast Gifts/Thank Yous?

« on: Feb 27, 2008, 05:29 am »

Never feel pressured to give your cast and crew gifts etc. "opening night" cards are a tradition of a sort (in that they are a sort of "good luck" charm) however they are no where near essential.

If you do not feel comfortable with it, do not do it.

There is no rule that says "Cast and crew must receive gifts from Stage Management on the first night"

296

Tools of the Trade / Re: Avoiding the gross buildup in non-draining water coolers

« on: Feb 06, 2008, 05:58 pm »

Tis not a bad idea. What we did for our one at work is to drill a hole in the bottom edge of the side facing out, and put in a bit of thin plastic tubing, a bit of silicone to seal the hole and then down into a floor drain.

297

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: time filling

« on: Feb 03, 2008, 06:29 am »

Also check out the various other disciplines you are likely to encounter. Gives you a lot more credibility with the people you are likely to encounter in your day to day dealings.

298

Employment / Re: Work Samples for Applications

« on: Jan 31, 2008, 06:51 pm »

If I had been asked to provide a work sample via mail/fax/email I would probably include the following:

1 excerpt from a recent prompt book for a show of similar type - probably 4 pages (2 pages of script with the related 2 pages of blocking/notes/etc)
1 call sheet
1 rehearsal report
1 performance report
1 page of script extraction
1 detailed floor plan (if you have one to hand - the thing with floorplans is they are really hard to mock up)

Usually, it is just a matter of flipping through a similar production book and getting a sample of as much as you can, but keep it under 10 pages.

That said, if I was not specifically asked to provide a work sample, and was going to an interview, I would just bring the entire book from one of my shows (Well, provided I had enough notice to get one out of document storage)

299

Tools of the Trade / Re: Fire extinguishers on the catwalks

« on: Jan 31, 2008, 07:02 am »

The head Tech had these parcans working thru the dimmers for about 15 hours per day. He believed having the dimmers running them on about 50%, that  he could twice the amount of lights on one dimmer rack.

That theory is not exactly flawed - using an appropriate dimmer curve, you can easily run twice as many fixtures on the one dimmer channel. Provided your total draw is not above the rated capacity of any of your mains incomers. The problem is that dimmers are not 100% efficient.

Admittedly, duty cycle is not 100%, however most decent dimmers will easily cope with 15 hour days when loaded at close to capacity (even at 50%) - in fact in architectural dimming, it is quite common to have circuits which are at capacity at 25% with no problems.

300

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Sound effects

« on: Jan 30, 2008, 07:12 am »

TBH - the free stuff you get of the net is hardly ever realistic. Even when they are actual recordings of the event in question, when put into the context of a theatrical performance, often feel wrong. If you plan on doing a lot of SFX work, get a decent multi-track audio application, and really play around with layering and enveloping sounds.