Messages

436

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: How to Spike Stage for Focus?

« on: Apr 15, 2007, 07:16 pm »

It is just nice (when working as an LD) to have some points of reference on the stage.

Whilst Ljh's post is probably the "taught" way to mark stages for focus (I don't know, I have never been taught that stuff), each LD is different and what they want will evolve as they learn more (and frankly, you cannot really learn how light works without playing with it). Every LD has their own way to do things.

p.s. The reason I like scenery marked out is because often I end up working well past the time everyone has left, which means I cannot move the scenery myself - so the spike is required for programming.

437

Tools of the Trade / Re: Keeping Spike tape down...

« on: Apr 11, 2007, 08:55 am »

All of my glo-tape gets stapled down, with the longest staples I can find.

Some places are analy retentive about their floors - make sure you check before putting staples in them.

438

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Weapons on Stage - Saftey and Legality

« on: Apr 10, 2007, 09:51 pm »

If you absolutely need to use a real knife, of any sort, this is the sort of process I would go through:

First things first: You need to risk assess - and I would document this all on paper. The basic ones are how you will prevent injury from the knife whilst A: On stage and B: Off stage.

B is largely solved by having the knife kept under lock and key whilst not on stage (to prevent it being fiddled with) and A is a rather complex issue.

Then, I would go to your local authority - being the police/sherif/whatever and talk about your situation. If they veto it, it is back to the drawing board. If they say Okay, chances are they will impose some restrictions upon you. You need to document these as well - and get the police to sign it as well.

Basically, you need to be able to prove to a court of law (should worst come to worst) that due care was taken on your part, and on the companies part to prevent injury/death, to obey local laws and to keep a safe work environment.

Someone will have to take responsibility for this knife - and it will be someone who is there for every show, and will most likely end up being you. If you do not feel comfortable with using a real knife, then your answer MUST be no. The actor must also be completely comfortable with the use of this knife. The producers too. Only then, should a real knife be considered.

439

SMNetwork Archives / Re: misc prop questions

« on: Apr 10, 2007, 12:40 pm »

1) there's a knife that one character stabs another in the back with - all the action takes place US and really isn't visible, it happens right before intermission so that when Act 2 starts the stabbed man has a bloody rag to his back - my question is about the knife, i have gotten many suggestions, but am unsure
    - we've been rehearsing with a "prop" knife, the kind where the blade disappears into the handle but the problems are that it needs to be a kitchen knife and because it's cheap and plastic we've gone through 2, they keep breaking
    - an actor suggested dulling an actual butcher's knife, but that seems WAY too dangerous to me
    - another actor suggested getting a knife from a Halloween shop and covering the dull grey plastic with mylar

Dulled knife is a BIG no-no (if you can avoid it - cos if the weilder misses, they bloody hurt). Have a search, as I can remember there being a few threads about knifes on this forum. Risk assessment is your friend with all these sorts of things. You need to find the best solution that has low risk/hazard rating. Basic RA instantly says to me retractable or rubber, of a good quality (the mechanism mustn't jam).

440

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: How to Spike Stage for Focus?

« on: Apr 09, 2007, 08:31 pm »

When I am LD, I like a relatively large sized + right in the center of the stage (with the lines going along the two center lines. Then the scenery marked out - just the corners.

I tend to design fairly simmetrical rigs, from the center out (if that makes sense to you) - I know LD's who don't though, so as others have said - communicate with your LD.

441

Tools of the Trade / Re: Do you prefer Word or Excel?

« on: Apr 09, 2007, 07:05 am »

My opinion, is you cannot compare. They have completely different purposes. You have to use the right tool for the right job.

442

Tools of the Trade / Re: Excel Help?!

« on: Apr 08, 2007, 07:31 pm »

Actually, if the cells text is slanted, make the columns sized to fit (with Format>Columns>To Fit), the cell border feature will make the lines angled too. It is a tad messy at the edges, but otherwise fine.

I have attached a sample to prove my point, if you want to see it in action.

443

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Traditions in the Theatre

« on: Apr 08, 2007, 07:23 pm »

From memory, there are no "New theatre" rituals, as most rituals are about keeping the spirits of past performers/audiences/shows/whatever happy - you have a clean slate (unless your theatre is atop a cemetery). Just enforce from the onset that you want to keep the place as free from curses as you can, and you will be fine.

444

The Hardline / Re: "Unprofessional"

« on: Apr 06, 2007, 09:50 pm »

It is a lot worse in the TV industry - A friend who works as a Camera Man on a couple of AU TV shows has told me that the actors there are a lot worse - some refusing to work with "Illegitimate" actors (ie not trained actors). At least "Professionalism" in the theatre world has nothing really to do with Union/Non-Union, Paid/Unpaid, Trained/Untrained but more to do with accepted methods and attitudes.

445

Stage Management: Other / Re: School productions.

« on: Apr 06, 2007, 01:15 am »

Well the project is OVER! In the end everything ran smoothly, although the price of paper probably went up quite a bit. I managed to restrict access to back stage so that there was one point of entry.

I notified the parents that they must notify me if their child will be picked up by anyone except them (ie friends parent or a relative), and each chaperone had a list of who the parents of each child were and who was allowed to pick them up.

There were no feinters (I asked that the students be taken to the toilet 10 minutes before they needed to get ready, then given a glass of water to drink), so that was a bonus, and I had minimal overlap between acts - and no stalling.

For access control, I did laminated wrist straps in a number of colours, to denote which area the wearer was allowed, which contained their name and job. Blue, for example, was a chaperone, red was for the teachers who acted as runners, green was "student preparation" etc.

Each class got 15 minutes outside after their performance, and 10 minutes outside during the longer gap between their performances. We put some snacks etc out there too.

All the runners were on 2-way radios, and I had at least one runner positioned at each point of interest (1 outside, 1 in the dressing room, 1 in the students area of the auditorium and 3 'floating')

I was on cans and 2-way radio throughout the night - thankyou techpro for your "2 way interface" - it works beautifully - so my need to know everything was pretty much satisfied.

I am glad it is over, but it was a good experiance.

446

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Dressing For The Part?

« on: Apr 05, 2007, 11:48 am »

What's the reasoning behind wearing blacks to anything but tech rehearsals and performances?

Blacks hide a multitude of sins. I hate dirt. In fact I was one of those children who walked arround puddles because I didn't want to get dirty. I still hate dirt, although I accept it is part of my job. So blacks make sense to me, because it hides the dirt.

Also, as I have said a number of times before, I don't just stage manage, but I have a (hopefully) full time job now working in the corporate world (who are only just starting to realise the value of a stage manager) - in a 5 star hotel doing SM, LX, AV, whatever as a member of the inhouse technical company.

 
I wear black dress shirt and black dress pants, black belt and well polished (ie shiny) black boots. I can spend all day in the roof re-lamping lights (meaning I am covered in god knows what), and it takes me 10 minutes to make myself clean enough to talk to a client. 12 if I decide to put on a tie and re-tie my hair.

That and if the only clothes you ever wear are black, making decisions in the morning is easy.

447

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: I need some serious help!

« on: Apr 04, 2007, 03:43 pm »

I'll add another vote for the "Don't walk away" party. The air seems to be thick with emmotion, and it needs to be cleared. The company meeting is probably the best way to go about it. Another would be to approach the Equity Deputy - who seems to be spokesperson-elect of the cast, the writers, the director and directorial team, and set up a nice little meeting.

You don't want to point fingers when you have this meeting, that will only make things worse. What you need to do is clear the air. Ask the actors rep to tell their concerns to everyone, then ask those concerned if it is possible to ease the actors fears in any way, or to provide their reasoning for why it is happening.

I am not ashamed to admit that I like to have everything RELATIVELY static a week or so out of tech - in fact, I badger my directors about it ("Are there any sections you are worried about? Shall we set asside some time to nutt it all out?" sort of things), however the director is an artist - and artists are notorious for not making up their minds.

448

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Brand new and seeking help!

« on: Mar 27, 2007, 01:51 am »

Theatre (in the managerial positions) is 5 parts who you know, 1 part good presentation, and 3 parts experiance.

Amdram is a good place to get the contacts and experiance - and college is another method.

Basically, want to make a career out of it, do as many shows as you can, and network.

449

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: First SM position and first Challenge

« on: Mar 26, 2007, 07:18 pm »

I find the easiest way to do blocking is make a small set plan with key features, give each an abreviation (T1,T2 etc for tables, StL for stairs left, and StR for stairs right etc) and put this at the top of a piece of paper. Copy one for each page of script, and insert it on either the left or right side facing that page in your prompt copy. Next, give each major character their own abbreviation.

Then use some form of blocking notation - document it whilst you do it - and write steps. I would then correlate these steps with numbers sketched into my script.

Ie - in this snippet, Stacey enters a Temple, crosses to a table, kneels, saying a prayer, then exits through an upstairs door.

(1) S en -> DSL T1 (k)
(2) S (s) -> StR upArrowHere ex

S being my abbreviation for Stacey, Enters, then Crosses to the Down Stage Left corner of Table 1 and Kneels
Stacey Stands then Crosses to Stair case Right, goes Up stairs and Exits.

There would be a (1) above my script towards the start of that scene when Stacey enters the monastery, then her prayer would be after that, and at the conclusion of the prayer would be the number 2.

450

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Just finished calling my first show!...

« on: Mar 26, 2007, 02:39 am »

Well.... Lesson learnt I hope. EWP's of any type are not toys. If your cast were worried about the scaff, explain how it was errected by trained personal to be structurely sound, and has a number of safety elements - like cross struts etc. Don't say "Look, I'll do some stupid stuff, and if I don't get hurt, well obviously your non-stupid stuff won't hurt you." frankly, that's daft, and if you were in a venue I worked, you would find yourself outside pretty damn quickly.

Whilst I understand you are learning the ropes of stage management and I don't want to discourage you, pull your head in. Theatre is dangerous. EXTREAMLY dangerous. Actors tend not to realise just how dangerous it can be. You have high voltages, with high currents. You have heights, and you have bloody heavy things suspended at heights. You have bars which only stay up there because they are counterbalanced with weights and secured with a rather weak break leaver, you have trip hazards and low hanging stuff.

There are hundreds of ways a person can be seriously injured in a theatre, and part of the SM's job is making sure that those hundreds of risks are minimised, and their hazard reduced. Part of that is to lead by example. Another is to instruct people in the correct proceedures within the venue.

Let's do my favorite piece of analysis on your actions.

Action: Jumping off of Scaff tower.
Risk: Incorrect landing leading to injury.
Likelyhood: High
Hazard: Moderate
Method to reduce risk: Do not jump from the scaff.
Risk: Misjudging distance and landing in the pit, atop music stands etc
Likelyhood: Low/moderate
Hazard: High
Method to reduce risk: Do not jump from the scaff.
Risk: Feet getting cought on kick board, giving jumper spin, resulting in incorrect landing
Likelyhood: Low
Hazard: High
Method to reduce risk: Do not jump from the scaff

And you could keep going.