Messages

586

Employment / Re: just resigned :(

« on: Oct 29, 2006, 04:21 am »

Unfortunatly, sh!t happens. It is always a bugger. My first suggestion, would be to write a letter to your bosses boss. Something along the lines of

Dear xxx

I feel that I must explain further the reasons for my early termination of contract with your company. It seems that a largely untrue version of events has been floating arround the grape vine and I wish to clear this issue up with you, to make sure that there are no bad feelings at your end.

I found myself in a rather poor situation X months ago, where after the rather radical restructure, and the introduction of new staff, I was treated with less than adequate respect. I appreciate that the situation was highly stressful, and that tempers were frayed, however I found the attitude of a number of new staff inappropriate. I was employed by your company as an Intern, a position that I feel I was overqualified for, yet gave my all to. A part of being an Intern is that it is largely an educational position. I should not have been expected to 'hand hold' the stage manager - and I certainly should not have been blamed when the stage manager made a mistake.  I am certainly not employed to face verbal abuse - especially infront of my peers. That is unprofessional, and unacceptable.

I feel that I acted professionally throughout my term with the company, even going above and beyond the call of duty on many an occasion, and to find such untrue and unjustified rumours circulating is distressing.

I hope that should anyone come to you, after hearing these rumours, that you will correct them, and help to clear my name.

Kindest regards
....

I would keep it polite and formal, let them know that the information is false, ask them to help clean it up.

If that fails to stop her spreading the rumours, call her up. Keep a written transcript, or have someone listen on the other line.

The main thing is to keep civil during this and to keep records.

Then, if she is still spreading false rumours, threaten to take her to court - suing for lible and professional damages. If it persists, file with the court. $30,000 or so is probably a fair amount - the work you have lost, plus future losses.

587

The Hardline / Re: SM "Present" at Rehearsals

« on: Oct 27, 2006, 04:45 pm »

I would interperet present as being in the room, accessible. If for some reason your presence is not really required, you could probably duck out for 10/15 minutes to do some copying, but I would try and actually work within the room as much as possible.

588

Tools of the Trade / Re: Two-way radios

« on: Oct 26, 2006, 05:03 pm »

Have you ever tried to PTT whilst SM-ing a show? Most of the time, I find that I have my hands full (cue lights + a sound desk or whatever) - it is all a matter of getting it the sensitivity correct. However when I have a free hand, I agree, PTT is the prefered option.

589

SMNetwork Archives / Re: Powered Glass

« on: Oct 25, 2006, 04:46 pm »

A lot of theatres use tinted or "one way" glass - these types of glass do not allow all the light through, in fact they only allow a small percentage of light through. Electric glass offers privacy pre show, and maximum light comming through during the performance

590

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Out On Tour

« on: Oct 22, 2006, 04:27 am »

Touring is great fun. However there really is no "standard" tour.

When SMing, I usually took on the mantle of "Touring Stage Manager"

As for some of your questions:

Passport - not unless you are going to a different country, HOWEVER, it is useful to have a couple of forms of photo ID with you when touring - just in case.

Driving - I would NEVER say "I am not willing to drive" - it is a skill that producers see as a nice safety net. That and I have often found myself being truck driver on small tours.

The roll of Stage Manager (in the absense of a tour manager) becomes an almost 24/7 job. Things like calling the next location ahead to confirm bookings, checking with venues before you get there that everything will be ready,  making sure the actors are comfortable yadda yadda yadda add to the already stressful environment that is touring.

Everything depends on the show. When I was touring, I usually worked with relatively small casts (<20) however often with rather complex sets, with very short stays at each location, so comprehensive check lists were a requirement. As was labling.

For example, I had every road case colour coded and numbered. I also had laminated cards of the corresponding colour which I would blue tack in the right areas, so unloading meant that everything was put in the right area at the right time for fast assembly.

When touring, I believe it is important that everyone knows what to do, in what order. Don't just have sound working independantly to lighting, working independant to set. For example, can LX rig the lights, then an actor follow along behind running the cabling, whilst sound sets up FOH, someone else assembling set etc.

I suppose the only real point I have is that when touring - organisation is key.

591

Employment / Re: Websites

« on: Oct 22, 2006, 02:03 am »

I think that if you are going to have a web site, you really should register a domain for it - make it look at least semi professional. Sacrifice two cups of coffee a year or something and put the money towards it.

592

Employment / Re: Desperately seeking advice.....

« on: Oct 22, 2006, 01:56 am »

Canvasing the town with CV's is usually a good start. Re-establish any connections you can with producers and directors - I think 20% of my work comes from producers and directors liking the work I have done and requesting my services on another job. The biz really is all about contacts.

593

Employment / Re: Cruise jobs

« on: Oct 20, 2006, 05:46 pm »

Cruise shows generally run on a skeleton crew. They (as a general rule) will not employ "Stage Managers" - instead, they employ a couple of experianced all rounders as theatre technicians, and provide a couple of heavy lifters as stage hands (who usually have other duties on the ship like mopping the deck or whatever).

 Most cruises use as much automation as possible - that includes things like sound and lights being run by SMPT TimeCode so there is not much cuing involved.

So the way to get a cruise job is to become the best all rounder you can be, then send in resumes to all of the major cruise lines.

594

Stage Management: Other / Re: Beauty Pageants

« on: Oct 19, 2006, 04:47 pm »

I have done 5 or so in various capactities. The worst are the children ones, because in a childrens pageant, you have parents. And parents are a pain in the rear.

True story: Childrens Pageant. a year ago. I am sound designer/operator. We run dress on the talent segment, and a put out a Sure SM58 for the kid doing singing - basically the standard microphone for vocals, used by everyone. The mother threw the biggest hissy fit because her daughter only sang with X mic - which happened to be a $2,000 microphone used for STUDIO RECORDING - and I had to try and explain why A) we were not going to buy a  $2,000 microphone just for her, and B) why even if we did have one in stock, we could not use it on stage. The kid was great though, about 8 or 9 and kept rolling her eyes and making funny faces behind her mums back...

Anectdote #2: Stage manager. 18 months ago. Childrens Pageant once again. Cueing entrances of contestants prior to the judging as well as telling the dome operators where they can pick up the entrants from with their spots (because we were running without tech or dress and this order had been decided on 5 minutes before we started). I had a group of parents constantly bitching with me through the entire segmant that I a) gave that girl far too much time out there in the audience's focus or b) did not give their child enough time or c) that I should get the spots to change colour to highlight their daughters dress (etc).

I have always found the younger contenstants are great, but have always hated the parents. Older pageants, you get your divas, and you get your good ones, just like any show. And co-ordiantors are as a general rule always a pain in the rear - it is part of their job description I am sure.

595

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Actor Calls

« on: Oct 16, 2006, 04:33 am »

ESM: I would not call it Traditional.... It seems to be the American standard, but traditional would be the British standard - which (from my conversations with British stage managers) calls times from beginners with a 5 minute beginners.

However it really does not matter. You can call whatever you want, provided everyone is in the correct spot at the right time, things are going well.

596

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Running Tech, etc.

« on: Oct 16, 2006, 04:28 am »

My standard policy is I want a "final draft" of cue placements by 3 days before bump in, and I have it all roughed in by the plotting session. The end product is often quite a bit different as timings change etc.

Then the way things generally run in tech week (on shows I work - in the real pro world, things may be quite different):

Bump-in, Plot, Tech, Dress.

You start "calling" in tech.

597

SMNetwork Archives / Re: Powered Glass

« on: Oct 16, 2006, 04:18 am »

The way it works is that by passing an electrical current through glass, you can change how dark the glass is tinted. So what you can do, is have it dark whilst the audience walks in and have the lights on in the booth, then when the lights go down, and you have lights off in the booth, you can make the glass opaque.

598

SMNetwork Archives / Re: Drinking Games

« on: Oct 13, 2006, 09:00 am »

I often introduce "Casing and Slabbing" into shows I work on as a way to promote high quality work.

How it works: When someone makes a relatively bad co@k up, someone on cans calls out "Case Point NAME_OF_PERSON" - this includes actors etc. We write it up on a board, and at the end of the week, the person with the most points buys a slab of DECENT beer for the cast and crew to enjoy that night. I also purchase a case of softdrink at the start of a shows run for the crew to drink, and the crew member with the most case points when the current case of soft drink runs out buys the next one. Case points are erased only when you make a purchase (either of beer or softdrink)

When someone does a serious co@k up which ruins the performance, someone on cans calls out "Slab him/her" - if everyone else on cans agree, that person must buy a round of drinks for everyone after the show. The person who made the co@k up is, of course, not allowed to vote.

599

SMNetwork Archives / Re: Emergency Forms

« on: Oct 13, 2006, 06:36 am »

I know in Australia, ANY form that has legal implications (ie an Emergancy form) MUST be signed by a legal guardian if the person is under 18.

Personally, I think your producer(s) need a good kick in the pants if their sole reason for not wanting parent/guardian signed forms is "We don't want to bother the parents, and we don't want to deal with the hassel" - when doing a childrens show, you must expect these sorts of things, and it certainly gives the parents peace of mind to know that their children will get correct care provided for them.

600

Tools of the Trade / Re: Binder Spines - I need your feedback!

« on: Oct 13, 2006, 06:29 am »

I use a ruler usually

Insert the paper as far as you can without forcing, then take a narrow metal ruler and insert between the clear plastic and the lable. Push on the ruler so that as you move it down, the paper also moves down - after a bit of practice, it takes only moments to get a perfect lable done.

Another tip is to make sure you have the folder open "spread eagle" - generally the plasic is stretched slightly when the binder is closed.

The second method I use is to print the lable on plain paper (slightly smaller than the spine), use a decent glue to stick it down, then contact over the top