Messages

661

College and Graduate Studies / Re: Help choosing which college to attend!

« on: Mar 15, 2009, 02:14 pm »

I graduated from the BFA Stage Management program at Penn State in 2006.  I'm very happy with the education I received, and that's both inside and out of the School of Theatre.  I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about the program.  Send me a PM if you'd like to chat!

662

Tools of the Trade / Re: Stagecraft Exchange

« on: Mar 12, 2009, 04:16 pm »

Thanks for sharing that Sarah, that's a pretty cool resource and it seems like it will be well-organized once the posts start to add up.  Hopefully it catches on!

663

Tools of the Trade / Re: AB USB Cables

« on: Mar 05, 2009, 02:17 pm »

Nobody has 24' lengths because the maximum length of a USB cable is about 16 feet  .  Anything more you will have signal degradation.

For an "economic" approach that you'd use in a home you may want to look at an Active USB Cable.  This will boost the signal over a short distance and would cover your needs.  Buy a 15' active USB-A male to USB-A female, then a 15' passive USB-A male to USB-B male and you should be set for home use at a low cost.

If you're doing this in a theatre or as a permanent installation you'd want a more robust solution.  For a proper commercial installation I'd recommend converting USB to Cat 5.  This would be done using a USB Repeater.  This converts the signal to Cat 5 with a standard RJ45 connector (typical ethernet cable) and allows a run of over 300 feet.

The signal flow would be something like this  (SR = signal repeater):

Printer {USBA---USBA}USBA-Cat5 SR {Cat5(RJ45)--Up to 300 ft--Cat5(RJ45)}Cat5-USBA SR{USBA---USBB}Airport

664

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: What basics should actors know about tech?

« on: Mar 04, 2009, 12:21 pm »

I like the overall idea of the document.  It gives a comprehensive overview of what an actor should expect their first time through tech.

Looking at it from an actor's point of view though I would take issue with some of the language.  One suggestion I have is to take a less adversarial tone on a few points. 

i.e.:

You WILL get a bit confused on the stage. 

Will they get confused?  Maybe; I wouldn't even say definitely.  Actors aren't dumb!  But the harsh tone could create feelings of fear, anxiety or resentment.  Maybe something like "Tech rehearsal is the first time we bring all the elements of the production together.  If you get confused, it's okay.  One of the major objectives of tech is to work through the confusion that can arise from the transition to the stage and the addition of technical elements."  would serve your purpose better?

You’re going to feel discombobulated...

Same deal. 

Again I think you have the information you need, personally I just think you could help yourself improve the general dynamic of the cast by taking a more docile tone.  Don't confuse that with speaking to the actors like children, because that's even worse.

Cheers, and good luck.  Let us know how this document works for you!


edit:  rephrased a couple of sentences. -kmc307

665

Tools of the Trade / Re: Useful iPhone apps?

« on: Mar 02, 2009, 09:00 am »

A few days ago I read a study that, among other things, states that free iPhone apps have a less than 5% chance for being used after thirty days from initial download, while paid applications are actually even less likely to be used after thirty days.  (Study is here for those interested)

I am a bit curious to see how this relates to our membership here.  Since it seems a lot of you have downloaded these apps specifically to aid you in your daily work I am inclined to think our membership might use their apps more often than the average Joe.

So let's hear it - in addition to the useful and cool apps you've downloaded, how often are you using them?

666

Tools of the Trade / Re: Conquering Spam Filters

« on: Feb 27, 2009, 08:41 am »

I now use my gmail account for all professional business (which I have yet to have issue with) and my me.com (mac) account for important technical accounts and orders and such.

I haven't had issues yet with gmail either.  I had a .com a few years ago and stupidly posted my email address for the world (aka spambots)   to see.  I get about 150 spam a day and haven't had an email get caught, at least not that I know of.  I do a quick scan of my spam to see if there's anything outside of the "3oMG p|LLS ch3ap!" type emails, but nothing important has been caught yet!

667

Employment / Re: When Hiring Other SM's...

« on: Feb 26, 2009, 10:50 pm »

J
I have had yahoo issues rather recently, and have since used my gmail account. The last show I did was for a university and my cast of students all got my emails just fine...but I never got ANY of theirs'.  Not sure what the glitch was. So yes, there are definitely pros and cons. I agree.  We should open a topic (elsewhere) about what email providers have worked and such. It would be interesting discuss how email is used (in terms of organizing folders, labels, inbox, etc) and what glitches we've come across.

Another thread, another time.

I do agree though. But in the event that it's not a spam filter issue.....?

I've started a thread in Tools of the Trade titled "Conquering Spam Filters".

668

Tools of the Trade / Conquering Spam Filters

« on: Feb 26, 2009, 10:47 pm »

This is a topic that came up in another thread.  Since email is a tool we use every day I thought this would be a good place for it.

The issue that came up in the Employment forum on the thread "When Hiring Other SMs".  The problem some folks seem to be having is important email getting caught in spam filters.  Has anyone else experienced this?  If so, which email providers did you experience this with and how did you resolve the situation?

669

Employment / Re: When Hiring Other SM's...

« on: Feb 25, 2009, 10:10 am »

I do take the point that if you've been applying for work it behooves one to keep an eye out for responses through all possible channels.
Maybe I just think that the phone used to work well as a way of communicating...

Of course, and the phone still IS a great way to communicate.  Face to face is even better.  One major benefit of email though (aside from being instantaneous) is that it provides a paper trail for all communications between the two parties.  When hiring and interviewing, a paper trail is critical.

670

Employment / Re: When Hiring Other SM's...

« on: Feb 24, 2009, 11:19 pm »

True, people get busy, but if one applies for a job, shouldn't one be serious (or smart) enough to reply when an prospective employer makes the first move? 

Absolutely.  It's not only polite, but necessary to respond in a timely manner.  The employer, in this case you, needs to make decisions against a certain time-line and by not responding they're only hurting themselves.  And if they are out of touch or not available they should indicate so via an auto-response email that can be set up with any email service and put change their voicemail indicating when they will be able to respond.  "I'm busy" is not an acceptable reason for not responding.  If you're interested in a job, you need to respond in a timely manner (in the corporate world, 48 hours is typically considered an acceptable window for a response to an email and many HR policies or informal lessons on "email etiquette" go on this timeframe).  At the very least, a simple email that says "my next two days are booked solid, but I'll have a chance to send a proper reply by the end of Thursday" takes about 30 seconds to write.

Has anyone else run into this?

I have encountered similar situations in the past.  One option for you is in your initial email to a candidate to include a deadline for scheduling an interview.  It can be worded as simply as: "Our goal is to have this position filled by xx date.  To allow time for consideration of all applicants interviews may be scheduled until yy date."

As an employer your options are fairly limited.  It's not usually appropriate to give career advice in this context or lessons on etiquette to applicants, so if they're clueless unfortunately you've just got to move on.

671

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Acting Class?

« on: Feb 19, 2009, 10:57 pm »

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes.  It is absolutely beneficial. 

As SM you need to be able to put yourself in the shoes of everyone involved in the production.  This is all the way from costume construction, set construction, lighting design, sound design, acting and directing.  Any education or experience you can get in any area of the theatre will be helpful to you as an SM.

In my SM program in college I was required to take (at least) two levels of acting and one level of directing (no matter how terrible I was at both), it was a very valuable experience for sure.  At the absolute least you'll realize how tough it is to perform in front of an audience.  If you've got the chance I'd say do it. 

672

Stage Management: Other / Re: Stage Management For Ice Show

« on: Feb 18, 2009, 09:20 am »

I've called time-coded shows before and people often ask me how it's different from a traditional show.  In the past I've used the analogy of flying a plane.  In a traditional show, you're calling each cue, giving standbys, etc...  Think of this as flying the plane manually using each control lever, pedals, etc...  With a timecoded show you're taking a more passive role, think of this as autopilot.  The computer is taking commands based on what's been programmed.  With autopilot on a plane, you've still got to have intimate knowledge of all aspects of the flight in case something goes wrong, and the same is true with a timecoded show. 

Will you be running the automation?  Calling a show to automation will take a bit of adjustment.  If you're a technically minded person that adjustment should come a little easier.  Basically, instead of calling the cue and the operator or stagehand taking the cue, you're simply going to be telling everyone what is happening.  A good example would be something like "Stage Lift A moving in 3...2...1...moving".  You'll have a timecode display at your call station and you basically call backwards based off of the time when the cue will happen.  That's a very general overview of my experiences, if you have any more specific questions feel free to post here or PM me.

673

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Need Help

« on: Feb 17, 2009, 01:56 pm »

If by "this Wednesday" you mean tomorrow, then as SM, I don't think there is much to be done.  Noises Off is a farce with loads of physical comedy.  It's the type of show where you must have significant rehearsal time on the set so that the comedy reads to the audience and is safe for the actors (falling down the stairs takes a while to work).  In my opinion the best thing you can do to help is to do your best to make sure everyone stays safe.  Sounds like you're going to be at a frantic pace over the next 24 hours and safety can easily be compromised and overlooked in the interest of throwing things together as quickly as possible.

674

Tools of the Trade / Useful applications for Blackberry

« on: Feb 15, 2009, 10:24 am »

We've got a good thread on smartphone debate, and a great thread on applications for the iPhone.  What we don't have, though, is a Blackberry application thread. 

So let's hear it, what are your favorite Blackberry applications that make your Stage Managing life easier?

For me:
-Google maps.  I have a Curve 8130 with GPS, so I can get fairly accurate positioning as to where I am, and with google maps I can see what traffic is like around major cities.  Really handy if you drive a lot, or if you know where your actors are coming from if you have folks driving to the theatre.  The best part about google maps is it's free (unlike the map application that comes preloaded on blackberry)
-Facebook.  Just for fun 

675

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Getting Motivated

« on: Feb 13, 2009, 08:49 am »

It's situations like these that help define being a professional stage manager.  You're not going to like every show you do and sometimes it will be tough to stay motivated, but it's a job.  If nothing else, your image and reputation are on the line.  Sometimes you're only as good as your last show.

And hey, try to look at it with a positive attitude.  I'm sure there's something you can find enjoyment in with this show!