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Tools of the Trade / Re: SM Software
« on: Feb 22, 2008, 02:25 pm »I've used a program called LINE NOTES (from ThankYou5) for taking line notes, and while I find it very useful in some occassions, I've also found that it does take me longer to note a line mistake.
I've used LineNotes as well, and I think it's a program that would work really well if you have an ideal sort of set up. With an external mouse connected to my laptop, I found that I could scroll along and be on book on the laptop, with only an occasional click-type-enter sort of combo to take a line note (click to highlight, type in a one or two word phrase that's just enough to let the actor know what happened, and then enter to submit and keep going). Now, admittedly, I type fast (90wpm when last clocked), so that helps a lot. But still, as long as you're following along (and I could do this while tracking blocking in my hard copy script as well - just press pg down whenever I turned the page), you're never racing to keep up. Admittedly, I'm not using it now, which says that there was a problem between how the program worked and how I work. I think that program is a good start, but it's not quite ready yet.
The main things that made me stop using it were the lack of typed scripts (typing them myself was getting tiring), and the dependence on MS Word -- I had 2003 on the first laptop I used it on, then had to transfer to a second laptop that only had 2000. I found I missed a lot of the features I was regularly using, which got frustrated. And then when I just switched laptops again in December, it went all wonky with the registration code thingies and it's just not worth the hassle to get it re-approved on the new laptop.
What happens when the power goes out in the middle of a rehearsal and you haven't saved in the past 30 minutes because you've been too busy taking note after note?
You don't let that happen. If you have time to take a note, you have time to save that note. You learn that after every single note, before you lift your fingers off those keys, you press Ctrl+S. Every time you press enter, you follow it with ctrl+s. If you haven't touched your computer in a moment or two and you've got a spare second, you reach over and press ctrl+s. And if you do it every single time, it becomes habit. That's not just for stage management -- it's something that ought to be basic computer skills. Sure, sometimes you'll lose power when you haven't saved. But sometimes, someone will knock over a bottle of soda all over your book. But you take preventative measures -- you don't leave open containers of liquid next to your book, and you don't leave your work unsaved. Same principle.
What happens when the computer locks up or fails? They ALL do at some point or another! How will you get through the rest of your rehearsal without the information you needed?
You use the backup paper copy that was printed out yesterday (or maybe printed the day before and has pencil markings to note slight changes). Or, you make do without. Sure, that part sucks, but sometimes we really don't need *all* the information we've got at our fingertips. As long as you've got the essentials in hard-copy backups, you're fine. The technology doesn't eliminate the paper -- it augments it. So instead of having a thousand pages of paper hanging around, you can pare it down to the essential most-needed things -- script, run sheets, scene breakdowns, etc. And everything else is just a few clicks away, and not crowding out the more important stuff.
As stage managers, it's our job to be efficient, productive, smart, and to always be thinking ahead, solving problems that haven't yet unfolded. Paper and pencil in the rehearsal room, with a supplemental use of computers is great. I think, however, that using computers as the only method of documentation and note taking does not show our efficiency, but our lack of ability to think ahead and think wisely.
I agree. But, I don't think we should be as wary of relying on computers as I think you're suggesting. I think it's a bad idea to only have one copy of anything -- at this point in time, it's just as foolish, in my opinion, to only have hard copies as it is to only have electronic copies. If I've got electronic copies of all my paperwork, then if something, heaven forbid, happens to my book, I can just print off a new one. That's what back-ups are all about. I also have little flash drives (thumb drives, usb keys, whatever you like to call them). At the beginning of the day & end of the day, I back up all my paperwork onto one of those. And when I get home, that information gets copied onto the desktop computer. So if something does (heaven forbid) happen to my laptop, I've still got my documents. And I've still got a hard copy.
I think once the technology gets good enough, it will replace the paper & pencil method. But we're not there yet. Where we are now is that fun middle ground, where we get to play with the cool new toys and see how they make things better. But if you go leaping off into that realm of what's-next too soon, yeah, you run a lot of risks. No, we're not there yet. But don't be afraid of the new technology and the new methods. Just think of it as another set of tools to help us work better -- faster, cleaner, and with more security.