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Messages - jrbucci

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Stage Management: Other / Re: Concert Stage Management
« on: Jun 10, 2013, 04:29 pm »
I've done some SMing for concerts and the like before. Most of my work is in theatre and dance; however, everyone is a musician so I've gotten a few calls. I usually do it because of my involvement with multi-use venues. Usually in that capacity I work as a hybrid general technician and production manager. You don't really call lighting cues for bands. LBOs for concerts are often extremely experienced. Most often I work on the side of the venue to make sure the talent and their support people have what they need and can tie into house systems.

A few times in the past I have helped small bands on small tours. It still feels more along the lines of PMing because you are checking in with venues before going there. Making sure you know everything you need to know to get loaded in and stuff like that. It's an interesting gig for sure.

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Stage Management: Other / Re: Dance First Aid
« on: Jun 10, 2013, 04:21 pm »
Also keeping a bottle of isopropyl alcohol on hand. I've often had dancers prefer that to a simple alcohol wipe. It's also really handy for cleanup of blood. Use it with gauze (on people) or scrap fabric/rag (cleanup).

Side-note:
I once knew a dancer who would soak her pointe shoes in the stuff to stop her feet from bleeding onstage. She said it was painful but very effective...

3
.....

Because of this controversy, a campaign has been organized to close the show. How far are you willing to go before you call it quits?

Would you cross a picket line to get to work? Would anonymous threats of vaguely-defined violence (The phone rings. "We're gonna get you. *click*") throw you off? Would you be willing to endure excommunication from a religious organization in the service of your job?

If I believed in what I was doing, sure. I'd be in all the way. Cross picket lines, deal with the adversity, and even accept threats to a degree. Now if there is a guy with a gun outside my stage door...I'm taking the day off. Theatre is a powerful instrument of social change even now in a time where its popularity and outreach has been diminished compared to other points in history. I think I'd have to take a good, hard, look at what this project was trying to do. If the change is needed so badly, the people being supported are so oppressed, or the injustice is so great then it's the duty of a good person to stand up in whatever way they can. Theatre is my medium. This is the best way I can bring about that change. So bring it on I guess, if it's worth it.

On a general note, I've only been truly against working on one script and that was set in a alternate reality where child molestation was considered an acceptable form of showing "love for child". I drew the line. A very bold line. It ended up never being produced. Shocker!

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I think that people often forget other forms of communication beyond reports and set meetings. Many of the shows I work on go two or three weeks between production meetings (which is fine if everyone is on the same page). I feel like its easy to get caught up in our day to day stuff and forget to have little check-ins with the departments from time to time. I try to either visit in person, call, or email each department once or twice a week. If your shops are onsite it's just so easy to drop by and say hello. Not only does this give you the ability to clear up any communication problems but it's also usually well received that you would stop by and check in. I always like to make it about them by saying, "Do you need anything from me?" or "I just wanted to drop by to see how you guys are doing? Have my notes been ok for you?" I know this seems like a no-brainer; however, with a busy schedule it can be pretty easy to just email out paperwork and nothing else. It also makes you seem both humble and assertive when dealing with communication issues because no one feels accused when one does occur.

Just the thoughts and ramblings of a mad man...

5
The song "Take The Money And Run" applies here...

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Tools of the Trade / Useful Android Tablet Apps
« on: May 06, 2013, 02:38 pm »
I'm one of those people who has an iPhone and wanted to get an android tablet to be different. Let me tell you, there are some really great things (like having a built in file browser so you can actually see the files on your device) but far less apps exist that are made specifically for theatre. There is nothing like Rehearsal 2.

AutoCad WS
Google Drive & Dropbox
Custom Soundboard (Rehearsal sfx)
File Manager
TeamViewer (To remotely control your home computer in a pinch)
Chrome (lets you sync and even pull tabs from you iOS, Mac, PC, and Andriod devices to others that are on the same account)
iDisplay (lets you use your tablet as a second monitor when working on the go)
Task List (Great app that lets you have multiple checklists. Very powerful.)
FreeNote (supports typing, drawing, and handwriting all in one note field. Amazing app!)
Smart Office 2 (the best office suite for android I have found)
File2PDF & Word To PDF (Great ways to convert a file especially if you have a copier that you can print PDFs from a flash drive on)
SBMX (Sketchbook Mobile from Autodesk is a great drawing app.)
Skype & Oovoo (Great alt to FaceTime, cross-platform)
Amazon Kindle (one of the best for viewing a script because it sees the pdf as a book allowing you to easily turn the pages. I love it when being on book for a new work that is changing regularly.)

Many of these are on both iOS and Android devices but I thought I could provide a little insight from the other side.


Moderator note: this was originally posted in "Useful iPad Apps", however warrants its own topic and has been split.  -kmc307

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Tools of the Trade / Re: Online Callboards
« on: May 06, 2013, 02:10 pm »
Lots of great ideas have been mentioned but to expand on two of them:

Recently I built my own "virtual callboard" using Wordpress as a base. I encouraged my dancers to create their own logins, but I also made a generic account for any dancer to use....


Wordpress is very powerful in this regard but you can also do a simple version that doesnt require them to have an account. You can password protect any page or post in wordpress. This will allow you to create a static callboard page. You can easily embed your google calendar in the page directly if you like that sort of thing. The site will just promt them for a password when they go to access this page. Pretty quick and easy.


I think you first need to define the scope of what you want online.  Is a shared spreadsheet with a few tabs for contact info, schedule, etc.. adequate, or do you need a robust environment that these other services offer?

kmc307 makes a great point. I've used a service like EditGrid before for this very task (IT'S FREE!). You create an account and fill out the tabs you need. Then you lock all the cells and make it public or public with an access password. This way people can view but not edit. It is basically a excel or google spreadsheet online but it much easier to share/make public. You can leave certain cells unlocked so that anyone with the access password can edit those particular cells. This is great for signing up for fittings and the link. (www.editgrid.com)

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Hi All, I'm looking for a copy of "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown" (revised). I can work with almost any format. Thanks!

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Uploaded Forms / Re: Props/Properties
« on: May 06, 2013, 01:51 pm »
This is my first time tracking all the practical props so extensively. In the past I havent needed this much detail for a play; however, I found that this gave me some interesting insight. It's very handy when you are skipping around a lot and want to track where a large amount of stuff has ended up. Handy but not often needed.

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Here are the forms I have developed and use. The PMR is from a show I did while assisting my mentor. THe RR is from my current show. Mine are all excel based which makes it easy to keep track of all the files in one workbook.

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I must say that although I am a young SM, like everything I do to be typed, and have ran a successful computer business for two years I will never take digital blocking. I am very good at blocking notation and all of my blocking books have a key in the front. I can guarantee that I can take four times the blocking by hand than anyone can do on the computer in the same amount of time. I got a special keyboard cover that silences the keys on my laptop and I can type quietly, however I do very little during work time on my laptop. I take all my RR notes by hand on my yellow notepad. I will work paperwork during breaks, run sound from my computer, and that's about it. Our job as SMs is to help foster the best possible environment for the rehearsal process. If that means I have to take the time to type something later then I feel that is part of my job. It isn't wasting time if you are doing it for your actors. I am not against using a laptop in the room but it has to be done carefully an respectfully. Limiting its usage is key. If I ever had one of my ASMs on Facebook during work time I probably would ask them to leave the room to be honest.

As far as how I deal with the person being on book missing giving a line, I have a simple solution. When the process starts I create an "on book totem" for that show. Its usually an object like a fancy block of wood or a sticky not that says "ON BOOK" in a bight color. The rule I tell my ASMs is simple: "If you have the totem, you are on book. If you are on book, it is the ONLY thing that you are doing. Since it is the only thing you are doing there is no reason to miss giving a line." Its that simple. If I am on book and I have to do something else I can silently pass it to one of them and they will know that they are on book. I have worked with SMs before where they don't tell anyone to be on book and they do it themselves. Then someone will call for a line and they will ask why I or the other ASM wasn't on book. I have learned that this is the easiest way to remove the errors. I know that was a bit of a digression but it still kinda fit.

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I actually think that credit+$200+housing is about right.

Now, as you adjust one item, you should adjust the other.

I agree. Since you dont offer housing then you really should offer more money because living expenses can be pretty rough especially when you are a current college student. I am looking for internships right now and ones where there is no housing and no pay are just impossible...

Hope this helps!

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I too am starting to go digital with this next show. I have a program that is free and works on both Windows and Mac called Celtx. It is a program that is great for writing scripts in theatre, film, audio, and more. It lets you hit tab to do the different levels that are standard for each type of script. It can easily be printed or made into a PDF. On my mac I am considering using the "Comments" feature to put my Cues in another color with marker lines to show where on the line the G.O. goes. Also going to play with Highlighting too.

I recommend checking out Celtx. It has some really great advanced features too.

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Im looking for a copy of "Doubt: A Parable"

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Last night in my math class i was really tired because we had a full weekend of shows and i got very little sleep. We have to keep up our GPA to stay in the theatre department and whatnot so I drug myself to class. The prof gave us a break and said to be back by 7:30. One of the other SMs was sitting a few seats over and said "Thats a fifteen minute break."

I responded "Thank you fifteen!" and all of the MT and Acting majors in the room laughed. All the other students didn't get why they were laughing at me.

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