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« on: Apr 19, 2010, 02:58 pm »
For me, I'd rather take blocking by hand, combining diagrams and shorthand blocking notes.
I have, however, used a computer to take blocking notes on two show's I've done. One was a compilation of monologues that only had blocking between each monologue (Actor 1 returns to seat, actor 3 steps up to microphone). I was given the script in .doc and so I just typed in blocking information in italics and parentheses like you see in published scripts. I also used that show as an experiment in calling from a laptop, inserting cues as call-outs in Word, etc. I think it worked well, though if it were a longer run (more than the 2 performances) I would have definitely printed the script out for calling. Instead I just used the script from cue-to-cue with handwritten cues in it as a backup while actually reading off the laptop screen. The whole thing was an experiment and I wouldn't necessarily do it for every show.
The only other time I took blocking in a laptop was for a show that I worked on for a church celebrating its 300th anniversary. They had written a play about it, and there was a significant amount of stage direction in the script already (italicized and parenthesized). I simply added blocking as we went, typing in blue, and emailing the script to the writing team (including the director) after each rehearsal. Each week, they looked over the changes, changed the font color to black if they approved, and a new script was published. They also changed dialogue and whatnot over time, and communicated that to the cast as well. But my digital blocking was what worked best for the situation and my work fitted in with what they needed from me.
So, while I prefer taking blocking by hand with a pencil on a script, there are situations when typing blocking works just fine for me.