Labtop vs. Pencil and Script/Notepad

[Aerial]

I also don't see how using a computer could be faster to take blocking.  I like to draw pictures of particularly complex paths or large groups onstage, and even being quite good on the computer it would take me far too long to do that.

I usually have my laptop on the table, closed, for easy access during breaks.  My two most recent shows, however, have been very sound heavy, and we started using sound cues early in the process and in that case my computer was open and connected to the rehearsal room sound system.  Other than for sound purposes, I only open it on break.

[Beatr79]

I'm going to join the chorus of the majority on this one.

Most of my professional career has been as an ASM on large musical productions where I am expected to take blocking and track costumes (entrances and exits) or props (or all three) at the same time.  My blocking notes and tracking notes are all intermingled in my script, and beautified and elaborated upon later in specific paperwork. 

I have observed fellow ASMs update paperwork / work on the computer in the rehearsal room and I really think it isn't a functional model for rehearsal management.  I have watched people become so engrossed in their project that they are:

1. Neglecting the current needs in the rehearsal room.  (A prop just broke, time to reset for the top of the scene, and an actor needs advil, and the folks on the computer are completely unaware of all three things).

2. Missing new information coming from the rehearsal that is happening 3 feet from them (I have had a fellow ASM ask me to fill in entrance / exit gaps in their paperwork even though we were both sitting in the same rehearsal at the same time).

3. Aren't learning the show.  Watching blocking, staging and choreography evolve through a process is part of how we, as  stage managers "learn the show" and do our jobs in the theatre at tech.  The more you watch the room and engage in it (by taking those notes), the more it becomes second nature.  In tech, the flow of a complicated sequence is familiar and common to an attentive stage manager, who can in turn provide guidance to the crew and designers.  I truly believe that computers disengage one from that process because its adding a middle man (Microsoft Word and all its quirks or formatting) into the equation.

4.  Tempted.  We all have facebook accounts, instant messenger programs, games on our computer plus personal email.  Its really easy to push one button "just to check my notifications" and two seconds later, the director walks over to ask you a question and well, in a word, you are busted.  I'd rather not add the additional task of constant self-control to my to-do list in the rehearsal room so, like others, my computer is closed or often in the office during rehearsals.

I'm not sure if I've accidentally strayed too far from the original poster's question of blocking in a computer, but I think my comments are appropriate in this thread.  Moderators - feel free to split this topic if I've veered too far.

[klcurrie]

I can't imagine taking effective blocking notes on the computer.  I do, however, have mine in the room.  I find myself closing it most of the time, but do like to take a few minutes during a break to enter items into the rehearsal report for the day.  I never feel like I can actually see everything that is going on with the screen open.  I do check in on email at breaks as well - it's an easy way for staff and/or designers to reach me without actually having to be in the room.  And it is nice to be able to instantly research something when a question comes up.  All that being said, I have had to tell ASMs to close theirs up to pay attention to the room.  And I always ask the others in the room if it bothers them - if one person says yes, it doesn't get opened.

[EFMcMullen]

This season I made a pack to myself to digitize my book for every show, mainly to see if I felt it was worth the extra effort.  Now that have have completed 6 shows this way, I have become more efficient at it and am not killing as many trees.  And I have to admit, it makes it pretty and neat and organized and probably far more detailed than my books were before.  However, I still do diagrams by hand, no show is worth having to digitalize diagrams, I have better things to do with my time. Also, in the end, I now have a digital copy to keep with me and don't have to lug around paper.

That being said,  I still use pencil and paper in the rehearsal room and only once blocking begins to solidify do I type it in to the computer after rehearsal.  I guess I am slightly more old school and I find it much faster to take notes on a pad and blocking in the book than have to fuss with the computer.  I am also a visual person and like to have the information and full picture sitting in front of me that I can flip through and not have to scroll through a computer that will only allow me to see limited information at a time.

[megf]

I'm on board with the majority on this one: open laptops during work time are often distracting, unless they are dedicated to show-specific use... however as EFMcMullen and Libby's posts highlight, I have seen an effective use of electronic blocking notes. I think that, particularly if there are multiple productions of a single show, having a document that can be quickly transferred is great - for simplicity, consistency and as an emergency backup. It also seems like a compact and green way to keep closing night records, if the producer is so inclined.

That said... Libby - I'm intrigued by the daily blocking log you've described - see my PM.

[Cedes]

This season I made a pack to myself to digitize my book for every show, mainly to see if I felt it was worth the extra effort.  Now that have have completed 6 shows this way, I have become more efficient at it and am not killing as many trees.  And I have to admit, it makes it pretty and neat and organized and probably far more detailed than my books were before.  However, I still do diagrams by hand, no show is worth having to digitalize diagrams, I have better things to do with my time. Also, in the end, I now have a digital copy to keep with me and don't have to lug around paper.

That being said,  I still use pencil and paper in the rehearsal room and only once blocking begins to solidify do I type it in to the computer after rehearsal.  I guess I am slightly more old school and I find it much faster to take notes on a pad and blocking in the book than have to fuss with the computer.  I am also a visual person and like to have the information and full picture sitting in front of me that I can flip through and not have to scroll through a computer that will only allow me to see limited information at a time.

This general idea is more what I was trying to convey. I do not, and never will use my laptop exclusively.  My last 5 shows have been completely digitized, and it really helps keep things clean. I do still take notes in rehearsal, and write all my blocking by hand FIRST before entering it into the computer.  I just like to keep it on hand to attempt to get things done in a more timely fashion, instead of being up until 1am doing paperwork when I have to be up at 4am for work 5 days a week. 

[missliz]

This season I made a pack to myself to digitize my book for every show, mainly to see if I felt it was worth the extra effort.  Now that have have completed 6 shows this way, I have become more efficient at it and am not killing as many trees.  And I have to admit, it makes it pretty and neat and organized and probably far more detailed than my books were before.  However, I still do diagrams by hand, no show is worth having to digitalize diagrams, I have better things to do with my time. Also, in the end, I now have a digital copy to keep with me and don't have to lug around paper.

That being said,  I still use pencil and paper in the rehearsal room and only once blocking begins to solidify do I type it in to the computer after rehearsal.  I guess I am slightly more old school and I find it much faster to take notes on a pad and blocking in the book than have to fuss with the computer.  I am also a visual person and like to have the information and full picture sitting in front of me that I can flip through and not have to scroll through a computer that will only allow me to see limited information at a time.

This general idea is more what I was trying to convey. I do not, and never will use my laptop exclusively.  My last 5 shows have been completely digitized, and it really helps keep things clean. I do still take notes in rehearsal, and write all my blocking by hand FIRST before entering it into the computer.  I just like to keep it on hand to attempt to get things done in a more timely fashion, instead of being up until 1am doing paperwork when I have to be up at 4am for work 5 days a week.

How/where do you type it? I assume the script is a .doc...in boxes in the margins? In another document entirely?

[EFMcMullen]

For me, everything is in Word.  Conveniently this season, all but one of my scripts have already been computerized, so all I had to do was format them. I use Callouts for cues and place numbers like you would for footnotes to indicate blocking.  I then have a separate file with corresponding pages that have the blocking written out and mini of the set at the top that I fill in by hand. 

[FallenRain]

On topic:  I do not see myself taking blocking on an electronic device anytime in the near future.  All it would take would be one poorly timed program crash, or the Windows blue screen of death and I'd throw in the towel for sure.  Sure, Mr. Director, I can let you know where Actor Jones made that cross... I just need to reboot first, hold please.

Thread hijacking:  I'm really surprised to hear so many Stage Managers have bad feelings about using laptops in rehearsals!  While I completely understand all the distraction reasons outlined in previous posts, I guess I don't feel that those traits are necessarily connected to a laptop.  If an ASM does not have the multi-tasking ability to see and hear that a director would like to run a scene again (and therefore the ASM should re-set) because he/she is taking a note... to me it doesn't matter if the ASM is TYPING that note or WRITING that note.  The skill to multi-task is a skill that does not relate to what media you're multi-tasking in. 

And if you're worried that the SM might be tempted to sneak onto Facebook, or SMNetwork, while he/she should be paying attention to rehearsal... well, without a laptop, that SM is probably texting friends, or doing crossword puzzles, or something else that a person with a lack of discipline does when he/she should be working.  And the Prod. Asst. who types as if he's a jackhammer?  I'm sure he's clicking his pen repeatedly, or chewing gum loudly, or some other annoying thing since he obviously has no understanding of what he is negatively contributing to the rehearsal environment with his excessive noise.

I find my laptop invaluable in rehearsal (and yes, I did do a keyboard test on all the ones I was considering to find the quietest model!).  It does give me a leg up on getting reports done during the day, even if the only typing I do is on a break.  Also, I would lose so much time not being able to receive, reply to, and communicate pertinent information to those in the rehearsal room if I could not get my email.  How distracting is it if the Costume Shop Manager tries to sneak into the rehearsal room while you're in the middle of a scene?  Or calls you on the phone?  I find it so much easier to just see her email pop up on my screen instead saying "Big fitting problems, come see me next break!".

I work at a theatre who is run by a pair of gentlemen who are definitely of the "Old School" variety and I CERTAINLY had a hard time convincing them laptops were not just for games.  But over the years, they've finally come around - they even installed internet access in the rehearsal room a couple of seasons ago!  In fact, I think our dramaturgs are getting a bit of a break because now instead of questions going to them via notes, we just google everything in the rehearsal room

I hope this post made some sense... I just opened a show last night and am still in a bit of a Tech fog   Hope you all are enjoying your weekend!

[EFMcMullen]

Just to clarify, I am not calling a show from the computer.  Again I like to have the ability to flip back in forth in the pages, jot down little notes of things to keep an eye on and I would be too nervous of a computer crash at just the wrong moment...

[MarcosPMA]

So I started using notepad/script to do blocking notes, and I found that I was more aware to what was going onstage than when I was using my labtop.  I've since then stopped using my labtop for any kind of notes and done them on paper instead.

[On_Headset]

I have two (admittedly rather weak) reasons to add to the paper-please side of things:
1) I enjoy the tactile response of paper. Flipping the pages keeps me cognisant of where we are in the show, how much ground we're covering, where things fall sequentially, and so on. I find I miss this when I work with a computer, and it's certainly advantageous to have that sort of sequential data memorized.
2) I don't like having a physical barrier between me and what I'm observing. Even if my head's up and I'm looking forward, the laptop screen still occupies a good chunk of my frame of vision--which bugs me like you wouldn't believe. I've found that actors find it unnerving as well: they want to know what I'm writing, dammit! Is it innocent blocking? Is it junk for the rehearsal report? Am I making--*gasp*--line notes? (Oh no!)

And as someone else has said, when other people have used laptops in rehearsals, the clickity-clickity-clickity of typing just grates on me. (I also find this gets ten times worse once we move into the space: it's annoying in halls and studios, but get us in a theatre and I get tempted to toss your laptop off of the second balcony without a parachute, so help me...)

[saxguy99]

Though I do love the convenience of typing something out rather than writing it (not to mention how much neater typing is) I can't help but write out my blocking notes. I am more comfortable writing in shorthand that way and it's easier for me see exactly where I'm writing my blocking. Also I tend to draw diagrams and pictures with my blocking, esp. in large groups scenes or dance numbers. Writing just seems easier for me, for this one application.

However I also believe that if typing your notes is easier for you than that's what you should do. After all I was always taught that as long as you understand your blocking notes, no one else really has to. So it's completely up to your preference is what I'm trying to say.

Techies, DFTBA

[jbarbato]

I am a script supervisor who is becoming interested in Stage Management.  I used to notate all my scripts on set by hand, but then transitioned to using a tablet computer.  I fully feel that a tablet would be perfect in this field as well.  It is a computer that you can write on.  I use to for all of my forms and notes.  The computer can even translate handwriting into text.  Using architectual  software, I can create diagrams of the set to scale and move around the objects and make blocking notes without typing.  What do you all think of this technology?

[EFMcMullen]

"After all I was always taught that as long as you understand your blocking notes, no one else really has to."

Well, until you are hit by the proverbial bus...