Onstage > Students and Novice Stage Managers
Rehearsals: Giving line notes - a real novice question
KC_SM_0807:
I usually do individual photocopied "Line Notes" sheets for each actor... or if I am pushed for time and/or don't have those available at that particular moment in time, I use index cards. I have new ones for every rehearsal (with the date and name of each actor on them), and have a place to write down the page number, Act/Scene, and the line (or beginning of the line if it's long). Line notes are touchy subjects for actors; however, they have to know what they need to work on in order to improve the show. If I've worked with an actor before and I know how they 'work', then sometimes I may bring it up in informal conversation and mention that they should go work on their lines or certain pages of the script. This way they don't take it so hard, but do understand that they need to work on the show more. Overall, I like doing individual line note sheets and/or index cards. I've noticed that some of the actors I've worked with are more apt to read the notes and then stick them in a safe place in their script if they are given on something small like an index card. I think it's a really a personal choice how you handle line notes, but I've found this to be the most effective.
Tigerrr:
One show I did as an ASM, I wasn't very busy, so I could head to the computer for the last half hour of rehearsal and type out their notes. I wrote the page #, What they said, and What the line actually is, then I hilighted the difference. The actors LOVED it, but on most shows I simply don't have the time to do it that way. Usually I have just given the line notes verbally, but definitely prefer to give them something.
I think I'll try the post-it/index card idea :)
MatthewShiner:
EDIT - These next few posts were split off from the Line Notes section of Uploaded Forums. The discussion fit better in here. --PSMK
--- Quote from: Rebbe on Jul 07, 2006, 09:57 am --- and use the empty box to write down what the actor actually said.
--- End quote ---
I am always against wasting time writing down the wrong thing the actor said - unless for some reason the actor does not believe he is saying the wrong line.
smejs:
--- Quote ---I am always against wasting time writing down the wrong thing the actor said - unless for some reason the actor does not believe he is saying the wrong line.
--- End quote ---
I have similar feelings - If I say it correctly it MIGHT get in their head...and I try to refrain from saying the "wrong" one so that perhaps that DOESN'T stick in their head as much. If they absolutely ask "what did I say?" I may tell them, but generally I only try to say the correct line.
As for actual line notes, I have a set version of squiggles that mean different things in my script...parantheses around words they dropped, circle around those they paraphrased, a small circle between text whereever they added words, wide circles around each chunk with a line connecting if they transposed something (said the wrong part first, and then the first one second) and a big "L" in my script if they called for line (similarly a J for jumped). All of this is so that I don't have to write out the line notes immediately and can get to them later...or if an assistant has time, they can learn my code quickly and use it themselves to write the line notes. If you have the luxury of a "spare" person during a run through, you can even hand them each sheet as you finish a script page and they can nearly have line notes finished by the time the run is over.
Erin
Rebbe:
Interesting…it has been my experience that actors usually want to know what they said wrong. I don’t stress about writing it down, but usually I catch it and it’s easy enough to do. Most times the note is simple; for example, if they are supposed to say “orange,” I’ll write the word “apple” with a line through it if that’s what they said.
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