Onstage > Students and Novice Stage Managers

Rehearsals: Giving line notes - a real novice question

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JenniferEver:
I've never given or received a written line note in my life!

I have so much to learn.

So it would be a sheet or a post it that says something like

Matt p.23 : "harmless, yes a fibroma NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT"

with the highlighted, underlined, circled part being the thing that was messed up?

ORTaurean:
I use a form, or if the ASM I'm using has one, I look it over and approve it.  (Mainly because I let my ASM do line notes and I want them to  be comfortable)

It has a section to check off what was wrong, ie - dropped line, missed cue, jumped, (even) check blocking,  etc.  A space for filling in the actor's name at the top and a space for the line to be written (shorthand) so the actor knows what they're looking at, and a place for the pg #.

megf:
If you have this kind of office budget - or are comfortable bringing in the materials yourself - 3x5 index cards work nicely. I know a choreographer whose preferred method is to take individual notes, much like BalletPSM's post-its, but a bit easier to shuffle through and hand out, and then walk about handing them off to performers at the end of the day.

The advantage to the post-its (this is what I imagine - I haven't used them *yet*) is that performers can place them exactly where they apply in the script. The advantage to index cards is that they are easier to hand off, if you find yourself giving notes out piecemeal and need to shuffle through them quickly.

TechGal:
There are several versions of line note forms posted in the Uploaded Forms page.  I've found that forms make giving line notes so much faster and easier.  The form I use has space for me to jot down the page number, date, character's name, and part of the line that they messed up. I have pre listed the possible mistakes such as, jumped, called, paraphrased, or changed word, and then I circle what they actually did wrong.  At the end of the night I simply hand the actor a piece of paper.  It's so much easier than trying to verbally explain what they did wrong.  And, even though it might sound kind of complicated, I've found using a form to be the quickest way to take notes during rehearsals.     

Mac Calder:
Line notes can be a touchy subject with some actors (usually the ones that need them most) - so I usually write up a 'progress report' for every actor - thost that don't need notes, I give a big smilie face and a "Stellar Work!!!". I usually print them off before every rehearsal, half a page of what's happening, what they need to do, when their next call is etc, and the bottom half is "Line Notes:"

You can DL it from here

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