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nuttytechy

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  • Member Status
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  • Current Employment or place of study
    Technical Manager at the Groundlings Theatre Portsmouth.
  • Professional organisation membership
    Equity. NICEIC
  • Full Name
    Iain Banachowicz

Contact Methods

  • AIM
    iain.banachoiwcz:groundlings.co.uk
  • Website URL
    http://www.groundlings.co.uk

Profile Information

  • Location
    Portsmouth
  • Interests
    Airsoft, Anything which involves lighting and sound.

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  1. I remember dealing with a combo who is no longer about who did the Green Ginger and Zero 88 combos. We did use them a lot because they were local-ish to us in the south. It was also the same company who did a Zero 88 level 12 and anytronics 4 channel in my local working mens club ** laughs out loud **
  2. Good of Green Ginger Dimmers. I used to work with them many years ago when I was a school Tech. Totally idiot proof for the students ** laughs out loud ** You are saying its 4 channel dimmers going into a level 12 so I reckon you have the micropack series 2. If I can remember pins 1-4 are channels, Pin 5 is desk supply and pin 6 is ground I think. As you say that 2 out of the 3 are not working and the cable was severed then it would make sense for 2 not to work as it would be sharing A pin and the other pin would act as the power supply for the desk. As its been a long time since I've dealt with green ginger gear... Actually any analogue equipment, I hope others can help ya.
  3. I agree there paulears that the multi knowledgeable Technician is slowly dying out. I'm not that old but not young either and fortunately I am still in a position where I am still flexible to do many different roles. I can safely say that I have also put on marigolds and did my fair share of toilet duty and general house cleaning. In regards to the FoH, There have been a few times where I have to calm down a few people because of their rowdyness. As I also hold an SIA badge too, the theatre manager would send me to de-escalate any problems. The pay is still terrible and working for just over the minimum hourly wage on freelance had forced me to do other work which luckily I could juggle. The sad thing is that I spend less time spending with the family because I have to make ends meat.
  4. From my experience you are spot on. My roles were ranging from the everyday running to babysitting. The theatre I worked at had very few staff and I agree that there were more staff in the office than actually working for the stage or building. The theatre relied mainly on volunteers and part of the time involved training FoH staff an hour or so before curtain up. If I did need extra help which was quite a bit because I couldn't be in many places at once, we were using students who wanted experience. It wouldn't look out of place to see me behind the bar calling the times while serving or on FoH sorting out tickets. The theatre did have weddings who would hire the venue so I had to dust off my suit and just be on hand for the guests.
  5. The issue with councils merging or passing the buck is that they don't want things to affect their funding as their paycheque will be lower than normal. As Waveney is the district council then the onus will be onto them for any damage as it will come under the remit as a district council. County councils are normally responsible for the education, transport, libraries etc. There can sometimes be a lower tier council.
  6. They tend to spam certain word which does involve paying out money. I had notice that the words "invoice" "payment required" "money due" do tend to get binned and doesn't even see the light of day at the recipients end.
  7. You are not the only one who is owed money ranging from 10's to thousands. Some companies / people try and ignore or they genuinely think they have paid for the services but actually haven't. I have never used freeagent but have been considering it for some time now. I have always been on top of my finances as I use good old excel and highlight every client I have worked for with different colours. Some people I have worked for will ask for a payment plan to which I don't mind but everytime they send me money by BACS, which is my preferred method of payment, will get a receipt with a statement too with the amount left to pay. I have got into a really good knack of tracing and chasing as when the wife is having a good moan or watching really low IQ tv programmes then I will be at the desk with the music blaring. If companies or individuals do have an issue paying then I do allow for issues to arise but if they are taking the biscuit then I will send out a registered letter plus an email. Recently I had to take a company to a small claims and now waiting on a judgement as their offer of repayment was a tad of a joke with the amount owed.
  8. You are right about grants. 2 random companies go for an arts council grant doing the same thing eg an original Shakespeare run. 1 of the companies will have a mixture of male or female cast members. The other company is going to go all male cast to replicate the whole production from historic times. The arts council will tend to lean towards 2nd company as they are going to recreate the historic and original Shakespeare production. I have used Shakespeare as an example because it was originally men playing female characters until 44 years or so after his death when a female were starting to get involved in his works.
  9. I know of a Shakespeare tour where it is the opposite. All Male actors for the tour as they want to replicate original Shakespeare plays including men playing female parts.
  10. I have never known it being illegal to fly a noose. Using it will be a different matter but just flying it then you will be fine. It will be matter of doing a risk assessment and having the control measures in place so no harm can be done to anyone to please the pencil pushers.
  11. Quick question. Is anyone actually going to be hung in a scene or is it just going to be flown ?
  12. Being asthmatic myself, I can barely just hear the pressurised salbutamol going into my mouth and a few times I've felt a bit weazy I've taken my inhaler and a colleque on the other side of the stage asks if I have taken it as he didn't hear it. If my other crew member couldn't hear it then I doubt the audience will hear it either so like Kerry and Ynot have mentioned, There is really no need to have an actual one or something to create the effect as the audience will not hear it so will not be convinced that said actor is actually inhaling. Now if said actor can act out that they have taken one and inhaled it correctly then it will be far more convincing.
  13. I found this issue out for my previous job. I was working freelance but treated like an employee. Given keys to the building, working on a rota system etc. When the company didn't pay me then I went to the CAB for advice and they said to go to ACAS but because I was freelance, they could not help. In the end its being dragged through the small claims. I have worked freelance before and not had any problems but this time round has shown me that people who are contracting you can be right (Insert swear word here). Knowing the company's financial situation then I was understanding but when I found out that the theatre owner was making sure he got a full wage so he could go for a mortgage and even the other staff on the payroll were getting a fraction when it came to payday caused me to seek advice and that is where I learnt about freelance and ACAS unable to help.
  14. When I design lighting for a production then I will look into the genre, era and work with the director etc to find the best possible outcome. To give you a couple of examples: We were doing rep and also being on my own as we were a small theatre, I kept 2 of the shows to a basic but effective rig with minimal lanterns on show. I do agree with andy_s as its the beams when there is a haze and the first 2 shows in our rep were Frankenstein and Xmas Carol and the director was so insistant of using a haze all the way through both shows but I managed to find a compromise as I said I would use a haze but run it intermittently so there was nice hint of a haze. Our 3rd show in our rep was Panto I carefully rigged my movers and programmed so they didn't blind anyone intentionally. Movers placed halfway down and above the auditorium would do the LX effects when required as everyone should be looking at the stage and not at the LX rig.
  15. I 2nd with Jivemaster. 6/8 Led pars on a tripod. I would use a laptop with something like ETC or any other software + usb to DMX interface. As you will be touring and I highly doubt you will have a large team so keeping to something small, compact and lightweight then LED would be the easiest option plus you won't need to carry spare lamps I personally suggest using a laptop to run the DMX as having an DMX LX desk, if that gets damaged then you have no show. If you run a laptop then you can easily duplicate the cues before you start your travels as if your primary laptop does get damaged or possibly stolen then at least you got your backup to carry on with your show.
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