kerry davies

We have said here many times before, cut corners at your peril. ALLEGEDLY!: The crew were moved to cheaper accommodation to save money which made their drive unsafe after 12 hour plus shifts. There were various complaints so they brought in non-IATSE crew. This was only the armourer's second film and, though her father is a reputable film armourer she was a model until recently. There was no need for a gun to be present as they were just rehearsing and during the live action the victims would have been elsewhere anyway. The AD didn't check the weapon before handing it to the actor and, in short, everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong. The fact that it was a low budget film or that money was tight lead us to another favourite BR topic; if you can't afford to do it safely you can't afford to do it at all.

First things first, how are you suspending gantries and will the roof take it? Only asking 'cos I had to get a structural engineering firm in to a so-called purpose built arena in which the architects had not allowed for any lifting capacity at all. In a warehouse conversion I would be pleasantly surprised if you could hang anything substantial off the roof. Next the standard being 1200mm you should find it easier and cheaper to source than bespoke items but at the end of the day it all comes down to what your clients require and we don't know that. Bear in mind it isn't just the people up there but what they do and what kit they do it with. Apologies if this is being over-simplistic but this is an internet forum.

This is just me but sockets are one of those things that working on outdoor events made me regard as disposable items. I have no idea how many sockets and ratchets people have borrowed and lost or returned broken so I bought a reasonably priced tube socket set and a bunch of cheap ratchets I treated as disposable. Not ecological I know but the ones that were better built and took more time to construct disappeared just as fast. I do know that buying sets always left me with loads I never used and the same popular few that people seemed to eat so it was solo items for me.

I can't help but you may need to be more specific. My tame sound consultant was more the Rammstein end and you need to specify amplified, unplugged, music, spoken word, cinema and projection surround sound or general purpose with a smidgen of bodhran bashing. You may also need to go further afield and thus increase costs so an idea of rough budget would help people suggest options.

I think that "needing" custom moulds is a stretch but you wouldn't catch me using anything else. They may not be any better, though I think that they are, but they gave me an awful lot more confidence on safety and well-being. For peace of mind they are not at all expensive and because they cost a bit more I have mine long after retirement having looked after them better than any other bit of kit. That's my problem with being a pedant, I do RA's and cost-benefit analyses in my sleep.

To add to what Ian writes, the wall thickness on your ladder tube is 2mm and, laid flat, is not much if any stronger than a single scaff tube. Thick walled ali scaff tube is 5mm thick. Before going into trilite why not hire a length of thick walled ali and compare what you have with that?

In theory John you are correct, in practice not so much, check this out for background. As the "designer" of a one-off item Dan is the sole competent person under LOLER who has "appropriate practical and theoretical knowledge and experience of the lifting equipment so that they can detect defects or weaknesses" but is also the ideal competent person who draws up the examination scheme, items and schedule. Not even the manufacturer could satisfy all the demands of LOLER as Dan can. Anyhow, if anyone has the nerve to call up a structural engineer for a certification of an aluminium access tower I will pay a tenner for the recording of his response.

Just what I thought, Tom. How a H&S bod can ask for a third party inspection when Dan virtually wrote the relevant MI's is a mystery but the Jobsworth is everywhere. As I hinted perhaps the maker of the kit can authorise Dan to issue certification on their behalf and split the moolah?

I may be being daft (not unusual) but if it is a one-off item constructed to your own requirements can you not either do it yourself or get the supplier to do it if they can't train you up? In a case like this it may turn out that you are the one real expert.

Try this. The Richard of JBN came onto BR but the OP never did sum up and give the results of his testing. Whether Dean Style is still going is another matter.

Don't quote me but I think this falls between Ofcom and Licensing Authority. VOIP fails the moment there is a power outage and for that Ofcom urges telephone service providers to; "have at least one solution available that enables access to emergency organisations for a minimum of one hour in the event of a power outage in the premises." That refers to the ability of telephone customers to contact the emergency services FoC.BT and other providers consider that this one hour back-up should be the responsibility of the business customer. (Note the date of just 2018, this is all new.) However the attitude of a licensing authority to a licensee that has no means of emergency reporting in their operating schedule is almost certainly different and that of the insurer probably verges on the apoplectic. It would also be interesting to learn what means of dialling 999 exists for police, fire etc when the premises are unattended. Surely they have fire and burglar alarms? These lines could be used for manual emergency calls. You raise a very interesting point as more and more telephony gets streamed which is why my suspicion is that there are, as yet, no "regs" that stipulate specific solutions. As this is all tied up with the EU directive on Universal Service and that, like all the rest, is about to be scrapped I would keep an eye on this.

Double trouble!

You don't seem to be having any luck, Jean. Maybe that's because I can only find a web mention of some incredibly cheap units on Whybuynew archives. If, as I suspect, these are the items then perhaps you may get more response on a specialist DJ forum?

I think it would be foolish if you took advice on this from an internet forum other than "get the experts in". Flying humans is a speciality of it's own and with weights over one third of a ton the first question is whether you have the lifting points or rigging capable of handling the task. I would seek out the US equivalent of Flying by Foy and possibly a structural engineer to first check whether what you intend is possible where you intend to do it.

I did a little googling and the NZ comparison between 15/09/2020 and 15/09/2021 in wholesale electricity prices for North Island is as scary as anything I have seen and makes our day ahead volatility look boring. The reasons are complex but they affect the whole developed world equally and gas prices affect all energy costs. While reading this earlier the gasman came to do the annual check on our relatively new combi boiler. He is 60 now and his gasman son is converting to electrics because by 2030 there is supposed to be a ban on gas boilers in Wales. We are heavily insulated with efficient boilers, radiators, windows etc but the new-build social housing up the road is Passivhaus, PV panel, battery pack and air source heat pump. In England they are already 15 years behind and are still selling social homes not building them. They really are in trouble. I have no idea how this all pans out but swift and radical change is coming and whether theatre can survive in anything remotely like it's present form is debatable. Interesting times are coming.

Light vehicular traffic 5 Lux. Medium traffic 10 Lux. Heavy traffic 20 Lux. BS 12464:2014 sets out tables but again you decide whether it is light, medium or heavy traffic. Obviously areas like gateways and turning points need more attention but for temporary installations I have never heard of anyone wandering about with a light meter. I just used to overprovide with a VT1 halide tower for each 4000 square metres or two per football pitch as a rough guide. I wouldn't use towers on traffic free pedestrian walkways at all but lower intensity, lower level kit like LED festoons. If it really is as controversial as all that then sub it out and let contractors take responsibility.

How many towers? How big a car park? What sort of surfaces? Is there security and/or stewarding? And now for the big one; How much money have you got?

Nothing new. A good quality "clean" sound is usually able to be tolerable much louder than a distorted noise but many people including some humheads only identify "loud" when it is "noise". When they encounter a high quality big rig they tend to turn it up until it creates noise by which time it is up there in the danger zone. Some bands touring their own monitors have it so loud that FoH is just about off and most channels are on DFA buttons.

Where I live, prime caravan idiot territory, I am not so sure this is good news. I have worked with guys who proved lethal towing any weight of trailer and as for reversing them then no chance. Anything that makes people stop and think before haring off down the motorway leading to Gospel Pass is a good idea in my book. Apparently there are rumours that government are consulting on making HGV tests simpler and fast tracked because of the driver shortage. One idea is to remove coupling and uncoupling trailers and reversing safely from the test. Only a rumour but puts the B&E changes into context and is very worrying.

Just a thought on a philosophical question; what makes theatre techs think that they can reproduce a fleeting image from a film, live onstage, when they have neither the budget nor the ability to shoot it 132 times? Why do they even try? Why not spend the pittance the boss-class give them as budget down the pub dreaming up a replacement effect? Hey ho, must be Saturday.

Of course these rehearsals need to be done off-stage where water is less of a risk but you could also try an off-the-wall suggestion. If you take an oil drum and pour a small amount of water in the lip on the end then hit it hard with a drum beater at the same time as a flash from a strobe, the effect is outstanding. Tiny sprays get frozen in space and look like cataracts. If you can disperse the water drop and time it to a strobe you should get away with a lot less water. Long hair flicked in a strobe stands on end and very wet hair would give off droplets, look great and might even produce a rainbow effect. I would also try a collection bucket, one of those with a slot, to try for a sheet of water effect.

We used to "find" supermarket wire baskets though the standard 19 litre is too small for your speakers. There are loads of metal fabs who have access to that sort of wire mesh and the shape is sturdy enough for what you want.

The research was mostly done in 2007 by Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute for Alison Tickell and her Julie's Bicycle so Manchester Uni has been repetitive. There is also some fascinating research about the "Not Touring Tour" when Prince did 21 nights carbon saving at the Dome. Such a significant part of his audience flew in long haul that he could have had chauffeur driven limos and Lear jets for everyone and still been less carbon wasteful. Outdoor events have been all over this like a rash since we first discovered we could use punters giving us pedal power for free. And that's the key, lower carbon means lower cost when done right. My mates and former DJ's started out with Danny Rinky Dink and moved to the Freds' Axjet PA and Rainbow Dragon then to Moments from Machynlleth. Those guys were webcasting from the Big Mud in 1996 via Cardiff University through mobile phones under 12V lights and low voltage PA. Oddly enough that was Daddy G of Massive Attack as well. He used to hang out at Bubblejet gigs in Bristol with DJ Giles and his "Fluffy Corner" of LV inflatables. Somewhere out there are the next generation who need encouragement but what the Donga's learned in the 90's is that since before the Henge people have got together in the summer between growth and harvest and danced up and down on God's green earth and whatever happens their primal instinct will find a way to scratch that itch. Thatcher tried to stop it, the puritans tried, the Black Death tried and all failed. Don't believe me? Check out the dancing peasants Brueghel painted.

The only way I managed, and that was with a full orchestra, was to strap three rifle mics to the rood cross as mounting them high up in the cross beams of the church got nowhere. Unless you have something like a proscenium arch the performers really do need to project. For a choir I found that moving them up in front of the altar helped with the acoustics but Sandall is right, you haven't got the budget, sadly.

I feel neglected and abandoned. Haven't had one deleted message.