Follow spot cues

[Lightworld530]

Hi all,

I am curious as to peoples opinion on whether or not a DSM should cue all performances as per the opening performance of a touring show or whether they can decide to abandon cueing spots when they feel like doing so.

Regards David.

[J Pearce]

If the spot ops are happy for the DSM to not cue them, and the DSM is happy that they will get it right without cues then why not?

 

I know by the end of the last medium run (7 weeks) show I did I could pretty much recite everyone's cues for the whole show.

[Lightworld530]

Thanks Jon, for your response.

The key thing here is the "Touring" aspect where house operators are running less than 12 shows. The dsm may be bored with the tour but is it their job to cue as per the book? Who decides that the q's are unnnecessary?

[Tomo]

At the end of the day, the DSM's main responsibility is to ensure that all the right cues happen at the right time.

 

How they do that is up to them.

 

If it's the same crew every night and all concerned are happy that they completely know all the cues and aren't going to forget anything, and the DSM is happy to take the rap for it if something gets forgotten, then that's their decision.

[stebee]

hi,

 

as said before if the DSM is happy to let others cue themselves then all well and good.

BUT......(devils advocate).... if it is a touring show using house ops I would say that the DSM would be ill informed to allow a virtual stranger to cue themselves.

 

and there should be a chain of command in place, if the SM, PM, or producer says JUMP the DSM needs to jump.

 

2p spent

 

Ste

[wako_jacko]

from my experience of f'spot op'ing I really wouldn't advise not calling cues - although towards the end of the run I knew virtually all of the spot Q's there were still some that I thought were in different places/times etc.

 

w.

[cedd]

I always found I needed a decent que for followspot. A steady hand and keeping your concentration on your cast member all mean that you can't follow a script, turn pages or make a jump when the "talent" screw up. So I would say the DSM should call followspots, at least call them out if not in. You may well be able to look ahead and decide when you need to be out so you don't have to follow a script, but as soon as you have brain freeze and the shutter is open, your screw up is reasonably noticeable on the stage.

My 2p spent too!

[MarkPAman]

A little OT here.

 

Long long ago, doing follow-spot for a one off touring heavy metal band gig, the coms went wrong. For some reason all four spot ops could talk to each other, but could not hear the guy who was calling cues (who was also board op, and probably the LD too). So a runner was sent up to tell me to call the spot ques as I thought fit. I understand he could here my ques and was reacting to my choices of colour etc! It helped that I knew some of the songs. Twas an interesting night!

[Suzette]

For panto I often call spot cues by giving stand-by's only - as the spot op can usually see when the turn enters the stage before I can from the prompt desk (using a stage monitor which doesn't cover the whole stage!). So the conversation on cans might go something like :

 

'Stand By LXQ9'

'FS 1- Stand-by to pick up the Dame entering DSR when you see her please.'

 

Then I call the Go for the LXQ but leave the spot op to pick up the Dame - checking when I can see the Dame either on the monitor or on stage that the spot is on.....

The same thing for a spot off Q if the turn is just leaving the stage rather than with a B/O at the end of a scene.

 

'FS1 - Stand-by to fade off the Dame when she exits USL'

 

Not sure if that helps when working on a touring show?

 

The DSM should make sure every cue happens at the right time - everyone has different ways of working....

[pete LD]

I spend a fair bit of my life spotting on touring musicals at the Birmingham hipp and I don't recall ever having the dsm call the spot cues after the 2nd show. You get a cue sheet and the dsm calls are just to help you find the turns on the opening night,( touring shows don't tend to have a rehearsal). I have had DSMs complaining that at there last venue they had to cue the spots every night because they were a bit crap.

Pete

[paulears]

It isn't that they are a bit crap, it's wat they are used to. At a venue where spots are operated by people who really know what they are doing, then cues may be unnecessary, but that's up to the dsm, isn't it? Some venues have operator positions that are very exposed, and operation is done in the dark, so the ops don't have a cue sheet - cues are required then. Most spot ops on a long run don't need the cues they get given, but they are good memory joggers. We're just about to start a 7 week run of one nighters, 7 a week and some get repeated each week, others are one-offs. We'll run a rota for ops, so somebody will have to cue them - it's unlikely anybody will remember very much. If the visiting show is dsm cued, fine - if their idea of a cue sheet is a scrap of paper that makes no sense, then I'll call it, or the lx op, just to co-ordinate entrances exits and mood.

[Seano]

It isn't that they are a bit crap, it's wat they are used to.

That depends on which venue we're talking about. Sometimes "they are a bit crap" is actually being too kind.

[tij5987]

Hi all,

 

im a spot op and have been spotting for some years now - I have toured and spotted a show and obviously not needed calling as I was with that show for 6months. But before that tour I worked in a recieving house regularly as a spot op and now work in another recieving house as a sopt op pretty much on every show requiring an in house operator. The venue I work in at the moment has its spots at the back of the grand circle out in the open amongst the audience so we cant have lights blaring to see our cue sheets, but some how we still manage to not need calling after the second show. There is NO excuse for a spot op to require a dsm to call the followspots for every performance. After one show you should pretty much have taken in all the information necessary and the second performance is called just in case. I am sorry to say this and many people may argue with me, but havng toured as a proddy lx in the past, it is the REAL TRUTH, that the majority of NO1 touring venues stick the juniors up on the followspots because everyone who would be half decent at it cant be bothered because they get basic pay for doing one of the most skilled jobs in a venue! At both venues I have worked, spotting is seen as a huge skill (which it is! anyone can operate a spot but only a select few can do it well) and operators are on the eqivelent of wingman/head flyman rate rather than just the standard BECTU rate as in most venues. With very few exceptions, all touring lampies and dsm's comment on how nice it is to actually have decent spot operators - having toured I can sympathise with them - as most operators are near useless - if you cant follow a cue sheet and spot at the same time dont do the job! I can even go as far as saying that a large proportion of operators still dont understand stage left and stage right! As for people trying to spot full body, half body or head and shoulders at certain times - forget it! The skill isn't there to stay tight on a person and it is thoroughly irritating! If you cant pick someone up - ghost! or how hard is it to make a sight out of coat hanger wire??? I really do find it unbelievable that when I go back to help my old school with the lighting for their annual musical that 14 and 15yr olds can learn to spot a busy show in a couple of performances but grown 'proffessionals' in no1 large scale venues are moaning that a dsm isnt calling the shots every time for them.

Now obviously if the dsm has an easy time on the book and can call spots every nite - great - its nice - but you shouldnt rely on that! For most shows these days on the large scale musicals, there are hundreds and hundreds of lx cues, loads of fly cues (and dont forget that you dont hear everything the dsm does!!!! q lights for turns and stage crew and sound are taking up a lot of their time!) and you should really think of having your cues called for one or two shows as an advantage. We have the regular shows such as joseph and blood bro's asing us on the first show if we need calling - often we dont!

I know this seems like a rant at operators but its not. I just find it very irritating that venues senior lx crew are willing to throw up such unskilled operators which can honestly - RUIN THE SHOW for the audience who are distracted by poor pick ups and huge beams -often on the wrong person at the wrong time. I feel that venues senior lx crews across the country need to get their act together and realise that spotting is a huge skill and if you treat the people who can do it with the respect they deserve then a much better product will resut for in house reputation, service to the visiting company and most importantly for the audiences!

Would be interesting to see what people out there (especially frustrated competant spot ops on poor pay and touring lamies/dsm's) have to say - do you agree with me or am I being harsh???

A note to dsm's and lampies out there - myself and my colleagues find the best way to call the shots are with lx cue numbers, that way you are guarenteed to have to cues called throughout the whole run that match your cue sheet should you still need it. Blackouts that dont correspond to lx cues should obviously always be called also. But maybe thats not the view of all operators out there.

Look forward to your responses (ps birmingham hipp as mentioned above is one of about 5 venues in the country with excellent spot ops - but im not from there!!!)

 

Cheers xxx (ps just read this post back and makes me sound like a complete jerk - please dont take it as a self loving rant putting otheres down - its just an issue regarding the running and staff structre at a large proportion of venues that bugs me and I feel needs consideration)