Relighting

[GetSet Boy]

I have just been asked by the management if I will relight the panto we've bought in this year. The company providing the show haven't got anyone to do it,this will involve focusing AND plotting the entire show, the theatre have said they will pay me extra,what is the going rate for relighters ?

[paulears]

Relight a bought in panto? Have you bought in the lighting design too? Not that usual. It souns more to me like they want you to do a complete design from scratch (or almost scratch). Touring relights are common, but pantos morph each year - even if the script remains the same, you have new cast, director, music - so not really a re-light, more a do-light?

 

Also what kind of venue is it (and is it TMA or not?)

[Jivemaster]

Much will depend on your employment status with the establishment. Pay you extra doesnt seem to be an invitation to put in a bill for a telephone number.

[Tom Baldwin]

The ALD should be a useful port of call. There's been quite a lot in their magazine, Focus, lately about minimum rates for various scenarios. Unfortunately I didn't pay that much attention since I don't do this for money!

[gareth]

There's no "going rate" for re-lighters. When I used to do a lot of touring re-lights, my charges would be on the basis of either a simple daily rate, or an agreed fee that I'd work out based on my daily rate and the time I'd be spending each week on the relight.

 

However, as Paul says, what you're being asked to do is only really a re-light if your venue has bought the panto complete with original lighting design (plan, focus notes, plot, etc.) and you're being asked to recreate that original design in your theatre. If you're being presented with a script and a set design and being asked to light it from scratch, then what you're doing is a lighting design and should be paid accordingly.

[GetSet Boy]

Thanks for your replies. Yes we have bought a panto that requires a relight,apparently complete with focus notes and help from the touring DSM.!I can only tell you what my tech manager has told me !

 

As I am the only technician with previous lx experience in a recieving house they asked me to give them a figure to relight (they will charge it on to the panto co.) As mentioned,I don't want to quote "phone number"figures,neither do I want to sell myself short.

 

As for the plotting,well,again,I'm quoting the tech manager.

[gareth]

Sounds .... odd.

 

Your venue has bought a panto, complete with original lighting design ; they're expecting to use that lighting design for their show ; the touring DSM is the only person on the production team who had anything to do with the previous incarnation of the show and is coming to your venue with the production to work on the relight. Strikes me that you're just going to be fulfilling the same role that a venue technician would take on in a fairly standard sort of 'incoming production' kind of scenario - namely, to rig according to a plan that already exists, focus according to the instructions of someone who's coming in with the show and aided by a set of notes, and to load the show into the console from a disk and then tweak the cues in collaboration with the aforementioned person-coming-in-with-show.

 

Perhaps there's something I'm not getting, but I can't quite see what it is that you'll be doing which warrants a premium payment over and above what you'd be getting paid anyway as an in-house electrician ...

[Maddison]

Perhaps there's something I'm not getting, but I can't quite see what it is that you'll be doing which warrants a premium payment over and above what you'd be getting paid anyway as an in-house electrician ...

 

I think, though I might be wrong, that it is the fact that the design is not for the theatre. You have to apply a generic design (if such a thing could exist) to fit round any quirks of your theatre...

[dave singleton]

My god! For the first time ever I agree with what Gareth's saying... :unsure: ;)

 

I too find this hole thing slightly odd. Im not 100% sure I understand the theory of having a touring DSM on a panto then requiring a relight? Surely panto's are designed year upon year to suit a venue or am I am I being thick?

[tokm]

Surely panto's are designed year upon year to suit a venue or am I am I being thick?

No Dave, your pretty much 100% correct. Only thing is with the big panto people (Qdos, UKP etc) is they have a few incarnations of different shows (few of peter pan, Aladdin, cinder's, etc) and each show has a set, script, costumes, blocking, cast... But then as you said, the panto's near enough tailor made to the venue its in each year.

 

The LX and Sound designs, while being similar to the previous years, will be designed to meet the budget for that show/venue/year and to what size/facilities of the venue is. You get a production electrician & often a noise no1, come with the show to put it all together, deal with programming etc. You also get a CSM/Production manager, DSM and occasionally ASM's with the show/from the production company (as seen recently on stage jobs pro where the big boys have been asking for aforementioned crew for this years panto). Are you sure thats not what your getting.. a CSM/Production Manager, rather than a DSM..

 

Same goes with the dancing (dance captain/choreographer) comes up with the routines based on how many are in the cast and such. Lines for the turns are usually same, as are the songs, jokes are changed to suit the town/include recent comical current affairs and so on.

 

As people have said this is a bit odd and different from what we've all seen of panto before. If its a no1 or no2 house, the situation (in my experience) tends to be like I've said above, anything smaller, and its all done inhouse with the production company providing the set, costumes and cast. The venue techs then deal with LX, Sound, F'spotters/crewing..

 

Tom