Thing You wish someone had told you when you were young / Younger

[ceecrb1]

YES I have one thing a little more academical..

 

At school I NEVER really understood sine and cosine waves... Ok I got the maths and the routines of how to use them etc.. but what and why etc didnt have a clue.

This is because no teacher explained the most basic principle of that a sine wave is rotaional motion displayed with respect to time.

 

Wasnt even told it till 2nd year of uni.. it was my godfather ( a video engineer) to explained it one day... since then it all made sense.. ie why a wave has its points of 0, 45, 90 etc degrees......

 

 

I was told many many many things I ignored tough.. like my parents both telling me not to ge into "our world" ...

Maybe I should've listened to that one hahaha

 

 

Finnaly... it costs absolutely nothing to be polite and pay good attention to your clients and their concerns, the returns are usually highly beneficial!

[alex_kyuss]

As jamie said If your not to sure how to do something, ask. I've never meet anyone who minds. but There are many things I can think of that people like doing a certain way eg "cabling up an FX rack" so I always ask the engineer im baby sitting for how they like things done, it always saves you time on the gig or just before the show starts. Also preparation and labeling is everything!!!

[Boggy]

Things I wish I knew before I turned 18.

1) The business phone directory contains listings under "Theatrical" which contains adds for most of the useful businesses in your area.

2) Go to the largest nearby hardware store. Look at bolts, screws, plywood, timber, aluminium, etc. All of these things will be useful at some point and it is worth knowing where to buy them and how much they cost.

3) I got a lot of work because I was reliable (I wasn't the best lighting guy but I always turned up on time and always worked hard unloading the truck).

4) You will probably learn a lot more at the local am dram than you will at school.

5) If you see listings for auditions for local am-dram you can ring them up and ask to assist with the lighting.

6) I learnt nothing at school about lighting as they didn't have anyone at the school who knew anything about it (i.e. if you are in this position you are not doomed).

7) Goto the local hire company and get a hire price list.

[paulears]

Teachers can only teach you what they know. The trouble is, some only know it a week before you.

 

On the hard work at college/school front. Once you start real work, you realise that what you previously thought was hard work, hardly rates!

[ojc123]

Teachers can only teach you what they know. The trouble is, some only know it a week before you.

And they're the organised ones!

[musht]

Finnaly... it costs absolutely nothing to be polite and pay good attention to your clients and their concerns, the returns are usually highly beneficial!

 

 

Good manners cost nothing....

 

and they are the default attitude when dealing with somone difficult, Ps & Qs can help defuse many a tricky situation

[themadhippy]

Dont touch the brown acid

[MrBoomal]

Always ask for advice, but temper it to the occasion.

 

If there are 10 of you fitting up for Elton John and it is 5 in the afternoon and the show goes up at 8, and everyone is screaming and swearing because no universes work, DO NOT at that moment say "do you think it would be better to route X through Y and Z"

 

This will only end in tears and bloodshed.

 

If on the other hand everyone is sitting around having a brew, feel free to ask pertinent questions, we will probably be happy to answer your questions.

[paulsjs]

Never trust an actor / musician. EVER!!! Especially when it comes to beer or food.

[tommulliner]

Never trust an actor / musician. EVER!!! Especially when it comes to beer or food.

Very True,

 

But the main thing that I wish I had been told when I started doing lighting, was not to jiggle the lights too much when on. I lost quite a few lamps during that show!, and our lamp stock was at a 0, so we lost a few lights!

Ah well, thats all in the past.

[Grahame]

Here's my top 5:

• Warm lights up before a focus session on cold mornings, and set a preset focus level of 80%.
  
• Never snap a 5kW Fresnel to full under any circumstances.
  
• Never leave the focus of any Fresnel at full flood if you want your dark gels to last more than 5 seconds.
  
• If the focus knob is stuck, kill the lamp before you apply brute strength to release it.
  
• If using an AJ on a wing nut, don't tighten it on one lug - open it wide and apply even pressure on both lugs.
  

:P

[benash]

General:

 

- Never apply for a job you're not willing to take (if they offer it to you and you turn it down that company will probably never offer you a job again)

- If you have any say in the matter, never quit a job on bad terms. You never know when you'll need to ask a favour.

- Always tell the truth: If someone catches you trying to cover up something they'll think a lot less of you than if you just owned up in the first instance.

- Confidence is not a substitute for competence (but it can help).

- Always be polite: it doesn't take any extra effort and it pays off in the long run.

- Never create an electronic record (photos, email, facebook etc) of anything you wouldn't want your mum or boss to see.

 

Theatre specific:

 

- You can never have too many spares

- Always hire more cables than you think you need

- If you're pressured for time during a bump-in for a theatrical show, set up a generic wash first, generic back/side light second and anything fancy last: If you get to show time and all you have is a bunch of awesome movers and nothing else you'll look like a right git.

- Don't bag out the cast. Even if you don't think they can hear you.

[Blaize110]

• Warm lights up before a focus session on cold mornings, and set a preset focus level of 80%.
  
• Never snap a 5kW Fresnel to full under any circumstances.
  
• Never leave the focus of any Fresnel at full flood if you want your dark gels to last more than 5 seconds.
  
• If the focus knob is stuck, kill the lamp before you apply brute strength to release it.
  
• If using an AJ on a wing nut, don't tighten it on one lug - open it wide and apply even pressure on both lugs
  

 

Wise words indeed. Adding to number 4, when moving the focus knob back and forth, do so gently and with great care.

[oli]

No matter how angry you get at Directors NEVER shout back or slag them off behind their back, they always find out and you will lose a lot of work. Actually that goes to anybody in a higher position.

 

Never date a co-worker, it is hard work!

[GridGirl]

Sometimes you have to be slow to be fast. Taking the time to think something through properly and do it right the first time will inevitably be quicker than racing through it then finding you've done it wrong and having to re-do it. I had this demonstrated to me a couple of months ago when a young lad had been racing through some cabling up on a catwalk and did it wrong; in his hurry to re-do it he ended up running full tilt into an I-beam (and he was running head down, so he hit the top of his head). He's now off work for the rest of the year with a severe concussion.

 

"Slow to be fast" also applies when assisting with quick costume changes involving zips, particularly concealed zips - try to do it fast and you'll jam the zip and of course, won't be able to get it unstuck....