being a stage manager

[paulears]

If, after a proper rehearsal session, the op cannot push the button with enough consistency for the dsm to hit the cue points, then sadly, get another op who can.

 

I once worked with one who suffered badly from nerves. As they got worse, he started to blink. Then as his dodgy 'lghtswitch' take as manual cue approached he spent more and more time with his eyes shut, usually missing it!

[lxkev]

musical cues, well if it a show with a backing tracks, triggers cues by time code...

[paulears]

If it's a theme park, running over and over again, with no real techical staff - then yes automation. I just get worried when people want to replace humans because they're not up to it, when some (oddly, the ones who work lots) are..........

 

One of the threads running now is all about being an LD for a band, and wanting to let the machinery run the show - presumably while the LD goes off for a drink? Normally people want to emulate the big name, big show operational style, but I can't quite work out why anyone would not want to run music cues manually - especially when the band don't play the same every night.

[Jivemaster]

Maybee there is a Team for the Job concept. One guy I trained with as a classical muso now sound engineers for the beeb, classical only though.

[Chris Higgs]

hi evryone I use the same calls as everyone else, just a quickie has anyone ever hear 'pan que' for a sound que. a dsm I know uses this for sound ques I personally just use 'sound q' for music and sfx for an effect

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

A long time ago, though. It's the name I was taught to use for sound cues although I never used one (Ferrograph Series 6 and 7 for me...) I'm not that old!

Short for Panatrope, a twin turntable you could fade between for playing gramaphone music/sound effects. You know, vinyl!

PanQ rolls off the tongue, too.

[Brixton]

Short for Panatrope, a twin turntable you could fade between for playing gramaphone music/sound effects. You know, vinyl!

Surely a pan q is any sound effect that 'pans' from left to right (or R - L) as in pan and tilt

I remember watching sound desk jockeys trying to dislocate their fingers by simultaneously moving one fader up, the adjacant one down and widdleing one of those knob things above the slidery jobs

The boys on superstar used to do it for the herods whip noise as he lashed Jesus.

It sounded dead good

P.S. I'm not as old as Chris so my sound gear knowledge stopped with the WEM Copycat!

[Spuddy]

In regards to what Tomo said about replying to a standby with "Ready", I've often found that people reply by saying "Lights" "Flys" "Spot 1" or whatever their job happens to be...this works well if you've got a new DSM who can't always recognise individual voices over cans if a multiple standby has been called!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Totally agree with the above, when you have deps standing in, or on long runs people moving around depts its is SO much easier to hear back that that the department required is standing by, rather than rely on recognising a voice.

 

To save confusion I normally op for the replys "LX (cue) SB" "Flys (Cue) SB" "ASM (Cue) SB"

 

Ie on a call

 

"STAND-BY - Lx 24 thru 30, Flys 5, ASM 3"

 

I would expect to hear back

 

"LX 24 thru 30 SB" "Flys 5 SB" "ASM 3 SB" If I don't get back all I repeat the one missing.

 

On visual cues run I personally like confimation a cue is a Visual and confirmation it HAS been run,

 

normally on the lines of "LX24 Complete"

 

Ie on a call

 

STANDBY VISUAL LX 31"

 

I would expect back

 

"LX V 31 SB"

 

"LX 31 Complete"

 

I ALWAYS cue in the same order as the cues are required in the show, As I have found mentally some people get ready for their cues based on others, I know I do when I board op.

 

As an aside to the AUS term DOME does anyone still use the term LIMES for Spots ?

[paulears]

As an aside to the AUS term DOME does anyone still use the term LIMES for Spots ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Quite a few turns still use this on their cue sheets, also still fairly common on riders

[frankblues]

I've been reading this thread with great interest, learning the differences between how us yanks and the rest of the world seems to call shows. So here are some thoughts about the American experience.

We tend to call most cues by department name, e.g. "Lights Thirty-One, Go" "Lights Sixteen Point Five Sound Two and Rail Four, Go."

Most foley sound cues (sounds created by practicals) by the name of the sound, e.g. "Buzzer Go" "Bell Go"

Deck Cues (wagons, revolves) often get called by the side of the crew are on... "Right Three Go"

 

And we tend to give standbys sooner (usually 30 seconds before the cue is calles), but some yank SM's call warnings about two minutes ahead (especially in shows with long spaces and no cues in them - quick paced multicue shows, like musicals, usually get called without warns).

 

My calls usually sound something like this:

"This is the warning for Lights 16.5 through 21, Sound 7, 7.9 and Rail 4."

(I hear:)

"Lights."

"Sound."

"Rail."

(Then...)

"Standby Lights 16.5 through 21, Sound 7 and 7.9 and Rail 4"

"Lights."

"Sound."

"Rail."

"Lights 16.5 and Sound 7... Go. Lights 17, Go. Rail 4, Go. (etc...)"

 

Quicker cues turn into "Lights, Go. Lights, Go.", and then numbers when things slow down to make sure the light op is still in the cue they should be in.

I also have a quirk about sound cues... I number the actual cue and then give a "point nine" cue for the fade out. Most other SM's call "Sound 16 out go" - but I find that possibly *more* confusing.

(And I very rarely use the word "cue" on headset...)

 

Visual cues get a "cue complete" back on headsets, as well as long light cues and most rail cues (in case the SM is watching something other than flys coming in, like actors for a light cue.)

 

I'm also curious, how do Brit DSM's mark cues in the prompt script?

[sam.henderson]

There are a few ways to do it and each DSM normally has a slight variation of how they set out there book (hence why the DSM and book covers on most of the west end shows have there own different books for the same show) however the most standard way is to have three columns on the page next to the script. One column for blocking (numbered), one column for calls (no lines or numbers -just positioned roughly) and one column for cues which has a line across to the point where the cue is sometimes with a arrow through the cue word or action.

 

Just as a general question, does anyone, UK or international, put a faint vertical line down the cues column to show when your in stand-by. This is a helpful trick I picked up not very long ago and I thinks v. useful. Also when doing your standbys I normally call it:

"Standby LXQ6 thru 9"

wait for the standing by... then do

"Standyby SNDQ8"

wait for standing by etc.

However I know other DSMs who do:

"Standby LXQs 6 thru 9, SNDQ 8 & AV Q11" and then gets all the acknowledgements??

 

Sam

[mac.calder]

One column for blocking (numbered), one column for calls (no lines or numbers -just positioned roughly) and one column for cues which has a line across to the point where the cue is sometimes with a arrow through the cue word or action.

 

What I have found to be the norm is one page is blocking, then the other page is script/cues, no second column for roughly placed cues

Just as a general question, does anyone, UK or international, put a faint vertical line down the cues column to show when your in stand-by. This is a helpful trick I picked up not very long ago and I thinks v. useful.

 

Usually, I have a line going to the point in the script, then atop and below the line are the cues - if they are go's, there is a box arround them, if they are s/b's, they are s/b lx1->3 etc.

Also when doing your standbys I normally call it:

"Standby LXQ6 thru 9"

wait for the standing by... then do

"Standyby SNDQ8"

wait for standing by etc.

However I know other DSMs who do:

"Standby LXQs 6 thru 9, SNDQ 8 & AV Q11" and then gets all the acknowledgements??

 

Since I have a strict silence on the cans between standbys (unless they are accnowledgment calls or an emergency, I always run it on like the last example. If I can help it though, I have group standbys as rarely as possible - ie if it is possible to have "sb lx1, lx1 go, sb snd1, snd1 go", I do it, otherwise it is "sb lx1, snd1.... lx1 go... snd1 go".

 

I always drop the q.

 

Also - people going off cans - do most other SM's make their ops wait for acknowledgment before they can go off cans - it is a policy I recently addopted after a dome op missed his cue to spot a major part (blackout, lone spot) on opening night because he just said "Dome off cans" and pulled his headset off 10 seconds before the standby... I also ask for a time - is that unusual - ie "Dome off cans for 10" - or when we had the flymen changing head flymen (as the usual head flyman also had to open the pit at interval etc, so we swaped for 5min before and after interval, 5 mins into the show, and 5min before the end of the show to a junior member, what I usually heard was "Flys swap cans, count 10...Go". They said that is usually how they did it for intensivly cued shows, and the habbit stuck.

[david.elsbury]

Also - people going off cans - do most other SM's make their ops wait for acknowledgment before they can go off cans

*snip* I also ask for a time - is that unusual - ie "Dome off cans for 10"

*snip*"Flys swap cans, count 10...Go". They said that is usually how they did it for intensivly cued shows, and the habbit stuck.

That is a bl**dy good idea.

I'm stealing it :)

 

Thanks :** laughs out loud **:

[Mars]

Simple and straightforward:

 

With great emphasis: "Attention next Q."

Assuming the relevant persons know it's theirs and which.

Then, with acute emphasis: "Go."

In between, there is my tyrannical imposed radio silence, medical emergencies allowed only.

 

There are days when I abbreviate the sequence to: "Attention... GO!"

Those who fail (twice in a row) are fired. And they know.

 

This method is derived from the Three Laws Of Stage Managment:

1 "You do what I tell you to do."

2 "Everything is possible, and if it is impossible, make it possible."

3 "If you fail, you're fired."

 

No really, they do like me!

[Just Some Bloke]

Simple and straightforward:

 

With great emphasis: "Attention next Q."

Assuming the relevant persons know it's theirs and which.

Then, with acute emphasis: "Go."

In between, there is my tyrannical imposed radio silence, medical emergencies allowed only.

 

There are days when I abbreviate the sequence to: "Attention... GO!"

 

How on earth do people know who's cue is next? Is it a lighting cue, sound cue, flys cue, followspot cue, stage cue... etc.

 

And how do they know that they've got the correct cue ready if you don't give a number? After 70 performances of panto (2 or 3 a day) every cue seems to merge into the next, so checking it's the right number is essential!

 

How do you know they're ready if they're not allowed to reply?

 

How do they know you're about to say "go" if you don't proceed it with "LXQ69 (or whatever)..." then "GO". If you're just saying the "GO" it must come out of nowhere!

 

I don't think you'd get away with your system on any of my shows, I'm afraid!

 

JSB

[T*ny]

I go along with the "Standby LXQ1" and "LXQ1 GO" method

 

The Q is there so that everyone can have a laugh at each and every show at the standard "Where the oil comes from!" reply to "Standby LXQ8"