So Gel,

[KCLeblanc]

I've been working at a small venue for about a year, it was going quite well until this afternoon when I decided to try and sort out the gel cupboard.

 

A few questions,

 

How on earth do you keep your gel organised?

 

I have enough 156 chocolate to wallpaper the entire venue, will it ever get used?

 

Once I've worked out how to keep it all organised I'm going to stock up on useful gels. What colours do you always have in stock? I'm thinking steel blue, bastard amber, straw and then some primaries.

[Brian]

Suspension files, sorted by size and colour 'groups', stored in the Really Useful boxes that take suspension files.

[alistermorton]

We use old fashioned 12" record sleeves to keep gel in. Deep colours burn out quickly, but th epaler pieces we reuse once cut.

 

What do we always have in stock? Quite a lot, but the ones we use the most are probably 162 152 201 202 103 159 132 119 120 136 137 147 117 then others like deeper reds and greens get added in as needed. Used some 601 on the last show, and that was very effective for the effect I was after.

[WiLL]

I use an old filing cabinet, easy peasy.

[Wingwalker]

+1 for filing cabinet.

[alistermorton]

Yes, filing cabinet works. We just find keeping the cut pieces in a clear 12" sleeves stop the smaller bits (like patt 23 size) disappearing down the cracks.

[themadhippy]

another filling cabinet vote,plus you can often slip the cost of the empty files onto the admin office stationary budget

[sandall]

Suspension files, sorted by size and colour 'groups', stored in the Really Useful boxes that take suspension files.

Definitely. Failing plastic boxes, filing cabinet once again. For off-site use, large heavy-duty clear carrier bags do the job.

 

Alister's list looks about right. As for your stock of 156 - almost certainly not, unless you can persuade a designer to make a set out of it!

[bigclive]

The only immediate use for chocolate gel that I can think of is as a sepia effect for retro scenes. I wonder if there's a past use that has bought a lot of gel for that effect.

[Bryson]

I literally have a whole room in the theatre for gel. We call it Gel World. Lots of pigeonholes for rolls, deep but short shelving (ours are co-opted from where marketing used to keep posters) for flat sheets and filing cabinets for cut gel.

[sguy42]

I've been working at a small venue for about a year, it was going quite well until this afternoon when I decided to try and sort out the gel cupboard.

 

A few questions,

 

How on earth do you keep your gel organised?

 

I have enough 156 chocolate to wallpaper the entire venue, will it ever get used?

 

Once I've worked out how to keep it all organised I'm going to stock up on useful gels. What colours do you always have in stock? I'm thinking steel blue, bastard amber, straw and then some primaries.

 

You won't use all the 156 - I bought a sheet in 1987, I think I've still got about half of it in stock.

 

sguy42

[J Pearce]

Either filing cabinet and sorted by colour - which is my usual approach - or gel frame sized tubs and sorted by size with a handy cutting stencil on the top (with due acknowledgment to David Ripley who put my venue's current system together).

 

As to the 156 I quite like it in toplight and sidelight, as an alternative to the more orangey warm tints.

[Just Some Bloke]

Too many people look at 156 in working light and see it looks brown and then assume it will look brown on skin under tungsten light. It doesn't. Try it and see. :)

[Mr Steve]

another filling cabinet vote,plus you can often slip the cost of the empty files onto the admin office stationary budget

 

http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gifAmen to that.