Comms Procedure

[LeeStoddart]

One other thing to add is that with the advent of digital lighting boards (which happened in my lifetime but then I am over 40!) LDs have realised that you can have lots of snap cues in a very short time ...

 

The opening scene of act 2 at last year's panto was a very up beat medley of songs from Grease. The standby at the beginning of Act 2 for LX was standby LX Qs 188 through 240. The first three were called normally alongside the flys and sound queues but then from the first cue in the medley to the release in the applause there were 108 LX cues. These were each just the GO.

 

Frankly I would have preferred to use just the numbers so that there was less chance of getting out of step but even saying just the numbers was not possible. (Obviously between 190 and 240 we had quite a lot of "point" cues to fit the 108 in.)

 

What I did do was label each of the cues that was the start of a verse so that there was a checkpoint for the operator and the last 10 were specifically labelled so that the count down to the big finish was controlled.

 

Needless to say no one on cans other than the DSM ever said anything during this sequence but there was a collective exhale when the end was hit on the button every performance.

 

And yes I was the LD who said yes we can put lots of changes into this section

[madorangepanda]

This is why I like lighting Dance Shows with pre recorded music that can run on time code. Or pianists/conductors with perfect timing.

[dbuckley]

Or pianists/conductors with perfect timing.

"Click track" :P

 

I do love sitting back and watching dozens of cues taking themselves in quick succession, and never missing the beat...

[mr_towers]

Please. No chat on cans during the National Anthem/Evening Hymn/Lone Piper/Bugler or anything similar. DSM exempt for cues etc, but surely everyone else can have some respect?

[nothingatall666]

Okay,

 

So what do you do as a DSM if the operator doesn't acknowledge their cue? 'LX22 standby..........' no reply....

 

Has anyone experienced this?

[paulears]

I suspect everyone has experienced it. Two things could have happened, the op can't hear you, or the op doesn't want to answer.

 

If your practice is to require standbys to be acknowledged, and you don't get one - then there is a good chance the cue isn't going to happen - so you repeat to make sure it just didn't get missed. If there is still no answer, then send somebody else to check they're ok. While that's happening, you prepare for the cue to not happen.

 

We did a loud show on Monday, called by the visiting crew from stage side - not prompt corner, and he had to cup his hand around the boom mic for us to be able to hear him against the band noise. The show was busy with constant instructions to spots and lx for what was happening - all the standbys got acknowledged, but it was horrible to listen to because nobody had hands free to switch mics on and off. All the open mics were making comms very difficult. So for the second half, he instructed everyone NOT to use their mics and forget about acknowledgements. Most cues went well, but some were obviously missed and occasionally we'd have a brief instruction with a go - and it was clear the ops were not standing by - having not heard the first s/by.

 

I guess you have to improvise and adapt!

[Bryson]

Okay,

 

So what do you do as a DSM if the operator doesn't acknowledge their cue? 'LX22 standby..........' no reply....

 

Has anyone experienced this?

 

 

Well, they might be ignoring you on principle for getting the order wrong. Standby is always first, Go is always last. If you say "LX22...standby", many operator will have (understandably) pressed go as soon as anything was said after LX22...

 

It's:

STANDBY LX22

LX22 GO

 

 

This is really simple, and very, very important.

 

 

I personally prefer "running" and "complete" to indicate the status of long or subtle cues - mainly because they sound nothing like Go, which "gone" can.

[cedd]

Please please please, whichever of the many methods you use, make sure you turn off your mic before removing our headset and putting it down on the table.

We have a regular director who cannot get his head around this concept and every time he goes off cans (mainly in dress rehearsals to go and sort something out/shout at somebody) we all get deafened by the loud crack as his mic hits the desk.

 

Why is the director on cans in the first place? Unfortunately our comms procedure is nothing like anything I've worked on before. We have no flys and very few set moves/scene changes. His directing style is very much that there should be no blackouts, no curtains and no crew onstage. To be honest it works, but it means everything is done with lighting. He designs the lighting (and is very good at it, so I'm not complaining too much) and so tends to sit next to the desk operator (who also is our programmer) Front of House. Very little comms happens with the stage, possibly the odd cue for a scissor lift or trap door (in lieu of flys, we use a lift quite a lot) but these cues tend to come from the SM (who has very little else to do).

He's also quite heavy on complicated followspots, so we tend to leave the system as a lighting circuit and a stage circuit, and he monitors both.

The lighting operator doesn't take cues from anybody, he has a script and reads it. There again, we've used 200 cues in one musical number before now, so calling is tricky! 30 movers whizzing around and a desk that often doesn't behave means he'd be happier running things himself. Frankly he's spent a good few hours designing the thing so he knows it better than any SM calling the show does.

 

I realise this is very non-standard, and I think is a result of us doing very big shows in a house that has the stage size and seating capacity, but very little else. I have a feeling if we were working in a flying house we'd make more use of curtains and control may well return to the SM. I also know it's odd for a director to be on cans at all during the show, but he seems to have a hand in most departments and it's a bit of a one man band in terms of things coming together. We seem to get very good results, so I guess it works.

 

One other thing I'd urge is that if there's one system you're going to protect with an uninteruptable power supply, it's the comms system.

Having a power cut and then not being able to talk to each other is not good. If it's a trip or something local, the 2 electrical engineers on the crew are often in the followspot box (the LD is a builder, so no use there!) and we're probably best positioned to go and reset anything, so being told what's going on is vital. The SM may need to clear the stage and the band will need to be told to stop playing! Comms in this instance is essential I think.

We've had one power cut, fortunately whilst still in the overture, and at the time we had no way of knowing what was going on. We now have a UPS covering the lighting desk and comms.

[the kid]

Please please please, whichever of the many methods you use, make sure you turn off your mic before removing our headset and putting it down on the table.

We have a regular director who cannot get his head around this concept and every time he goes off cans (mainly in dress rehearsals to go and sort something out/shout at somebody) we all get deafened by the loud crack as his mic hits the desk.

My bane! I have someone who does that ALL the time. Not only that then leave them on and breath REALLY REALLY HEAVY for a entire tech.

[HolyPhish]

Not only that then leave them on and breath REALLY REALLY HEAVY for a entire tech.

 

 

This is something I struggle with, I breath quite heavily and when working on comms for some sections of shows I had to leave my mic open for communication but I knew it was annoying the others.

 

Is there a way of reducing breathing noise on comms? Could u use a pop sheild? or is it jst something that u have to battle through?

[Stutwo]

Imagine someone who refuses to turn their mic off, and then has a habit of sucking their teeth constantly. By the end of that week I was almost losing it.

[Andrew C]

Please please please, whichever of the many methods you use, make sure you turn off your mic before removing our headset and putting it down on the table.

Canford do sell headsets with a tilt switch to mute the mic. Never used them, but seems like a good idea.

[smalljoshua]

Unless you spend a lot of time looking between a script and looking up at the Stage :unsure:

 

Josh

[ramdram]

LX on comms, me beside him on sound desk and cd player (but one which can stop between tracks...a lifesaver if you know what I mean).

 

Me in whisper to LX: It's gone 7.30...

 

LX: via comms to SM, hopefully backstage: Hello, anyone there?

 

Pause, LX repeats question...pause...repeats question.

 

LX and me at back of hall in smug mode...we are sorted and I have only the radio mics to worry about and the thunder and lightning (on CD and strobe, which I get to play with 'cos I'm playing the cue, ** laughs out loud **.)

 

MC is getting twitchy so strides up to stage and turns to audience (village panto, everybody knows everybody else, everyone up for a laff including/especially ###### ups).

 

Loud clunking noise from behind curtain. LX and me now wear huge grins...everything as per usual.

 

MC looks up to our desk (sitting on scaffold pole erection, plenty of gaffer tape in evidence, probably not exactly in accordance with H&S but it has never collapsed yet...so obviously never will...)

 

Village Hall lights (we don't run to house lights) still on, enough light to see by, so LX shrugs to MC. MC decides to go for broke anyway so launches into spiel about mobiles, flash photography (both ignored), loud noises and strobe effects.

 

Increase of noise behind curtain, sort of frenzied beating; curtains bulge in several places, audience thoroughly engaged, catcalls from the "Young Farmers" element. They helped build the stage and pros arch, being the only ones young enough and strong enough, so they get to say what they like...and they contribute a lot of cash over the bar...

 

MC thanks audience for coming, makes dignified exit through seats, sits down.

 

LX suddenly speaking into comms: We're ready to go, Hall lights off now.

 

Seeing the Hall lights go off is the cue for the band to start up, regardless, and seeing as they STILL have yet to grasp the notion the panto is NOT a gig so 1400W of amp and speakers might be a bit overkill proceed to deafen everyone in the place. The MD, or the bloke on guitar, won't wear a headset, not for musical reasons..he is a bit thin on top and his wife has already started him on the hair thickening gunky stuff. So he goes visual cues, which he, more or less, gets right almost half the time...which the Director is happy to live with...especially as this is the ONLY band which is willing toplay, for free.

 

LX: What's going on? We've started, get the curtains open. (we don't use "tabs" cos nobody would have any idea. Even "Stage L and R" is a concept too far for some.)

 

You should know that LX is talking, not to the SM but the lady (press ganged that very evening 30 mins before the show) who does the thing with the curtains winder. She has no idea of backstage protocol, so, being a devout adherent in "authority belief" dutifully opens the curtains, but only about a third open, because she is a). a girl (well, that's probably pushing it...) and her mother obviously told her never to get involved in ANY activity where she ends up getting sweaty, sorry I meant "glow"...but oddly she has four kids...

 

and b). the curtain's winding gear has NEVER been serviced and grown men have been known to get hernias just by looking at it.

 

However, curtain winder "girl" finds the strength (LX and I glance at each other with a certain new respect for curtain winder "girl" and reach same conclusion about who really wears the trousers in "her" household) and curtains fly open...to reveal SM and rest of cronies, aka backstage crew, gazing owl like into what we laughing call our lighting arrangements...

 

Chorus, who are all divas to the token "cute" 5 year old, launch into the opening number, ignoring the SM and crew and simply push them out of the way...in any direction but NOT in front of ME.

 

SM and crew eventually find wings and exit stage L...and R. Audience cheer and camera flashes everywhere...cute 5yr old's granny and grandad capture moment for posterity and for display in twenty years time at the wedding...

 

Another very successful start to another Village Panto, who needs comms?

[erroneousblack]

Always remember you can't see who's listening to you.