Horrible First expirience with hs tech

Now. I am by no means a "new tech" or "just getting invovled with this stuff".
yes, as far as high school tech, I may be new, but in the grand scheme of things, I have been doing tech stuff for longer than most of the people at my high school in tech. I've been training with a pro sound tech for years. he's been teaching me quite a bit of stuff.

Anyways. on to my actual story...

So my first expirience in hs tech I was an ASM. Whoopee. Theres one road I'll never turn down again.

So it was load in for tech right? And four of us were in the catwalks. Two pairs of two. Were were just finishing loading lights in, ready to start dimmer check/focus.

Well, this girl, who was just helping with the light hang, who seemed to think she was in charge of everybody (when she clearly wasn't) was up there "giving orders".

Okay fine. Thats not the bad part. The bad part is that as we were all going to town hanging lights, according to the light plot, she walks up to me and says "I think we have it covered. Why don't you just go wait in the booth."

Without saying a word, I walked down.
About twenty minutes later, one of this girls friends walks down from the cwalks with 30 or so gels and says "here..[girl who told me to leave name here] said to file these in the cabinet.

The second girl who brought the stuff down and I just looked at each other. She was giving me a look as to say "don't shoot the messanger" and I was giving her a look like "if you don't get outta my face, I will hurt you".

I thought this was just inconciderate and rude, to assume somebodies capabilities based on grade level. Yeah. It's real rocket science to hang a light. It takes 5 hours of highly trained professionals to hang lights for a hs show....

Wooowww....okay then..
Needless to say after that show I booked outta there. next year I'll sign up for the "sound board opperator" spot. If i don't get it, I'm not doing anything else. (there's a senior on it now who's leaving obviously).

[porkchop]

Oh high school theatre how I miss it. It sounds like you know it, but realize that HS theatre is not really like normal theatre. First of all the only reason our ASM's ever touch a light is if they want to work on the electrics crew too. Unfortunately no matter what job you do (theatre, construction, retail) you will inevitably run into someone that "knows everything" and you just don't agree with. How you deal with that that's the issue. It sounds like you handled it pretty well, I would have done it a little different probably but thats because of my personality and not necessarily any better of an idea. Some times you do have to say, you know I have plenty of experience I can do this, but other times you have to do what you did and deal with it. That's why we have a punching bag forum.

I forgot to mention...People in this school are just RUDE!
It's to a sickening point where you can't enjoy what you want to do because you're working with idiots. I have gigs running sound friday and saturday nights. Pretty good eh? I don't need those creeps in hs theater. Not at my school.

[Footer]

Originally Posted by Freedomiii6

I forgot to mention...People in this school are just RUDE!
It's to a sickening point where you can't enjoy what you want to do because you're working with idiots. I have gigs running sound friday and saturday nights. Pretty good eh? I don't need those creeps in hs theater. Not at my school.

Get used to it. You will deal with crews that are full of people that are extremly rude. This is the time to learn how to work with people, its a skill that you have to have. Don't go into it trying to be the top dog right off the bat, people have worked to get those spots and are not about to leave them. Most IA halls have a list a mile long of people, and only the top 10-20 people get the house electrician/sound/carp jobs at the local theatres. This is a job where its just not where you have worked, its how long you have worked at certain places. You have to wait for people to die or leave in order to advance. And when you get to the top, you get to be a steward which doesn't require hardly any work!

Your never to experienced to sweep and mop. Words to live by. The first thing I do in any shop I work in is start cleaning, you would be amazed how far that goes. So, until you have more seniority or have a contract that says your in charge, go get a broom.

[bobgaggle]

I have mixed feelings on this. I am one of the "go-to" people in my High School (admin will ask me to set up a portable stage, set up a mic for parent night, things like that) and i can understand why someone who knows what they're doing would rather do it himself then let the new guy try. When you've been doing something for four years in the same theatre space you start to know you're way around.

But even though someone is more experienced doesn't mean that they should ignore the authority of a position, such as ASM. A lighting tech is lower on the food chain than an ASM and should respect the position.

Let me clarify...again.

First of all. I wasn't trying to be top dog or push anybody around. I didn't actually tell people I knew alot about it. Just sorta was trying to get involved.
This was the attitudes of the people.

Second, what really pissed me off about this girl is that she kicked me outta the catwalks, and then asks me to do something stupid like sorta gels? No! Get your lazy ass down and do it yourself. There wasn't even a please in there.

[soundop]

Our school has extremley strict rules on the cats, the first one is you cant go up to the cats alone your freshmen year, the second no actors are allowed in the cats unless with a tech, any actor who breaks the second rule is replaced instanly, we had a few actors screw the entire focus of lights, because they saw the yokes and decided to move them. Freshmen techs...well there freshmen, if they go up they have to clean the scene shop, and they clean up after the paint crew (inculding cleaning the brushes/rollers) oh our favorite rule, who ever changes the ipods without asking, gets chased thourgh the auditorium, and is forced to listen to bluegrass or rap. oh and our sms and asms know to stay away from us, were just a tad psycho

[ReiRei]

Are you a freshman in hs? Because I'm a junior technician in my theatre and we have two different hierarchies; the tech hierarchy & the grade hierarchy. Freshman and new technicians at my hs are kind of required to sort gels at one point. It's just something everybody in my theatre does. We usually "sort" gels during class time though.

I've had to kick people out of light calls because they screw things up badly because they don't actually know what they're doing... such as not putting safety cables on cat lights, or any lights for that matter, or leaving bolts loose. Also, people who have really bad and arrogant attitudes I've kicked out of light calls.

And think about it this way... how many cats do you guys have? Three people is too many to have on one cat, even in my high school. She probably did have it covered, and really, having you sort any gels at all in my opinion is a good thing because that means your theatre is organized. The idiots in my theatre just leave gels up on the cats and it drives me insane because I'm the one who ends up putting them all in the files they go in.

And Footer4321 is right... you have to wait for people to die or leave to be at the top. You can't expect to walk into a place where people have put their blood sweat and tears into a job and be instantly at the top. And even though you were an ASM, I must put in that you have to earn respect from the people in any & every position of technical theatre. It kind of sounds to me like you have a bad attitude because you're so cocky about your abilities. Any job, even sorting gels is just as helpful as hanging lights. It's the same concept of sweeping and mopping. No matter how small the job, it's always important to the theatre.

[Footer]

Originally Posted by ReiRei

I've had to kick people out of light calls because they screw things up badly because they don't actually know what they're doing... such as not putting safety cables on cat lights, or any lights for that matter, or leaving bolts loose.

TEACH THEM! No one knows what to do their first time up, its your job to teach them!

[punktech]

i agree with most of what's being said here, save for a few things. one: the "girl just there to help hang lights". i'm sorry, but light crew is just as important as run crew, just because you're working more dates doesn't mean you automatically get more respect. my bet is that she's a senior or junior that knows her way around the place, perhaps lighting is not her specific thing, but she's one of the people that knows right off the bat what has to be done. there were a few times when i was a freshman in my college where i didn't think that someone knew anything and it turns out that they could run circles around me. suck it up you can't tell everyone's knowledge and abilities within hours of first working with them. and about sorting gels, so what, it's mindless work, let your thoughts drift, have a daydream or 10, enjoy it! some day you'll wish you had a job as easy as that.

anywhere you go where you'll be treated like a kid the first few months. they don't know how good you are. they know what you say, but talk means nothing. they want to see your skills from the ground up and if that means pushing a broom then so be it. my first load out for the summer stock i did this past summer i did the crappiest jobs, but i didn't say a word and i did not even glare at anyone. i knew they were testing me, seeing if i really had it in me.

also have a better attitude. i know that this may not seem nice, but i'm trying to help you. if you act unhappy and ungrateful people will notice and people don't want that in their work environment. always have a nice, sweet attitude when at work, no matter how hard it gets no matter how much of a d*ck any of your co-workers are being. i've had calls last far, far into the night (try 4 am) with another call at 8 am that morning. i kept a smile on throughout both days. people like nice, kind, friendly people, especially if they're always pleasant at work. this is what will bot help you get an keep jobs.