Hanging lights?

[Charc]

Okay, so I was just curious what your guys opinion are on hanging lights. Is this a one or a two person job? I've done it as a one person job a ton of times, and I've also had some really shady moments doing it. (Read: Heavy KL, underneath a a par56 at full. So that means, heavy load, sweaty hands, and I couldn't get the **** wrench on the clamp. Oh, did I mention the senior female lead was beneath me?) I, and my crew, like to have a two member rule when dealing with the heavy instruments, especially when using our AP slots, as it's hard to get 'em on, you have to make them go horizontal, and lower them, then pull up, from under the pipe. It's a hassle. However since I'm often the only one working (not the only one in the theater) that rule quickly dissolves. So what are your thoughts on this? (Excuse the terribly quality of this post, it's 3:38 AM)

[Radman]

In high school I was always the entire lighting crew up until I gave the script and Go button to a monkey. In community theatre I was ME and then had an AME plus TD and a few handfuls of volunteers every hang. In conference world, unions handle the grunt of the work.

Generally hangs are conducted by many people, then focus is narrowed down to just a few guys.

[icewolf08]

you may want to take this with a grain of salt as my crews are generally college age and older, but I generally consider hanging lights technically a one man job. But this is not the complete answer. If we are hanging flying battens then the whole crew might attack them at the same time, but each person hangs their own light. For my coves, booms and box booms, basically any position that can only be accessed by a git'taller (ladder/lift) it become a one man job (sort of). You can't safely put two people on a ladder or one man lift, so usually I would send one person up and the other will stand on the deck and follow the plot and send lights up on a rope. Other than MLs, the heaviest lights we have are 2k fresnels, and if one crew member can't haul them up and hang them then we send up a bigger person.

MLs on the other hand, if being hung on immobile pipes are a 3 man operation most of the time. Two to haul them up and one to follow on a git'taller to hook them on.

[Logos]

I prefer one on the ground one in the air with a fixed grid. With lighter lanterns it certaily can be a one man job but for safety reasons I would always go for two.

[gafftaper]

I try to get as many people involved as possible with the initial hang... how many ladders do I have? But as Rad said at the same time you only want a few for focus. Plus you want good people for focus as it is slow and tedious waiting for someone who doesn't know what they are doing. In educational situations I always match a newbie with a veteran for focus to keep things moving along as much as possible. Usually I have the veteran do like half the lights with the newbie watching then allow the newbie to start doing things with the vet there to jump in and help.

In any case there needs to be SOMEONE else in the theater for safety sake.

[len]

Movers are definitely 2 - 3 person. It depends on the size, shape, the type of clamps, etc. It also depends on what you're doing. A theater show, where you have a few days of tech, you might have more time for each instrument. A tour, where load in is at 8 AM and the sets and audio are still on the trucks waiting for lighting to get hung, you don't have time for anything. You might have 2 hours from the time you open the truck doors until the time the rig has to be flown because having the locals there for more than 4 hours costs a lot of money.

But I digress. Most conventionals can be hung by 1 person.

[Charc]

I was thinking, and in retrospect I think I'd have to agree with you guys. I think the thing about that story that spooked me, was that I was loosing my grip. Perhaps the solution is a pair of solid gloves?

[soundlight]

Pick up a pair of Mechanix gloves at your local auto parts store. Great bargain, no need to order anything online, and they'll last a while. Also, preset everything as much as possible when hanging the really long lekos - tighten the f***it nut in the position that you want it to be in, tighten the yoke-clamp bolt, make sure that the pigtail won't get in your way, etc. The worst thing to do is to hang a light and realize it can rotate freely because the f***it nut isn't tight, and the cable gets caught on your arm when it turns around as you're trying to tighten the yoke bolt.

[DarSax]

Always, ALWAYS have at least one other person in the theater, within shouting distance (or if they're say in the next room over, have them check back in at fixed, frequent intervals).

As far as hanging, as I say it, the more people who can do it...the better! Hanging a light is in my opinion not exactly the most complex thing (and for the complex ones, well that's what I'm here for), so I feel confident having competent techs go up into the catwalks and hang, or hang when the battens are lowered.

That being said, if its a ladder job, or someting that requires climbing, a bit more of balance, etc, I usually won't allow anyone but myself to do it. Partially because I trust myself in those situations, being an avid monkey, and partially because I don't want anyone else to get hurt.

Movers, on the other hand, are a completely, completely different animal. Two people at least to each mover, and a third spotting at all times. Before the batten each mover is on goes up, I personally check all the cheeseboroughs, clamps, safety cables, everything. Having one of those fall is a budgetary and public relations (rentals!) nightmare, and they're already more complex to hang.

As far as focusing goes, unless you have a RFU, it's always a two-person job for me anyways, one's focusing, and one's at the board. If you have a RFU though, I could see just one person going up (provided you still have that other person in the theater!)

[jonhirsh]

" budgetary and public relations (rentals!) nightmare"

You dont have insurance? who is renting to you?

JH