Follow Spot Cues

[DHSLXOP]

Originally Posted by Footer4321

I'm 5'6 and have yet to find a spot that I can not run. Let her at it. If the spot is properly balanced she shouldn't have any problem.

This is great news! Thanks for your quick reply!

[Van]

The only issue I could see would be if the spot was raised abnormally high to clear a balcony rail or wall, which might lead to having a hard time reaching the iris,chopper,fader. Other than that I with Footer < again> Let her at it ! . I love the old Super Troupers. I have about 1200 hrs on a carbon arc Super T. Ah those were the days, white hot pieces of metal thrown intoa coffee can, toxic fumes swirling around your head......

[gafftaper]

Originally Posted by Van

Ah those were the days, white hot pieces of metal thrown into a coffee can, toxic fumes swirling around your head......

Van that explains a lot about you. No wonder you're in Portland... it surprising you aren't working in Eugene, I hear they do a lot of work with alternative flame sources down there.


Anyway back to your questions.
-It sounds like you've got a pretty good situation and some fairly professional student techs you are working with so maybe you can cut back. The key is to make sure you are giving them all the information THEY need. You might start out describing the cues and then cut back to just giving numbers after a rehearsal or two if they are comfortable with it. Talk to your spot ops about it. See what they are comfortable with. Maybe there is medium length version of the cue call that will shorten your text but give them more info than a number.

-I had a girl who was as short if not shorter than you are talking about run spot for me. No problem.

[highschooltech]

We use modified S4s with iris and gel boxes for our spots. They work great. The only issue is that if the spot opp isn't paying attention his light comes up in the wrong place

[Van]

Gaff, That was when I was in OKlahoma, Oklahoma,Oklahoma ! hehehehehe

[TechiGoz]

If your dome (spot) operators are seeing a good weeks worth of rehearsals etc, they should be able to follow the play. Giving them a cue sheet, allows them to be incharge of getting ready what they need, while you focus on the 101 other things you need to when being a stage manager.

When I'm stage managing, I give everyone a copy of their own cue sheet, whether it be FX, LX, Dome, Fly's, Stage Crew or whatever. I have a master sheet, and when I give a "Standby" they will give me an answer (could be "FX Standing By" or whatever). This means to me that they have read their cue sheet and know what is coming next. This allows me to call complex series of cues such as "Standing By LX35, FX56, Flys8, StageCrewPosition6A, Dome32" and after reciving a whole bunch of "standing by's" I can just say, "LX, FX, Fly, Crew, Dome GO"

If they do have any questions though, they are able to confirm with me during the standby.

I find that giving their own cue sheets is a much more efficient way of calling a show. Every one makes sure they are on track.

Good luck.

[PhantomD]

Can somebody show me what this cue sheet should look like?

I'm looking at being followspot captain as well as board op for several reasons that are irrelevant to this discussion!

Got a pair of new followspots (one of whom is pretty **** short) and I'm going to start them from the start - and I want them to have a lot more independance than spots have had in the past.

[DHSLXOP]

Originally Posted by PhantomD

Can somebody show me what this cue sheet should look like?
I'm looking at being followspot captain as well as board op for several reasons that are irrelevant to this discussion!
Got a pair of new followspots (one of whom is pretty **** short) and I'm going to start them from the start - and I want them to have a lot more independance than spots have had in the past.

The way I was thinking that it should be designed is: (remember that the chart should be lined up with each other--so like if you see two ones in a row, one should go to one column and the other should go to the other column; Also-I have added in another section that I didn't say when I first brought up the topic)
Cue# | Spot # | Gel Color | Intensity | On Performer | Cue Line
1 1 White 100% XXXX "No don't go..."
" 2 " " YYYY "
2 1/2 White 100% ZZZZ "Hello down there"
This is the way I was thinking about doing it, but I'm sure someone else has a better/more professional way of doing this.

[Footer]

Originally Posted by DHSLXOP

The way I was thinking that it should be designed is: (remember that the chart should be lined up with each other--so like if you see two ones in a row, one should go to one column and the other should go to the other column; Also-I have added in another section that I didn't say when I first brought up the topic)
Cue# | Spot # | Gel Color | Intensity | On Performer | Cue Line
1 1 White 100% XXXX "No don't go..."
" 2 " " YYYY "
2 1/2 White 100% ZZZZ "Hello down there"
This is the way I was thinking about doing it, but I'm sure someone else has a better/more professional way of doing this.

Make seperate sheets for each operator that just had their cues on it. Also, I would not give them a pickup line, because with that they will get confused. Just give them q#,frame #,douser,iris,and perfomer

[DHSLXOP]

Originally Posted by Footer4321

Make seperate sheets for each operator that just had their cues on it. Also, I would not give them a pickup line, because with that they will get confused. Just give them q#,frame #,douser,iris,and perfomer

Just wondering--why would you not put in a pickup line? And also, what is a douser?

Thanks