To take a cue or not take a cue, that is the question

[What Rigger?]

Originally Posted by soundlight

You only push go when the SM says go. When we're talking on com, we even spell out G O when we're not actually talking about go for a cue, purely out of convention.

Hey Sound, spelling out G O is actually a really good safety/operational thing backstage anywhere. That's pretty smart.

On my gig, where human life is put into the breach nightly, none of us on the crew ever actually say "go" or anything like that. I mean, we don't say "no", "oh!", "D'oh", "slow" or "hobo".

Good on ya!

[soundlight]

Originally Posted by What Rigger?

none of us on the crew ever actually say "go" or anything like that. I mean, we don't say "no", "oh!", "D'oh", "slow" or "hobo".

Yeah - we also try to refrain from using short words with that O sound...just part of a good SOP for shows. I find this to be good, as some of the SM's here are not the best at calling cues - sometimes a "standby lights 34.2...GO" is all that I get, so it's good to have that rule, because sometimes the GO isn't even given with a cue number..it's just given off of the standby.

[Techiegirly]

One of the theatres I work in it's a long running show that runs 4 times a day almost 365 so I have no choice but to memorize the show. The toughest thing for me is to wait for the "G" because a lot of the BUMP cues I have programmed into my head to take them on my own with the music but I alway have to hold back for the darn "G". The first couple of months I worked there I literally had to TRY my hardest to not take them on my own and I went early and got yelled at a few times.

In the same show we have a blackout, lightning strikes, a flash photo, a gobo that is supposed to be glass shattering on stage with a sound cue...several cues that MUST be taken on time AND with sound to make ANY sense so I always feel obligated to care even if the stage manager is busy or zoned out. I guess though since EVERYONE here thinks it's best I'll just try and forget about "show" and let the SM take the blame no matter how ghetto it ends up looking

Thanks guys!

[cutlunch]

Originally Posted by Footer4321

When I am running LX for a show, I don't even watch the show (usually I try to distract myself playing a game on my laptop or something, I am a bit ADD when it comes to running show). .

I follow the SM calling bit. But what I don't understand is not watching the show. If you don't watch the show how do you spot when a lamp blows during a show?. What if a light starts flickering?
You may not actually be able to do anything about it at the time but during the interval you can at least
tell the SM and see what they want to do.

Where you are, who does the pre-show lamp check?

I do lighting at High Schools from time to time and theres no way I would let a student muck around like this.

[gafftaper]

Kind of missed this thread. I agree with everything said. The only thing I would add is if there is an SM screwing up it's important that you protect your butt a little bit because the SM is very likely to blame you for not following the called cues. So, I would be proactive and detail exactly how the SM is screwing up and go to the producer/director and tell them before it becomes a problem and you get fired for someone else's mistakes.

[soundlight]

Originally Posted by gafftaper

Kind of missed this thread. I agree with everything said. The only thing I would add is if there is an SM screwing up it's important that you protect your butt a little bit because the SM is very likely to blame you for not following the called cues. So, I would be proactive and detail exactly how the SM is screwing up and go to the producer/director and tell them before it becomes a problem and you get fired for someone else's mistakes.

If an SM can't take the blame when he/she doesn't call a cue properly or at all, they shouldn't be an SM.

[icewolf08]

Originally Posted by cutlunch

I follow the SM calling bit. But what I don't understand is not watching the show. If you don't watch the show how do you spot when a lamp blows during a show?. What if a light starts flickering?
You may not actually be able to do anything about it at the time but during the interval you can at least
tell the SM and see what they want to do.
Where you are, who does the pre-show lamp check?
I do lighting at High Schools from time to time and theres no way I would let a student muck around like this.

I find that if I start watching the show (unless it is a bad show) it consumes my attention, and I am far less likely to hear the SM talk to me. Why? mostly because you tune out the things that are not important to you, so when the SM starts talking to the deck crew about an issue with a props hand off and you are concentrating on watching the show, you literally stop hearing the SM. This = bad. Sure, in high school, you shouldn't let your board op play computer games, but I find that having something to do that doesn't consume my attention helps. You should walk backstage for one of our shows, almost everyone on the crew knits or crochets, but apparently it helps with focus and such.

[cvanp]

On a production we just had, the Stage Manager obviously called cues and things, but if he was tied up with something on stage (it was a high school production, so he's the go-to guy if something is breaking) then I had the job to call cues for him as a backup. He knew the show well enough where he could call cues over the headset without his book or anything, but it was good to have someone there, just in case someone missed something.

[gafftaper]

Originally Posted by soundlight

If an SM can't take the blame when he/she doesn't call a cue properly or at all, they shouldn't be an SM.

True. My point is, if it's an ongoing problem, they shouldn't be and SM in the first place. What are they going to say when the Director/producer comes to them and asks why cues are off every night? The person has already shown you they shouldn't be an SM because they can't call a show... do you really think they aren't going to blame the Light OP for the mistakes?

[thebikingtechie]

I know people have been saying a lot of the same things but: Ever since I was trained by someone who actually knew what they were doing, and had actually worked on shows that weren't in a little old barn in the middle of vermont, I was taught to always wait for the cue and never do anything without the SM.

There have been times when I have been working on high school dance concerts or in community theatre when I have questioned the SM because they weren't on top of it. There were a few times when I have taken cues on my own, I think they've all been smaller thing, that the SM would not call on a regular basis, and if I didn't do it the lights looked like crap.