TDing

[zac850]

Ok, this is more of a TD thing then SM, but I'm going to be TDing my show. There is no teacher TD, and besides me there will only be the director. My crew will be around 11 kids or so, and i was looking for some helpful hints for TDing the group.
Any suggestions?

Thanks
Zac

[nickpl]

Compared to the size of a crew I have, that's huge! My TD crew consist of 3 other people. One for each spot, and one to run errands, or help with scene changes. I run sound and the light board. I wish that I could find that many people willing to help out with my schools shows.….. but then I would have to buy more headsets :wink:

My tips obviously work better for a smaller group, but I would recommend that you try to get to know the kids, and be nice to them, as they will pay more attention to someone they like. If they are going to be running equipment, have a time when they can "play" with the equipment while you are watching them, and making sure they can work it correctly. Also, make sure that they know what is okay to do, and what isn't. Most importantly, make sure that the director is willing to support what you say, and you and the director agree on how to do things. There's nothing worse then telling a kid to do something one way, and have the director tell them to do it another way.

Well, I'm hope that those tips will help you out somewhat. If not, then I'm sure other people will have some other helpful tips and advise to give you.

-Nick

[megf]

Figure out what they have done before - that way, if one member of the crew is able to train others, you can make it more of a collaborative effort than a hierarchical setup, and save yourself the trouble of training one more person.

[zac850]

OK, um.... well what do you think of this as a crew? The show is Into The Woods.

I am on lighting board
2 people on spot (2 different spots)
2 people on sound (this is a given, they've been doing sound for a long time)
1 person back stage for fly (its not a real fly, we made it ourself....)
1 person on props
2 people for set changes
1 person backstage for lav mic changes/lav mic problems
1 person assisting with costume changes (this job may be cut, im not sure yet)
1 ASM backstage who I can trust to help keep everyone doing there job

Do you guys think this is to big a crew? The show is Into The Woods, and it is quick, with lots of scene changes and things, so I am thinking that this is needed....

any opinions of the list?

[nickpl]

I am on lighting board
2 people on spot (2 different spots)
2 people on sound (this is a given, they've been doing sound for a long time)
1 person back stage for fly (its not a real fly, we made it ourself....)
1 person on props
2 people for set changes
1 person backstage for lav mic changes/lav mic problems
1 person assisting with costume changes (this job may be cut, im not sure yet)
1 ASM backstage who I can trust to help keep everyone doing there job

Well...
We have always had the actors change props and the set (I have them well trained ), and we don't have a fly, or any wireless mics and I have always had a person I trust to help with things backstage. Our sound board is very simple, an on-off switch, a master volume control, and my laptop, so I can run it and the light board at the same time (I'll have to post a picture sometime)

So, our crews are about the same things, you just have enough people so you don't have to trust the actors, which is probably a good idea :wink: All actor jokes aside, they are so focused on their lines, and how they look, that they tend to forget things. I had one actor who forgot to bring the plank for the boat out, and he was going to walk the plank!

-Nick

[plug_in_baby]

yeah thats all good,

i have an 11 man crew aswell and i do the same:

2 followspots,
1 sound op,
1 lighting op,
1 stage manager,
2 ASM's
1 DSM
2 Fly ops
and me TD'ing the show.

seems to work well

[dust4sound]

I'm the ATD and here is how we do it-

1 Sound Op (Me)
1 Light Op (TD-Lester)
2 spot Ops
1 Fly Op
2 Props
2 Costume
1 Prop master/mistress
1 Costume Master/mistress

[Spamman]

Generally for a fast show i liked having

1 person on light board
1 person on spot
2 on fly-
1 on ASM
TD/SM- me
2 on Sound board-

hey it worked well- i tend to like smaller rather than larger crews

[plug_in_baby]

why do so many fo you include someone from wardrobe, usually the wardrobe people sort themselves out. i personally would never ask a stage crew member to do wardrobe, its a bit of an insult really.

[Spamman]

truly