New Lighting Blog Series: Types of Units
- Thread starterEsoteric
- Start date
drummerboi316
Member
I have also heard pan adjustment screw. I think it's exactly what you called it "jargon". Different circles have different words for the same things. It's all about what setting you're in at that given moment. Just like coiling cable, I work with 2 different companies, one over-unders EVERYTHING, the other freaks if you do. Just an example...
Gern
Active Member
I agree, thinking of a set screw as a threaded screw without a head for an adjustable wrench, usually uses an allen key or slot for a screwdriver and can be set into the sleeve of the item it is screwed into. Of course, I could be wrong here.
And I think f-nut is really a bolt.
On most of the clamps I see/use, we use either a bale block, or the fixture has a pan bolt built in so there is an additional tee handle to make panning easier(by hand, no wrench needed).
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And they would be wrong. They are making stuff up, likely from poor training. When I am focusing a truss and am told to spin the bottle to verticle, I grab the porcelin and rotate it. It is a long known industry slang and when discussing instruments then a seperate paragraph should be added for references to slang. If you are trying to teach young techs then you have to make them aware of what they will hear in the wild.
When I was first put in charge of an event, an international televised tennis event featuring the top s in the world, I was meeting with the LD from the lighting company. They were going to hang two eighty ft trusses for TV but they were doing it with the leftovers after they had set up Lake Placid Olympics, so they were going to use my in house dimmers. The first question he asked was how many K were my dimmers. Well he was a R&R guy, I was theatre so I had no idea what he was talking about. I had always called dimmers 2400 watt dimmers not 2.4K dimmers. I asked him if he explained what he was asking I would give him an answer. Once I knew the term we got along great, he even offered me a job.
The point is, I was put in a position knowing the information but not the slang. Both pieces of the puzzle is important.
To bring us back on topic pan bolt discussion moved here http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting-electrics/25411-pan-bolt-discussion.html
They are not wrong, nor are they making stuff up! Lamp/bulb/globe/bottle/bubble can all mean the same thing. I believe "bottle" is particularly prevalent in Britland and territories.
Whether we approve or agree, our industry uses a great deal of jargon/slang. One of the purposes of the CB wiki is to distinguish between generally accepted terms from venue- or locale- specific usage. Is it "wrong" to call a clothespin a C47? Right or wrong doesn't really matter--if you're working on a film set, you'd better know that. Likewise with baby-baby, teenie-weenie, blond, redhead, junior, senior, tener, deuce, etc. I'm sure I'm not the first to accuse gaffer s and grip s of making stuff up just to make me look ignorant.
Gern
Active Member
OK, yes Hollywood has a host of terms found nowhere else I'm sure.
I've heard globe, bubble, bottle(first in 1988-NBC local 33 crewmember Howard Sodia who was a roadie at Woodstock)lamp and bulb.
We use the term 'stinger' to refer to a 12/3 PBG extension. Not to be mistaken for 'stringer' which isn't used in local 728.
BTW, the grips practically always will call out from the perms before they drop in a hand line to the stage floor, "Line Out!" When I asked a Key Grip why they use the wrong stage direction, explaining all direction refers to the stage floor(ie, stage left, upstage, fly in, fly out, he responded, "Well, If we all say it, it must be right."
Getting back to the original point of this thread, can I give you some advice, Esoteric? Blogger to blogger?
1) I understand that you're trying to attract traffic to your blog. I get that; after all, the point of a blog is to share. But I would be very careful about badgering your potential readers. Of course you want to make your blog visible and easily accessible. (Hence, my link as part of my signature.) But when you constantly beg people to read your blog, it makes me as a potential reader wonder why people aren't reading it on their own. It calls into question your credibility as a writer. Trust me, if your content is interesting and well written, your readers will continue to read. But on that same hand, people who don't enjoy your content will only become irritated by the barrage of calls to read.
I'd be lying if I didn't say CB has been great for my blog's traffic. Several members read it pretty regularly, and seem (I hope) to enjoy it. But not because I beg them to. The best thing you can do for your blog's traffic from CB is to continue to be part of the discussion and post well written and interesting thoughts. If people like what you have to say here, they will look to hear more.
2) Something to think about is what you are trying to offer to the world. My understanding is that you're going for a sort of a how-to primer for technical theatre. There are a ton of books out there that do the same exact thing, including numerous written by other CB members, not to mention the bottomless depths of the CB wiki. So what is it that you're offering that readers can't already find elsewhere? Is it your entertaining real-life anecdotes and examples of real world practical knowledge? Is it a fascinating and stylized voice? It's something worth thinking about to make sure that you're bringing something new, and not just trying to patent toast.
3) Whether "saturate" is a verb or an adjective is irrelevant. Part of being a writer is playing with words, and sometimes it means making one up or using one in a way that is not commonly used. However. As bloggers who want people to continue to read, we have to make sure that our style and our voice is one that is comfortable and natural for people to read. So if you're going to take liberties with the English language, make sure that it's for a reason and it's not going to sound awkward to your readers. I can't speak about the rest of your readership, but clearly the ones on CB were uncomfortable with your use of the word. You asked for their feedback, and they gave it.
4) Always remember that just like the tech world, the blogosphere is a surprisingly small place. Being rude or mean to people in one part of your internet world is not a good way to attract readers to another part of your internet world, especially when you're asking those in the first to patronize the second.
Just some thoughts. Best of luck.
1) I understand that you're trying to attract traffic to your blog. I get that; after all, the point of a blog is to share. But I would be very careful about badgering your potential readers. Of course you want to make your blog visible and easily accessible. (Hence, my link as part of my signature.) But when you constantly beg people to read your blog, it makes me as a potential reader wonder why people aren't reading it on their own. It calls into question your credibility as a writer. Trust me, if your content is interesting and well written, your readers will continue to read. But on that same hand, people who don't enjoy your content will only become irritated by the barrage of calls to read.
I'd be lying if I didn't say CB has been great for my blog's traffic. Several members read it pretty regularly, and seem (I hope) to enjoy it. But not because I beg them to. The best thing you can do for your blog's traffic from CB is to continue to be part of the discussion and post well written and interesting thoughts. If people like what you have to say here, they will look to hear more.
2) Something to think about is what you are trying to offer to the world. My understanding is that you're going for a sort of a how-to primer for technical theatre. There are a ton of books out there that do the same exact thing, including numerous written by other CB members, not to mention the bottomless depths of the CB wiki. So what is it that you're offering that readers can't already find elsewhere? Is it your entertaining real-life anecdotes and examples of real world practical knowledge? Is it a fascinating and stylized voice? It's something worth thinking about to make sure that you're bringing something new, and not just trying to patent toast.
3) Whether "saturate" is a verb or an adjective is irrelevant. Part of being a writer is playing with words, and sometimes it means making one up or using one in a way that is not commonly used. However. As bloggers who want people to continue to read, we have to make sure that our style and our voice is one that is comfortable and natural for people to read. So if you're going to take liberties with the English language, make sure that it's for a reason and it's not going to sound awkward to your readers. I can't speak about the rest of your readership, but clearly the ones on CB were uncomfortable with your use of the word. You asked for their feedback, and they gave it.
4) Always remember that just like the tech world, the blogosphere is a surprisingly small place. Being rude or mean to people in one part of your internet world is not a good way to attract readers to another part of your internet world, especially when you're asking those in the first to patronize the second.
Just some thoughts. Best of luck.
Esoteric
Well-Known Member
Thanks Stephanie.
I will take that its account.
Mike
PS This series was a request from a reader. Also many other forums I post on I post this same information all the time, so it is nice to have these posts ready to just link people to rather than having to write it out over and over and over again.
Hope that explains a little why I am writing something that seems to be "all over the internet already."
I will take that its account.
Mike
PS This series was a request from a reader. Also many other forums I post on I post this same information all the time, so it is nice to have these posts ready to just link people to rather than having to write it out over and over and over again.
Hope that explains a little why I am writing something that seems to be "all over the internet already."
I just read the blog. The discussion of use of the word saturate is interesting. I wouldn't use it without explanation of what it is. Personally I would use the term, saturated color or gel. The way you have used the term it sounds like it is different from gel instead of just being a deeper fuller color. Nothing you said is wrong, maybe less than clear. The same could be true of the term high sides. If you are explaining what a PARcan is, then they aren't going to know what high sides are either.
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