Recent content by rcopley

I made a fog chiller for a production last year, it needed to fill a stage with ground hugging fog in the time of a transition (about 10-15 seconds). I used 2 fog machines on opposite sides of the stage, each one hooked into it's own chiller. I got lucky by using 2 fog machines because on the...

It can always be frustrating to have equipment lost or stolen, whether it be the key to the light board (been there done that, but that's a different post) or a hard drive. I would treat the data on the drives as you would any other critical data (take for instance how a lot of light boards will...

I had an issue similar to what you are talking about only mine was the result of a bad cable and using phantom power. I had a XLR cable that was so badly insulated you could plug it into the board and hear public radio loud and clear, then when I when to touch the cable once I got a small shock...

As I said, it happened a few years ago, so I may have gotten a couple of details wrong. It's possible he may have been using the oil for something else and a drop got in the spot, or he could of has a lapse in judgment because the show was about a week away and there was a lot that need to be...

I had a pretty experienced tech a few years ago (I think he may have been a light op for that show, but was experienced with almost every position) that did not like the amount of noise resulting from operating one of the spots so he thought it would be a good idea to use a drop of oil on the...

At the school I'm at we have had one student organize a concert as a fundraiser, this was her last year organizing it as she is a senior, but someone else is already working to organize it for next year. From a technical standpoint I would strongly recommend keeping a surplus of surge protectors...

I did a show a couple of weeks ago and used a box filled with ice and a rubber pipe connecting a fog machine to the box. I'm not sure of your situation but it worked well for getting fog to crawl along the ground like dry ice and getting it to happen on cue. I have seen fog cooler guides that...

You are forgetting the other ramifications of the actions. Somebody walking under a ladder is several years bad luck, the only thing you can to now is fire the stage manager under the ladder for dooming the show.;)

I have helped with different productions and I find it interesting just how different the shows are ran. I was Assistant TD for one show and had gotten used to how the TD wanted the crew to be ran. There the TD essentially acted very hands on, essentially as another hand in the booth, however at...