Automation

[BillConnerFASTC]

Dressing the people here that work in high schools, how often or frequent is there automation in a set for a show? Trying to get a sense of how common small lifts, turntables, wagons, and such are used in high school productions and who designs and builds them. Not talking about an installed hoist like a Prodigy, Vortek, Powerlift, or similar, just about the for this one production use.

Thanks.

 

[bobgaggle]

In the area I went to school (Northern VA outside DC) The public schools (not sure about the arts schools) don't use automation at all, mostly because the drama departments don't have state or county funding, all costs are paid by the profits from the last show. I've seen all the things you've mentioned used, but always via the old "heave-ho" method, never with motors/hydraulics etc.

 

[TD-Thom]

In the Chicagoland Area I see virtually no automation at the high school level. My experience is that even the most dedicated of technical staff and students run into the trap of not having at least one leg of the Skill/Time/Funds triangle. I have seen a few schools here and there in the last 15 years do a motorized revolve or a small lift platform from the pit but generally anything that moves does so under people power.

Beyond the concerns of skill/time/funds (of which there are many) I find that in schools that are large enough to consider automation tend to have a fairly large "techie" population for their shows. If we automate, we leave a large portion of those students on the sideline.

 

[bobgaggle]

"If we automate, we leave a large portion of those students on the sideline."

I'm sure the same points were made when automation was introduced to the professional industry. I'd have a hard time believing IA was OK with 5 or 10 hands losing work on a show the first time someone put a motor on a turn table and made their jobs obsolete. (I have no idea if this happened but its seems like it would). But new jobs spring up in their wake in the peripheral fields, cause now you need service technicians.

I wonder if schools could do something with that idea. Sure, you don't need 15 stage hands to do all the moves because you've got machines doing most of them, but maybe in pre-production and build you can create automation teams that design and build the machines. That would be much cooler for me than pushing a wagon on during a blackout. But of course, some kids prefer making out in the dark backstage to building awesome machines.

 

[rsmentele]

No in the Madison WI area, if so, its VERY rare, when budget allows... (almost never)

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

I should have allowed for rental of scenery that includes automation.

 

[AudJ]

Middle school- we make everything ourselves. If we put an announcement on for Ninja Crew, we have all the hands we need for almost anything. No automation required.

Our high school will rent on occasion, as needed, but when the only funding is last-year's profit, manpower is usually the first choice. Flying/lifting people and things that are impractical to do manually would be the exceptions. I can't think of anything that fit those requirements in a long time.

 

[Footer]

I'd have a hard time believing IA was OK with 5 or 10 hands losing work on a show the first time someone put a motor on a turn table and made their jobs obsolete. (I have no idea if this happened but its seems like it would). But new jobs spring up in their wake in the peripheral fields, cause now you need service technicians.

There are a number of local one stagehands as we speak sitting behind midi linked desks that they never have to touch... but because the console is there they have to sit behind it.

Back on topic, I taught at "the" performing arts high school in Atlanta. I had so many students to push stuff around automation would have been pretty pointless. It is well beyond what you should be teaching in any high school. Unless the school is renting sets that contains automation I see no reason to do it in house. Not enough time, not enough supervision, not enough money.

 

[Dionysus]

I have to agree with Footer, in Primary to Secondary School environments I don't see a whole lot of reason to go with automation. Scenery can be Student Powered, and often enough for many reasons im sure it would be better off that way anyways.

(also, I'd HATE sitting behind a midi linked desk with nothing to do).

 

[JJBerman]

The closest thing my high school usually comes to automation is putting most of the set on casters to allow for multiple users of the stage at any given moment.

 

[RickR]

I've too have seen a large number of wagons and a few revolves, but never powered. Once in a while someone hooks up a remote trigger for a practical or set decoration light and think they are going high tech.

 

[themuzicman]

There are a number of local one stagehands as we speak sitting behind midi linked desks that they never have to touch... but because the console is there they have to sit behind it.

Not to argue semantics, but when show control systems are running the automation, the op behind the console is there to throw the E-Stop. Think of the guy behind the console as the backup to the system. I'm working on a large event with Local One auto ops and you wouldn't believe the number of times they are throwing the E-Stop on the show control rig because an encoder or something on the set has broken, created a fault, and can't report back to the show control system - Hudson automation rigs aren't perfect. When this happens they are controlling all the scenery by hand off of several video screens to ensure that the show can continue without the use of show control systems.

and to go back to the original question -- I didn't first start seeing automation until working large budget off-broadway shows, if they can barely afford the automation costs I don't see how high schools could. When I worked regionally I saw a ton of push-stick and pallet, as well as angle iron with grooved wheels sitting on top. In college I worked on a single show where we built automation off of Arduino w/relay shields triggering automated wagons and stopping when a simple contact switch was hit.

 

[petercav17]

High school student here, We have a large theater program and thus we are able to use some automation, including hydraulic lifts from under the stage and one time, a moving platform on a track under a slit in the stage. Almost every show we do has some sort of rolling platform or door. Recently we had 3 large rolling grates that you would find on a storefront.
We also use manual turntables very frequently. Last summer we had 2 30' long sliding doors that required (a lot of) UHMW to work

EDIT: Almost forgot. We had a huge track system that used curtain track with scenery carriers to carry a sun and moon 50' across the stage and 25' high in a big diagonal for shrek. That was a tricky build.

 

[Footer]

Not to argue semantics, but when show control systems are running the automation, the op behind the console is there to throw the E-Stop. Think of the guy behind the console as the backup to the system. I'm working on a large event with Local One auto ops and you wouldn't believe the number of times they are throwing the E-Stop on the show control rig because an encoder or something on the set has broken, created a fault, and can't report back to the show control system - Hudson automation rigs aren't perfect. When this happens they are controlling all the scenery by hand off of several video screens to ensure that the show can continue without the use of show control systems.

Estop /Deadman ops are a different story. I was talking more about when it was common to have two separate lighting consoles that were midi linked and producers were required to have a guy behind both desks.