How to write cues?

[Claire]

Could someone explain to me (as simply as possible!) how cue's go from being in someone's mind... or being spoken about... to being written on the prompt script? For example, where do the numbers come from? Surely they must all be written at once, or if an extra cue had to be inserted (for example) it would be lx1, lx2, lx3, lx48, lx4!

Sorry if I'm being completely dumb!

Thanks!

 

[Footer]

It is usually up to the lighting designer or sound designer to assign cues to their given area. Usually lighting takes the numbers and sound takes letters. So Sound A, LX 3, etc... Shift/Deck cues and Fly cues are usually assigned by the SM and are usually numbered.

As far as the insterting goes, any modern lighting console has the ability to do point cues. As in... 3.5, 4.2, etc. Some newer console can have point cues to the thousandth, so 3.456. The call for the G O would go L X THREE POINT FIVE... GO.

 

[Anvilx]

When I write lighting cues I usually use whole numbers for my major cues like the start of a song/ scene. Within the scene I use decimal points to indicate subtle changes like a shift upstage or down.

 

[erosing]

I dolor the everyother method. I am always odds or evens, I find it easier, it also allows for some one else to take the opposite numbers (odds or evens) which ensures a little more clarity when something is called. For example if I wrie my cues as odd numbers my board op had better not hit the button on cue 22.

 

[sk8rsdad]

If the show is scripted then I number cues based on the page number: 4.1 would be the first cue on page 4, for example. It makes it easy to insert/reorder cues without having to resequence the entire show and makes it easy for the board op and SM to know how long it will be until the next cue.

 

[Les]

As you can see, everyone does it differently. As long as the cue happens in some kind of logical order, you are good to go.

I myself prefer this system.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.

Oops, last minute changes...
1,2,3,3.5,4,4.2,4.4,4.6,4.8,5.

 

[ptero]

Agreed with the above, the lighting designer normally numbers the Qs for lights.

I try to locate and number Qs after seeing one or two run-throughs. For me, it helps structure the show and move on with development. Plus, I can get the numbering to the SM before the final crush into tech.

I'll normally number evens - 2 4 6 8 which leaves room for inserting a whole number Q between each if necessary. I prefer to avoid making a Stage Manager voice "point anything" when calling Qs.

If I am unsure about how many Qs a section may require, I'll skip up 4 or 6 numbers so that in the end I still try to avoid 'points'. For musicals I will often number in 5s - 5 10 15 20, and build in larger breaks for unknown sections.

Then I'll use point Qs for auto-follows (or waits in Strand speak). Point 1s, point 3s, and point 5s denote different kinds of follows - fx calls, things lagging up, or down, or long-timed changes, skies or color mixes. Sure, sometimes multiparts can do this, sometimes it helps to structure with waits and points. Depends!

 

[icewolf08]

If the show is scripted then I number cues based on the page number: 4.1 would be the first cue on page 4, for example. It makes it easy to insert/reorder cues without having to resequence the entire show and makes it easy for the board op and SM to know how long it will be until the next cue.

I hate that system. If your console doesn't support more than one decimal number you could find yourself hosed. Also, most SMs hate calling point-cues so the fewer point cues you give them the happier they will be when calling the show!

 

[sk8rsdad]

"hate" is such a strong word... I guess it's a good thing that my console supports more than 1 decimal point, and our SM's are bright enough to say "four-one" instead of "four-point-one". Personally, I can think of maybe one show I've done that had more than 10 called cues on one page. Anything more complicated usually involves follow cues or linked cue lists. YMMV.

 

[coldnorth57]

I would have to agree with Icewolf that as few point Qs the better and as an LX op why do I care what page of the script we are on so this seems to me as a silly way to number cues, All i want to know what is the next cue and when is my GO. The board i use can give point cues, up to 4 places passed the point but I only use points cues when I have to add cues in between cues I all ready have recorded.

 

[zuixro]

TFACTech taught me a cool way of numbering cues. He starts at 100 for the first act, does the pre show in decimals, then numbers them by page, and their position on the page. So if the next cue is on page 10 half way down, it is cue 110.5. If there is another one immediately after, it is 110.6, etc. Act 2 starts with 200 and adds the page number. If it rolls over to page 100, the cues go to 300's. If it's a 3 act play, then there probably aren't 100 pages so it doesn't matter. That way makes a lot more sense to me than just numbering them 1, 2, 3, 4. I haven't been able to find any problems with it.

 

[JChenault]

It seems to me that there is at least one serious drawback to the 'base your cue numbers on pages in the script' method. If you ever do a new play that is under development rest assured that the page numbers will change - scenes will be re-written and moved around, etc. Seems to me that in that scenario using page numbers would be a bad idea.

As to the OP question - I tend to take a sheet of yellow paper and , as I am watching the show, I write down what I want each cue to accomplish, when it is, etc. I put scene numbers in the list so I can keep track of where I am. Then I simply number sequentially leaving a block of cues where I know I need some room ( Like that big dance break which is not finished - or top of show preshow, etc). Sometimes I use an excell spreadsheet instead of paper ( much better if I have time or will be seeing multiple run thrus ).

Then I sit with the SM and we go through the show. ( Paper Tech) I explain when the cue is to be called, give a short description of what it is doing, and give the number I have assigned. The SM typically puts all of this info in the script, using some kind of sticky tab or simply writing in the script.

As we go through rehearsals I add, remove, and refine placement of cues as needed.

 

[Jackalope]

I like to number the cues using the director's beat break down. I give each Beat a 10 cue window and as beats are usually small it is usually plenty of room. Also the cue number aligns with the beat numbering in which the whole company is working from so it is even more convienant. If the cast is working on beats 2,7, and 12, I can watch rehearsal and sketch out cues for those sections in the console using 20-29, 70-79, and 120-129 etc. and the next day I can sketch beats 1, 17, 23 etc...
the added bonus is that I can quickly find the series of cues that relate to the beat that they are currently in. Also the director's beats have some meaning---ie they are not arbitrary and the beats intention helps me to craft relevant cues. If the director doesn't do a beat analyis (god help him) then I use my own.

 

[derekleffew]

I like to number the cues using the director's beat break down. ...

What's a beat?

 

[sk8rsdad]

What's a beat?

Maybe it's another term for a "french scene" where every entrance or exit of an actor marks a new scene.

 

[GrayeKnight]

It is. Our last production of Macbeth was broken up into beats, not scenes.

We called the acts drums... Drum 1 Beat 20 etc. Just for giggles.

 

[rochem]

I don't really have any fancy system for numbering my cues. During the rehearsal process, whenever I think I may want a cue in a certain place, I write a small letter Q in pencil in the script or score, depending on the show. When it comes time to program, I just go through the script and assign sequential whole numbers to each cue. If there's a large dance break or something which I haven't blocked specific cues for yet, I will skip a few whole numbers, but generally it's just sequential all the way through.

The only "system" I use when writing cues is that I try to program any auto-follows with a point 1, to distinguish them from cues the SM should be calling. I work with a lot of less experienced board ops, and this keeps them from freaking out because the SM didn't call a cue.

 

[Jackalope]

It is. Our last production of Macbeth was broken up into beats, not scenes.

.

It is similar to french scenes except the breaks do not require an entrance or exit of a character--just a change in intention. Let say you direct a show that has two characters, you would break the script down into units called beats so that you could manage rehearsals and also so that you could understand the arc of the story better. Doing this kind of analysis will illluminate a lot about a text. As a lighting designer I too do a beat analysis (using the directors beat locations) so that I can better understand the story I am trying to tell.
As a side note, actors do beat analyses as well although there beats aren't numbered and a far more detailed and smaller in size, sometimes a single word can be an acto's beat.

 

[Van]

What's a beat?

Maybe it's another term for a "french scene" where every entrance or exit of an actor marks a new scene.

It is similar to french scenes except the breaks do not require an entrance or exit of a character....., sometimes a single word can be an acto's beat.

Perhaps some are not aware that this is Dereks <ahem> Subtle, way of asking someone to put a definition into the Wikki.

 

[Jackalope]

Ah, sorry I'm only one month old here so still wet behind the ears. I just clicked the wiki tab... very cool. I am assuming that this is a glossary item more than a topic?