Sometimes it is a very fine line between being on Funniest Home Videos and being the lead disaster story on the news.
I definately agree!!Another question:
Also, I too thought the spots were bad -- and extremely pointless. I absolutely loathe overused followspots.
Why do people think anything that involves the words volunteers and flying would be a good, safe idea??
I have to disagree. The failure of the set is the result of someone not paying attention to basic, everyday physics. That set is top heavy and simply needed a few screws into the floor or a couple hundred pounds of stage weights. It's not rocket science, or even scene design for that matter.... Also, the failure of the set is the result of a lack of someone who knows how to build a set, not the volunteers.
Honestly, I don't think that the volunteers are the problem. The problem is that they decided that they couldn't afford or didn't need pros and attempted this by themselves. The effect can be executed by volunteers with proper training and equipment from Foy, ZFX, or another company. When my outdoor community theater did Peter Pan, we hired ZFX to set up the equipment and train volunteers in the use of it. Also, the failure of the set is the result of a lack of someone who knows how to build a set, not the volunteers. Some of those students/volunteers probably had never built a set in their lives. Volunteers are what keeps high school and community theatre running. I believe that this catastrophe was not caused by volunteers, but it should serve as a warning to everyone who thinks that they can replicate that sequence.
Tex, I got into technical theatre about a year and a half ago. I wouldn't have known that a year and a half ago. We as technicians speak about the matter as if it's obvious to everyone and it's 'not rocket science'. You are right. It isn't rocket science to us, but to some inexperienced high schoolers, it could be. You also have to remember that a lot of high schoolers don't exactly think about these kinds of things. Most of them probably see the experience of building the set as a fun time to play with power tools. This is certainly not true for all high school volunteers, but you get my point.
Thanks Whatrigger?. Thank you for giving the experienced insight of a rigger.
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