Trojan Production Training

General Safety Rules

• • Eye protection is required in the shop at all times

• Concentrate on your work - no horseplay

  • Keep the work area clean

• Report ALL injuries to the instructor

  • Other students must be outside of safety zone while machine is in operation.

Power Tools

• You must be trained and have instructors permission to use any power tools.

 

• No loose clothing, jewelry. Long hair must be tied back.

• Keep hands at least 4" from cutting blades and nail gun end.

• Secure small work in a vise or clamp.

• If the machine doesn't sound or feel right, stop using it immediately.

• Only the operator should turn on the power.

• Wait for the tool to stop spinning before setting it down or cleaning out scraps

Certification Requirements

Each student must complete the General Safety Worksheet.

Each student must pass the safety quiz with 100%.

Additional Requirements

Each student must be individually trained by the instructor before using the following tools:

• • Table saw

  • Miter saw

  • Power drill

  • Hand router

  • Circular saw

  • Jig saw

  • Grinder/Sander

Cues are generally given by the stage manager over the Comm system. When on Telex, the following rules must be observed:

• • No chatter or any conversations not related to execution of the show.

  • No profanity or other inappropriate language.

  • If something goes wrong, Telex should NOT be used to talk about blame. We need to keep focus on the show.

  • If the stage manager asks you to do something different, don't argue. Confirm if necessary and then execute.

  • Dialog should follow the format shown below.

    • SM: Ready [target] [action]

    • [Target]: [Target] Ready

    • SM: Standby [target] [action]

    • [Target]: [Target] Standing By

  • SM: [Target(s)] Go

  • Targets normally include any or all of the following: Spots, Lights, Sound, Stage Left, Stage Right

Typical Dialog

• • 30-90 seconds before a cue the stage manager gives a Ready describing what is coming up.

    • SM: "Ready Stage Left for Grand Open"

• The recipient of the message confirms that they understand and will be ready.

  • • SL: "Stage Left Ready"

• • 5-10 seconds before a cue the stage manager gives a Standby indicating the cue is immanent

    • SM: "Stand by Stage Left Grand Open"

• Recipient confirms and raises hand to cue other stage hands if necessary

  • • SL: "Stage Left Standing By"

• • When the cue is to happen stage manager states the target and then says Go. It is important that "Go" be the last word of the command and that the target be stated immediately before.

    • SM: "Stage Left Go"

  • Target executes command and/or drops hand to signal stage hands if appropriate.

If multiple things happen near the same time make clear who goes first in the Ready and Standby calls:

• • SM: "Ready Sound track 10 then Lights"

  • Sound: "Sound Ready"

  • Lights: "Lights Ready"

  • SM: Standby Sound then Lights"

  • Sound: "Sound Standing By"

  • Lights: "Lights Standing By"

  • SM: "Sound Go"

  • SM: "Lights Go"

If multiple things happen at the same time state both targets followed by a single Go.:

• • SM: "Ready Stage Left Blue gels

• SL: "Stage Left Ready"

• SM "Ready Stage Right Green gels"

  • SR: "Stage Right Ready"

  • SM: Standby Stage Left, Stage Right Gels"

  • SR: "Stage Right Standing By"

  • SL: "Stage Left Standing By"

  • SM: "Stage Left, Stage Right Go"

 

 

Certification

• Demonstrate proper Cueing and Telex etiquette by calling a show.

• Discuss with the instructor challenges you encountered during the show.

• Discuss with the instructor what you as stage manager could do differently to make the show run better.

Objectives

• Identify by name the lighting instruments used in the Olympus Performing Arts Center

• Explain the uses of gels and gobos

  • Explain the use and care of a cyclorama

General Lighting Instrument Classifications

• Spot Light: Lighting instrument or “luminaire” with a focused, narrow beam used to light a small area.

• Flood Light: Lighting instrument with a broad, diffuse, or softly focused beam used as fill or for broad area lighting.

• Follow Spot: Manually controlled spot light with zoom, intensity, focus and color options used to highlight moving actors, particularly during solos.

Specific Lighting Instrument Types

Fresnel: Uses a wavy lens to focus the light. The focus is NOT crisp. These are primarily used for fills and back lighting. The orchestra shell lights and stage wash lights are Fresnels.

PAR: Self-contained reflecting light like the ones you can buy at Home Depot. These are available in multiple colors, intensities (wattage), and beam angles (flood or spot). They are less controllable, but generally much cheaper than other lights. The strip lights use halogen par bulbs.

Ellipsoidal (ERS): Ellipsoidal Reflecting Spotlight. Known by the brand names ETC-Source Four and Leko. ERSs have controllable focus and shutters and accept gels and gobos. These are the most common type of Spot Light in most theaters.

LED Light: Lighting instrument where LEDs are used to produce light. LED lights generate equivalent light output using 8-10 times less power than traditional tungsten bulbs . Colored LED's project colors directly, eliminating the need to filter white light providing further power savings. Examples in our theater are the house lights and cyc lights. These have plastic fresnel lenses to control beam spreading.

Projector: Used to project an image on a screen or cyclorama. Very powerful projector lamps are required to compete with stage lighting. Spotlights must be shuttered so as to not wash out the projection area. Front projection risks shadows from actors and scenery. Rear projection takes more room behind the set than most stages have.

Strip Lights: A bank of lights in a single cabinet used as footlights or for cycloramas. Traditional strip lights use alternating gel colors on adjacent positions to provide mixing of colors.

Scoop: Large open light frame used for washes and fills. Mostly replaced by Fresnels. We used them as a wash on the cyclorama before we got the LED Cyc lights.

Accessories

• Gobo: Metal or glass insert for an ERS that allows it to project a shape or pattern. Often used to provide texture such as leaves in a park or forest. Also used to project clouds, the moon and window patterns.

  • Gel: Colored film placed in front of a light to filter or color the otherwise white light.

  • Cyclorama or Cyc: White or tan muslin surface at the back of the stage. Usually lit colorfully for sky effects or as a contrasting background, particularly in dance numbers. Do NOT touch the Cyc with bare hands. It can be easily damaged. Oil from fingers will discolor it over time.

 

 

Certification

The following should be done with the lighting manager or stage crew advisor:

• • Identify by name each of the lighting instruments in our facility and explain what they are used for.

  • Explain what a Gobo is used for and how it is used.

  • Explain what a gel is used for. Show how to insert a gel into a lighting fixture.

  • Identify the Cyclorama, explain what it is used for and rules for caring for it.

Objectives

• • Demonstrate safe hanging of a light on a batten, light ladder or a catwalk pipe

  • Demonstrate safe wiring practices

  • Demonstrate aiming and focusing of a light.

  • Understand concepts of back lighting, face and wash lighting

  • Understand Lens angles (ETC) or dimensions (6x9 Leko or Altman)

Safety

• Wear a safety harness when hanging lights from an overhead catwalk

• The area below the catwalk must be clear - use a spotter.

• Stage electric lines must be rebalanced anytime a light fixture OR cable is mounted or removed.

• Every light fixture must have a safety cable.

References

• https://theatretechgeek.wordpress.com/2008/12/23/rigging-and-focusing-lights/

• http://www.stagelightingprimer.com/index.html?slfs-doanddont.html&2

  • Replace lamp ETC Source 4 ERS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPh37k-g-jE

  • Clean lens barrel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTMHW-NUUCc

  • Clean reflector https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ10CiDOkPI

  • Bench focus ETC Source 4 ERS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkE52tYDNV0

Certification

• • Demonstrate safe hanging of a light.

  • Demonstrate safe wiring practices.

  • Demonstrate aiming and focusing of a light.

  • Define Back Light, Face Light, Wash

  • Identify the lens angles ellipsoidal fixtures in our stock and explain why it matters.

Basic mixing instructions are contained in the attached documents.

 

 

Certification

• Demonstrate function of the mixing console.

• Pass a troubleshooting test given by sound manager who rigs the board so signals don't get out.

 

Objectives

• Build a show using Q-Lab to control audio and video cues.

 

 

Exercises

1. Add an audio cue to a blank show and link it to an existing audio file.

2. Create a fade cue to fade out and stop the first audio cue.

3. Trim an audio file to play only a portion of a song – start and stop somewhere other than the beginning and end.

4. Create a cue that starts immediately after another cue ends.

5. Create a cue that starts automatically sometime after another cue starts.

6. Create a telephone ring/answer cue. When started, the ringing sound should repeat until the next cue which should play a click sound simulating the receiver being lifted.

7. Create a telephone ring cue that goes to an answering machine after 6 rings unless it is interrupted by being answered (a manual cue).

8. Create a group of song cues that will play one after another

9. Create a group of sound effect cues that will play simultaneously

10. Add a video file. Set start and stop times so that only a portion of the file will play.

 

 

Resources

Qlab help files http://figure53.com/qlab/docs/

 

 

Certification

• Complete the above exercises and demonstrate your show to manager or instructor

• Light board operation - addresses, channels, fader groups, light plots, magic sheets

• Light board programming - cues, parking