On Stage Lighting: "Every so often, lighting technicians have to talk to people in the real world (or lesser mortals like sound engineers). It soon becomes apparent that, as in every corner of life, there is a certain amount jargon. Lighting terms, slang and other gobbledygook that techies use to when communicating with each other, to the exclusion of the outside world.
While a full glossary of stage lighting terms is outside of our scope today, here is the Blagger’s Guide to Lighting Jargon."
12 comments:
I always finding it amusing when someone tries to make a list of all the slang that theater and entertainment folks use that make absolutely no sense for the majority of the real world. I mostly enjoy these lists since there are always a couple terms I've never heard before and am struck that they lists always lack a couple. Most of the slang I know comes from roadie work, and that contains a whole different set of slang terms that can be so obscure that other people who should know the terms don't always know what you're talking about. I do always wonder if someone with little or no theater experience could use a list of terms and slang to blend in at a random over hire gig.
This is one reason that theatre is a very excluded and internal profession. When someone unfamiliar with theatre gets introduced there is a great learning curve. Most people are frightened when someone first tells them to bring in a baton. It is such an unfamiliar world that they are afraid to even open the curtain. In my experience though I have found that theatrical professionals are very open to new people. They love to teach people the ropes and get them familiar with all of the departments.
While educating the less stage experienced on slang is a noble effort I think slang in part is around for more reasons than convenience. Being in on the slang jargon of a certain field makes us feel knowledgeable, and is a way of weeding out the "noobs" as at least one slang using community would call newcomers. Most of us like using slang, I know I can personally hold conversations with friends where the topic of our discussion would be indiscernible to anyone not privy to the slang that relates to our interests. Teenage fan bases for different books and movies are notorious for coming up with long lists of slang terms for everything from different character pairings, to specific types of fans. I think a lot of theater slang stays around not because it's convenient, but because it makes theater feel as if it somehow belongs to us more.
Every industry has its own slang, every industry.
First of all, so what. So we may appear to do things backwards. Maybe I don't find it entertaining because I think in these terms and others do because they are unusual terms to them.
I think it is more interesting for us to look at the terms as a comparison from the US to the UK. I have never heard of at least half of these terms (i don't think I like lampies), and yet the other have are said in this building every day. How did only some terms translate across the pond? I am sure many of them have to do with manufacturers like Soca for Socapex.
I have to say I do not like the passive, patronizing tone of the article, but that is just my opinion.
That seems to be a very British version of the list, I'm not really a lighting person but I've worked with them enough to notice the regional differences on top of how the regional differences show up in any dialect, whether a specialized one like theatre jargon or even just everyday speech. It also seems that a pretty good chunk of the article is just making fun of theatre jargon in general with the emphasis at the beginning on up/down, in/out, on/off, left/right - it seems like the main point to it is "wow, those theatre people are odd".
This was very entertaining to read, and certainly highlights the complexities on dealing with light design and equipment. Personally, I find this to be useful, cutting down conversations to the bare minimum to ensure accuracy (and if they understand what you're saying, they'll probably know how you want it to be done). As someone who hopes to get into lighting, I can only smile and wish that some day I might be fluent in this spoken shorthand and be able to implement any instructions given in it.
I found this entertaining, especially how they compared lighting terms to animals. But i defiantly agree every industry has their own way of communication and slang. Personally i love it. I love being able to talk to my theater friends in high school in theater slang and everyone around us would also be very confused. I agree that slang is also convenient and a good way to weed out the "noobs"
As someone who has worked with a fair bit with lighting before coming to CMU, it’s interesting to see how much I know and don’t know on this list of lighting jargon. For anybody who’s new coming into this kind of environment, the learning curve is very steep as they try to catch on to what various techies are talking about, but ultimately, the jargon is a useful tool, and once you get the hang of it, is really helpful in terms of describing what you need, and what you need to do with certain light. It just takes some getting used to, but once you’ve learned the lingo, it really is a powerful tool.
Sometimes I forget how little sense we make to the rest of the world. I often find myself speechless when trying to explain what I do as a lighting designer and technician to anyone outside of the industry. It's very hard no to speak in jargon when that is the means of communication one is used to. Although I find myself trying not to use it more and more these days. It's doesn't seem to me that using slang bestows the best impression upon potential employers.
I think the purpose of this article is severely misguided. Jargon is something that is picked up in the workplace, not something to be studied. Additionally, sounding like you know what you are talking about may not be the best thing. In a working situation, if you start dropping lingo you may be given a job that you are not qualified for, or do not know how to complete. When you don't know, just ask. People will be far less likely to look down upon you for not asking than not knowing jargon.
I agree with many of the comments before. Slang or Jargon is something that is very specific to a certain place. And while trying to compile a list of commonly used word, there are just too many to make a list like this a replacement for just working in the environment. Even here, there are times where different people will use names for things that one, I have never heard, and two, make no sense to me at all. Jargon is sometimes derived from nothing more that an instance of a slip of the tongue. And while Jargon is used consistently in the workplace (especially in the theatre where nothing is ever used for what it was intended), there is nothing wrong with asking "what does that mean?"
I agree that it may be very intimidating for someone new who is trying to learn about the theater but, it would seem that that would be the same for all professions. Also, by using jargon, you appe3ar more knowledgeable which can also throw people off if the person using the jargon doesn't know what it means themselves in which case they just seem stupid. It seems though that this would sort of be a last resort for many newcomers who are trying to learn and want to appear knowledgeable.
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