Stage Directions: It began as a class discussion that went productively off-topic. My Stage Management I class at Carnegie Mellon University was discussing the increased use of computers and technology in doing their shows. The reading assignment for the day was from The Backstage Guide to Stage Management, and the chapter outlined Tom Kelly’s good-natured curmudgeonly attitude toward the modern tools we use to do our theatre. Kelly’s generation had seen many advances in technology in life and work, whereas these students had grown up using computers almost every day. With this mindset, it seemed that stage management could adapt and take advantage of these advances in the same way that other production departments have, and this led to other queries. Paperwork is both a defining aspect of the stage manager’s job and a bane of our collective existence. But if you take it out of the equation, perhaps the job becomes more than the familiar but endless printing of documents, and as a by-product, wastes far less resources. Technology could be a tool to streamline and refocus the process. The discussion became, could you actually stage manage a show completely without paper? Two juniors in the class—David Beller and Brooke Marrero—had shows coming up early in the following semester. I proposed a challenge to them: do their shows without using paper, and see how the job changes.
11 comments:
This is a really interesting article and is definitely something to consider for not only managers, but for many professions in general. As someone who did a lot of stage management in high school, I never really got the opportunity to have a "paperless process." We weren't permitted to have laptops or tablets at my high school, and I did everything by hand (besides paperwork that I was able to do at home.) It would be really interesting to experiment with a "paperless process." I think that, in the beginning, it would make my process slightly more tedious, as it would take time to get used to blocking on a tablet or a computer. However, eventually, I think going "paperless" would have the potential to shorten my process and make my work more organized and consistent. I think that stage managers will inevitably move towards this "paperless process" in the future, as our generation is extremely comfortable and sufficient with technology. Whether this transition is good or bad for our industry is up for debate, and I don't think there's a single right answer.
As someone with stage management experience, I think taking notation purely by technological devices and calling cues from a laptop would be absolutely horrible. Sometimes writing out blocking and notes can be a little messy, but never *that* messy. I can't imagine not being able to have physical copies of prop lists or cues or set pieces. Paper and ink don't need batteries, they don't malfunction, and they don't randomly shut down. What if a laptop that was used to call cues overheated during a long production and shut down? If there wasn't a physical copy of the prompt book on hand, one would hope the stage manager had a really damn good memory and a clear view of the stage. And how about for outdoor productions? If the show is being rehearsed outside and the tablet dies, oh well, I guess that's an entire scene of blocking and notes forgotten. It doesn't matter how much paper a stage manager uses for a production, as long as the production goes successfully.
The best advice I've ever received is something my father states frequently; "Moderation in all things." Regardless of what he intends that advice to be in relation to, I think its directly applicable to technology.
Obviously technology is amazing, and we would be fools to try to function in the world without implementing any of the tools technology provides. However, technology, like everything else, should be used in moderation.
There are some programs that I find incredible useful in terms of my productivity. That includes some standards (Mail, iTunes, iCal, Microsoft Office, etc.) as well as some more unique applications (Evernote, Wunderlist, etc.). However there are many programs that I don't find as useful/efficient/intuitive as their paper counterparts. One example is notebook view in Microsoft Word. For me, nothing is better for taking notes on than lined paper and a pencil.
Those examples are just in the realm of my daily productivity, but I think the same "moderation in all things" concept can be applied to more specific instances, e.g. stage management. I have no experience with stage management, but as someone who's held positions that require direct communication with stage management, having access to notes, blocking, rehearsal schedules, etc. available online (in an e-mail, on a server, etc.) is incredibly helpful. However, I can imagine that having to write down blocking using technology might be more trouble than its worth, which is what Brooke and David's experiments seemed to prove.
There are several aspects to consider in this article. There is the question of whether or not using technology ends up being more practical. Based on what the article says, it seems that the major upsides are mostly the ability to have a "cleaner" script, with a greater ability to be manipulated once you learn to effectively use the tools. I however agree with Pia that finding a balance between the two seems like a better idea than just switching all the way to solely technology; I know that I like relying on paper and handwritten things a lot, and would not necessarily feel comfortable doing the whole stage management process without paper. The other aspect of this is that going paperless would probably save a lot of money in supplies, as well as be environmentally friendly. The cost of buying technology and software might outweigh the money saved by not using paper though. So this is a very interesting idea, and I think I'd like to try doing a paperless show once to see how it goes for me.
I think it's a fantastic goal to try to save trees and go green, but for a stage manager and a prompt book, I'm not sure that it's really a good idea... the story that Tina told about the prompt book needing to be charged, which was easily solved by an ASM running to the booth with a charger, is the problem. What if there is no charger available? I guess the answer is to just make sure one is always available right next to the "prompt book" device, but what happens when it goes missing? Or is stolen? Or breaks? There are a ton of things that can happen to something electronic that aren't as large of a danger with a hard-copy book. No one is going to steal a prompt book (knock on wood). Someone may just steal an iPad. Or maybe borrow a charger they see sitting on the table.
Furthermore, as other people have said, technology is never 100% reliable. Computers crash, iPads turn off, and files get deleted. In order to prepare for these eventualities, you may have to have a paper version of the prompt book anyway, which entirely defeats the purpose.
I think there are some valuable things to learn using technology, and it has a place in the profession. I'm just not sure whether a stage manager's prompt book is the right place.
I love the idea of stage managing a show with out paper. In high school I attempted to start a "go paperless" movement". This attempt failed, but I'm still in love with the idea of going paper less. There are many advantages to not using paper. The best aspect for me is that I can search for key words in my notes and scripts. Switching to paperless is a huge step and comes with it's share of challenges as David and Brooke found out. Because of this I think that a comfortable and supportive environmental like college is a great place to build the skills needed and to mess around with ideas like this. One question I have for Tina Shackleford is whether she knows of any programs made specifically for calling cues or taking notes for blocking. If there are not perhaps some stage managers and some programmers should get together and work on that.
I would like to applaud Tina for this article and David and Brooke for their efforts with Project Paperless. When I assisted Brian Alderman on Slavs!, we tried to function with as little paper as possible, and it was certainly a challenge. A Stylus certainly would have been useful for Brian in the process of notating blocking...I love the idea of being able to write blocking and then change it without having eraser marks all over the page! I also love the prospect of being able to share blocking notes with designers so easily. To address Kelly's concerns about what to do in the event that a laptop running a script malfunctions during a show, I would say that anyone calling off an electronic device should always keep a paper-copy back-up of the prompt script in the booth. I have shadowed people who were calling off of computers and I actually think I would quite like it. If you are working on a show that occasionally requires contingency plans that affect the call, you can click a link in your electronic calling script that will send you right to the contingency script...that's pretty cool.
All that being said, I enjoyed David's and Brooke's comments on the reasons why a good old notebook and a pencil are still great tools in the face of modern technology, though. Technology is great and can be so useful, but there are times when things just don't need to be over-complicated.
I enjoyed reading this article. I feel that Tina did a nice job representing the strengths and weakness of going "paperless." I wonder what would happen if this was a full company experiment. Not only would the stage manager go paperless, but the designers, technicians, actors and director. No printed plots, drafting's, schedules it would be purely digital. I have a feeling that it would have the opposite affect that those might think. I think it would show the team the importance of face to face communication. Digital information can get overwhelming especially if there is no consideration of what it would look like printed. Therefore, in order to keep clear lines of communication the teams would need more face time (Actual face time, not the app)
I too have tried going paperless in rehearsal and have found that it doesn't work for everything. Using an ipad to take down blocking was difficult to get detail in there fast. It took too long because i no longer could use short hand. It would be amazing if there was an app that would let you create/customize a key board to what you would need.
Theoretically having a paperless process is a fantastic idea, and I do believe that that's where we are headed, but we are certainly not there yet. I expect that within 5-10 years many stage managers will have gone paperless. For now, I'm not convinced it is very possible or efficient. Somethings just don't work well paperless yet (blocking is the first thing to come to mind). I am looking forward to see what advancements will act as major catalysts in the paperless movement in regards to stage management.
Post a Comment