News - Petzl: In July 2015, the Musilac music festival (Aix-les-Bains, France) was in full swing. Just a few hours prior to the festival, riggers were busy setting up the lighting and sound systems for the massive stage on the shores of Lake Bourget. Learn more about the intricacies of this interesting profession through an interview with Ben Mazuer, rigger.
4 comments:
I thought this was a very interesting article because it showed an insider's perspective on rigging. The way he described it, it sounded more like an extreme sport than a job, especially when he mentioned its ties to rock climbing. I also thought it was interesting when he said that fatigue is a main safety concern, since you don't really think about how dangerous the job is to both the people doing it and everyone who will be walking on and around what they're constructing. Rigging is a unique job because it requires both physical and mental strength, and requires so much of your attention. The focus and dedication required to do this job safely and efficiently is staggering to me, and it makes me feel safer knowing that these people know what they're doing and are extremely good at what they do. I also hadn't thought about what other places require rigging outside of just live theater.
This seems like a bit of elementary article, basically, ‘see if you like theater before doing theater’ type, but I did enjoy reading an interview from a rigger not based in the United States. And no matter where you go, the most important way to get in and stay in the game is through connections, connections, connections! But we all knew this, I would hope… The only line of this article that was actually entertaining was the part where he was asked about his favorite memory. Although I think there was a first part to that question judging from the way the answer was phrased. Anyway, he said that what he loved about the job was the adrenaline rush and the satisfaction of a job well done. I think I can appreciate and look forward to those two feelings in my life. I am excited that there are carriers out there that basically require my need for adrenaline rushes as a regular part of my life. And articles like this one remind me that what I just wrote is not that weird.
It is interesting to hear about the rigging profession outside of the US. In America it is assumed that all professional climbing riggers are members of IATSE that they work where and when the union calls them to work, and usually work locally, in the area around where their Local is based. Its interesting that in France, the team of riggers that they described essentially works as a team of independent contractors who do climbing rigging. Also, the fact that most of them as either self trained, or trained in mountaineering rigging, rather than entertainment rigging practices is interesting, and I think has several pros and cons to it. Those training under a formal entertainment rigging program likely have a more complete understand of what exactly needs to happen in an entertainment setting, and how to do it with the proper safety protocols, but those that are self taught or mountain taught I think will have greater flexibility and problem solving capabilities.
Like Chris, I was surprised by the climbing background of these riggers. While it makes sense for a mountain climber to be well suited as a rigging climber, it seems to be the case for most of the workers. This could be due to the fact that France's entertainment industry is nowhere near the scale of what's here in the US, and many theater and event production workers don't have enough work to support themselves year-round, which would make it logical for them to come from and work in other industries as well. Because of the varied backgrounds of these riggers, it's important to make sure that they are trained for the specific job at hand. Mountain climbing provides them with aptitudes and processes useful when doing rigging work, but there are still rules and ways of doing things that are specific to the entertainment industry that need to be taught to the crews.
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