Thursday, March 19, 2020
How to Make Tech Easier: Be Prepared
SoundGirls.org: For almost every production you work on, you’ll be expected to mix the show mostly line-by-line with some dynamics and (hopefully) few mistakes from day one. Having a smart layout for your DCAs and a clear script can be the difference between an incredibly stressful or a delightfully smooth tech process.
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6 comments:
I think if there is one golden rule for any production staff member it is to prepare for everything. Most of the time, we hit a bottleneck in tech, and while it may seem futile when our plans fall to pieces before our eyes, 5 hours in pre-production is worth far less than even an hour of tech. This is the exact approach I had when sound designing/engineering a production of "Beauty and the Beast" at my undergrad. We had to rent a digital console (Behringer x32), but didn't get the console until the Friday before opening (the following Thursday). There were naturally things that I just couldn't do until we got into the space, but having all the DCAs and cues pre-programmed and the mic handoffs scheduled the time was spent only focusing on what we needed tech for. I took a slightly different approach with my DCAs, specifically using QLab to send OSC to the console to mute/unmute performers for their various lines (particular in 'Belle' which still haunts me), but the overall approach was the same. Regardless, the moral is to prepare well, and that plans are made so we can deviate from them.
I don’t know much about the world of sound so I love being able to read articles about it when possible. I really like how this article is written primarily because it is written in a way that is natural. Many articles that are written to teach or explain how to do something, sound so fake and forced linguistically. This article is written as if it was someone speaking and almost guiding your thought process through the cueing and tracking of a show. I really like how this article also provides parts of a script so the reader can practice along at home and learn how to do this with material to use. I have found that I learn much better when I can follow along and do as I go, so I am a big fan of how they structured this article. Content wise, it was really interesting and this idea of reading through a script for cues and specifics is something that is applicable to most declarations we have in our school of drama.
I really enjoyed reading this article. As someone who has mixed plenty of shows without any kind of planning or assigning DCAs, having a place where it is all laid out and explained clearly helps me understand much better about what I could do in the future. What I’ve done in the past is more of an approach similar to the mix script, with the exception being that different actors wear different microphones and that is how the doubling occurs. Doing it the typewriter method seems to me like it would require some nimble mental gymnastics and lots of documentation to keep track of who is speaking or singing at any given moment. Mixing sound live for musicals is such a difficult task, so seeing different methods that people use to keep track of all this is really cool to see. Doing things by hand seems daunting as well, but whatever the operator feels is most comfortable to them to execute this extremely demanding job.
Tech is unique for each position in a production, so I find it important to remind myself of what other members need to be thinking about. Because tech can be stressful for everyone, this can enable me to maintain patience and compassion for others. I did have to look up a few words to more properly understand what this article was saying, but that's probably the point. The color coded spreadsheets made me pretty excited, especially when the writer explained notation preferences and why they work. This doesn't feel too unlike a calling script for a manager. Some differences I did notice were that visuals can help more for sound (i.e. crescendos, levels), in a way that it doesn't really for management. I always think of asking to shadow stage managers because that's what I want to work as. But after reading this piece, I think it would be an awesome experience to watch a mixer mix a show in real time.
I feel like “be prepared” is basically the golden rule of tech, no matter what your department is. I thought this article was really interesting because having run and programmed the sound board many times for my high school, I find it fascinating to see how professionals organize their cues and how their books look and compare it to my own system. I had no idea that the typewriter approach was a thing, but it makes a lot of sense for boards with limited faders. I feel like I would get confused quickly trying to program/operate it, but that’s the point of the ‘be prepared’ motto - if it is organized and clear enough, and programmed heading into tech, it shouldn’t be any more difficult than character-based fader assignments. Seeing the various scripts with cues in them was interesting as a stage manager because of the similarity of format, and I really saw the idea emphasized that ‘if you get hit by a bus, someone else should be able to read your book and cues’. The formatting of the cues in each one made a lot of sense, even to someone unfamiliar with the play.
I think that, no matter what department you are working in or with, being as prepared as possible in tech will save so much time and anxiety during tech week. I have never so much as touched a sound board before, but I understand the gist of what the author is saying here. In high school, especially, I have vivid memories of the sound and lighting departments programming up until opening which sometimes resulted in technical errors and almost always involved conflict with the directors and incited a tense and generally unhealthy atmosphere. In my experience, there tends to be less buffer time in tech for costumes than for some other elements. Like, I have seen people programme entire shows in 24 hours, but I probably could not reconstruct an entire costume in that time (that being said, someone of a stronger construction background might).
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