Journal Entries
Journal Entries
September 29, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Developed gel cut list
- Developed gobo order based on inventory
- Planned DMX and power runs
Struggled With:
- Overwhelmed!
- Feeling like I’m not good enough
Today’s Entry:
After the first looks at the plot yesterday, I was a little nervous diving deeper! I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, as I felt like the plot was simpler than I expected. My only other experience working with Jason was during The Rocky Horror Show, which was a huge show for lighting; as such, I was worried that this show was going to similarly employ atmospherics and the use of most of our inventory. I went through and familiarized myself with the plot and systems and developed a plan for running DMX and power to each unit. I also took some time in the evening to create a gel cut list, which I hope to evaluate against our inventory this week. I also compared the gobo needs of the show to our gobo inventory, and came up with the necessary gobo order, which I will send to Brandon once the gel order is finalized.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Print out paperwork
- Overstage strike of 12 Angry Jurors
- Have electrician begin framing gels, depending on who is working
September 30, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Printed out paperwork
- Grid and deck strike of 12 Angry Jurors
- Began hang of grid
Struggled With:
- Attitude
- Staying focused and communicating well
Today’s Entry:
Today was the first day of strike for 12 Angry Jurors, and I worked on getting all onstage units out of the way of the scenic strike team. Percy and I struck all of the units from their positions in the grid, but left the appropriate units up in the grid so that we could re-hang them for Nunsense. Following that, I attended the Production Meeting, where we determined that we will order two gobos reading “Nunsense.” Bridgette and I had our first meeting, which I didn’t feel as prepared for as I wanted to be. However, I will remedy this for next week! I just wasn’t expecting to have a meeting today and, since I was coming out of strike, I wasn’t really focuses. We decided that I would try and have the gel and gobo order in by the end of the week, which was my goal anyways! I’m going to try and come in tomorrow morning and start evaluating our gel inventory, as I would like to have it in even earlier.
I spent some time today developing my spreadsheet for tracking the progress of the show. I find that I work well when I am over-organized, and I appreciate being able to quickly visualize what needs to be done. I’ve used a similar method to this before when I was the production electrician for Men On Boats, and I think it kept me and my team on track. I shared this document with my assistant production electrician, Nat.
During my afternoon shift, I printed out the plot, the Instrument Schedule, and the Channel Hookup. Nat and I then raised the rest of the units needed to the grid, which had been prepped earlier by Percy. We hung FOH 3 and spent the last fifteen minutes of the day returning the I-Cues and Irises to 322 and cleaning up the electrics room.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Continue hanging grid
- Work on gel order
October 1, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Struck HL and HR Box Boom 1 (BB1)
- Hung HL BB1
- Prepped gels for the grid
- Prepped gobos
- Submitted gel and gobo order
Struggled With:
- Pivoting and changing course
- Answering questions quickly
Today’s Entry:
We got more done today than I expected to! I came in before the shop opened in the morning and got all of the gels framed for the units in the grid, and spent a free fifteen minutes in the afternoon framing gobos and sending out the gel and gobo order. This was a massive thing off of my plate, and I was really happy to get it done! I was anticipating having to work in the grid today because Bridgette was aiming to paint the stage, but that wasn’t the case this afternoon. As such, I had to change up what I was planning to work on, which threw me off my axis. I had to spend a few minutes refocusing myself, in which I spent some more time with the plot. I measured the distance between units in the grid, as those notations weren’t included on the printed plot. I was able to work with Matt and strike the goalposts and re-hang the house left goalpost. I also did realize that, when Nat and I hung FOH 3, we were actually supposed to hang those units on FOH 4. The plot doesn’t have those positions named, and I just got lost in it. I’m going to remedy that first thing tomorrow!
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Fix FOH 3/4
- Reprint the plot bigger and with added linesets for the records’ lightboxes
- Finish hanging grid (lofty, but I believe!)
October 2, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Hung, powered, and gelled the grid
- Hung 1st electric (except for the SolaFrames)
- Hung part of the 3rd electric (primarily the Lustrs)
- Emailed electricians and Light Board Operator (LBO) about focus call, put call sheet in Max’s mailbox to distribute to Lighting Design
- Hung HR BB1
Today’s Entry:
We had a powerful day today! Getting all of the grid pretty much done was a huge step forward, and felt great to have hit such a major milestone. I’m also glad to have gotten the focus sheets out so early, which means that I can hopefully start planning out the strengths of everyone on the team. Getting some of the overstage positions started felt great, too!
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Check the jukebox in furniture storage and send a video to Jason with it powered on
- Finish hanging 3rd electric
- Make the plot better and more readable, reprint
October 3, 2024
Achieved Today:
Finished hanging 3rd Electric
- Powered Lustrs on 3rd Electric
- Retrieved the focus call sheet from Max’s Lighting Design class and updated the digital copy
- Took photos of the jukebox in furniture storage and sent them to Jason
Struggled With:
- Working with others
Today’s Entry:
In the morning, I drove over to furniture storage to investigate the jukebox. I sent Jason and Bridgette photos of it plugged in and lit up. I was happy to get this out of the way, especially as it didn’t take that long!
The major project for my afternoon was getting the rest of the 3rd electric hung, as we had only hung the Lustrs. It wasn’t a complicated electric, but I wasn’t particularly “in it” today, so I did have to spend a few minutes re-orienting myself with the plot. I also gave power to all of the Lustrs but ran out of time to begin cabling the conventionals. I worked with a Technical Production student, which meant I had to explain my workflow to them. I also discovered a couple of Universe 2 Lustrs that had been hung in what was supposed to be a Universe 5 group, so I switched those out for the appropriate units.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Senior Project meeting with Bridgette
- Move FOH SolaFrames to overstage
- Finish hanging overstage
- Begin powering overstage
October 4, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Hung the rest of overstage
- Moved the movers from FOH to the 1st Electric
- Power and DMX’d 2nd and 3rd electric
- Powered HL/HR BB1
- Retrieved string lights from furniture storage and mocked-up Grease sign
Struggled With:
- “making decisions and sticking to them”
- Being okay with the fact that we’re in a good spot
Today’s Entry:
Work today went smoother in the morning than in the afternoon, likely because I still had wind under my wings. In the morning, we powered the 3rd electric and ran DMX as we went. Once Michael returned from a meeting, we lowered the SolaFrames from FOH and hung them on the 1st electric. Returning to overstage, the team and I ran power and DMX to the 2nd electric. I had a moment of panic as I couldn’t find the rest of the 50degree enhanced definition lens tubes that I thought that we had, but Matt reminded me that they might be with our new inventory in 210. After finding those, we properly barreled the 1st and 2nd electric as per Jason’s request to prioritize those positions.
In the afternoon, I had folks work on cabling the HL and HR goalposts. One of the practicum electricians did a really great job, though I am anticipating having to go back behind him and make some minor adjustments. Once those were done, I finished prepping the units for the HL and HR ladders, so those positions can be hung whenever time allows. I sent the rest of the team home about 30 minutes early today.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Finish running power and DMX overstage
- Hang HL/HR Box Boom 2 (BB2)
- Run DMX FOH
- Begin work on the Grease sign
October 7, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Ran DMX to the Lustrs in the grid
- Hung HL & HR BB2
- Re-hung HR BB2
- Met with Jason and Bridgette to discuss changes to the set and light plot
Struggled With:
- Cleaning up after myself
- The whole entire set moving
- Physics
Today’s Entry:
Today wasn’t supposed to be a stressful day, but it became one following the Production Meeting. It was decided that the band would be moved from onstage to DuPont 310, which opened room upstage for the set to move. No one seemed to have any major opposition to the move, but it means that a lot of lights are going to change. According to the production schedule, hang was supposed to start today and not last week, and several people told me that I was “too ahead.” That was discouraging, and I’m a little fearful of what the updated plot could look like. I have confidence that I’ll be able to handle it, especially with how quickly we got everything else up, cabled, and DMX-ed.
Following my morning shift, I worked with Nat to re-hang the HR BB2, as everything needed to shift upwards to accommodate units 7 and 8. I was a little frustrated at this, because I had asked the person who was hanging it originally to make sure that the measurements of everything would work out, and that wasn’t done properly. I was briefly stuck on the box boom, as a part of the ladder broke.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Relax!
- Work on plot changes, if the changes are in
October 9, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Submitted an updated gel and gobo order to Brandon
- Requested LED tape for the additional portal
- Hung the additional two units in the grid (FOH 2)
- Hung the 2A Electric
- Struck, rehung, powered, and DMX-ed the 3rd electric
- Hung, powered, and DMX-ed the added units on the 4th electric
- Printed out the new plot and paperwork
- Transferred all data from the old paperwork to the new copies
Struggled With:
- Staying in the moment
- Sticking to my plan
- Letting others fix their mistakes (and not fixing them for them)
Today’s Entry:
I am very proud of myself and the team of people that I worked with today! While I worked on getting my bearings on the new plot, an electrician stripped the 1A electric while Matt re-weighted it. Since he was on the rail, I went ahead and hung the new 2A electric with the help of the electrician. Bridgette was doing the masking changeover, so once that was done and there was less commotion onstage, I worked on getting the other overstage changes completed. The biggest was that most of the work of the 3rd electric was now moved to the 4th electric- I opted to just totally strip the 3rd and work from the beginning. Honestly, it was a little tough to watch that work go down the drain! Once the 3rd was bare, we rehung everything and cabled it all. Then, we hung the new lights on the 4th electric and cabled that as well, leaving four circuits on the end of the pipe to run to linesets 20 (Grease sign) and 21 (records). Going into the afternoon shift, we only needed to hang the two new adds to the grid and we would be back to where we were Monday morning.
Once getting in for the afternoon, I had my APE take an electrician up to the grid to hang and cable the two new 26 degree lights while I submitted an updated gel and gobo order to Brandon. Following this, we did a bit of a barrel shuffle as Jason wanted the Enhanced Definition Lens Tubes on the 50 degree Lustrs with gobos in them. We removed two EDLTs from the 2nd electric and moved them to the 4th, as well as using the last two we had in inventory.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Rerun power and DMX to the 1st electric now that we won’t be running a multi
- Look at rerunning power to the 2nd electric now that we need a multi run to 2A
October 10, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Struck excess cable off of 1st electric
- Fixed DMX run to SolaFrames on 1st electric
- Prepped DMX and Edison power for BB2
Struggled With:
- Working when I didn’t feel like I had “a lot of time”
- Finding tasks that I don’t need to closely supervise
Today’s Entry:
Today was a short day! I worked with an electrician to remove the former runs for the multi off of the 1st electric, and while the electric was down, I also fixed the DMX run for the SolaFrames. Last night I realized that the two movers on that electric were universe 3, but were run with universe 2 through them. I’m unsure where this occurred, but it was fixed today. We neatened the cable and trimmed the electric as we flew it out. As the 3rd electric is also in a good spot, we trimmed that as well. I removed the spikes for the former trims of the electric while I was on the rail. Following this, I prepped cable for tomorrow morning so we can start getting the BB2 in a good spot at the beginning of the day tomorrow. Ideally, we will also drop gels when we do that!
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Fix HR and HL BB2
- Cable BB2s
- Gel BB2s
- Run DMX to Seachanger in the grid
- Shift focus to Grease sign and records
October 11, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Ran DMX to grid Seachanger
- Ran DMX and power to units on BB2
- Tidied cable on BB2
- Moved units on BB2 to proper positions and swapped 14deg and Par
Struggled With:
- Cabling the BB2s
Today’s Entry:
This was the first time this week that I have felt like I had my brain in my head, and we got a fair amount done! I worked with Percy to move around the units on the HL and HR box boom 2 positions, and then we both worked on cabling them. We had to drop Edison and stage pin power from the grid on both sides. I told Nat to take the afternoon off, as we don’t have much else to do today! We have to:
- Gel everything (which we can’t do as we don’t have the gels)
- Drop gobos (which we can't do as we don’t have the gobos)
- Cable 2A and linesets (which I’m planning to do on the Tuesday of Fall Break as there won’t be as many people working onstage)
- Grease Sign and Records (which are not in a place to be worked on quite yet)
- LED Tape
- Deck Units
- Jukebox
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Run multicable from 2nd electric to 2A
- Prep runs from 3rd and 4th electric to LS 18, 20, and 21
October 15, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Ran multi to 2A and powered all units
- Ran cables off the 3rd electric to LS 18 for the records
- Ran cables off the 4th electric to LS 20 and 21 for the records and the Grease sign
Struggled With:
- So many cables!
- First time I’ve weighted linesets by myself
- Working around the wet paint and glitter
Today’s Entry:
I took advantage of the lack of folks in the shop today to get my current biggest hurdle out of the way- running cables to other linesets and swagging them. It wasn’t a particularly difficult task- I think the hardest part was working around the freshly painted and glitter-ed portals on the floor. Bridgette was accommodating with moving them, but I just was all over the stage and couldn’t be avoided. I fully powered 2A, and ran the cables to LS 18, 20, and 21 on the flyrail but not onto the lineset, as I’m not sure exactly where I’ll be running to and I didn’t want a bunch of cable all over the place. I’m feeling confident walking in to this week!
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Put tophats and barndoors on HL and HR BB2
- Continue to tidy cable on HR BB2
- Shift focus to Grease sign and records
October 16, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Drilled holes in and bulbed the Grease sign
- Installed tophats on BB2
Struggled With:
- Remembering that electricity exists
Today’s Entry:
I spent the entire day working in the shop, and yet I feel like I didn’t complete nearly enough work. I’m in a tough spot because I’m at a point where the majority of my work is now entirely dependent on the progress of the scenery, which means I have to be okay with working a little slower. I hatted the units on both the BB2 positions until Bridgette was ready to begin working on the Grease sign. I drilled the holes for the bulbs, and then bulbed the entire sign. Unfortunately, I didn’t remember to check what the string lights were rated for, so I did short the fuse. After doing some math, I realized we have to use 3 sets of string lights to avoid overloading any one string.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Tidy Grease sign and continue bulbing
- Continue to monitor progress of cabling on BB2
October 17, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Finished bulbing and tidied cable on the Grease sign
Struggled With:
- Mass amounts of cable
Today’s Entry:
I was only in for about an hour and a half today, so I just had time to finish bulbing the Grease sign and tidying the cable on the back of it. I had an electrician work on stapling it this afternoon, so it should be good to get rigged now. I plan to work on running the actual cable once its in the air.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Continue working on BB2, both swapping barrels on the HL positions and continuing to fix cables
- Work on Grease or records, dependent on how both are progressing scenically
October 19 & 20, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Assembled the boxes to house the bulbs for the records
Struggled With:
- Re-learning carpentry
Today’s Entry:
I spent several hours this weekend working with Bridgette (and working on my carpentry skills) assembling the lightboxes that will be housed on the records. It was difficult to get back in the swing of carpentry, especially as I felt like I was trying to navigate perfection with efficiency and the process of creation. I don’t have much to write about, as that was really all that I did! I was very proud of myself for getting them all done, though!
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Talk with Matt about when we can work on LED tape
- LBO and LD tech tables
- Cut new sheets of gel and drop as able
- Setup spot ops with mats and chairs
October 21, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Setup LD and LBO tech tables
- Sent Spot Op supplies to the grid
- Installed lamp bases on the back pieces of the light boxes for the records
- Cut lampwire and installed stagepin connectors
Struggled With:
- Being interrupted/getting my point across
Today’s Entry:
It sort of hit me today that tech starts in a week and that this is my last full work week on the show before the designer comes in. WOW! As such, I spent most of today working on getting the light board down from the booth and installed on the tech table, and also setting up the lighting designer’s table. I had Nat work on getting the spotlight operator positions ready,
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Patch
- Channel Check
- Continue cutting and dropping gels
October 23, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Dropped gels in almost all overstage units
- Set up example light for focus
- Created an LED tape sample and sent it to Jason
- Completed patch
- Channel check and troubleshooted units that were not responding
- Trimmed and spiked all electrics
Struggled With:
- Keeping my head on my shoulders
- Issues with gel sizes/gel frame sizes
Today’s Entry:
While I don’t feel like I was as productive as I wanted to be, I think I actually did get a lot done! With patching off my to-do list now, I feel much more prepared for focus coming up this weekend. I have a list of things that I need to look at for tomorrow, but there aren’t many things I have to troubleshoot. I had a tough time staying focused and keeping my head in the game, which made today hard.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Finish dropping gels on box boom positions
- Cable Grease sign (?)
- Finish troubleshooting
October 24, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Cabled Grease sign
- Dropped gels in HL and HR goalposts
- Received answer from Jason about LED tape (prefers closer placement to portal)
Struggled With:
- Feeling in control and also feeling so out of control
- People who don’t know what they’re doing
- Communication with LBO
Today’s Entry:
I started my day with replying to the several emails I got yesterday about focus, which made me feel instantly very productive and authoritative. However, my mood was deflated when Peyton let me know that the light board operator was unavailable for tech during Halloween, which means that I am going to have to fill in for them.
I came in this afternoon and finished working on the Grease sign, so that felt good. I started to troubleshoot my issues with the Lustrs, but really didn’t have enough brain power to continue that task today.
I think I have to email Brandon about the gels- I think I’m missing R355, which I know I ordered but presently don’t seem to have any of.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Finish dropping gels
- Drop gobos, if they arrive
- Fix Lustrs on 3rd and 4th electric
- Final Channel Check
- Setup theatre for focus (table, ladders/scaffolding onstage, plot on table, print out focus sheet)
October 25, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Dropped gobos
- Trobleshooting last issues (Lustrs on 3rd and 4th electric not turning on- power cable issues)
- Trained LBO
- Instructed Nat, APE, on how to run focus
- Installed backs of lightboxes on to records
- Finished dropping gels
Struggled With:
- Long day, staying motivated
- Pushing to reach the finish line
Today’s Entry:
It was a weird day today, as focus still seems so far away even though it is tomorrow. I think everyone did a really great job helping get the show to the finish line, and I am so thankful for them. Getting the last of the gels in took a lot off my plate, despite the fact that I think I’m still missing at least two sheets of R355. I was also very glad that the fixes to the power issues of the Lustrs on the 3rd and 4th electric were as simple as just plugging something in. Getting the records finished and up was also great, and I was pleased that Bridgette and I’s timelines worked out so well with those. I also setup the table in front of the stage with an extension cord for tomorrow!
I met with Megan, the light board operator, for the first time after a bit of email ping-pong. I explained power-up and power-down, as well as some basic features of the board and a tour of light-land in general. I emphasized that Megan is able to contact me about anything at anytime as I will be around!
I came in this evening to drop gobos, as I was unable to do so earlier in the day due to the work onstage (rigging the records).
Goals for Next Working Day:
- FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS
- Find time to install under-deck units
- Double check spot setups
October 26, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Focused the plot with the exception of about 10 lights
Struggled With:
- Being relaxed and confident
Today’s Entry:
Focus today went really well! Thanks to the folks I had working, we were able to get through almost all of the plot tonight. I feel like it just went smoothly and I felt in control of what was happening. As Jason was leaving, he mentioned that this was the highest percentage of a plot that he has focused in an evening call. That felt so great to hear!
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Finish focus!
October 27, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Completed focus with the exception of the record specials
Struggled With:
- Everything
Today’s Entry:
All of the good vibes I had from focus yesterday were ripped away from me today. The good news was that the light board operator was able to attend and get used to working on the iPad. The bad news was everything else. The folks that I had today were almost entirely from Max’s lighting class and, as such, were not experienced with lights and what focus would look like. Many students were uncomfortable with heights, which is not a good situation for focus. It also didn’t help that the lights we still had to reach were in tough positions.
The afternoon focus shift was even rougher, as we had to re-focus the entirety of the first electric. We moved some sidelights on 2A, and then moved some of the record specials. One moved to the fly rail, and two moved to the upstage/downstage pipe that we hang tabs from. Running power to those took a while as they’re in odd positions, which further slowed us down. At the end of the day, we were left with just the record specials to focus.
This focus was made even more frustrating because I felt like people were not listening to me. I gave the “how to focus a light” talk, and yet when students actually got to a light to focus, it was clear that they didn’t absorb anything. I don’t think it was an issue with my communication, as I repeatedly asked if anyone had any questions and was met with nothing. This is an issue I feel like is present every focus, but with everything else about today that was hard, it felt like an even bigger roadblock.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- LED tape
- Cable the records
October 28, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Ran LED tape
Struggled With:
- Staying with it and staying focused
- Pain in shoulder preventing me from doing things
Today’s Entry:
I had high hopes and lofty goals for today, and it didn’t end up going well. I hurt my shoulder at some point in the last week, and the pain and discomfort prevented me from working above my head. As such, I could only be involved with running the LED tape up the sides of the portals and not along the top. I struggled with this, as I wanted so badly to be the one doing things and getting the tape working but I had to listen to my body. As such, the LED tape wasn’t ready for the first night of tech. This was a huge hit to both my morale and my overall confidence, as I feel like I really failed here. I discussed it with Bridgette, and I really don’t feel like I could have begin this tape install any sooner. Besides the push to get us to focus with installing gels and troubleshooting, I had to wait on the portal trim to be installed and painted before my tape could go in. While the first and second portals were done on Thursday of last week, there wasn’t enough room onstage for me to work on this alongside what was happening with scenery. I had confidence that we could get this done today, and with me being out of commission, I feel like I really let everyone down.
Jason took a look at the jukebox today and decided that he didn’t like it, and requested that we install incandescent lights within the jukebox and disconnect the fluorescents. He also wants LED tape installed, and the idea of this project continued to take it out of me.
Tomorrow I will come in with better energy and better spirits, and hopefully a better shoulder.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Complete LED tape, patch, and test
- Work on installing incandescent into jukebox
October 29, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Continued work on LED tape on portals
Struggled With:
- Shoulder pain (and working through it)
- Weepy
Today’s Entry:
I went to the doctor today regarding my shoulder, and was told that I needed to avoid climbing vertical ladders, lifting, and working above my head (aka everything that I need to do on a daily basis). I filled Bridgette in on this situation, and she countered by asking me what exactly my plans were to continue progress on the show. I had told her that I would do my best with the personnel that I had working, and she was not the most receptive to this response. I took a walk to calm myself down, and came back in and continued work on the LED tape on the portals.
By the afternoon, my shoulder pain had transitioned from an ache to a burning sensation, so I made an effort to pass on the LED tape to some of the electricians in order to protect my shoulder. Wiring the tape meant that I was having to climb up and down the scaffolding and work away from my body, which were both things that I was not supposed to be doing. Again, I think that my choice to prioritize my wellbeing was ultimately good for me, but not for the production, as we didn’t finish the LED tape installation. And again, I felt disappointed in myself and like I had disappointed all those around me, and left the shop today feeling terrible.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- FINISH THAT LED TAPE
- Notes as they come
- Jukebox LED tape
October 30, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Finished portal LED tape
- Focused record specials
- Took care of notes from nights one and two of tech
Struggled With:
- Existing
Today’s Entry:
I think having the first night of tech back up to a Tuesday, which is one of my busier days, really set me back. Being able to spend the entire day in the shop working on notes and getting things working felt great, and I was happy to have tackled so many things. I will acknowledge that the LED tape on the portals was an issue regardless of how much time I did or did not have to devote to it on Tuesday, but the number of other notes were making me feel kind of out of control. As such, I had a lot of big feelings about today. Again, I was really pleased that we were able to get all of the notes out of the way, but I also felt like I had failed earlier in the week.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Notes as they come
- LED tape in jukebox
- Adding audience lights
October 31, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Notes
Struggled With:
- Forming and voicing coherent thoughts/communicating well
Today’s Entry:
My class that typically ends at 3:15 let out an hour early today, which gave me an extra hour to get through all the notes from last night! I focused the under-platform units with Jason, and swapped some gel colors in the record specials. I also began working on the jukebox LED, but had to stop to program for a bit as Megan was unavailable today. It felt good to be back on the board!
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Notes as they come
November 1, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Continued cable cleanup
- Continued jukebox LED
- Notes
- Updated paperwork
Struggled With:
- Being present and “in it”
- Communication with LBO
Today’s Entry:
The biggest hurdle for me today was communication with Megan, but I’m not sure where the breakdown was. They were late to dark time today, and I’m not sure if they didn’t look at stage management’s schedule or if they just weren’t aware that they were expected to come in for dark time, but they did manage to make it over here quite quickly.
I did some notes and updated paperwork- very exciting!
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Notes as they come
November 3, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Notes from tech
Struggled With:
- Patience
Today’s Entry:
I didn’t get any notes following tech on Friday, but there were a couple of things to come out of Saturday that I came in to take care of this morning. I arrived at noon and changed a bulb that had burnt out. Following Jason’s arrival, we discussed adding additional LED tape to the jukebox- he wants to be able to see light coming out of the grate at the bottom of the unit as well as more light coming through the top of the song selection area. I stayed through channel check, just in case any more issues arose. Megan, the light board operator, had some trouble with some of the fixtures, but that wasn’t a fixture issue. They’re still learning the plot and how to reference units on the paperwork during channel check, so I reiterated to them how to do that.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Breathe in, breathe out
- Notes as they come
- Add additional LED tape to jukebox
November 4, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Notes
- Added LED tape to jukebox
Struggled With:
- Trying to phrase things in the a way that the LBO will understand/trusting that they will get it
Today’s Entry:
I had an unnervingly unbusy day today, since Jason only had four notes in total. Only one of them I was able to tackle on my own, which was installing more LED tape into the jukebox. Besides that, we worked on tidying up the electrics room and organizing gel storage. I also made a digital checklist for the LBO to assure that they’re checking everything that they need to, as they’ve only been checking that lights turn on and off.
When Jason came in at 3:30, we adjusted the focus of two lights, one in the grid and one on the house right box boom 2. I had to drive the Genie to get to our third note, which was a gobo change. Despite the fact that I am Genie trained, I found driving it to be extremely humbling.
I had Nat work on cable cleanup in the grid, which they are disturbingly good at. I came back at 6pm to do Channel Check with the LBO, as well as to talk through the checklist I made.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Notes as they come
November 5, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Turned the system on for the safety inspector
Struggled With:
- The safety inspector not coming
Today’s Entry:
What else can I say- turned the system on to test the hazers for the safety inspector only for him to not come! Not really an inconvenience considering that I had the day off from classes today, but it does mean I have to write a horrifically short entry.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Safety inspector visit at 2:30pm
- Notes as they come
November 6, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Turned the system on for the safety inspector
- Final paperwork update
Today’s Entry:
I turned everything on once again for the safety inspector, who came around 3pm today. I cranked the haze really high, which meant that it took about 10 minutes for it to dissipate. I probably could have run it at a lower level so that it didn’t take quite so long to clear the air.
After this, I did my final update of the plot and LightWright files and sent them to Jason and Megan, as well as uploading them to the Dropbox.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Notes as they come
November 15, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Tested the hazers
Today’s Entry:
I got a note last night in the Production Report that it seemed like only the SR hazer was working. Megan checked that it was on and that the fluid was refilled, but couldn’t find anything else wrong with it. I was frustrated that this note didn’t make it to me before the performance last night, but I had time this morning to take care of it. I came in and powered on both the hazers as well as the board, and everything seemed normal from my side. Both hazers were responding normally, and I ran through a couple of cues to make sure nothing strange happened in show-mode. I texted Peyton and Megan to let them know, but they both seemed fine to me. I think it’s possible that the haze inhibitor fader was down on the board, which could have caused some issues. I’m not sure why it would have impacted one hazer more than the other, though.
During the evening, I received a text from Peyton confirming that the SL hazer was working but wasn’t keeping up with the output of SR. She requested two separate inhibitive submasters to better level the haze output, which I programmed after the performance.
November 25, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Struck deck units, records, HL & HR goalposts, and HL BB 2
- Struck decoders and power supplies from portals and jukebox
- Struck gels and gobos from all overstage positions
Today’s Entry:
It was exciting to begin to take everything apart! I began today by removing the cable running across the back of the stage, as well as striking the Parnels that were being powered by said cable. Following that, I removed the power supply and decoder sled that was powering the LED tape in the jukebox from the handrail. The LED tape and incandescent bulbs will remain in the jukebox for future use. Following this, I worked with Bridgette to take down the records before stripping the cable from the pipe. Matt and Kenny took down the sleds from the portals, as well as to salvage any rainbow wire or connectors from them. We then flew in electrics to strip them of their cables, gels, and gobos before gridding them.
In the afternoon, we struck the goalposts and began to strike the house left ladder position. I also had someone begin to organize the gel and gobo that had been collected so far, and those were returned to storage by the end of the day.
Goals for Next Working Day:
- Continue strike
November 26, 2024
Achieved Today:
- Struck HR BB2
- Finished striking HL BB2
- Removed gels and gobos from TWG
- Organized remaining gels and gobos
Today's Entry:
I came in today to finish the strike of the HL and HR BB2 positions, as well as to remove the gels from the grid. I opted not to strike any of the units in the grid as I anticipate many being used for our next production, so I see a changeover making more sense. I worked with Nat and another student to remove everything from the BB2s, which went much faster than putting them up.