{:: Gigging Bear ::}

Smoke in the Ballrooms & Theatre

2013-09-13T17:22:00.000-07:00

Smoke in the Ballrooms & Theatres

2013-09-10T17:21:00.000-07:00

Smoke in the Ballrooms & Theatres

2013-09-07T17:20:00.000-07:00

Stagehands - 1960s Theater Workers / Educational Documentary

2013-09-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

Behind the scenes activities of theater stagehands. Filmed at the National Theatre, Washington DC. Shows scenes of the stagehands working on the production "My Fair Lady".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HXRvmoHxsM

Stagehand App

2013-09-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

StageHand is an application that allows easy dip switch and light beam calculations for stage hands or anyone with an interest in lighting equipment. We have added a bunch of tools and reference materials, like a color calculator, pin outs, watts to amps converter, and more.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.exposure101.stagehand&hl=en

Softgoods

2013-09-05T06:41:00.000-07:00

Typical load on a batten is usually some form of softgoods, e.g. curtains.

Curtains: a cloth that fills the stage opening. Generally opaque, usually in dark or subdued colors, made from heavy cloth. The best are made from velour, as this fabric is best at light absorption and has the lowest reflection. Curtains are usually hung with fullness, or pleating. Pleating may be sewn in, or created by hanging a long curtain on a shorter pipe, with the fullness tied in. 50% fullness if common, meaning the curtain when stretched is half again as long as when tied on the batten.

Legs: narrow curtains used as masking at sides of stage to hide wings.

Tormentors: furthest downstage legs, the "torms". Used to reduce the size of the proscenium opening. Often hard, with a frame and hard subsurface beneath a velour covering.

Borders: short curtains used to mask the top of stage, to mask the loft.

Teaser: furthest downstage border also used to reshape proscenium opening. Torm is sometimes called the grand drape or the Valence.

Portal: a border and legs combined into a single piece with a large opening.

Velour- Best cloth for curtains, a dull finished knapped fabric, really a form of velvet. Best at light and sound absorption and blocking, but also heaviest most expensive fabric for curtains.

Duvetine- lighter, cheaper substitute, a heavy fabric with brushed rather than woven knap. Looks almost like velour and weighs less, but doesn't work as well.

Courduroy- another substitute for velour, also cheaper and lighter weight; works well if it has a thin wale. However, the wales give it a definite directionality.

CONSTRUCTION of CURTAINS:


                    Grommets

     _______________________________________
    | o    o     o     o    o      o     o

_
    |     ||    ||    ||    ||    ||    ||
    |____________Jute_Webbing_____________
_
    |     ||    ||    ||    ||    ||    ||
    |         Fullness
    |
    |
    |

_____
    |
    |
    |
    |___________Pipe or Chain Pocket_________
    |________________
__________________

Curtains come in several forms and arrangements:

Guillotine curtain: flies straight up and down. One of the most common curtain riggings.

Travelers or draw curtains: split in the middle into two panels and pulled open and shut on tracks, generally with an "endless" operating line. Usually hand operated, but may be run with a winch, especially with remote control systems.

Braille curtain, or Austrian drape: a curtain raised from the bottom using vertical parallel lift lines.

Tab or Tableau curtains, also known as Opera drapes: two overlapping panels pulled upward and outward on the diagonal. Main drape travelers are sometimes also rigged with opera draping built in for alternate use.

Contour or profile curtains, also known as Venetian drapes: rigged similarly to braille curtains, but can be raised in various configurations because each lift line can be individually adjusted.

FULLNESS:

Curtains, borders, legs may all be hung stretched flat, or may be hung with fullness.

Fullness is a gathering of the material of the soft goods to make it thicker and make it disappear in light even more.

Looks more attractive and finished than when hung flat.

Fullness is expressed in percentage of fabric folded back on itself, or how much longer material is than pipe length it takes up. Therefore: a curtain half again as long as the pipe it is hung on with the excess distributed as gathers or pleats, has 50% fullness. If it is twice the length of its batten, it has 100% fullness.

Fullness can be sewn in using any desired pleating system.

Gather

Z-fold

Box

Sewn fullness easier to put up, only need to stretch the top out and tie to batten. Also, works well with traveller system; top can be pulled flat by the carriers but the fullness will stay evenly distributed.

However, if fullness is sewn in, can't hang piece without fullness.

An alternative: use tied fullness. In this system, curtains are sewn flat but made longer than pipe. Piece is tied on with gathers.

Tied in fullness will not work well with travellers, as the carriers pull the fullness out as they extend.

You CAN tie a sort of pinched pleat in by tieing two grommets to each carrier, but that is all, an it doesn't work as well as a sewn fullness.

Other Softgoods

Scrims: curtain made of an open weave fabric becomes transparent when lit from behind, but which appears opaque when lit from the front.

Usually woven in one piece to avoid seams. Most scrims are of sharkstooth scrim, good compromise between transparency and opacity. Where almost complete transparency is desired there is bobbinette scrim. For high opacity, there is leno filled scrim. Filled scrim is often used for:

Cycloramas or cycs: large scrims used for simulating sky. Rigged far upstage, often on curved pipes to wrap around back of the scene. Usually hung with a Bounce, a white canvas curtain just upstage of the scrim cyc. The cyc gives effect of distance and the bounce gives opacity.

Transparency: scrims "painted" with dyes to create a drop that is opaque and visible when front lit but which disappears to reveal a scene behind when back lit.

Drops, or backdrops: large pieces of canvas which are painted to be scenery. To look natural as possible, must be stretched to get rid of wrinkles. Simplest way to do this is to sew a long tube called a pipe pocket into the bottom edge of the drop and insert a water pipe for weight. Wooden battens sandwiching the drop, or chain in a chain pocket are also used.

Full drop: a solid piece of canvas, usually as large as the stage picture.

Cut drop: a drop with holes cut into it for scenic effect. Often used for foliage drops, with leaf shapes

cut into the edge and through the drop. Cut drops are often made using netting to hold the irregular edges and shapes of the cuttings in position.

Roll drop: a method of rigging full drops in a theatre without a fly loft. The drop is tied to the batten above. The bottom is fastened to a round tube 4 to 6 inches in diameter. The ends of the tube sticks out beyond both ends of the drop by several feet. Ropes are wrapped around each end of the tube in opposite direction from the curtain wrap. When the ropes are pulled up, they upwrap from the tube and cause the drop to wrap around the tube, When the drop is let in, the ropes wrap up around the tube as the curtain unwraps. The tubes were once made of wooden strips, but today are usually plastic or aluminum tubing. Cardboard rug cores also work for smaller drops.

Tripped drops: Another method of flying out a long drop in a short fly house. Lift lines are attached to the bottom pipe (or to a pipe in a special pocket one-third of the way up the drop) and are raised to lift the bottom of the drop out of sight.

http://www.ia470.com/primer/softgoods.htm

Smoke in the Ballrooms & Theatres

2013-09-04T17:19:00.001-07:00

Stage Carpentry

2013-09-04T12:40:00.000-07:00

http://www.ia470.com/primer/scenery.htm

Scenery

Many methods used to assemble and shift scenery.

Wing and drop: an old method, wings are legs painted like drops. To change the scene, one set of wings, drop, and border are flown out and another set flown in. This system is still common in opera and ballet.

Gripping: simplest way, just close the curtain and send the grips out to pick up set pieces and carry them off. Requires a certain amount of practice to do safely, so that the large set pieces don't upend while being moved.

Flying: Scenery is sometimes rigged to fly on battens like curtains. This can be too heavy a load for a single line set; two adjacent batten may be chained together or "married", with the counterweight for the load divided between them. Add weight evenly to both arbors until the load is balanced.

Flats are assembled into scenery using a variety of methods, depending on the nature of the show.

The simplest type of flat show involves using a single set for the whole show. Flats can be attached to each other for the duration of the run. For a straight wall, flats are connected using battens.

Battens : simply boards, 1x3 or 1x4. If the wall is not too large, lay the boards flat on the back of flats and screw battens to frame of the flats with drywall or utility screws.

For taller and/or heavier flats this is often not stiff enough.

Stiffener : To make battens stiffer, place on edge instead of flat, and hinge to flat frames. Alternate hinges on both sides of the batten so the batten doesn't fold over. Used this way,it is called a stiffener, and may be used horizontally or vertically as needed. Hinges used are backflap hinges, which have a larger surface flap than other types.

BOX SET: a set that wraps around playing area on three sides, resembles a box with one side removed. Naturally it uses corner joints.

When a corner is assembled to make a box set, the attachment used will vary with Angle.

*From 90 degrees to about 45 degrees, screws or nails can be used.

*If corner is flatter, screws or nails will likely split wood and not hold, and so hinges may be more successful.

The walls of a freestanding box set must be supported in some way. If there are sufficient corners, the set can hold itself up. Long flat walls must be supported some other way.

Two most common bracing devices: jacks and stage braces.

JACKS: triangular frames attached to back of flats, usually with hinges. May the be anchored to floor by a hinge, by screwing through into a wooden cleat fastened to the floor, or with a weight (as a stage weight or closed sandbag) placed on jack to counterbalance weight of the flat.
STAGE BRACES: adjustable sticks with hook at top and foot at the bottom. Hook is attached to a brace cleat on flat and foot is attached to the floor with a stage screw. Brace is then adjusted so flat is vertical.

Stage screws:

Traditional screw: cast iron screw with a coarse tapered thread. Pointed end is jammed into the floor and screwed in by hand. If the set is moved, the screw can be reinserted into the existing hole when the set is placed again. If this happens too many times will strip out hole and a new hole will have to be set.

Improved stage screw: designed to overcome this problem. Has square threads which engage inside of threaded insert. Outside of insert has knife threads to engage the wooden floor.

To use, pilot hole is drilled into floor and the insert is screwed into floor, usually with a brace and a special screw bit. Stage screw then screws into insert.

Disadvantage: improved stage screw requires more effort to install,

BUT

Can be used almost indefinitely without stripping out floor.

Leaves a hole in floor when insert is removed, but this can be repaired with dowel and glue.

The hole from a traditional stage screw tends to close up when the screw is removed, as no wood is actually removed while installing.

----------------

Scenery that shifts:

A play using multiple box sets requires different assembly strategies so that sets can be quickly put up and taken down, yet still be secure in use.

Traditional approach, somewhat uncommon now: specialized stage hardware used with #8 cotton sash cord to lash flats together.

Requires lash hardware:

Lash eyes- these are placed on the top left hand flat as you face the back of seam. They go on this side because most people are right handed. The sash cord passes through the eye and knotted with an overhand or figure-eight knot.
Lash cleats- spaced alternately down the flat joint, these are designed so the rope can slide over them when you pull them tight.
Tie-off cleat - this is designed so the rope doesn't slide when you pull it tight.
Stop cleat- These are placed to prevent the flats from sliding past each other when a corner is made.

To use, the flats are butted together, and the rope is flipped alternately around the lash cleats, then tied off over the stop cleat with a lash line tie-off knot that holds under pressure, but which can be quickly released to shift.

Alternate approaches:

Instead of lash hardware and rope, other methods commonly used today:

Loose-pin hinges: hinges with removable pins. Pin wire is used instead of the stock pin as it is smaller in diameter and places more quickly. Can be bent over slightly so it won't fall out, then straightened for removal. Quick and secure, but requires a ladder to set top hinges.
Roto-locks or coffin locks: also quick and secure, but also requires a ladder as well as 5/16" Allen key. Coffin locks pull joint together, but add to overall thickness of flats in storage.
Instead of sash cord, aircraft cable can be substituted and end secured with load binders to a ring or hook. Stronger than rope, but requires more equipment to install.

Two-fold and three-fold: two or three flats hinged together and folded for storage. Two flats folded is a "book flat". Three flats folded is a "three-fold". Because of the thickness of the middle flat, three-fold must be either Z-folded (not usually possible) or must be assembled with a tumbler or tumbling stile.

When book flats and three folds are opened, they can be stiffened several ways.

Can use standard stiffener with loose-pin hinges to be unpinned and removed.
Batten can be bolted with single pivot bolt, and the batten rotated into place.
Batten hooks can be hooked over toggles and a batten dropped into hook.

Wagons

Wagons: standard platforms with castors attached.

Castors come in two forms: Swivel and Rigid.

Rigid castors: track in straight lines.

To work properly, MUST be parallel.
Swivel castors: used when they don't track in straight lines.

Standard platform is 4' x 8' because of plywood size, often too small to be practical, so wagons and platforms are generally assembled into larger units.

Bolting with carriage bolts. 3/8" bolts most usual.

Rotolocks or coffin locks: used for road shows and when bottom is not accessible for assembly:

How to get castored wagons to go where you want them:

Wagons may be gripped, pushed on with push poles, slid in tracks.

Gripping: grabbing the wagon and moving it manually. Best accomplished behind closed curtains.

"A Vista" shifts (in sight of the audience) require somewhat trickier techniques.

Push poles: simple and effective, attach push pole and shove platform out into view. Limited mostly by length of the pole; as a practical matter usually used to move platform out about 8 to 12 feet.

Works best for smaller platforms.

Larger platforms require more elaborate arrangements.

Tracked wagons use guides to make sure the wagon goes where you want it.

Rails may be bolted or screwed to floor. May be battens or angle irons fastened in parallel rows. Platform slides between them.
Angle iron may be layed with the V up, and V-wheeled castors used to roll on them. This give less to trip on, but there is still some obstruction. Also, ONLY works with the v-wheel castors.

Knife slots.: slots in floor with metal bars or knives on wagon that fit into them. Requires a deck with slots cut into it; often involves installing a full deck over the regular stage floor.

May work better, but is much more expensive and more labor intensive to install.

Turn table: specialized platforms using rigid castors arranged in arcs around fixed pivot. Several scenes can be set up on them, then rotated into view in turn.

Turn tables require some sort of drive to operate.

Small turn tables may be turned manually.
Larger tables can be:
- Belt driven: motorized and cranked winch.
- Pressure wheel driven: motorized
- Gear driven: motorized.

One aspect of wagons is making them NOT roll in use. This can be accomplished with:

Locking Castors
Pinned in place: using
- Various fence gate locks
- Barrel bolts.
- Cane bolts.
Wagon breaks. Work by raising wagon off the castors onto the break.

Must be adjusted so they don't raise the wagon too far so as not to tilt the set or lift it out of its track, yet still provide enough friction to hold.

Moving wagons:

Sometimes such wagons are operated by motors and winches using computer controlled automation at one extreme, and by manual operation at the other.

Slip stages: huge wagons taking up large parts of stage, which slide in from the wings or from upstage into position. Slip stages require similarly large offstage storage spaces.

Jackknife wagons: used where there isn't enough room for slip stages. Pivot in on one corner. Two may swing together to meet in the middle.

Turn tables: large round wagons that turn on a pivot. Two or three settings are set on the turntable, and the table is turned to reveal each in turn.

Doors and Windows

Two very common scenic elements are realistic doors and windows. To be successful, they must look realistic and work every time. Unlike REAL doors and windows, stage doors and windows cannot depend on the walls they are mounted in to hold them together quite as much as real units, but neither do they have to be weather tight.

A door unit consists of the door and its frame. The door itself if called a shutter.

Shutters may be constructed as solid core, hollow core, or as panel doors with various numbers of panels

Doors can also be described by form. Most doors are one-piece doors, but there are also Dutch doors, French doors, folding doors, bi-pass sliding doors, and pocket doors.

Doors come in standard sizes. Household doors are standardized at 6'-8" high, while commercial doors are 7'-0" tall. Widths are generally in 2" increments, ranging from 24" for closet doors, to 36" for front entrance doors, and in between 30", 32", and sometimes 34" for interior doors. The standard height for doorknobs is 38" above the floor.

No matter what the door type, all doors need frames. Frames have several parts. The jam is the inside frame that boxes the thickness of the wall, to which the hinges and lock catch are attached. The casing is the surface trim that covers the gap and joins the jam to the wall. The board across the bottom of the frame is the threshold. The thin boards that stop the door from swinging in too far are, naturally, door stops.

Door hardware consists of the hinges and the lock. The hinges usually used on doors are butt hinges. These are taller when closed than they are high. Locks are inset into the opposite edge.

The most common lock today is the cylinder lock. The lock mechanism is set into round holes bored into the edge of the door.

Older doors often used mortise locks. These fit in rectangular hollows bored and chiseled into the edge of the doors. They require more work to install than cylinder locks, in that the hole is more exacting to make. They are still available for existing doors, but are rarely used in new work.

Old passage doors, especially in more modest homes, were often too thin to use a mortise or cylinder lock. For these doors one uses a rim lock. These are installed on the surface of the door, usually on the "back" side of the door. Since the back side of a door usually is not seen by the audience, rim locks are very useful in theatre, as they can be installed on a door more quickly than any other common door lock.

Local stagehands escape Silverdome with their lives

2013-09-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2010/06/22/news/local_news/doc4c1fd417969fc357332898.txt

Local stagehands are calling it a miracle that no one died when the stage they were working on for a Saturday concert at the Silverdome collapsed.

“I had to dive off the stage to not get killed,” said one stagehand, who asked not to be identified. “I dove headfirst, landed about 7 feet under on the concrete, on my face.

“It was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life.”

The man described looking up just in time to see the truss on the roof of the stage snap.

“I saw it coming down and I didn’t want to look back, I just dove,” he said. “I had to dive to avoid getting crushed.”

The local stagehands were hired to help set up for the Jai Ho concert featuring A.R. Rahman, the composer of “Slumdog Millionaire.”

Emergency responders from the Pontiac Fire Department were called to the Silverdome around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, before the show started.

The stagehand described the moments of terror as “like being in a dream and you try to run, but you can’t.”

Like many stagehands, he says he has always been aware that disasters like this can strike and now that it has, he’s pretty shaken up.

Fatal plunge by stagehand stirs questions of safety, fines

2013-09-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

http://www.lvrj.com/news/fatal-plunge-by-stagehand-stirs-questions-of-safety--fines-95599114.html

Las Vegas stagehand Vicente Rodriguez fell to his death from a rigging plank suspended over the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theater. If the planking had been equipped with guardrails, the 20-year-old -- who was incorrectly wearing his safety harness -- might be alive today.

The stagehand's death and the relatively small fines assessed for failing to maintain workplace safety -- imposed according to a penalty scale that has increased only once in 40 years -- are part of a national discussion about improving safety in the entertainment industry.

For their part in safety violations connected to the death in May 2009, both the stage company that employed Rodriguez and the hotel that owns the theater have been cited by the Nevada Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

MGM Grand paid a penalty of $19,800, down from a proposed penalty of $38,700, said Steve Coffield, head of Nevada OSHA.

Rhino Las Vegas, the stage company, must pay a $4,000 penalty, according to terms of a settlement reached in late May. The original fine proposed for Rhino was $25,000.

Coffield said both fines were reduced partly because of duplication of charges. Also, Rhino's fine was cut because of the company's small size.

Coffield said it is legally difficult to apply Nevada's safety regulations -- which are geared more to construction sites -- to the entertainment industry, which has grown more sophisticated with technologies that present new workplace hazards.

David Michaels, head of federal OSHA, recently discussed entertainment safety with reporters.

"The current penalty structure is too low to compel companies to take workplace safety as seriously as they should," a federal OSHA spokesman, Michael Wald, wrote to the Review-Journal this week after it inquired about Michaels' remarks. Despite inflation, the agency's penalties have increased only once in the past 40 years, Michaels told a congressional committee in March.

Occupations such as construction, offshore drilling, mining and logging are routinely viewed as dangerous, while risks to entertainment workers are not always well-publicized, Michaels told the media. Most of the public knows that an animal trainer died during a performance at SeaWorld Orlando in February, but fewer people realize Disney World also suffered several work-related fatalities last year.

On a telephone conference with reporters, Michaels talked about a Florida stagehand's death in late 2009 but did not seem to be aware of Rodriguez's death in Las Vegas, which was not coded in OSHA's database as entertainment-related.

Michaels wants to tighten national safety standards for entertainment, which Nevada's business chief, Donald Jayne, seconds. "By inference, we'll match" what the federal agency adopts, said Jayne, who is administrator for the state's Division of Industrial Relations.

Marychris Rodriguez, mother of the young Las Vegas stagehand, said Wednesday the family has been unable, for more than a year, to obtain a police report about the death. She also wants federal OSHA to investigate Nevada OSHA's investigation.

In the May 20, 2009, accident, Vicente Rodriguez fell almost 37 feet to the stage floor as crew members were tearing down stage fixtures after Tom Jones had finished a run at the MGM Grand.

Nevada OSHA's accident report, issued in September, said that in the stage area where Rodriguez fell, workers had to balance on a catwalk before they could clip a harness onto a horizontal life line. And then, they had to step over 33 inches of false ceiling, without any guardrails.

Rodriguez was wearing his safety harness improperly, but OSHA inspectors also found a risk that sharp edges on structures above the stage could sever lines attached to a harness worn correctly.

A similar stagehand fatality in Florida last December led to an OSHA fine of $3,675, which was announced several weeks ago. That accident occurred at a West Palm Beach concert hall, when a lighting technician fell 25 feet from a stage catwalk, which lacked mandatory safety rails.

OSHA can levy a maximum $70,000 civil penalty for a workplace death when willful safety violations are proved. But in 2007, the national median for OSHA fines proposed -- not necessarily the finalized amount paid -- for violations leading to a workplace death was "just $5,900," Michaels told a congressional committee in March.

Rhino's safety violations were not found to be willful, state OSHA records showed.

State officials and Marychris Rodriguez have said they will work together to develop a campaign promoting entertainment safety in Nevada, whose casinos hold many performance venues.

Resources

2013-09-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

Tools & Gadgets

Stage Junk - the creators of the new Ultimate Focusing Tool
Good Buy Guys - suppliers of gaffers tape- cloth tapes-mic stands-theatrical supplies and more
Tools For Stagecraft
Film Tools
Roadie Tools - Home of the highest quality "unique and useful" tools, testers, and accessories for concert, theatre adn all on stage technical professionals
Rosco International
ProSound & Stage Lighting - Pro Audio, DJ Gear and Lighting Experts
Theatrical Special Effects - Stage, Theatre, Drama, Pyrotechnics
Z11 Pyro Supply - Theatrical Pyrotechnics
Duluth Trading - Great construction-related products, tools, gear, gadgets and gizmos.
Duct Tape Wallet Workshop
How To Make A Duct Tape Wallet
Duct Tape Guys

Clothing & Accessories

Villain Tees
Back In Black Sick Idiots T-shirts
Roadie Rags - another really awesome Industry T-shirt website!
Backstage Attitudes - Music Jewelry of sterling that rocks!
This Gig Sucks - Some more cool Industry T-Shirts

Stagehand, Tech and Roadie Personal Sites

The Inn Between.net
Roadie.net
Gigging Bear - An irreverent look at the world through the eyes of one bad ass little stagehand!

Find Gigs

IATSE's local office search
RoadieJobs.com - Profiles & Roadie Resources, music industry touring personnel

Other Important Resources

What You Should Know On Your First Gig
Financial Info For First-Time Freelancers
Behind The Scenes - an organization that provides financial assistance to stagehands, roadies and techies who are seriously ill or injured.
Stagelink - The Technical Production Resource
IATSE Home Page
OSHA
Theater Techie Links - A directory of businesses, organizations, and individuals who provide entertainment related products and services to the theatre industry and general public.
Mapquest - find that next venue easily
GasBudy.com - Find the cheapest gas in your area!
Film Terms
Glossary of Film Terms

The Girlfriend Threat Level

2013-08-31T08:43:00.000-07:00

The Girlfriend Threat Level

See more funny pictures and videos at Fugly.

Financial Info For Freelancers

2013-08-30T06:41:00.000-07:00

If you are new to the industry, there are some important financial details you should know. First thing is to find a good tax accountant who is familiar with the entertainment industry. There are some quirks to the business that some regular tax guys don't fully understand. The author is not a tax accountant, these are just some helpful guidelines to prepare your financial situation for your tax guy if you are unfamiliar with the industry. Talk to your coworkers about taxes and budgeting. They might know a good tax guy to recommend or they might know about some quirks in the tax rules that are specific to your area or some new regulation that this general guide doesn't cover.

Next, download the Freelancer's Tax Worksheet. This is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that will help you to keep track of things for your tax guy. You may end up making some modifications based on your specific location and your tax guy's recommendations. From the "What You Should Know On Your First Gig" article, you should already be writing the details of your gigs down. Keep a paper calender of your schedule. If you use an online or computerized calendar, keep a paper calendar anyway as a backup. If you don't use a computerized calendar, keep 2 paper calendars, just in case, at least one small enough to carry around with you. This is where you write down all your future gigs that you are scheduled for and where you should be keeping the details of each gig, as explained in the article.

On the Freelancer's Tax Worksheet, keep track of your time after you have completed your gig. Record your time in and time out, how many hours you worked (these may be different numbers if you completed a strike in less than your required 4-hour mini or you are on a day rate and your clocked-out time is less than your 10 hour-day, so it's important to record both time and hours.), your rate, the dollar amount before taxes that you expect to receive, the name and location of the show and - this is very important - how many miles from your house to the location. You can Mapquest it at any time to make it easy on you.

If you have any days where your rate changes partway through it (if you go into overtime, for instance), write the rate change on its own row. So, if you worked on Monday from 8 AM to 8 PM with a 1 hour lunch break and you went into overtime at 5 PM, then one line will read Monday, in at 8, out at 5 for a total of 8 hours at your regular rate. The next line will say Monday, in at 5 and out at 8 for 3 hours at your overtime rate. Do not type in the miles a second time if you have several rows for only one trip.

When you receive a paycheck, double check your checkstub with your hours against your own records to make sure it's correct. If it is correct (adjusted for taxes if the gig was a W2 gig), enter the amount you received in the column next to your expected amount and highlight those rows of times and dates that correspond with that check. This is a quick at-a-glance way to keep track of who has paid you and who still owes you.

As you enter your paychecks, keep an eye on any gigs that were more than 2 weeks back or the scheduled pay period for that gig. If your checks are late, make sure you call that company and keep calling to find out where your paycheck is. Make note of all phone conversations and keep any email or other correspondence with all companies who have not paid on time in case you need to take legal action. Do not let your paychecks go unclaimed for very long, but sometimes there will be delays. Use this form to help keep track of those paychecks that are delayed.

Next is to get some large manilla envelopes to keep receipts in. You should be saving receipts for everything. Every time you eat at restaurants or cafeterias while at work, request the receipt. All clothing purchased specifically for work - save the receipt. You should save receipts for food, clothing, your phone bill, maintenance on your vehicle, tolls and parking expenses, any and all computer-related purchases (including internet) if you use your computer for work, and any tools you use at work. Save reciepts for any events you attend that are in the same field as your work. For instance, if you get film gigs, save movie stubs and if you work concerts, save concert ticket stubs - they count as "educational expenses" and might even count as networking the way business lunches count in other industries. Label manilla envelopes to match the type of receipt and the year and store your receipts in your envelopes in a safe place until tax time.

You can record your receipts as you get them or all at the end before you do your taxes. If you scroll to the right on your Worksheet, there are some headings to help you get organized. Simply enter the amount of each receipt into its own cell below the appropriate heading, then add them all up at the bottom of the column. This way, when you take all your papers to your tax guy at the end of the year, it's already organized for him, and if you ever get audited, you will have everything the IRS needs for the audit. Keep your files for 7 years, preferably in a fireproof safe with all your other important documents.

Bring your envelopes with receipts & checkstubs, your W2s and 1099s, and a printout of this Worksheet with all your gigs and your itemized, added-up receipt totals to your tax guy as soon as you have received your last W2 or 1099 form in the mail. Do not wait until the last minute. Some people file for extensions immediately, whether they think they need the extra time or not, just to allow some wiggle room in case there are any difficulties in obtaining your various forms from your various clients.

Now, to anticipate tax time, you need to have a good budget for the year. Freelancing is not steady work and we are subject to "on" and "off" seasons, which will vary from location to location. Especially if you are new, you may not get steady enough work to cover all your expenses. So it's very important to learn to budget. To start your budget, look at all your expenses from last month. Add up your rent, utilities, any credit card or loan payments, your vehicle insurance, how much money you spent on gas and food, and all other money you spent on miscellaneous things. Then take that dollar amount and add 10% to it. This is the very minimum amount of money you need to survive with your current expenses.

If you happen to make any money over your estimated budget (the total dollar amount you spent last month plus 10%), do not spend it. Take that money and put it into a separate account, preferably a savings account that earns you interest. When tax time comes around, if you end up owing taxes, you can use this money to pay your taxes with. If you accounted for miscellaneous spending and you have added 10% on top of that, you should have plenty of extra cash each month for entertainment without missing bill payments. If you want to save up for something extra, you can take it out of your entertainment budget. If you are interested in more aggressive budgeting or learning how to make your money work for you, consult with your new tax guy or look into a financial planner.

These are just some very basic tips to keep you afloat with a non-steady income stream. There are many other resources from licenced financial planners to help you improve and build upon these basic strategies. You may find your situation would benefit from incorporating yourself instead of filing as an independent contractor, for instance. If your tax guy really is familiar with unusual independent contractor situations, he can advise you on a more specific financial path for your specific needs.

http://www.stagehandtees.com/freelancersfinance.html

Stagehand Boo Boo

2013-08-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

Hello Kitty was not powerful enough for this boo boo; Wolverine was needed for back up!

The Strathmore is Hiring an Assistant Lead Stage Technician

2013-08-28T11:57:00.003-07:00

The Music Center at Strathmore, is a 190,000 square foot soaring structure that includes a magnificent world-class 2,000-seat Concert Hall, as well as a Education Center boasting dance studios, rehearsal halls, classrooms, and instruction studios, in addition to administrative office spaces. The Concert Hall has in excess of 150 performances annually.

The Assistant Lead Stage Technician (ALST) will assist as needed in the stage (carpentry) department. Duties will include the set and strike of the custom orchestra and choral riser system, musician chairs, music stands, pianos, soft goods, and other stage equipment as required. This position’s responsibilities include assisting as directed in the operation and maintenance of the Concert Hall stage systems including the stage lift system, adjustable acoustic system, and assisting in maintaining the detailed inventories of relevant materials and equipment, purchasing disposable equipment parts, and assisting in the long term planning for maintenance, repairs and equipment purchases.

When the Lead Stage Technician (LST) is unable to work a call the ALST shall assume that position as the lead with its responsibilities and hourly wage rate. Whenever the ALST works any calls other than when he/she is the LST, he/she shall be paid the assistant lead technician or key hourly wage rate.

This position which is hourly as required, will require membership in IATSE Local #22, and reports to the Production Stage Manager and Director of Operations.

Requirements for this position include a background in and experience with stage carpentry, properties, audio visual equipment as well as a basic knowledge of all aspects of production techniques, equipment, and facilities. A plus is rigging expertise or certification. Applicant must show willingness to be flexible in a new company and venue environment.

This position would also be a “second call position” (after the lead technicians) on calls not involving stage equipment set up or strike. Hourly wages, union benefits and work rules as per IATSE Local #22 collective bargaining agreement with Strathmore.

Strathmore Hall Foundation, Inc is a non-profit arts education organization and equal opportunity employer.

Send Letter of Application, Resume and Professional References to:

Strathmore Hall Foundation, Inc.

Attn: Director of Operations

5301 Tuckerman Lane

North Bethesda MD 20852-3385

Facsimile (301) 581-5149

Email facilities@strathmore.org

Closing Date: When Filled

Stupid Stagehand Tricks

2013-08-28T09:33:00.000-07:00

Paul pulling a condom through his nose & out his mouth. Considering we are standing on a corner in Washington, DC, I am sure that condom could be stuck in stranger places!

Shortest Out Ever!

2013-08-27T06:31:00.000-07:00

I do believe I hit a record last night for the shortest load out of 30 minutes. It was two speakers, a monitor, & five mics. The drive to the venue took longer than the actual out. What is your shortest out?

I stuck it in the wrong hole

2013-08-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

He Puts It in the Wrong Place - Watch more Funny Videos

Gobo?

2013-08-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

Because I am such a great stagehand, I was asked to return to the Wardman for an additional call, in order to focus, gel & add gobos to the fixtures. What’s a gobo? I went online to check & all I found was a stupid furry shit with legs & a big head. Why the fuck would they want me to shove his smelly ass into the lighting fixtures?

FUCK! I'll have to get a full body glove, so I don't singe my fur, while I sit on top of the lights, shoving Gobo into that little slot. Nothing is worst than burning fur!

Girly-Drink Junkie

2013-08-24T15:20:00.000-07:00

Stagehand killed in fall had lots of experience Springfest contractor says friend's harness was unhooked

2013-08-23T08:05:00.000-07:00

http://www.ialocal48.com/News/news.html

The stagehand who died of injuries he received in a fall at the amphitheater in Snowden Grove Park last Thursday had had numerous rigging jobs without incident.

Chuck Cole, the owner of Cole Entertainment Services, the firm that had contracted to rig the amphitheater for a concert at Southaven's Springfest, said Charles "Chuck" Houston had worked for a number of years as a stagehand.

"He was very experienced," he said. "He had begun working (as a stagehand) in 1997 and had worked on a regular basis since 2002."

Cole and Houston were personal friends and played football together at Southaven High School.

Although DeSoto County Coroner Jeffery Pounders said that Houston was not wearing a safety harness and that he was working without a safety net, Cole said Houston had on a safety harness, "but it was not hooked up at the time."

He explained that high riggers -- the workers who work the superstructure high above the stage -- "have to unhook and then re-hook as they move from point to point about the building."

He said that Houston either had unhooked to make a move "or he may have been on a beam that had no safety line where he could hook up."

Houston inexplicably lost his balance and fell about 40 feet, slamming his head onto the concrete stage.

At the time, Houston was working as an up-rigger and Cole was his down-rigger. Down-riggers pass materials to the up-riggers as they are needed.

"I didn't see him as he lost his balance, but I saw him as he fell," Cole said. "I started CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) on him. He was a close friend."

Houston had been working alone on one part of the superstructure, but other riggers were also working on the job, Cole said. None of the other riggers were near Houston when he fell.

Allen Byassee, business agent and corresponding secretary for Local 69 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union in Memphis, said Houston's death was "a needless, senseless death."

He said IATSE-covered workers are required to wear safety harnesses or to use nets to prevent falls and serious injuries.

"If he'd had that safety harness on at the time, we wouldn't be having this conversation is what I'm saying," he said.

Byassee said that some contractors cut corners by not having adequate insurance coverage such as IATSE provides.

Cole said his employees are "fully covered" by insurance in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi.

Southaven Police Chief Tom Long said his officers have looked at the accident. "As far as we can tell, everything points to just a really bad accident."

He said investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are also looking into the accident.

"OSHA is going to do their thing, but that's separate from us," he said.

Stagehand guily of lover's murder

2013-08-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/7040_stagehand_guily_of_lovers_murder

The jury in the Peter Noble murder trial took just under two hours yesterday to find him guilty of murdering his lover.

The three men and nine women were out of Reading Corwn Court for only 100 minutes before returning to give their verdict that The Hexagon stagehand was guilty of Josephine Cockell's murder.

As the unanimous decision was read out cries of "yes" were heard from the packed public gallery while Noble, 46, sat stone-faced in the dock.

Speaking after the verdict DCI Andy Taylor, who headed the investigation, said: "It was a particularly nasty attack and I am pleased we have secured a conviction."

"Hopefully this will give some benefit to Jo's family and friends. She was very popular and my thoughts go out to them," DCI Taylor continued.

Noble savagely stabbed Mrs Cockell, a Reading Museum worker, in his Stanley Grove home on December last year as she tried to end their end relationship.

Through the trial Noble's defence had tried to convince the jury he was so depressed he had an abnormality of mind and was not responsible for his actions.

The jury had heard three psychiatrists disagree about his mental state, although they were told by a GP his depression had improved before the attack and a doctor brought in to assess him when he was arrested declared him fit for questioning.

Ultimately, the jury rejected Noble's claim and found him guilty of murder.

Mrs Justice Rafferty told Noble: "There is one only sentence for murder and that is imprisonment for life." She ordered reports and postponed his sentence until later in the summer.

Violent end to a life hit by tragedy

PROSECUTOR Paul Reid summed up Jo Cockell's life when he opened the case against Peter Noble, telling the jury: "Her life was frequently touched by tragedy."

Just four months before her death the doting mother had been forced to come to terms with the loss of her son Xenon, who died of an asthma attack at just 29.

Heartbroken, she sought solace in the man she trusted most at the time, Peter Noble - and he repaid that affection by murdering her.

But Mrs Cockell would never have been put in that position had her life not been marred by tragedy twice before.

Her first husband, Xenon's father, Bogdan Sidorowciz, who she divorced in 1978, died of a heart attack. Then tragedy struck again when her second husband, Adrian Cockell, died in a Legionnaire's Disease outbreak at the Inland Revenue offices in Reading nearly 10 years ago.
The widow was left on her own to nurse Xenon, who was frequently rushed to hospital because of asthma attacks and once suffering a heart attack.

That was until she met Peter Noble at the Water Fest gala in 1998.

After an initial friendship their relationship grew until Noble moved in to her Salisbury Road home to help her get over her son's death. Xenon had died in Noble's arms. The couple shared an interest in spiritualism and would spend evenings talking and reading books by medium Doris Stokes.

However, on September 24 last year Mrs Cockell asked Noble to leave and told her line manager at the museum, Ivan Preston, she had a three-point plan to end the relationship. He said: "She told me she was going to let him down gently and do it over three stages and that she had completed the first phase.

"She said she found him overbearing."

She also spoke about ending the relationship to another colleague Frank Harding, who described Noble in court as a laid back gentleman.

Mr Harding said: "She said she was finding her relationship with him difficult. She felt that she didn't want to get close to anyone at that time because everyone she got close to let her down or died."

Noble stabbed her to death as she tried to complete her plan.

Friends said Noble had become jealous of her other friends and killed her just days after she returned from a weekend break in Paris with Carol Patient.

It was Mrs Patient who introduced the couple to each other. She was present at court throughout the trial.

Yesterday Mrs Patient paid tribute to her friend: "Two of Jo's greatest qualities were her strength and courage. The deaths of her two husbands, her son Xenon's asthma illness and heart attack were hard to bear and his death last August devastated her."

"Jo was a kind and generous person and gave her time freely if she could be of some help to others.

"Above all Jo was a lady. She handled all the traumas in her life with dignity and courage. She is very much missed by her friends and family."

'Killer Noble enjoyed being centre stage'

MURDERER Peter Noble's final act during his trial was to thank the jury for their efforts in reaching a unanimous verdict writes Anthony Moore.

The sword stuntman - accused of being an attention-seeker prone to theatrics by the prosecution - asked his defence barrister to make a special speech to the jury that had just branded him a cold blooded killer.

Robin Spencer, QC, said: "Whatever the jury's verdict he thanks them and regrets they had to endure such a case."

During his trial, psychiatrist Philip Joseph said Noble liked to be centre stage.

With the spotlight on him, the soft-spoken killer - born David Gordon but who took the stage name Peter Noble - told the jury he had contacted the other side and spirits had told him exactly when his victim would die.

However, Noble attacked Mrs Cockell two weeks before that date in a frenzied rage he could remember nothing about, except seeing a knife on the floor and hearing Jo Cockell last breaths.

The film buff said he wanted to capture the spirits taking Mrs Cockell's lifeforce to the other side but instead made a harrowing video he remembers nothing about.

With the camera zooming in on Mrs Cockell's naked body he says: "This is Jo and I'm very, very sorry. Very sorry. She's um, she's gone, she's with Xenon. I've committed a most heinous crime. But I think, I'm going to the great world. She's happy. That's all she wanted."

Throughout the trial the silver haired defendant sat emotionless as his savage acts were dissected - his face did not change when the curtain finally fell and the jury returned with its verdict.

Event Planner fails to recognize crowd motivation risks - 20 injured in melee.

2013-08-21T15:43:00.000-07:00

Friday, August 9, 2013 - Event Planners for Korean cell phone manufacturer LG Electronics failed to do a thorough risk analysis for a promotional stunt and twenty people ended-up injured, with seven being sent to the hospital.

It's idea was to release helium-filled balloons in an open park, and each balloon would have a voucher that could be redeemed for a new smart phone that was valued at KRW 950,000 Korean Won (~$851 US). Enthusiastic attendees planned their assaults on the balloons in advance and arrived at the event with sharp sticks, BB Guns, and knives on poles. The ensuing melee after 100 balloons were launched was a disaster when greed over-took common sense.

"LG Electronics deeply regrets that a number of Korean participants were injured during an outdoor promotional event in Seoul, [South] Korea," a statement from the firm said.

"We can confirm that seven participants were hospitalised and, although none of the injuries were serious, LG takes full responsibility for the unfortunate situation and has offered to cover all related medical expenses.

"LG is investigating the incident to ensure that such an occurrence can be avoided in the future."

The company added that other planned events had been called-off because of concerns for attendees safety.

One regional TV channel has dubbed the event "World War G" - a comparison to the film World War Z in which zombies scramble over each other to climb over a wall. The new phone is a model G2.

Phone: Smart.

Event Planner: Not so smart.

http://theatresafetyblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/event-planner-fails-to-recognise-crowd.html

Edinburgh Fringe stagehand 'nearly dies' after perfume sends him into anaphylactic shock

2013-08-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

Performers are regularly ushered onstage with the exhortation to “break a leg”. Yet it was almost worse for a stagehand at the Edinburgh Fringe after an audience member’s perfume sent him into anaphylactic shock.

Bryn Jones, 22, has been working on the show The Dumb Waiter, which is on at the New Town Theatre for the next 10 days.

During a performance the scent worn by an audience member meant his throat tightened and he struggled for breath. He was in a “pretty bad way,” he told the Daily Record, which suggested Mr Jones almost died.

Mr Jones needed a friend to bring his medication but managed to carry on the technical duties during the play. When his friend arrived, he was lying on the floor and his face had turned blue.

“A friend of mine came into the room, grabbed me and gave me what I needed just as the show ended,” he said.

Mr Jones was effectively trapped during the performance. “I thought it would be good to get outside. But the only entrance out is behind the audience, so I couldn't really leave,” he said.

“I’d have had to cross the stage and move through the audience, but I didn't want to interrupt the show.”

Scents do not generally trigger such a dramatic reaction. “The chemicals in some of these perfumes are not usually too much of an issue for me,” he said, adding: “I haven’t had a reaction quite like this.”

The Dumb Waiter, written by Harold Pinter, is being staged by theatre company the Spartan Ensemble. The claustrophobic play about two contract killers awaiting orders from their absentee master runs twice a day for an hour. It stars Ian Watt and Paul Comrie as the two hitmen. The play, a dark comedy, was first performed in 1960.

Mr Jones managed to see out the performance and make it to the Bedlam Theatre to work on his third performance of the day.

During the Fringe there has been a series of mishaps, including from performers on stage. Comedian Marcus Brigstocke is on crutches for the month after injuring his leg during a set, prompting a visit to A&E the following morning.

The Play That Goes Wrong did go wrong after actor Dave Hearn was thrown over a sofa in a fight sequence during a performance and dislocated his shoulder, also resulting in a trip to hospital.

The potential pitfalls has not kept the audiences away, as this year is set for a huge leap on 2012, which took a hit during the Olympics. Some venues saw audiences drop by more than a fifth during the clash with the Games but made up some sales towards the end of the festival.

The Fringe, which boasts 2,871 shows, has seen crowds soar. Charlie Wood, co-director of Underbelly, one of the largest comedy venues, said sales were up 22.5 per cent this year on its five-year average. Sales at the Assembly Rooms, another major venue, are up 30 per cent over last year.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/edinburgh-fringe-stagehand-nearly-dies-after-perfume-sends-him-into-anaphylactic-shock-8763002.html

Brothels of Costa Rica

2013-08-19T15:11:00.004-07:00

Y'all miss me? Betcha wondered where I've been. Well, ya know. Where there's sweet lovin' to be made, Bear is on the way. So, I've been hanging out in the brothels of Costa Rica. I've got pictures to prove it! So, keep an eye out for my latest adventure & I'll see you on the next gig...