Reflective Summary

In the four months since my last Reflective Summary was written, my understanding of management within the production context has continued to develop and change. Through my role as a Deputy Technical Stage Manager and Head of Flys on both ‘Street Scene’, and now the Modern Ballet Graduation Showcase, I have sought to improve on the shortcomings in my own practice that I have noted in my previous reflections, to the point where I now feel a great deal more comfortable leading a team – when required – and understanding what I need to prepare prior to a show fitting up. In the three capacities of management I mentioned in my previous summary – communication, planning, and technical skill – I have noticed myself improving and feeling more confident. However, as my journals and this summary will show, there is – and always will be – room for me to improve as I progress into my third year allocations.

Planning is important for all aspects of a show; it is what allows us to put up gigantic structures and complex rigs in a short space of time and know they won’t come crashing down on our heads. One of the issues noted at white card for ‘Street Scene’ were the two walk-down traps that would need to be removed from the stage floor. Due to Dimitri’s absence I was tasked with devising an early plan of how to achieve this. I noted that ‘I took a laser measure and drew the Ath pit in Vectorworks. From this, I drew on the proposed trap positions, some deck and treads, with the dual intention of discovering whether this exercise would be possible, and showing the conductor how much room would be removed from the orchestra.’ ⁽¹⁾ This activity not only tested my proficiency in Vectorworks but my ability to problem solve and workshop solutions, communicating the outcomes with the necessary departments to prevent problems. This was further evidenced by the discovery that ‘the furthest DSR palettes still had fibreboard underneath them, and this would have to be removed before we could make use of them at all’ ⁽²⁾. By planning this effect this far in advance, it gave issues like this time to be resolved so as not to trip us up later on. As I was running two shows back to back, I also learned how to plan a venue turnaround, noting that, during the fit-up for Ballet, ‘80% of our softs were already in the air, their bar positioning just needing swung round a little bit to suit our needs. I’d written my swing list prior to Opera coming down, so our team made light work of hanging the somewhat large amount of cloths in their new home.’ ⁽³⁾ This significantly decreased the time that would have been needed to hang our full overhead rig from scratch, and speaks to the clear benefit of planning ahead. 

One issue I did not plan for, however, was the repositioning of automation points during Opera. note in my journal the struggle of ‘the one and a half hour session that had to be dedicated to re-positioning automation points when the garage door moved further onstage – the beams requiring shuffled around from all over the grid and ratchet strapped to the nearest structural thing we could find.’ ⁽⁴⁾ If I, as Head of Flys, had considered the different eventualities likely to present themselves during a fit-up – like pieces moving further on and offstage – I could have formulated some form of plan prior to this discovery, which may have saved us experimentation time on the grid. Planning for every eventuality is something that I shall continue to seek to improve upon as I move into my future allocations as a TSM.

These shows have also pushed me to improve upon my technical skill, and have challenged me to use my knowledge to address problems when they arise, rather than leave them for others to resolve. The number of changes that had to be made to the houses in Street Scene is a prime example of this, testing me to ‘ trust in my own solutions, making amendments and alterations to the face of the structure in order to bolt through flats for room dividers, and semi-structural timber battens to hang our counterweight pulleys.’ I reflected that ’it was at this point that I felt like a ‘stage guy’ for the first time’ ⁽⁵⁾, an experience that improved my confidence in my ability greatly. Furthermore, my ability on the automation desk – which we had covered in the classes block –  was tested when programming the garage door movement. I noted that ‘the teething problems that had come up regarding the automation desk had been sorted … [and] I remembered – eventually – how to programme multi-target moves’ ⁽⁶⁾. Experience and exposure to the system are areas that I shall definitely seek to improve on in the coming year, as I still consider it one of my weaker areas of knowledge to build upon. 

One of the skills areas that I felt surprisingly underprepared for, given my role, was the process of flying a fit-up and a show. Thankfully, this was something I got the hang of quite quickly, commenting in my journal that ‘I slowly but surely found my rhythm on the fly floor, and by the time we had hung around half of our softs I felt very confident in my ability to fly, weight,  re-weight and take out bars.’ ⁽⁷⁾ My confidence in this area was ‘something that developed further in my later sessions with Jess – especially during the tutorial I gave her on the flying system’. ⁽⁸⁾ By taking the time to teach someone else on the system, the gaps in my knowledge became clear, and it’s in these areas that I will seek to continue to research and develop before my next flying allocation in third year.

Finally, the skill of communication. As I progress into these mid-level management roles, I have been expected – at times – to lead a team, or teach someone else how to undertake a specific task. For example, during the ballet fit-up, I spent some time with Grieg on the grid working on hemp points. I note that this exercise ‘forced me to work on one of the notes Steve had given me during our rotating flat exercise; spelling out exactly what I needed done, why we were doing it, and how we would accomplish it, and not assuming Greig would have the faintest idea what I was talking about if I just went ‘we’re doing the hemp points now’… Understanding the importance of communication within a team, and the challenges that occur when it’s not maintained, this is something I would seek to continue to improve upon into my shows as an HOD.’ ⁽⁹⁾

Furthermore, my experience on ballet has taught me to ‘continue to communicate clearly and openly with my teams’ ⁽¹⁰⁾ and to make sure that everyone is given the information they need to do their job, with my role as an HOD being to facilitate this. Developing on my written communication skills, my role has required me to create and adapt fly plots and rigging plans for both shows. I noted for ballet that though ‘my flyplot was written for me’ I had the challenge to ‘alter it to a workable format with the cloth numbers that we would actually be using’. ⁽¹¹⁾ The creation of accurate plans such as these ensured everyone was working with the most up-to date information – vital in such a tightly packed show – and this attention to detail is something I shall seek to continue as I progress further.

In conclusion, I feel I have made a notable progression over these two allocations in terms of my management and technical skills. I noted in my Opera journal that, ‘be it covering for Dimitri, devising solutions to problems in the moment, or putting in the necessary planning and paperwork before rig day to ensure we were as efficient and smooth running as we could have been, I feel like this allocation has proven – if no one else then to myself – that I know what I’m doing.’ ⁽¹²⁾ And I believe that sentiment has carried through to my work on Ballet. Looking forward, I will seek to continue to improve on all of my shortcomings, in order to further improve my overall professional practice.

Citations

1. Act One (26th May 2018) https://portal.rcs.ac.uk/JMcQueen/2018/05/26/act_1-2/
2. See Citation 1
3. Ballet Showcase 2018 – Volume 1 (10th June 2018) https://portal.rcs.ac.uk/JMcQueen/2018/06/10/volume_1/
4. Act Two (26th May 2018) https://portal.rcs.ac.uk/JMcQueen/2018/05/26/act_2-2/
5. See Citation 4
6. Act Three (26th May 2018) https://portal.rcs.ac.uk/JMcQueen/2018/05/26/act_3-2/
7. See Citation 4
8. See Citation 3
9. See Citation 3
10. Thoughts, Opinions, Comments, Concerns (10th June 2018) https://portal.rcs.ac.uk/JMcQueen/2018/06/10/thoughts_opinions_comments_concerns/
11. See Citation 10
12. Epilogue (26th May 2018) https://portal.rcs.ac.uk/JMcQueen/2018/05/26/epilogue-2/