tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22110104329067486802024-03-06T03:17:18.612-05:00Musings of a TechnicianThoughts, concerns and stories of a theatrical designer and technician.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-69955087008940749462013-06-12T21:27:00.002-04:002013-06-12T21:30:20.928-04:00How to build your very own AsYetUnnamedDMXControllerSo you want a basic DMX controller. You want to use it as a bench tool, because you spend your days troubleshooting devices like color scrollers, dimmers and LEDs. Or maybe you want it as a cheap alternative to a remote focus unit. You want something you can toss in your bag to set static colors on your LED fixtures without messing around with the menu. There's any number of reasons to want a simple, portable DMX controller, and certainly some I haven't listed here.<br />
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Probably the most cost-effective commercial option of which I'm aware is the <a href="http://dmx2go.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=18&zenid=pjll34227fbqjpmn8i9cl2kie3">Pocket Console DMX</a> by Baxter Controls. Certainly a functional device, and it's not -too- expensive, as these things go.</div>
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I think we can do better in the cost and user interface department. My entry into this category doesn't have the faders (yet?) but it does have a lot more buttons.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY3tTAjMgTRmr8IqGGDgNy51AD1z7AxZ6w3fhrGSLRnaXUzuQ6XrvbVdeU-fjVZKJ-A5oblxqECE1V7Bc7tfSeVKsDelSOcEwKJzgikjJ_c-BXrJZkDE1KFCWO__Ce43kMJgjVzFRkk4w/s1600/2013-06-08+13.12.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY3tTAjMgTRmr8IqGGDgNy51AD1z7AxZ6w3fhrGSLRnaXUzuQ6XrvbVdeU-fjVZKJ-A5oblxqECE1V7Bc7tfSeVKsDelSOcEwKJzgikjJ_c-BXrJZkDE1KFCWO__Ce43kMJgjVzFRkk4w/s400/2013-06-08+13.12.42.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are 20 buttons, in fact.</td></tr>
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You've likely heard of the <a href="http://arduino.cc/">Arduino</a>. If not, I would describe it as one of the easiest ways to get into digital electronics. It's a small computer (it might not look like it, but it really is a whole computer on a board around the size of a business card) that you can program to do all sorts of low-level magic. It forms the heart of my DMX controller.</div>
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One of the great things about the Arduino is that anyone can make a <a href="http://shieldlist.org/">shield</a>, which is just another circuit board that stacks right on top of the Arduino. These shields add all kinds of functionality, from allowing the Arduino to use Ethernet to giving you a bunch of relays to control external devices to putting a touchscreen right on top of the Arduino. Needless to say, this is where a lot of the 'easy' comes from. There's even a shield for <a href="http://store.arduino.cc/ww/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=16&products_id=255">DMX Control</a>, which is, unsurprisingly, useful for my controller project.</div>
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So how are we going to build my version of a DMX controller? Well, first you want to assemble the components. I'll link to Amazon as much as possible, though there's a decent chance you could actually buy everything you need at Radio Shack, if you were so inclined. They're really making an effort at catering to the electronics hobbyist again, and I think that's amazing. I actually picked up my DMX Shield at RS when I happened to be there looking for other electronics components.</div>
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You'll need:</div>
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<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/computers-accessories/dp/B006H06TVG">Arduino Uno R3</a></li>
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<li>Other versions and revisions will likely work, but I won't make any guarantees and can't support other hardware at this time, sorry.</li>
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<li><a href="http://store.arduino.cc/ww/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=16&products_id=255">Tinkerkits DMX Master shield</a></li>
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<li>You can probably pick this up at a local Radio Shack.</li>
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<li>20 tactile switches. <a href="http://www.adafruit.com/products/1010">I like these</a>, but you could use smaller 6mm switches without fancy caps if you were so inclined.</li>
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<li>We will be soldering these into a <a href="http://www.8051projects.net/keypad-interfacing/keypad-schematic.gif">matrix</a>, which allows us to use many buttons without tying up every I/O pin on our Arduino. </li>
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<li>A piece of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Perforated-Board-4-5-3-1-320-430/dp/B0002ZPUDK/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1371086074&sr=1-3&keywords=protoboard">protoboard</a> large enough for your switches. I'll be sure to measure the one I used, it's just the right size for the keypad, though you can always trim a larger one to fit.</li>
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<li>You could assemble your keypad on a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ramsey-WBU206-Breadboard-2390-Points/dp/B0002U3BD6/ref=sr_1_13?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1371086225&sr=1-13&keywords=breadboard">breadboard</a>, but because it'll need to be fairly large, this is the more expensive option. If you're not comfortable soldering, then this is a good option to get started.</li>
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<li>A <a href="http://www.adafruit.com/products/931">screen</a>. The one I've linked is my preferred model, and the one that will work with the code I've written with no changes. If you would prefer a different screen, there's a large variety of appropriate choices, though you'll need to modify the code to make it work the way you want.</li>
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<li>You'll need either a very small <a href="http://www.amazon.com/microtivity-170-point-Breadboard-Arduino-Jumper/dp/B004RXINEG/ref=sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1371086225&sr=1-12&keywords=breadboard">breadboard</a> or a small piece of protoboard to connect wires from the display to the arduino, or you could use <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dupont-cable-200mm-male-female/dp/B00A6SOGC4/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1371086260&sr=1-3&keywords=jumper">male-to-female jumper wires</a>.</li>
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<li>Some kind of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Philmore-Battery-Holder-Standard-Connector/dp/B000LFVFU8/ref=sr_1_8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1371086295&sr=1-8&keywords=battery+holder">battery holder</a> if you want your portable DMX controller to be properly portable.</li>
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<li>Your battery choice isn't super critical, except that whatever you choose, it should provide at least 7V. The reason for this is that the Arduino uses a linear regulator, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/78xx">7805</a> to provide a steady 5V to the electronics on the board. This is important because these regulators don't function well if their input voltage is less than 2V above their output voltage.</li>
<li>You can power this project from a 9v battery, but not very long. I really recommend a 6-cell series holder for AA, C or if you don't mind a heavy controller, D batteries. You can also use an 8 cell, certainly, but if your supply voltage is much higher than 12v you'll start heating the regulator quite a bit (Linear regulators basically 'burn off' excess voltage as heat.). You can, according to specification, power the Arduino with as much as 20V, but you'll likely see heat damage if you do that for long.</li>
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<li>Some kind of hookup wire (24-28AWG) or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breadboard-jumper-wire-75pcs-pack/dp/B0040DEI9M/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1371086620&sr=1-1&keywords=jumpers">breadboard jumpers.</a></li>
<li>Patience, especially if this is your first electronics project. The payoff is worth it.</li>
</ul>
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In my next post, I'll talk about actually putting all this stuff together. Look for that in the next week or two. If you feel you just <b>must</b> assemble one of these sooner, please let me know and I'll happily give you any guidance you might need.</div>
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Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-10661415654586497792012-09-05T15:10:00.000-04:002012-09-08T14:36:20.410-04:00A step by step for 'knight ridering'I said I'd do a writeup on the 'knight rider' effect I posted on twitter the other day, so here goes.<br />
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The circuit is dead simple, it's just six LEDs connected to the PWM pins (marked with a ~ on the board) of the Arduino, through current limiting resistors. If i were doing this in a 'production' setting, I would probably drive the LEDs with transistors and an external regulator/voltage source, to ensure that I'm not drawing too much current from the Arduino. I didn't do that in this case because I only have 5 transistors laying around, and also it was just a quick build.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJJSj-asfhG9HPpXbA68lYoY0SwEi0F6bZt4LCPIQDXjKU4xCeRFiOTOVbpxY8G9I9uUknIFbB3NSYIxmIxSvuhbvCXfBhTNUOZayL4nD7QqvcABBVI5TyYiypuMItZRLvpbucKO5-aI/s1600/2012-09-05+14.45.31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJJSj-asfhG9HPpXbA68lYoY0SwEi0F6bZt4LCPIQDXjKU4xCeRFiOTOVbpxY8G9I9uUknIFbB3NSYIxmIxSvuhbvCXfBhTNUOZayL4nD7QqvcABBVI5TyYiypuMItZRLvpbucKO5-aI/s320/2012-09-05+14.45.31.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An overview of the setup. Very simple.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-4MaqxUv4WLPTejSRd71DLUx1SGdoyZF9HmjmC-Uc3blylKhbL0YaGY6cnXepbikXLRWkpKZW722unpEXlYgW4VDME0qjH1zh1DdPKN3M7zZ3mQhzE0BHrRBYrXLyIpZGgyPAW2gaThg/s1600/2012-09-05+14.52.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-4MaqxUv4WLPTejSRd71DLUx1SGdoyZF9HmjmC-Uc3blylKhbL0YaGY6cnXepbikXLRWkpKZW722unpEXlYgW4VDME0qjH1zh1DdPKN3M7zZ3mQhzE0BHrRBYrXLyIpZGgyPAW2gaThg/s320/2012-09-05+14.52.42.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We connect the output of the PWM pins to the anode of the LEDs, that's the long leg, remember, and the cathodes to ground. The resistor value isn't a huge concern in this particular setup, but these are 200 ohms.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsHYNQCaAgoRnJl2z5nWjEqzI1YOTuRq9QWXQnkVtYHbzPXq-MJycPxjEm3e54o9YzxlJzfUluObJpEWRe4izhcSzP2cHz2qLHKYitDxSlQXW4UXmkd_skE7oh04qrzC-cgC0WzV4N8AA/s1600/2012-09-05+14.53.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsHYNQCaAgoRnJl2z5nWjEqzI1YOTuRq9QWXQnkVtYHbzPXq-MJycPxjEm3e54o9YzxlJzfUluObJpEWRe4izhcSzP2cHz2qLHKYitDxSlQXW4UXmkd_skE7oh04qrzC-cgC0WzV4N8AA/s320/2012-09-05+14.53.40.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The PWM pins (that is, pins which can be controlled with analogWrite() in the Arduino IDE) are marked with a ~.</td></tr>
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The <a href="http://pastebin.com/7mzdZVDj">code </a>I have for this particular animation was written a year ago, and probably isn't the very best approach, but it works and is fairly readable. If you're not familiar with programming, this might seem fairly esoteric, and for that I apologize. If you have any questions you can feel free to get in touch with me and I'll try to answer them.<br />
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<pre style="background-image: URL(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqdHB1W5nycOxuX6eMbgfejqriLvf1yE_xRa8cQi70c7mVHAXJq3pqsHmP0t1HXc2mhYNxyyWiwup37t1w4_4SpnAL-OUXGMvfap5BBQRgGDsDVon9lGVr7YAmbRmtpYzyw7CdvDYUtIfT/s320/codebg.gif); background: #f0f0f0; border: 1px dashed #CCCCCC; color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; height: auto; line-height: 20px; overflow: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: left; width: 99%;"><code style="color: black; word-wrap: normal;"> int brightness = 0;
//these two variables are used to store our brightness level during manipulations
int brightnessRev = 255;
int fadeUp = 5;
//the values by which each 'step' of the fade is incremented.
int fadeDown = 5;
int myPins[] = {3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11};
/*here we are storing our output pins in an array, that allows us to
access the 'next' pin without hard-coding in the program itself
if we wanted to change the pin assignments, we could do it once,
right here, and everything else in the code would stay the same.*/
void setup() {
//our setup is very simple, we just need to configure each pin as an output
pinMode(3, OUTPUT);
pinMode(5, OUTPUT);
pinMode(6, OUTPUT);
pinMode(9, OUTPUT);
pinMode(10, OUTPUT);
pinMode(11, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
/*this program basically just increments through each LED, slowly fading it up,
then moving on to the next and doing the same, until all LEDs are on, then
starting from the first LED, fades them down. Then the process is repeated in
reverse, creating a sort of bouncing effect. */
for(int i=0; i < 6; i++) {
brightness = 0;
while(brightness < 255){
analogWrite(myPins[i], brightness);
brightness += fadeUp;
delay(1);
}
}
//basically the goal here is to iterate a 'fade up' routine
//on each output pin, which is what this for loop does
for(int i=0; i <6; i++) {
brightnessRev = 255;
while(brightnessRev >= 0){
analogWrite(myPins[i], brightnessRev);
brightnessRev -= fadeDown;
delay(1);
}
}
//this for loop does the same thing,
//but fading the LEDs down.
delay(125);
//this delay gives us a slight pause before
//starting the reverse course
for(int i=5; i >= 0; i--) {
brightness = 0;
while(brightness < 255){
analogWrite(myPins[i], brightness);
brightness += fadeUp;
delay(1);
}
}
for(int i=5; i >= 0; i--) {
brightnessRev = 255;
while(brightnessRev >= 0){
analogWrite(myPins[i], brightnessRev);
brightnessRev -= fadeDown;
delay(1);
}
}
delay(125);
}
</code></pre>
Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-8732184922085228922012-08-02T20:37:00.000-04:002012-08-02T20:44:29.517-04:00Some Math, or Way Too Much TextOkay, so I'm out of tech and need to start back in on this subject. I need to buy another Arduino because mine is buried in the set, but I can still write about some details that are important.<br />
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Let's say you've got a mess of LEDs and a request to make some things light up. You don't need any fancy effects, just static light in some practicals or mounted somewhere on your set. It's not as straightforward as connecting the LEDs to a battery or wall wart and calling it done. An LED is not a resistive load, like a light bulb. The current through an LED is determined by the resistive elements of the circuit, while the voltage drop across its terminals is constant (Anywhere from 1.7V up to 3.5V are common values, depending on the color and brightness of the LED). What this means is that wherever you're using an LED, you'll probably use what is known as a <i>current limiting</i> resistor. This resistor is how you select the current flowing through your LED.<br />
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You're likely at least passingly familiar with Ohm's law, that is: <i>V = IR.</i> This is probably the most basic electrical relationship, and one every electrician should know about. Voltage equals Current times Resistance. There's a load of resources out there on the web that will tell you more than you ever wanted to know, so I'll speak specifically to how we want to manipulate this equation to calculate the value of our current limiting resistors.<br />
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So you've got a boatload of these <a href="http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/component-leds/12mm-warm-white-led-360-degree-viewing-angle-10000-millilumens/843/">diffused LEDs</a>, like the ones I used in the buildings for As You Like It last year. If you scroll down that page, you'll see the specifications, and these are important. The big numbers to be aware of are the <i>Forward Voltage</i> and <i>Continuous Forward Current</i>. The forward voltage is the value required to make the LED light up (yes, it will probably glow at a lower level, but the color will be wonky and it will be very dim) and the forward current is how much current the LED is capable of handling before bad things happen. You can vary the current to vary the brightness (there are several techniques to accomplish this, and we'll talk about it), but you'll always need to provide these particular LEDs with 3.4V.<br />
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So say you're building a little glowing hand-prop. You already have rechargeable AA batteries on hand, and some 4 cell battery holders, so that's how you'd like to power the LED going into this prop. You want it as bright as possible, so you'd like to calculate the value of current limiting resistor that will provide you the 350mA of current we're looking for. It's simple. Our 4 AA batteries, in series, will provide us 4.8V (many rechargeable types provide only 1.2 volts per battery, rather than 1.5). We subtract the forward voltage of the LED, 3.4V and we have 1.4V 'left over.' Plug that into Ohm's law, along with our forward current of 350mA (For the record, the equation is in Volts, Amps, and Ohms, meaning we'll plug in 0.35 for our current), then divide to isolate R, giving us a value of 4.<br />
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This is a good place to mention that resistors come in sort of goofy values(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E6_series_of_preferred_numbers#E_series">wonder why?</a>), so instead of our ideal 4 ohm resistor, we'll find either a 3.9 or 4.3 value. Typically err on the side of more resistance.<br />
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So now we've got our LED, our batteries, and a resistor value. Next we should determine what power rating we need for the resistor. If you push too much current through a resistor, it'll get quite hot (that's exactly how your toaster or electric oven works), so we want to be sure we have some headroom. Power can be calculated with one of two easy equations, either P = VI [power equals voltage times current] or P = I^2 * R [power equals current squared times resistance]. Using either of these, we discover that the power dissipated in our resistor is 0.49W. Resistors commonly come in 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 watt packages, so we could probably go with a 1/2W unit and be okay. Typically I will increase the resistance value, lowering the current below the maximum continuous forward current, this allows me more headroom with my resistors, reduces heat output of the LEDs (which is not completely negligible with these higher-powered units, and becomes something to account for with very high power units) and probably makes them last longer (though that's hardly a concern.)<br />
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There also exist numerous web-based calculators for finding these values, only a google search away. They'll often even spit out the 'real' resistor value and power rating. That's no fun, though.<br />
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The last thing you need to know is that an LED could be hooked up two ways, but will only function in one orientation. Don't worry, if you hook it up backwards, you won't hurt anything, it just won't light up, turn it around and try again. The two legs of the LED are commonly referred to as the <i>anode</i> and the <i>cathode</i>, the former being the 'positive' side and the latter being the 'negative.' The two legs will be different lengths, the longer one is the anode. You can also identify which is which visually (and you'll find yourself doing this at some point, no question), as I've indicated in the following photos. I've drawn an arrow pointing at the cathode, in each case.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVBi-1tZlh5g1A373dA7hF5OAMX6mmMpnV8aNoc7ERS299Re8HqJNLFzvbi42lXSh9XbDS-x3XcsN934JiFLhw0Ng9ZRGBYIzLXCaix-pnhhlXnHCS5Xdq8DHCVJMV_tOnKa5R4fJ6QYg/s1600/12mm_360_degree_1+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVBi-1tZlh5g1A373dA7hF5OAMX6mmMpnV8aNoc7ERS299Re8HqJNLFzvbi42lXSh9XbDS-x3XcsN934JiFLhw0Ng9ZRGBYIzLXCaix-pnhhlXnHCS5Xdq8DHCVJMV_tOnKa5R4fJ6QYg/s320/12mm_360_degree_1+(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XlBNAMrElXENXwYNDfA9kZQgjONOi_lwn6dCcjzzRqyeIte1lu6tRXBqOKZacYxvEjgV940RWmYOF9c1osYZiayWykPnVtYh-tMrnSl6XDoT3STKMAtsFnAfRG3Yt9WkJ2Akxjqna0o/s1600/component-led-5mm_x_degree_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XlBNAMrElXENXwYNDfA9kZQgjONOi_lwn6dCcjzzRqyeIte1lu6tRXBqOKZacYxvEjgV940RWmYOF9c1osYZiayWykPnVtYh-tMrnSl6XDoT3STKMAtsFnAfRG3Yt9WkJ2Akxjqna0o/s320/component-led-5mm_x_degree_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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What this means is that you'll connect the positive terminal of your battery or battery pack to the anode, and the negative terminal the cathode, with the resistor somewhere in between, it doesn't matter whether it goes before or after the LED, as long as it's in series. </div>
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Your LED should be lit up, and once you add some sort of switching mechanism (just interrupt one of the wires going to the battery pack with the switch) your static LED should be stage-ready. If you find that it's too bright, you can increase the value of your resistor (and conversely, to make it brighter, reduce the value, but be aware that if you try to run more current than the continuous value in the specifications of the LED, you will probably significantly shorten the life of the LED, and possibly destroy it outright.) </div>
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I hope this is helpful to some of you, look for more on the topic soonish. </div>
<br />Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-57070003387175158402012-07-15T10:56:00.000-04:002012-07-16T10:13:10.528-04:00Bits and Baubles, or the components you'll use.If you follow me on twitter, you probably have seen me ramble on about LEDs. I think they're great, and believe they're one of the singularly most useful components a theatrical artist can keep stocked. I get most of mine from <a href="http://www.superbrightleds.com/">Super Bright LEDs</a>. They have a good selection of products suitable for use in props and practicals, and their store is easy to browse, providing good information about each part. (I am a big fan of <a href="http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/component-leds/12mm-warm-white-led-360-degree-viewing-angle-10000-millilumens/843/">these</a> in particular).<br />
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If you're getting into electronics for the first time, I recommend picking up some kind of starter kits for basic components: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UC4FSS/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i01">resistors</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UC4FSS/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i01">capacitors</a> and maybe some <a href="http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10003">other sundry bits.</a> These basic components are important when it comes time to build any circuits. Don't forget to pick up that new <a href="http://www.sparkfun.com/products/11021">Arduino!</a><br />
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That kit at SparkFun includes a few <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_regulator">linear regulators</a>, which will be an important thing to have on hand if you build your LED related props the way I do.<br />
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Getting power to the project is something you can accomplish in a few different ways. If it's a hand prop, then batteries are the obvious choice. The Arduino board contains regulators, and can easily powered with anything from 6-20v. This can be batteries, or a simple wall-wart if you project doesn't need to be mobile.<br />
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For initial design phases, I really recommend a decent-sized <a href="http://www.sparkfun.com/products/112">breadboard</a>, this will allow you to build circuits without soldering, to test ideas or just play around with electrical concepts. You'll also want a multimeter, either <a href="http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9141">a basic one</a>, which will serve you just fine as long as you remember to turn it off, or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-MM200-Ranging-Multimeter/dp/B003LCITWA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1342363495&sr=8-6&keywords=multimeter">a slightly fancier one</a>. Auto-ranging is a nice feature to have, and might save you from blowing a fuse.<br />
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A soldering iron is important, and I will never recommend something from radio shack. <a href="http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10707">This seems like a decent option</a>, for relatively little cash. I'll admit my own soldering station is fancier, but I'm particular about my tools.<br />
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Basic hand tools, diagonal cutters, needlenose pliers, maybe one of those fancy automatic wire strippers. Hookup wire. Maybe some switches and cheap, low-power LEDs for output purposes. If you stick with electronics you'll see yourself gathering a fair bit of stuff, but it's all useful.<br />
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I don't think I've missed anything that you'll want to get started playing, but if you've got any questions definitely let me know.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-63140532666786055762012-07-14T12:15:00.001-04:002012-07-14T12:15:34.867-04:00The Arduino in theatre, or why you should be putting computers in your sets.I've decided that this subject might need to be split into a couple parts, for my own sanity in the organization of information, if nothing else.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
For my money, the <a href="http://arduino.cc/">Arduino</a> is the greatest thing to be available to theatre props and electrics departments for a long time. This $30 board gives anyone with a computer easy access to low-level computing. Microcontrollers have a lot going for them: They're cheap, they're tiny, and you can power them just about however you'd like. Until the development of the Arduino, there was a significant technical barrier to entry. One had to purchase a programmer and deal with datasheets hundreds of pages long. To accomplish basic tasks, registers had to be massaged and timers coaxed.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ddN8aYUIAkIGLFc5t4oomcIECJrX_DdCXodfMG_L1CI-rX-ELlFIPhAdLzGrK7D3LywZkLgCFxOzVCKa1fK8lYb59p6YIcBh_WVJjZxZDb6GLN5PdrziMEyHSwx44IQkC9khuPfcBGY/s1600/2012-07-03+16.31.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ddN8aYUIAkIGLFc5t4oomcIECJrX_DdCXodfMG_L1CI-rX-ELlFIPhAdLzGrK7D3LywZkLgCFxOzVCKa1fK8lYb59p6YIcBh_WVJjZxZDb6GLN5PdrziMEyHSwx44IQkC9khuPfcBGY/s320/2012-07-03+16.31.17.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An example of running an atmega328 on protoboard.<br />The only support components here are the crystal just<br />to the right of the chip, the two capacitors, and whatever<br />you decide to use to provide 5v power.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
No more. The Arduino platform offers the user an inexpensive, all-in-one prototyping and development platform. Using the capable <a href="http://www.atmel.com/devices/atmega328.aspx">Atmega 328</a>, the Arduino offers plenty of I/O, flash and RAM for any prop/practical related purposes. Taking your Arduino projects <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CFUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Farduino.cc%2Fen%2FTutorial%2FArduinoToBreadboard&ei=Ve4AUPq6AYLK6wGWmK3yBg&usg=AFQjCNHm_5CO_hV7vHQU_y3bfyG5l8UH5A&sig2=xs8zS7TJ5lbRpRDGBhD98A">off the dev board</a> is trivial, and with the ability to purchase mega328 chips with the Arduino bootloader pre-installed for $5.50 (with the required support components costing another few dollars) any number of places online means your projects can fit anywhere you can find space for a small <a href="http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102845">protoboard</a>, available at your local decently-stocked Radio Shack.<br />
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A microcontroller is a small computer, built into a single chip. These computers contain everything needed to run programs, and offer basic logic-level outputs and inputs. They can be used for something as simple as blinking some LEDs in a repeated pattern, or as complex as your imagination allows. In the world of theatre, they allow us to build small, low-power dynamic effects that can fit anywhere, be built very quickly, and updated 'in-system' for fine-tuning.<br />
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Arduino is programmed with easy-to-read, C++-like syntax called Wiring. Here's a sample, from my latest project:<br />
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<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">void increment() {
for(j = 0; j < 4; j++)
values[j] += directions[j];
analogWrite(leds[j], values[j]);
delay(10);
}
for(i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
if (values[i] < 25 or values[i] > 175) {
directions[i] *= -1;
}
}
}</pre>
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As you can see, if you've done any programming at all in the past, this is pretty straightforward. The really useful additions are commands like 'analogWrite()' which offer easy, one-line access to powerful features of the microcontroller. analogWrite() is used to set a PWM (pulse-width modulation) level to one of the output pins, allowing you to easily dim an LED or control the speed of a motor.<br />
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The biggest strength of this approach to dynamic effects, in my mind, is that they can be programmed and put into place, then powered from a dimmer. This means you can have complex effects anywhere you have a free dimmer, without the need to run a control signal. Alternatively, plenty of folks have implemented DMX on the Arduino and other microcontrollers (and this is actually on my list of projects to tackle), meaning you could easily assemble inexpensive automation controllers or anything else you'd like to control from your light console.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN3BdyX5wLoNIH6nbe65JBNXbJUh5nH5rsT7zF4LAwOIgHBdFOBr6s9sGJGy1PXrL3nxFL4B8MjzHP3Fuaub_UD3AVUg1aQhU0pQ29zECO_Zt_h9bFAEGInAzUpiMCi0iL5bKaDZqFQ4w/s1600/2012-07-12+15.58.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN3BdyX5wLoNIH6nbe65JBNXbJUh5nH5rsT7zF4LAwOIgHBdFOBr6s9sGJGy1PXrL3nxFL4B8MjzHP3Fuaub_UD3AVUg1aQhU0pQ29zECO_Zt_h9bFAEGInAzUpiMCi0iL5bKaDZqFQ4w/s320/2012-07-12+15.58.27.jpg" width="190" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stuff everything in a box and hide it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
In my next post, in the next day or two, I intend to delve into the basic electronics knowledge you'll need to start building the most interesting props and practicals you've ever used. Stay tuned.</div>
Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-89854291433749602142011-04-18T23:35:00.001-04:002011-04-18T23:36:57.685-04:00On knowingI know a lot about my field. I'll be the first to tell you that I have a lot more to learn, but I have a wide knowledge base, and I'm proud of that.<br />
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I think I've briefly mentioned the feeling that I get sometimes, in which I think to myself, "My area of expertise seems somewhat simplistic." I think that because I look back on my engineering classes, and all the things I didn't know then, and I feel convinced that I could teach anyone what I know in short order. But if I really sit down and ponder it, I know that's not true. I know that while perhaps a majority of the concepts related to the nitty-gritty of my job aren't extremely difficult (for example, it's not hard to understand the purpose of most of the hardware involved with stage lighting. There is a lot of it though) and most of the skills are not beyond a precocious high schooler. That being the case, it is a very wide skill set that takes years to accumulate.<br />
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I sometimes struggle with the idea that perhaps my profession is below my potential, just because so many of the skills seem so basic. If it wasn't for constant reminders in the form of inexperienced crewmembers, I might forget that it's not inherently obvious what to do with DMX or how it is a gobo functions. I might forget that people won't immediately understand what rotating the lamp/lens of a PAR would do to the light, or why you shouldn't touch high output halogen lamps.<br />
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I once tried to teach, in brief, a group of people about the very basics of operating the sound equipment at my college. Twelve seconds into my planned lecture, I realized that I hadn't communicated basic ideas about gain structures and the layout of a sound board that were, in my opinion, vital to any real understanding of the subject. I stumbled through, but it really opened my eyes to the concept of intrinsic knowledge.<br />
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I do wonder, though, if an electrical engineer ever feels that he's not living up to his potential? I could convey a lot more about being a master electrician in an afternoon than he could about being an engineer, I think. At least as far as useful fundamental skills go.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-18025692082688166872011-04-11T20:07:00.001-04:002011-04-21T11:28:15.964-04:00What kind of day is it?I don't think I'll ever be able to walk into a space in the morning and tell you what the day's going to be like. I mean that in the most basic sense, that I just can't tell, at 8am, whether at lunchtime I'll be where I want to be. There are too many factors involved that are beyond my control.<br />
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Once, I discovered that the local crew had, instead of using the paperwork provided as part of the advance, created their own instrument schedule for the purpose of documenting circuits. Needless to say, I was, and still am, confused by that. They had gone so far as to rename positions (which is especially baffling, to me) pretty extensively.<br />
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My immediate course of action was to ask them to print out a copy of my instrument schedule and transfer circuit information. Well, they printed out the channel hookup, which didn't make the job easier for the girl they had doing the copying. It was then we discovered that the house-created paperwork had at least a few errors in it, such as specials being listed in two positions. When they handed me my channel hookup and I started my patch. Once I started checking channels, stuff just wasn't right, it didn't make the transition from paper to paper well.<br />
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The point of this is that here was a day that was going pretty well, my mover hang was fast and relatively uncomplicated, cabling wasn't a huge headache to deal with, my sound towers got hung pretty quickly and I even had my full balcony rail position, but now I had to have the electrician do a dimmer check. Once we got the circuits sorted out, they powered through what was probably the fastest focus I've ever had, and I knocked out my mover focus and we were more or less ready to go with plenty of time, in spite of a 7pm curtain.<br />
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Up until the trouble reared its head, I had no reason to believe this wouldn't be my best day yet, and it almost could have been, even in a challenging space. At the end of the night the crew set a record for load-out, the TD nailed a great pack on the truck and we were out of there. There was just that one little difficulty that no one could have expected that was the wrench in the works.<br />
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Admittedly, the fluid and unpredictable nature of the business is part of its allure for me, but sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get to a point where this kind of completely unexpected speed bump won't phase me too much.<br />
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Tomorrow, I hear, our space is going to be challenging. We'll see how it goes. Until next time.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-65882708470843982642011-04-04T01:57:00.000-04:002011-04-04T01:57:16.215-04:00On One-OffsDon't get me wrong. I love what I do, and can't imagine doing anything different. I love touring, I love doing theatre, what else could I ask for but to do both at the same time?<br />
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What I don't love is what the one-nighter does to touring. I wake up at seven in some new city, pile off the bus and into the venue. I push through load in and the show and load out, finishing up after midnight. Then we get on the bus and start driving to another city... the next morning I wake up at seven and do it all over again.<br />
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I would just love to have the chance to explore some. To see some sights, even if they aren't <b>the</b> sights, you know? I want to take some pictures, enjoy some places.<br />
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After summer, my goal is to land a job with a company that'll land me in a city for two or three days at a time. That's a pretty decent goal, I think.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-58283285204527974192011-04-04T01:38:00.001-04:002011-04-04T01:47:32.092-04:00Changing RolesSo, as I've mentioned, I am on the road as ME for The 39 Steps.<br />
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In my last post I touched briefly on what I believe to be my greatest stumbling block: acting in a supervisory role. In my previous work, it's mostly fallen to me to do the vast majority of the work, from physical to mental. Every time I've been an ME I've participated in a large portion of the hang and focus myself. Don't get me wrong, I've led crews before. I've taught, directed and scolded. But I've never been in quite the position I am now. I hold sole responsibility for the implementation of my show the way it was designed, and to that end I have a number of crew members that require specific direction to accomplish tasks. In order to finish my load in, I simply can not be 'hands on' and do most of the physical work myself. I have time to hang one of my movers, just to make sure the crew knows how. I've got time to demonstrate what I mean by, 'Run the data to that end,' and have to trust that it gets done. I'm learning to be completely explicit about what I need (one day the strobes missed the DMX train, for example, costing me a good ten minutes while I fixed it) and that I can't sugar coat my requests. There simply isn't time.<br />
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I have trouble with that. I find it difficult to be stern. It's hard for me to say "This is what I need and I would like it done five minutes ago." Even though I usually actually want it done ten minutes ago, I just feel like such a tool being any sort of 'boss.'<br />
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The worst, though, is when I send a couple folks to retrieve circuiting information or to hang a position, only to discover at my next check-in with that crew that what they've done is just wrong. Now I have to be even <b>more</b> stern, and I just hate that. I don't want to be perceived as 'that dick roadie,' because I really don't think I am. It does seem, though, that local crews don't feel the time crunch the same way, and that's a problem. Why should they rush around if they don't know how desperately behind I feel?<br />
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Right now my schedule is something like this:<br />
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8am - Truck opens and boxes start coming. I know now how I would approach labeling cases, the next time I'm gearing up for a tour. It's not how I did it this time. Hopefully by now I've taped my electrics so the crew can just start hanging once I get the pipe.<br />
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10:30 - First break. My goal at this point is to have my fixtures hung and cabled, and the cables run to the distro. At this point I'll set people on getting my atmospherics set up and cabled, and set up my board. This leads into:<br />
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12:00 - Lunch. Right now I would be in a great place if I was ready to start focus right after lunch, though so far there have inevitably been problems preventing that. Conventional focus can be time consuming for any variety of reasons, but it's getting better. The majority of my instrumentation is dedicated to six washes, so with a competent crew I can describe the first area in detail and then just focus the hotspot and they'll get the cuts while I get the next light up. Usually the spikes are going down while I start my focus, so when I've finished the FOH washes I can hit the specials on that pipe.<br />
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After I finish conventional focus, I have to hit mover focus. I'm getting more confident in this, but a lot of it still comes down to my SM/ASM to tell me where stuff is. I've only seen this show from the front once, during an understudy rehearsal, which is a big hindrance for me. I just don't know what these things are supposed to look like, so I'm doing what I can.<br />
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~6:00 - Dinner. I'm getting to the point where my focus is completely done at this point, and now I can check my practicals and presets, and do whatever other pre-show stuff I have.<br />
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--<br />
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It's a lot of stuff, and definitely the most responsibility I've ever been saddled with. I wouldn't trade it for anything, and I know I've gained a boatload of new skills that will help carry me forward in my career.<br />
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I am definitely looking forward to a summer rep season, though.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-86495629064044694922011-03-23T13:05:00.000-04:002011-03-23T13:05:44.842-04:00On the road again.So my last post was depressing.<br />
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Things have, since that last entry, changed quite a bit. I've just hit the road with a national tour of The 39 Steps. We had a somewhat difficult tech process, owing mostly, I think, to a master carpenter who broke his ankle days before he was supposed to fly out.<br />
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Difficult tech weeks are part of the business, though, shit happens right? Well, we got through it. My first load in was... not good. I was much less prepared than I thought I was, and the show looked terrible. I was dealing with a local crew who moved at a fairly glacial pace, and just couldn't seem to complete a hang position without a mistake or two, and circuit information was just not recorded well or consistently.<br />
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I pushed through as much of my focus as I could, and managed to at least light the stage, though the show didn't look much like its intended design. I was also learning how to run the Hog, as our tech process had left me with no time to familiarize myself with it. (The lack of any kind of ability to directly control dimmers is a huge downfall in my opinion.)<br />
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We did two nights in our first venue. The second day I was able to sort out the circuiting information by being a little more stern than I like with the local crew, but we got it done. Then I was able to push through my focus and get shit looking right. The second show looked great, I'm told, and I'm much happier about it.<br />
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We're en route to Iowa now, having stopped in Missouri for the day. That's all I've got for now, I'll try to write about my experiences living on the road later.<br />
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Oh, by the way, I have already lined up my summer job as Principle Elec/Board op at Shakespeare & Co. in MA.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-29385348079398184422011-02-03T23:30:00.000-05:002011-02-03T23:30:28.303-05:00Will hang lights, reinforce sound for foodThe job search might be the single most soul-crushing and existence sapping experience I know. Being possessed of a somewhat... specialized skillset and no desire to perform duties unrelated to those skills, my work opportunities are painfully limited. I know that my current mood would only deepen further and further under the saddle of employ in the field of fry cookery or shelf stocking or customer service punching bag, so for as long as I can humanly avoid activities such as that, I will continue to fight.<br />
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Today I was informed I would not be receiving a position I was very excited about. It was close to home, it was enough hours to support myself, I had a chance to sublet an apartment with some excellent people, and most of all it was <b>in my field.</b> It's not to be. I don't know how to express the disappointment that comes with news like that, the sheer pointless patina that everything adopts in that sort of light.<br />
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So now what do I do? Continue sending out resumes I guess. Hope that weird interview I had turns into a summer stock at least. Who the hell knows what I'll do for that fall, or until may. What if I don't get a summer job? I'm so tired of wasting all of my time.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-21695227027314355982010-11-23T02:19:00.000-05:002010-11-23T02:19:29.955-05:00The now.I haven't written anything in particular for a while. It's tough to find the inspiration, motivation, and time for writing. I need to have all three at once, and they just don't coincide often. Now, in the steady grasp of sleeplessness, might as well be as good a time as any.<br />
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Tonight we're in Brooklyn, with a show at Brooklyn College tomorrow. Our sound tech (who toured with this company last fall) insists that tomorrow will be an excellent crew, and numerous. That's always nice. Today's (Monday?) crew was pretty exceptional. We had already played the space (Strand Theatre, Lakewood) once on this tour, and just last week Encore went through. They're well practiced this year. I think it was the fastest in we've had. The out was up there, too, but I think it was a few minutes shy of the record. I didn't write the record down so it's hard to be sure.<br />
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We've only got two more shows this week, and then we're off for thanksgiving until Monday. We'll be spending the break on Long Island, so I might spend some time exploring the city in somewhat greater detail than I have had the opportunity to, so far. So far, in my somewhat limited experience, I do like New York. It's a whole other sort of thing from any of the cities I've spent time in previously. Granted that's not much of a surprise to anyone, whether they've been here or not, but it is significant enough, I think, to be mentioned; even though we all know it already.<br />
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The tour is coming, rapidly, to a close. I can't say I find myself disappointed, and if you've read any of my recent writings I think you'd guess that without any mention. I like the idea of being on the road, but I want to be on the road with a show that challenges me, that gives me more than 15 minutes or so a day of troubleshooting, even perhaps a show into which I had some level of input. I know that I couldn't stomach touring forever. It's not the environment I need, but I do like the travel, the seeing of new places.<br />
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So where do I want to be? Really with any company that's regularly producing work (New, old, original, rehashed) with a proper creative team (so community theatre is not a great option, in most cases) who is actually interested in expressing something beyond the text. What role do I envision myself filling there? To be honest I think I could be happy in my electrician/carpenter/welder/audio engineer/wizard role from college, or in a more standard ME position, or as an LD, or some blend of all of those. Give me the chance to express myself and to create again. That's all I really want. And probably all I really need.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-86355921163898523672010-10-22T21:54:00.001-04:002010-10-22T21:55:12.360-04:00ennuiI'm not being challenged.<br />
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Maybe this is true of any tour, perhaps the thing to embrace about driving around in a truck and doing theatre in a new location every day (or every week, or every month?) is the part where you're in a place you've never been before. Perhaps you have to accept monotony when you're doing the same show over and over again.<br />
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Or perhaps, when saddled with responsibility for 'legitimate' theatre, as opposed to being handed the keys to a 30 year old rig (I have two instruments which are younger than me, the job begins to gain a sort of luster. Okay, maybe the rest aren't ACTUALLY 30 years old, but i have no reason to believe they aren't), given some focus charts and set out on the road. The most interesting part of my job is communicating with the house electrician and patching his front of house instruments and the house lights. Everything else is the same, every day. Here, I'll describe it to you.<br />
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<br />
<ol><li>Wake up. Eat some breakfast (does this hotel have meat/hot eggs? hopefully...).</li>
<li>Pack whatever shit isn't already in my bag.</li>
<li>Play the ever-changing game of tetris to get my bag into the van.</li>
<li>Drive truck to venue.</li>
<li>Try to find and talk to electrician very quickly about my power/DMX needs, then get back to the truck.</li>
<li>Unload truck.</li>
<li>Get back into the venue, see how my tie-in is going. Or, if there's no company switch, start wondering where I'm going to find six or seven different household circuits.</li>
<li>Lay out power and DMX cable for each dimmer pack.</li>
<li>Set up board. If using house FOH, talk to their electrician and get some reasonable instruments patched. Patch houselights or work out plan for running unison/older control system/light switch (I played a house where ALL of the houselights [for a 700ish seat house] were on a single lightswitch backstage. Baffling). Tell my SM we're patched so she can call the FOH focus. Set up the laptop and make sure the Keystroke is working.</li>
<li>Focus my rig. I have two actors who do the hang, thankfully. I'd never be done on time otherwise.</li>
<li>I usually finish about the same time as the SM, clear the board and get into preshow. This usually happens anywhere from 10-15 before house opens to a few minutes after. Now I take a couple minutes to hang out, then get on headset so I can make calls for the actors (the SM is in the house by now)</li>
<li>Once the show starts, zone out and push go when I'm told. Autopilot here, or else I'll memorize everyone's lines.</li>
<li>Show's over? Get a house crew member or two to start coiling cable, get the power killed, pack up my control stuff. Help with cable. Pack boxes. Start pushing shit into truck.</li>
<li>Once set's done we start the pack in earnest. Get it done, get the truck closed. On to the next city.</li>
</ol><div><br />
</div><div>Seems fine enough, but I'll be damned if this isn't kind of incredibly unfufilling. I'm not challenged, I'm not engaged (the whole process is autopilot, to be honest) and we don't spend enough time in most cities to even be enamored with the new locations. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I'm suffering from terminal boredom. </div>Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-57634477926736359952010-10-11T23:05:00.000-04:002010-10-11T23:05:18.116-04:00Staying the hand of apathySome of you might have thought I'd have written more before now. I know I would have. I certainly set out with the intent of writing about my experiences fairly regularly.<br />
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The trouble with writing about my experiences on this tour is that my experiences, day to day, are somewhat indeterminate. My memory is a wash of similar hotel rooms and theater after theater. If you asked me where I was three days ago, I don't think I could tell you without consulting my log. Time has become a smooth gradient from one shade of gray to another shade. I have to admit this hasn't had the greatest effect on my own morale. Coupled with the other negative factors of this tour, that's probably not a great thing.<br />
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That's not to say I haven't had some singular and excellent experiences on this trip. But it is to say I've had quite a few days that differ little from their companions. This week I will spend less than 24 hours in any given city in texas, as we've a show each day. I don't think I'll remember much of this state.<br />
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That said, perhaps I'll write about the exceptional times soon.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-12581532480417147622010-09-18T20:40:00.000-04:002010-09-18T20:40:57.317-04:00Time, elongatedSo I left off at the end of load in. The set is up, props are in place. My rig is assembled and appears to be functional, so now it's time for focus. The LD takes the stage and we start. It's a simple plot (We're pulling a little less than 100 amps, I'm told, so there's not a huge amount of instrumentation), but this is the only chance I'll have to practice the focus. We run through it, it's pretty straightforward. Later that day (Or the next day? I don't remember) I get the rest of my gel, get the frames labelled to match instruments and get it into the fixtures.<br />
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So we're ready to go. Tech starts out as a cue-to-cue of act I. This show is only an hour long, but it's heavily supported by projections, as it's teaching some basic math concepts and most of them are well illustrated by a projection screen in the set's mid-stage arch. What this means is that while there are relatively few significant lighting changes, there are several long runs of 10-15 cues that are closely spaced. It's one of those "Standby cues 12 to 26.... Go, go, go.... go, go go, go" things. It makes for re-working things a large number of times.<br />
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At this point most of this week is kind of a blur, to be honest. It's a lot of rehearsal, a lot of me trying to get my work box into a reasonable order, and little else. We had two dress rehearsals this week, the latest being on Thursday. After that one, we packed up and loaded the truck, developing our pack list as we went. Once we got it loaded, I drove it to the Ryder lot and we were ready to go. We leave for Albany Monday morning. I'm the only one who's driven the truck at this point, so I'll be navigating for Jeremy on this leg of the trip.<br />
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We'll travel almost 1500 miles before October, and end up in Georgia in that time.<br />
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Keep an eye on my widget if you're interested in where I am.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-43626771080152636752010-09-16T20:48:00.000-04:002010-09-16T20:48:08.778-04:00Fleeting momentsI haven't written since my arrival in Boston, and now I'm days away from my departure.<br />
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I feel as though I've been here for weeks and weeks, though it's only been two. So much has happened, so I'll try to describe it.<br />
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The weekend of my arrival was good, I got to the house and got settled in. The woman from whom I am renting a room was here, and we talked briefly. Her son, whose room I am in, left for Ireland the next morning, for two weeks. Talk about serendipitous timing. On Saturday, I went to find the rehearsal hall. I found the area where I thought it should be, but couldn't find a building with the right number [Turns out it was there, just very flaked and faded, and I missed the Masonic Lodge label. You'd think I'd be better at sniffing them out] and gave up. I went downtown after that, wandering around until I grew tired. I saw Chinatown, and sat in Boston Commons and wrote some postcards (I have so many more to send), and then came home.<br />
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Sunday, after speaking to my lone housemate; another employee of the company, (The landlady has spent all of her time, but for brief moments, somewhere else. It's just been Sheila and me.) I searched out the hall one more time. I discovered the faded number and the Masonic legend, and thought I was prepared.<br />
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Monday morning, bright and early, I boarded the train and hopped on a bus and stood outside the building which houses the rehearsal hall. I arrived perhaps forty-five minutes early, having only been told to be at this address at 10am. I stood outside, wondering how I might enter the building; my only company a man listening to a small portable radio o na pair of headphones and occasionally singing along.<br />
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Eventually two people approach the building and unlock the door, I ask if they're with Chamber, and they reply in the affirmative. I'm ushered upstairs by two folks who were seemingly quite excited to see me, having known of my impending arrival for some time. They are Kate and Jeremy, two members of my show's cast. My arrival is hailed by the rest of the cast, and my stage manager. I'm given a tour of the space, and then stand around for a while. There's a rehearsal which is, conveniently enough, a full run, so I watch that, as this is likely my only opportunity to see the show from the front. The cast is good, and I like the show.<br />
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After the run, the production manager shows up, and we talk briefly. I'm sent on a couple of errands, and the day is over.<br />
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The rest of the week is consumed in training on my rig. Everything is more or less prepared at High Output, in Canton. I get to assemble the rig and see what it's all about. We spend some time labeling things (Much of it is assembled by the two actors on my crew) and configuring equipment. I think this is the point where I begin to realize how different this show will be from the norm, in the sense of how little input I'm destined to have in the process. The show's been done before, and will be done again. It's being boiled down into a simple formula; a recipe for a play.<br />
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At the end of the week, we haphazardly pack the truck (A 26' box truck, with which I become fairly familiar over the next few days) and head to the tech rehearsal space, some blocks away from the company's primary space. Load in is... complicated. It's the morning of the last day of Ramadan, and the space is directly across the street from a moderately sized Mosque. Traffic is intense. The stage manager and I know very little about what to expect or what's expected of us. The loading dock is only ten feet deep or so. We back the truck straight in and look at the situation, and decide that's ridiculous, given the existing traffic. There's a misunderstanding, and I try to come around the block while the situation is sorted out... turns out this is not the decision anyone would have preferred. I finally get back to the theater (it's been fifteen or twenty minutes, traffic was ridiculous. I almost witnessed a fight in the middle of the road between two drivers) and it's decided to back the truck straight in, just as we (the stage manager and I; at this point the production manager and everyone else is there) had done previously. This is done, in spite of the absolutely insane traffic on this relatively narrow road. We leave the flashers on and figure it will be fine, just as it always is at this space. (I would guess most load-in days aren't on the last day of Ramadan...) I am informed that my decision was not the one that would have been preferred. Whatever, shit happens I guess.<br />
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Well. It's not fine. A police officer shows up and begins belittling and yelling at everyone. He asks the PM, "Is there something wrong with you?", and is curious as to whether I have ever driven a truck before. His requests were less than terribly clear, and the traffic is still absolutely insane.<br />
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The truck is repositioned and we continue with load-in. It's fairly uneventful, and I guess it's somewhat faster than the average. We're ready for tech week.<br />
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That's all for today, I'll write more this weekend, to catch up with current time, before we leave.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-9451768260773484042010-09-03T23:32:00.000-04:002010-09-03T23:32:10.454-04:00Someplace newSo, while you, likely a lone reader addressed here, were eagerly refreshing my blog, waiting with barely contained enthusiasm and desire to read yet more of my mindless drivel, you may have noticed that my location widget updated. I'm in Boston now.<br />
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I arrived in a stunning blaze of... fog. Everyone on the plane was surprised by the landing, it looked like we were in a cloud from 30,000 feet all the way to the ground. Nuts. Good thing the IFR is part of a pilot's license, right?<br />
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I've settled in (as much as I think i'm willing to) to the room I've rented for the duration of my stay in this city. It looks like it'll mostly be three Chamber employees in the house, as the lady who owns it isn't going to be here much, and her son's going to Ireland for two weeks. Whatever works.<br />
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Tomorrow I go to get lost in the city. So now I must sleep. More thoughts to come, and probably some pictures.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-42997890876661418172010-08-17T04:42:00.001-04:002010-08-17T04:54:00.202-04:00Taking WingI want to ride wings of will. I want to take flight and exist in a state of purgatory, cleansing myself of what I was in preparation for what I am to be.<br />
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I want to break out of this cage, this trap for pests and beings without dreams. Bend the bars and slip into a world of possibility and freedom. Step through the enclosure into a field of dreams secured and realized.<br />
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Emerge, so to speak, from a chrysalis of my formative years and take hold of my existence, announce myself to the world. I am here, I am ready.<br />
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Awash in my responsibility, adrift in my passion. Floating on and endless sea of possibility. See, in the distance, the first true beacon of hope.<br />
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Travel the veins and nerves of this country, seeking what I am to be.<br />
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Moving forward, free of stasis.<br />
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A new light in the sky.<br />
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On the horizon, bliss.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-38385657028533746092010-08-03T03:46:00.000-04:002010-08-03T03:46:52.696-04:00The How; The WhyOne might say that there are two questions that are more important than any others when the decision is made to put on a show. Those questions are 'How?' and 'Why?'<br />
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Surely, other basic questions must be asked. We must ask ourselves 'When?', 'Where?', and certainly it's important to know <strong>what show</strong> is to be done. Don't walk away from this essay believing that I attempted to downplay the importance of any of these questions. I agree that they must all be asked, and answered, in a timely fashion before any sort of theatrical project is mounted.<br />
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But I do believe that the how and the why receive the lion's share of the attention of any group of people who decide to put on a show. Many times the where is obvious. "In our theater!" one might answer, incredulous, when asked. This would be true of any group fortunate enough to possess a space. The when is often easily answered as well, "In accordance with our established seasonal schedules," is an easy enough answer. The what presents a somewhat greater challenge, but would be a subject for a different discussion.<br />
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The how, though, and the why. These two are probably the greatest hurdles, but within their own fashions. Any group of people will focus extensively on the how. That's a given. What will the set look like? Who will be our crew? So on and so forth.<br />
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The why, similarly, often receives enough scrutiny. I say often, because I refer to professional, semi-professional, and collegiate theater in this case. In all of these instances, we see shows produced by complete creative teams. There's an overriding artistic director, whose job it is to ensure artistic quality and that the show doesn't get out of hand. There's a director responsible for the overall vision of the show, a lighting designer who, with the set designer and costume designer, creates the very world of the play. There is very often a sound designer, who I believe contributes more to the audience's immersion in a play than any other member of the creative team. They meet regularly to discuss the how <strong>and</strong> the why of the show. They will come to an agreement about what the show is saying, and what they, as a team, wish to say about the show.<br />
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In community theater, this is <em>(within my own experience)</em> not so often the case. Often the creative team consists only of a director, in smaller programs. Other times there are designers, but they are inexperienced or not blessed with a great voice in the creative process. The creative process is stunted, in many cases. Production meetings are not called, the creative team spends little time discussing the why, focusing their time on the how.<br />
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The result is that the set is built, the lights are focussed, the cues are written. The show goes on, but not one of the creators, none of the actors, and almost certainly not the audience knows what the creative team wanted to say about the show. The focus becomes the text of the show, rather than the intent, or the interpreted meaning, or even something unrelated to the text entirely.<br />
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I don't like that.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-47180951402194979702010-05-31T16:29:00.000-04:002010-05-31T16:29:39.277-04:00Detritus and InertiaI'm in the middle of moving out of my apartment and back to Logan. My last hope at a job for the immediate present fell through, when Valley Fair amusement park in Shakopee, MN, hired the ME/Electrician spot op position before I received an interview, and filled the audio technician position with a local for the sake of expediency, even after taking the time to interview me.<br />
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Anyway. I'm writing about the moving process. It's raining and I'm sitting in Wendy's, hoping that perhaps it might let up (though it doesn't appear that it will) a bit before I return to my endeavors.<br />
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Over the years and moves I've accumulated a fair amount of shit. Junk. Crap. I hesitate to throw things away because of some potential future value. I hang on to every little thing, every DC adapter, every piece of electronic junk I might use some day. Tools that are obviously barely functional. Pieces of what anyone else might call garbage that I might one day use to build something.<br />
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Well no more. Most of it's in the dumpster already. I'm hoping that perhaps my enforced inertia, my seeming inability to move forward and change my state of being, is somehow connected to this debris of life. Like an emotional and mental anchor, lodging me thoroughly in place.<br />
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So by divesting myself of it, of anything not directly connected to my work or my amusements, anything that serves no purpose other than filling a closet, I hope that I cut this seemingly unbreakable tether to the status quo. That I am allowed to rise up like a balloon freed of its ballast,<br />
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Can it really make much of a difference? I don't know that I can say, but I know that it's a lot less shit to take back home and store there. I'll be glad to be rid of it. I'll return to logan a few hundred pounds lighter for it, and certainly with less shit to worry about.<br />
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I'll keep you posted on whether it affects my inertia.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-41339645683701054982010-05-20T07:29:00.000-04:002010-05-20T07:29:15.875-04:00For the AudienceA lot of people I have worked with in theatre seem to be about creating worlds for the audience, for immersing the spectator into a brand new world of their creation. For giving those people a chance to suspend their disbelief and lose themselves in the story.<br />
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I don't truck with that.<br />
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For some reason, I find myself perfectly content to do the theatre for the sake of itself. Sure, I like to see a good house and can draw satisfaction from a crowd that enjoyed the show. But I don't think that's my primary motivation. I guess I view the process as a series of problems to be solved, and I enjoy nothing more than solving them. From the very early stages of the show, everything's somewhat nebulous, but in whatever capacity I'm working on the show (be it as a designer, an electrician, the sound technician or carpenter, whatever) there's a series of problems to be solved. As a designer I have to solve the problem of presenting the world we've come up with to the audience. As a technician I need to solve the more practical issues of implementing what the designers and director have decided needs to be the world of the play. I don't know which I prefer, but I think they both have their merits.<br />
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There's something very visceral and real about constructing a world of our own, crafting a reality. If it's a giant blue marble world, fine; I guess I'll be setting up the router for a lot of tile. If it's a deconstructed city, well then let me grab the welder and plasma cutter. I don't have to worry about justifying these things as a technician, leave it up to the director and design team. I've done pretty much everything outside of the costume department in support of one show or another, from building and painting to composing music. Everything I do is in support of what we're building.<br />
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This is why I know that I'll be happier if I can find work in theatre, rather than the larger and less well-defined "Entertainment" industry. I know the skills are ultimately the same working as an electrician for a production company that does concerts and corporate events, but the <b>intent</b> is different, and that means all the world.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-849137919621560842010-05-20T03:24:00.002-04:002010-05-20T03:53:30.952-04:00Working, or notI've applied to a lot of places recently, and so far have had no real success.<br />
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This is tremendously discouraging. I have, in the past year or so, accepted the fact that I really am good at what I do. I think this is a big step for me. I believe it's natural for people to be self-deprecating, to not really believe in their own abilities. It's hard to accept that you might, in fact, be better at something than most (or all) of the folks around you. I would never claim to be the best, there's always someone better, somewhere.<br />
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At the same time though, I know I have an expansive skill set. I do electrics and sound, which isn't that uncommon of a pairing. I know lighting is my strongest suit. I'm fast with the hang and focus, I rarely fail to get the board to do what I want when I'm programming, I'm good at dealing with DMX networks. I know electricity, so I can build props or wire up any sort of practicals. My biggest failing is that I haven't got much experience with the latest generation of lighting consoles, or HOG consoles, but that's just from a lack of exposure. I know if I had a few hours with some of this technology, I could be well on my way to proficiency. It's just a matter of exposure.<br />
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I know quite a bit about sound, I know that there's always more to learn, but this is another area I've devoted a lot of time to. I understand the equipment and the theory. Again, not a lot of experience with the latest consoles (digital is getting big) but they're not that far removed from their analog brothers as far as the way they work. Exposure.<br />
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I'm a capable carpenter, I know that. Working in the shop isn't my favorite thing, but it's something I've been doing just as long as lighting and sound. I'm comfortable in a shop, familiar with any tools you're likely to run into in theatre. I can weld reasonably well, with the two most common processes. I even know a little bit of scenic painting.<br />
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You'd think that would make it relatively easy to find a job. That's not the case. I don't know if this recession means more seasoned professionals are vying for entry level positions or what, but even a minimum wage (well, $0.25 an hour more than that) in the middle of nowhere was flooded with applications. And that's one that included custodial duties.<br />
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I don't know what I can do to make myself more attractive as a prospective employee, or how to convince people I would really be a positive choice. I almost envy the actors' audition process. It's an opportunity to immediately and without a doubt demonstrate your abilities. I get a page or two of skills and work experience, and hopefully they call me for a phone interview. What good is a phone interview in determining someone's suitability? Everyone's going to give the same bullshit answers about dedication and passion, right?<br />
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It's immensely frustrating and I don't like it, no sir not one bit.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-30487490276306511442010-03-28T23:54:00.000-04:002010-03-28T23:54:04.788-04:00jobsRight now I'm in the thick of job searching. I've sent resumes to both coasts and to more than a few places in between. Until last week the response has been minimal. That is to say, I've received a single email informing me that while the position I had applied for was filled, they would certainly keep my resume on file and contact me if a position opened up in the future.<br />
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In the past few days a couple things have happened. First and foremost, I received an email from <a href="http://shakespeare.org/">Shakespeare and Company</a>, in Massachusetts. The email was short, merely stating they had read my resume (which I believe reads quite well) asking if I was still available and interested in working for the company. I sent a resume out in January, applying for a position as ME. Looking back at the job listing, I discovered something that sounded genuinely exciting. The company does a 13 show season across 3 different theaters. The listing states that 'some' positions are summer only. I think I've decided that if the position they've got in mind for me (apparently, that is, why else would they contact me?) goes for the whole season (until next March!) then I'm taking that job, regardless of what else might come up. Excepting something yet more awesome, but what are the chances of that?<br />
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I also discovered that First Presbyterian Theater will be creating a position for someone with a technical background. Presumably to handle designs, set building and light hang/focus. The job would pay (not terribly well, but regularly) and offer benefits. This is, I think, a fairly attractive prospect. It doesn't offer the fast-paced, intense theatre environment I really crave. But it would offer a regular paycheck for a few years while I built up a design portfolio. Wouldn't a position of responsibility look decent on a resume, even in a community theater? I don't know.<br />
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Now, neither of these opportunities, obviously, mean much until I can learn more about them.<br />
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That said, it is a gluttony of choice, which is not something I've had to date.<br />
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I feel like I'll end up taking the job in MA no matter what, if it's available. The trouble with the local job is that it's just not theatre up to a level that I can really enjoy. If no one's invested in the show, what's the point?Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-59700739811098005882010-03-28T01:48:00.002-04:002010-03-28T17:40:24.702-04:00LostI want to lose myself in theatre. I want to leave the stasis of the now. The uncertainty, the boredom, the doubt and the distaste. I want to descend into a maelstrom of activity, a beehive of preparations, of building, lighting, painting, welding, soldering and improvising. There's nothing more appealing than endless hours fighting constraints. Space and time. Pushing against reality to affix in its place one of my own creation.<br />
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That's what it's all about, isn't it? Control of our world. Wresting order from chaos, conversely, chaos from order. Imposing the will on the space and time and perceptions of the audience. That's meta. The down and dirty and grittiness of it is the madness of it.<br />
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I want to be invested in that. I want to spend all day on it, only to sleep for the briefest of periods to attack the world again the next day.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2211010432906748680.post-32265307789447971922010-03-27T11:08:00.007-04:002010-03-27T15:04:44.101-04:00Tool Review - Stage Junk's Ultimate Focus ToolI'm sure anyone who's spent much time doing theater beyond a purely community level has run into <a href="http://www.stagejunk.com/dnn/">these guys</a>. I came across their booth last year at USITT and saw their offerings. I quickly placed an order for my own tool, the 'ultimate focus tool.'<br />
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Here's a photo I shot with my cell phone not long after receiving it. It's got my name and everything.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v649/153/58/57106195/n57106195_31939189_4605408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v649/153/58/57106195/n57106195_31939189_4605408.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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This is a tremendously awesome tool for anyone who does any significant amount of time with lighting. It's machined from aluminum, so it weighs just about nothing. I shortened the fancy purple cord it came with so it'll hang from my wrist without being so loose it might fall off.<br />
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Being aluminum, it is now showing some signs of wear, but I don't doubt it'll last for a good number of years to come, and I won't mind replacing it in the event it does eventually fail.<br />
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They also now manufacture a ratcheting version of the tool, which I've also had the opportunity to play with. I was thoroughly impressed with it. It's heavier, but probably lighter than any of the ratcheting lighting wrenches I've used in the past, plus the addition of a steel toolface means wear is more or less eliminated.<br />
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The continuity checker is a lifesaver. I don't know how much time in pulling bases it's saved me, but it's probably a lot. It speeds the troubleshooting process very appreciably. Plus it's a dead simple design that can easily be repaired at home.<br />
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There's not really a whole lot to say other than, "If you do a lot of lighting hangs, get this tool."Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04744566704583499954noreply@blogger.com0