Rehearse, Repeat, Perfect, Reiterate and Relax

When will I do this again?

What if I never do this again?

How am I ever going to be able to do this again?

Where will it be?

Who for?

My first Equity contract job was with Forest Forge Theatre. One show, and when the contract ended I wondered whether I’d get another job. I signed on (coz you could do that back then) and I’ll never forget sitting in front of a DSS worker and being reminded that I had to be looking for full time work.

I understood and reiterated that I was a stage manager and I am looking for full time work.

And then... and I quote… “No full time, theatres only open at 7.30”

My Gast was Blabbered! and if I hadn’t been the person this was said to I’d say it was apocryphal.

I think for some out side the industry there is this mythos.The magic of theatre isn’t really magic its hard work and rehearsal!

I complete a series of live shows staged on Zoom. Bangers and MadhUps, MmmAhhWhoosh and Potato Needs a Bath.

I felt the anticipation as the audience counter increased. The exhilaration after so long when ‘lets go’ was messages to me in backstage chat and I responded ‘fading’ before fading the music and the opening announcement, festival branded bumper video plays counts down and the live show begins.

It’s just a small experience but oh boy the severity of lockdown on the live performance sector is heartbreaking.

The joy of iteration, getting opportunities to do over and get it right. To change the timing to try something different.

The simple joy of live performance.

When, Where, How, What, Who?

As the light appears at the end of the pandemic tunnel where will you be this time next year?

Multi tasking

I prefer simple but invariably life is not singularly one step at a time.

It’s a dance. Skips and jumps.

Side steps and heel taps.

#SparkFestival Day 1

• Zoom - stage and auditorium 
• WhatsApp - backstage communication
• iTunes - computer sound sharing into zoom for audience music
• Quick Time - Video player for screen-sharing the festival branded intro and outro videos.
• Everything in between being live.

All together for the 2nd of today’s live zoomed gigs. Bangers and Mashups with Akshay Sharma aka Mr Shay.

Same set up this is a buckles and braces livestream show set up. It’s the foundation of The PCM Extend the Audience ethos. The first show of the day was live from Curve Theatre. Mellow Baku’s MmmAhhWhoosh. A black box studio tight camera shot and a live vibe straight into zoom.

All wrapped in a Festival branded bumper and a continuity voiceover. Well rehearsed start and finish producing a satisfying live show experience. 

Bangers and Mashups was a live beatboxing with live looping and fruit. There was audience participation, children ‘on stage’ as well as spontaneous call and response using chat.

See if I can capture more tomorrow for a mini vlog.

WTF - Zoom

Zoom WTF - Pins and Spotlights / Meetings vs Webinars

If you are here for answers the best I can offer is that put your questions in the comments.
Zoom Webinar it’s was simple. Audience with no webcams or mics well without direct autonomy. And Zoom Meeting? Herding Cats metaphor doesn’t begin to scratch the audience and technological feline analogy I want to apply here.

WTF? And then there is the goalpost metaphor... that they keep changing. New goalposts, more goalposts, barge poles masquerading as goalposts!

I am sick of figuring out how to smoothly operate Zoom only to return days later to find the tactics of the previous engagements no longer apply. New features like buses. Addition features that negate the purpose of the distinction between one and the other.

Most annoying is that I only favour Zoom because of its interfacing with Otter to provide auto generated closed captions.

Yup that. Only that!

As I start a week of performances using Zoom. Me using Zoom Webinar and 2 great fellow stage-managers in Zoom Meeting.

That’s it for today’s blog

- A reluctant zoom user

Note To Self - 01

New thing learnt today.

Zoom closed captions using Otter can be turned on or off but not while sharing your screen.

Why did I find this out?

Today’s Sketchbook of Vital Ideas event today one of the videos being screened contained baked in subtitles. The artist asked if the auto generated caption could be paused. I checked and Yes.

Time came and I shared the video. All good. It was playing and the chat was quiet so I turned to pausing the captions only to discover in screen-share mode there was no CC access on the toolbar.

I only remembered this when the second video was screened and I was already in screen-share mode!

Note to self. In future if captions need to be paused. Add this as an action before actioning the screen-share.

Otter transcription and closed captions - 1 month free with code OTTER_TRIAL https://otter.ai/referrals/O598JJY5

 

Digital Stagemanager’s Zoom checklist

#SparkFestival

Audience checklist
Everything you want to know to get the most from the SparkFestival experience.

Festival Brochure - Everything to apply the audience checklist to!

Then there is my behind the scenes checklist to make my job smooth primarily for my own sanity but ultimately for a smooth audience experience.

My Digital Stage Management (when using Zoom)Barebones Check List

• Holding - title slide (proverbial house tabs!)
• Music - as the audience enter and settles
• Activate Otter captions/transcription - plug in service on Zoom for on screen auto generating subtitles
• Continuity announcement - Greetings, CC, get the best, SafeSpaces, looking after chat, Welcome.
• Co-Host - back-up connected host incase DigiSM interwebs break
• The half - 30 mins before opening the zoom space / admitting attendees from the waiting room to check all present and correct.
• Hiding Non Participants - with zoom meetings when audience cameras are off hiding the blank video windows tidys up the host view and recorded media captured.
• Waiting Room - before all is set it’s nice not having the audience wander in before ready to start. Camera off, waiting in the proverbial wings!
• Clearance - Audience in and ready to roll. The message messaged to indicate the music will fade and curtain (holding slide) with raise.
• Announcement & pre-show roll - The branding and bumper bits for consistency and polish.Emergency monitoring - Just in case bad things happen with the hosting connection a standby procedure should be prepared. A technical difficulty virtual background for the co-host or a slide.
• Chat Monitoring - if bad stuff posted in chat and a keen eye must be directed on the chat. Engagement can be established here too. Call and response, Questions for the guests?
• Show/Event ends - a plan for the end of the show
• Post-show Play-out - Goodbye and thank you while the on screen talent waits in the wings for the audience to leave.
• Closedown - when the audience leaves the curtain falls. An audience can stay and chat but eventually you have to end the party!

Part of the producing part of my job is creating on brand screen assets. For Spark that’s static title slides and animated pre and post show bumper videos. I produced the audio track with 2 children Max and Addi and thier Mum. They were amazing.

Pre-show reel

Post-show reel

There’s an app for that! Algorithm free, Ad free Social Networking.

It is also what might be termed a boomerang app. The ones that come back after you delete them, lost interest but saw so much potential. Here is one of those apps.

Promising not to be want we are trying to avoid! So it’s back.

First update was username

Ermmm - #Twitter! Yes I claimed @pcmcreative

https://www.vero.co/pcmcreative

After a poke around and a post of my most recent project. So bright and quirky but empty.

I like the book, movie, music show and tell but... 

The reason I’d keep the app this time is if friends started using it so...

Take a look and come find me.

VERO - True Social by Vero Labs Inc

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/vero-true-social/id971055041

There’s an app for that! Time shifting a .srt file

Take a video and a subtitling file

 

Upload

 

So good so far

 

Now edit to the beginning a bumper with branding as an intro.

 

Now my time synced SRT file is 37.7 seconds out of sync!

 

As each caption is time stamped I needed to dynamically insert the time block at the start and have the each line time shift to accommodate.

 

Enter...

SubShifter: Sync subtitles by iSolid apps

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/subshifter-sync-subtitles/id1457012736?mt=12

 

This app saved my sanity today. 

This is a Mac App.

 

Devoted & Disgruntled 16 - Day 2

Stage or screen, live or pre recorded. What is live? Is it about the perception of the audience? The collective experience the audience have together? 

What is there is a single observer with a live performer? is it live? Does it matter if it’s online or offline? The audience member can effect the performance through intent or breaking behavioural norms. What is live?

A scheduled screening of a captured performance with 50 people joining to watch with an available chat option that is left silent. Is it live? To be live it must have an audience that arrives and leaves with a mechanics to enable and facilitate an awareness of crowd?

You are there. 

If an extraordinary experience it’s the opportunity to express to others, “You had to be there”.

Whether its Physical, Digital or Virtual, On demand perceived from the performance perspective makes the notion of live “being there” whether the artist, creative or performer is delivering live. 

What if the team is in or part of the audience? A simple welcome to introduce the video being screened. Hosting a Q&A following the watched experience.

On demand is the alternative to live. Online. On demand is when you choose. Watch any time from the start to finish.
Where does cinema fit into the perception equation?

Devoted & Disgruntled 16 - Day 1

• 2015 DD10 in London but I was so ill I couldn’t leave my accommodation
• 2016 DD11 my first in Birmingham
• 2016 the Brexit vote and any chance to further opportunities with Audiences Europe Network ended. 
• 2017 DD12 in Bristol (I was lost in circumstance)
• 2018 DD 13 in London (I was lost in circumstance)
• 2019 DD 14 in Northampton
• 2020 DD 15 in London was to be a push towards... I’m not really sure.

D&D had become a beacon of progress since 2017 in Birmingham which resulted in meeting Charlotte Gregory which led to working with New Optimists Food Crime musical The Hand That Feeds. I met at that D&D after 20 years, Chris Grady. 2019 had been spent making anything happen. I was in despair. Pushing to make a mark. So began 2020

I didn’t even have the balance in my bank account to fund the train fair to London. This was the point I had to think a new way about the year ahead. I had some savings which I cashed in. The question being would I find a way to earn money or reach the end of the year penniless once more. 

Today at the 2021 DD 16 I recounted this chronology on several occasion. It has been an overwhelming day. Despite retaining my savings and finding projects following the emergence of a pandemic. “What do you do?” changed in 2020 to “Do you do?” I’m far from knowing what the future holds.

First list of 2020 recalled projects

• Producers Pool online - zoom setup consult
• The Larder - zoom setup consult
• Guest lecturer - Mountview Theatre School, Creative Producer MA
• Consulting Digital Producer - Mountview CPMA Catalyst In The Cloud graduation showcase.
• Producer - Equity’s Online General Secretary Election Hustings
• Creative Producer & Digital SM - Green Lib Dem’s annual conference
• Creative Producer & Digital SM - Arkwright Society Industrial Revolution Conference
• Digital SM - Notnow Collective - Online live screen the play, Pepper & Honey
• Digital SM / Showcaller - Ashgate Heritage Arts - produced for YouTube CrookedSpire Musical
• Royal Historical Society - Digital SM / Showcaller (Zoom Webinar lectures)
• Consulting Digital Producer / Digital SM - Spark Arts for Children - Spark Festival 
• LucyLocket Storytime - Creative Producer
•  LucyLocket Bloggers Programme - Creative Producer
• Assisting creative producer Kate McStraw
• Cromford Mills digital visitor experience funded R&D - Creative Producer

With my Dyslexia I forget. Short term fades fast but long term intensifies with passing time. I feel fortunate to be at this point. Making it through 2020.

2021 my word is Mindfulness Back in 2017 at Birmingham D&D it was Legacy.

D&D this year is 6th, 7th and 8th Feb. This was my reflection on Day 1. I spent a frenetic day and ended with my mind exhausted by the sessions called. I will refocus for day 2 to bring away some threads of the sessions called.