I have a theory

I have a theory.  It’s a little convoluted, so stay with me now.  The basic idea is this: You never really know how much you know until you are in charge and someone on your crew screws up.  Then you figure out if you have your stuff together or if you have no clue.  Because if someone on your crew screws up, you have to explain to them why what they did was a mistake, and how to correct it in the future.  And if you don’t get it, you won’t be able to explain it to them either.

Allow me to explain through an example.  As I have mentioned, I work during the summer at a venue called Celebrate Brooklyn! as the lighting director.  However, when I started there I was an intern, and really knew nothing about the lighting industry.  I mean, I thought I knew what I was doing, but really I had no clue.  Well, I guess that’s not quite accurate either.  I had a pretty good understanding of what was going on, and I had a fairly solid grasp on the design aspect of lighting and production.  My real shortcoming came in practical application and technical ability.

So my first summer out at the park I made a lot of mistakes.  And I mean a lot.  It really felt like everything I did was wrong and that I would never be able to get things together.  Fortunately for me, I worked for some really great people.  My boss (the guy who was the lighting director at the time) was patient, attentive, and helpful.  He always made sure that not only did I understand what I was supposed to do, but the reason why and the logic behind why I was doing it.  He made sure to teach me so that in the future I would be able to handle it on my own without his direct guidance.  Even the crew heads of the other departments made sure to take time to teach me and help me learn about their aspects of the production.  I can honestly say I learned more at Celebrate Brooklyn! than any other place, save my training at college.

My third summer at the park I was made the Lighting Director (and the guy who used to be the LD was made the Production Manager/Designer).  It wasn’t the first time that I had been put in charge of a crew of people, nor was it the first time I had to manage inexperienced people.  It was, however, the largest and longest running production I’d ever been put in charge of.  And, since CB! relies heavily on intern labor, it was also the first time that I was expected to actually teach the inexperienced crew members, rather than just manage around them.  I had to make sure that these kids, most of whom had just graduated high school, knew what they were doing and by the end of the summer at least had a basic understanding of how to work in this type of production.

I’m not going to claim I’m the best teacher or always most patient one, but I really did try to make sure that my interns knew what was going on and understood why we did things the way we did them.  I tried to make sure they could recognize their mistakes and understand why they were mistakes, and how they could avoid them in the future.  Most of the mistakes they would make were small, and simple to correct.  However, every now and then they would really screw the pooch on something and I would have to work very hard to correct things.  I won’t go into the mistakes at this point, but suffice it to say some of those foul ups were…well, they were doosies.  Like, really.  Wow.  Sometimes I would wonder if they had ever listened to a word I’d said.

Anyway, the point is, sometimes when they screwed up they would be able to correct it themselves.  Other times I would have to correct it for them.  Either way though, I always had to have the answer (even if it meant I had to take a second to go look it up myself and pretend I knew all along), and always had to be able to explain the situation to them so that they understood why what they did was a problem and how they could avoid it in the future.  If I couldn’t explain it to them, then they wouldn’t learn anything from it.  Or if I just did it for them without explaining it to them, they wouldn’t learn anything from it either.

But during this process, I really began to realize how much I knew.  If they hadn’t made those mistakes, I would never needed to explain it to them.  And if I never needed to explain it to them, I never would have realized how well I understood the concepts myself.  Additionally, it really clarified to me which concepts I didn’t understand very well myself, and which concepts I only barely understood.

So I guess I have a side point: I really like teaching.  First I like it because I really enjoy helping other people learn, especially when it’s a topic I am passionate about it.  Second, I like it because I teach myself in the process.

Maybe I should go into teaching…

“[Insert clever sign off phrase here]“

~Fizz

There is no post for today

Why?

Because I got engaged last night!

I will be back with posts on Friday.

“[Insert clever sign off phrase here]“
~Fizz

Introducing: Real Life, Part 2

Ok so picking up where I left off yesterday, about 630 the house opens and the audience starts filtering in.  Since 600-700 is usually when I have dinner break I have to make sure that everything is up and running by 545 to give the crew time to clean up before we break.  I make sure that a preset look is up so that the stage isn’t a dark, empty, boring shell.  Usually I put up a nice amber wash, to warm up the stage a little; add in some pink front light to give depth; add the Celebrate Brooklyn! logo on the scrim upstage; and sometimes throw in a template wash for variety.

During the actual show, we run two light boards.  One of them controls the conventional fixtures, the other controls the moving lights.  This isn’t actually typical.  Most venues only use one board, but we have a lot of conventionals, and a lot of movers, so it’s just easier for use to have two boards and two operators.  I run the moving lights, while my assistant runs the conventionals.  There was a time when the Production Manager (who used to be the lighting director) ran the conventional board, but this past summer he’s decided to take a step back from running the lights during the show so he can focus on bigger picture stuff.

So anyway, the first band comes out and we set up a couple static looks.  After all, we don’t want to waste all the good stuff on the opening band.  While they play we do some slow steady changes between static looks; broad general washes, mostly one or two colors.  Sometimes we might throw in an effect or two, to get the crowd moving and the excitement going, but nothing too crazy.  If we even turn the movers on at all they don’t actually move.  They come up, shine general washes, and stay that way.  Some days it’s too hot and humid to fire them up, so we leave them alone until the headliner comes out.

Both board ops have to be in constant communication the entire time though.  We can’t just do our own thing without talking otherwise we may end up with clashing looks.  Usually we’ll decide right at the beginning of the song what color pallet to use and then he will bring up the conventionals in a wash and then I will overlay the movers in a template, color wash, and add some movement.

Before the headliner comes out we keep the stage dimly lit in blue.  If you’ve ever been to a concert you may recognize this trick.  During the intermission the houselights are up and the audience is milling about, and the roadies are doing their thing on stage.  Then the houselights go down, the stage goes blue, and maybe a few movers (or followspots, depending on the situation) start tracking around the stage and audience.  This creates a dramatic tension and sense of anticipation.

Typically at CB the producer and artistic director come out during the intermission and stand downstage left and drone on for a few minutes about this that and the other.  Thanks for coming, thank you to the sponsors, here’s some upcoming shows, blah blah blah.  Then they introduce the headliner and walk off stage.  Some bands just walk on.  But others take advantage of this dramatic tension that I just mentioned.  My favorite moments are when the producer and artistic director walk offstage, I bring the houselights down, bath the stage in blue, and then start tracking a few movers in the house.  Then the keyboardist sneaks into place and starts playing a riff, and I bring up a white backlight, putting him in a silhouette/halo.  Then the drummer (who also snuck onstage) starts jamming in and I bring up a low light behind him that uplights him as well as backlights him.  Then the base player starts in and she gets a cool backlight.  Now the band is playing the intro riff, and the tension is building and the crowd is cheering and I start strobing the lights a little and finally the lead signer/guitarist comes out and a front and back follow spot snap on as she makes her way onstage.  From that moment on those follow spot ops had better stay on her at all times, except for the periodic black out.  At CB we also have a second spot from the front that can pick up soloists when needed.  Anyway, the intro riff ends and the band pops into the song and the moving lights start flashing and moving around and it’s a totally awesome moment and the crowd starts cheering and everyone goes nuts.

And that’s how the show goes.  Since the bands that come through CB are different every night and most of them I’ve never heard of, I have to make it up every night.  I don’t have time to write specific cues for specific songs.  I have to feel it out–get the emotions of the song and the feeling for the music.  I have to feel the rhythm so I know when to change and move the lights.    And let’s not forget that the other board op has to be doing all this too and we have to be talking to each other so we know when to move and change and such.

Another one of my favorite moments is the ending of a song, especially a really rocking one that I’ve done cool lighting effects for.  The end comes and the band goes into the final moment where they are gearing up to hit that last note and then BAM! They hit that last note and we hit a black out.  Awesome.  Or sometimes we hit a blackout but leave the back follow spot still shining on the lead singer.  It creates an awesome look.

Conversely, one of my least favorite moments (re: I hate it when this happens) is when the ending of a song fizzles out.  Either it just ends really sloppy or they strum that last note over and over, acting like they are going to hit that one last beat really hard, and then…nothing.  It all falls apart.  I hate that.  It’s such a let down.  There’s all this build up and everyone on the lighting crew (two board ops and three spot ops) are expecting an awesome blackout moment  and then…thhhbbtt.  It’s crap.  I hate it.

If the band is planning on doing encores then about 1015 they head off stage.  I keep the house dark and the stage blue, using that same dramatic tension moment as I did earlier.  Then they come back out and the lights come back up.  But at 1030 that’s the end of the show, because at 1030 in Prospect Park the law says we have to shut the hell up.  And if we don’t we get fined.  And we sure as hell aren’t gonna be the ones paying it, so if the band doesn’t follow our signals to get off stage at 1030 (and there are plenty that just can’t seem to get the hell off the stage), then we pass that nice $2000.00 fine right on to them.  I remember one year we actually had to kill the power to the sound system and turn on the houselights and stage works because they just refused to stop playing.

Once the show is over, I turn on the house lights and leave a post show look up (something dark and templatey), and the spot ops pick up the producer who comes out and says something like, ‘thanks for coming, it was a great show, please put your trash in or near (that’s my favorite part) a trash can, and start making your way to an exit’.  If we’re lucky the crowd just makes their way out, no muss no fuss.  If not, then the producer has to come back out and make another announcement.  You know it’s a bad night if he has to come out a third time because if people don’t start leaving then the cops have to come in and shovel them out–or arrest them for being drunk and disorderly.

I usually wait about 5 minutes after the producer has made his announcement and then I turn off the post show look and we go to work lights.  Because we leave a lot of the lights on over night for security we have to swap the control from the light board to the building.  Because I have to turn off the light board and the dimmer racks and all the giant power suckers, and wrap up the front of house tower and go home.  We call this ‘swap over’.  Oh I should have mentioned that we have to do this exact same swap over (only the other way; from building control to board control) when we come in each morning.

Finally, we make sure that all our equipment is wrapped up and tarped to protect it from the rain.  There’s a lot of rain.  If we’re going to be gone for more than a day, then we have to lock up anything that can easily walk away.  Even though we usually have 24-hour security when we’re gone, it’s still just a good idea to make sure that things can’t be easily stolen.  Because those damn punk kids that run loose in the park have been known to try and steal from us in the past.

So that’s a typical show.  We have between 20 and 25 shows a summer.  Once that’s all over we start strike.  In a nutshell, strike is just load in, in reverse.  We take everything down, pack it up, send it back, and put it away.  Strike is super easy because unlike load in where we have to put things up in a specific and ordered way, we just strip everything down and toss it in boxes.  There is a little bit of order in that we have to make sure that the equipment that we ordered all goes back, but it still all comes down quick.  Load in, 3 to 4 weeks, strike, 5 to 6 days.

And that’s what it’s like (or at least in a super gigantic broad overview) at Celebrate Brooklyn! Hopefully this has at least been somewhat interesting and educational.

“[Insert clever sign off phrase here]“
~Fizz

Introducing: Real Life

Since I’ve decided to start broadening my post topics, I thought I would start by introducing you to what I do for a living, as it’s likely that’s what I’ll start talking about most (besides WoW).  I work as an electrician/programmer/lighting designer in the entertainment industry.   I work in theater, concerts, corporate events, fashion shows, dance shows, etc.  If you aren’t really familiar with the industry or the type of work I do, it’s a little hard to describe in writing.  I’m much better at doing it in casual conversation.  This is the first time that I’m writing it all down so I’m unsure how it will turn out.

One of my concerns in trying to explain what is I do is that it will be terribly boring.  And that would make me sad.  But that may just be my own self consciousness.  So hopefully I can do this in a way that will be interesting and not confusing.  Rather than just making a list of my duties and give a lengthy resume, I decided that the most interesting way of describing what I do would be to talk about the production process at one of the venues I worked at.  Describe it to you in story form rather than list form.  I’ll try to keep the story short-ish, but it may get a little wall-o-text-ish.  Make sure to refer to the glossary of terms if you don’t understand what I’m talking about.  And feel free to leave questions in the comments section.

Broadening my horizons

I’ve become a little bit…disillusioned with WoW as of late.  Those who read my post/rant about the worst PuG ever know why.  So I haven’t felt much like playing.  Looking down the road, this may lead to a lack of topic ideas for my blog here.  Now, I’ve really come to enjoy blogging quite a bit and don’t have any intention of stopping simply because I’m not playing WoW these days.  Because of that, I’ve decided that I’m going to start broadening the topics of my blog to include…well, whatever I feel like.

I thought for a bit about if I would loose readers or not, but then I remembered that it’s my blog and I’ll write about whatever I damn well please.

So with that I just thought I would tell those of you who are going to stick around that I’m going to be broadening my horizons.  Future topics may be about my real life, my job, the industry I work in, rabbits, New York City, other games, crap on tv, and so forth.  Around the time Cataclysm comes out I’ll probably pull the focus back to primarily dealing with World of Warcraft, but for now, the gates are opening.

Everyone is still welcome to read, and comment on what I talk about.  Just because it’s not WoW related doesn’t mean I won’t accept comments.  I like comments.  They give me a warm, fuzzy feeling on the inside.

Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say for now.  Sorry my posts haven’t been very eloquently written lately.  Also I’m a little bit more rambley.  I blame the brain injury.

“[Insert clever sign off phrase here]“
~Fizz

PS: By the by, if anyone decides to remove me from their blogroll because I’m not as WoW-oriented as I was before I won’t be offended.  Just remember, my posts are still gonna be good, regardless of their topic, so think about that before you remove me.

I imagine you wonder where I've been

This is a tricky post to write. I’m trying to make it so that it’s not a long drawn out mess as well as a wall of text, but I’m having a hard time pairing things down. So I apologize for the length of this post. I also apologize for its weight, as it’s a rather heavy topic to write about. I apologize for it not being warcraft related at all, but rather being a direct account of my real life events.  Those with weak constitutions should be wary of reading past the cut, where I describe what happened (it’s a little graphic) and how I’m feeling about it (there’s a bit of cursing).

The super short version is that I was in a bad skiing accident two weeks ago, and suffered a severe head injury.  I’m currently still recovering; although I’m doing quite well I’m told.  So now I’m working on getting back into a routine and seeing if I can’t work up the energy to start posting again.

This has nothing to do with WoW

Alright, so I wanted to share a little bit of real life frustration this morning.

I live in New York City.  Part of living here means I have to take the subway.  When I first moved here lo those many years ago, the subway was a magical place.  A new and exciting experience full of action and adventure.  I grew up in a small(ish) city and had never seen a transit system before in my life.  And when I moved I was very excited about this train that would take me anywhere I wanted to go.  I also lived very close to the school I was attending so I didn’t actually have to take the subway, which meant I only took it when I wanted to.  Eventually though I moved to an area of the city that required me to take the subway every day.  And the magic of the transit system quickly faded.

Anyway, what’s my point here…oh yeah.  There are two things I hate.  People (re: crowds) and the subway.  It’s phenomenal how rude people are.  There are 4 things that people do on the train that absolutely make me want to hit them in the face:

First: People on the platform who will stand right in front of the train door and don’t get out of the way for people who try to get off.  Typically these people will also get offended if you are trying to get off the train and try to get off before they get on.

Second: People who get on the train and then don’t move past the doorway.  Move to the center of the car you idiots!  Then the rest of us will fit on the train!

Third: People who will stand up on a very crowded car before the train has had a chance to pull into the station and try and shove their way to the door.  Where exactly do you expect me to go?  The freaking car is full.  When we get to the station, then you can try and shove your way off the car.  Although, if you shove me again, I may turn around and punch you in the face.  I don’t care if you are 10.  And wearing glasses.  And a girl.  Don’t. Shove. Me. Again.

Fourth: (I know this one will be most controversial) People who expect that because they are older, or a woman, or have a child with them, simply expect me to get up and give up my seat.  Now don’t get me wrong, if I see someone who is clearly disabled, or looks like they are in pain, or tremendously tired, or pregnant, and sometimes even if they are carrying something, I will get up (if there is room to do so) and offer them my seat.  I have nothing against offering up my seat to someone else who might need it more.  What bothers me is people who expect me to get up simply because they are a woman or older (note, not old as in 60+ because I try to get up for them because they look like they can’t stand–I mean older like 40 or 50+ who are perfectly capable of standing on their own two feet).

First of all, I have my own physical disability.  Granted, you can’t see it, so it’s not readily apparent, but there are days where standing up feels like thousands of tiny pygmies stabbing me with red-hot daggers.   Needless to say, some days I just need to sit.  Secondly, the mere fact that you are older than I am and/or happen to not have a Y chromosome does not earn you some fundamental right to sit down.

Now I know what you may be thinking.  “Fizz, if you yourself have a disability that people can’t actually see, shouldn’t that make you more sensitive to other people who may need to sit down because they have disabilities that you can’t see?”  Well, yes actually.  In fact, it makes me that much more aware of what’s going on.  Which makes me more aware of when people cop the attitude that they deserve a chair simply because that’s what might be socially expected.  Oh, you’re tired?  Suck it up.  So am I.

Maybe, just MAYBE if you said things like, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ instead of, ‘what’s wrong with you’ and ‘I can’t believe you are so rude’ I would be more inclined to put aside my own pain and let you sit down.

It is entirely possible that I am way off base here and am just a cranky old gnome, and that maybe I should relax a little.

Or maybe the people on the subway should stop being such assholes.

The lies we tell

I worked a gig today that had a big band orchestra that played old time swing music.  They had a lot of eclectic instruments and machines with them, giving them a unique flair.  One of the coolest things they had was an old wax cylinder recording machine and its playback counterpart.  At one point during the show they actually used the machine to make an real wax cylinder recording.  When the band was done, the technician took the cylinder off the recording machine and put it on the playback machine.  They played the recording and it sounded awesome.  The audience was impressed.  I mean, taking an large orchestra like that, with a live audience and cutting a perfect wax recording in one take is down right amazing.

But, I knew something the audience didn’t know.  I knew that during rehearsal just a few hours earlier they had played and recorded this song 7 or 8 times until they got a take that they liked.   Then during the show they had simply used the best recording from rehearsal. It was a clever deception.  The audience was close enough that they could see the wax being etched by the needle bouncing across its surface.   So they knew a recording had been made.   But when the technician switched from the recorder to the playback machine, he was able to swap cylinders without he audience noticing.

I suppose it was a harmless enough ruse.  No-one got hurt or anything.  And if the truth were to come out I doubt if anyone would be bothered by it.  Some might even appreciate the lie as a necessary part of presenting a flawless entertainment experience.  A little white lie.  Harmless enough.

But it got me thinking; what about the lies we tell?  What ‘little white lies’ do we tell and how do we justify them?  How often have you said you were saved to an instance when you weren’t simply because you didn’t feel like running with the person who asked?  When someone asks what your dps is, what number do you give?  Raid buffed?  5man buffed?  Unbuffed?  Have you ever logged off in one set gear to make yourself look attractive to a potential new guild as a tank/dps/healer when you know full well you don’t have any intention of filling that role, but a different role?

How do you justify it?  “I don’t want to run with that person because I don’t think they are good enough, but I don’t want to hurt their feelings.”  “Everyone gives their highest dps number, and besides I’ll always have x,y,z buff, so it’s the most accurate number.”  “I stand a better chance getting in if I apply as a tank/dps/healer.  Once I’m in I can still do that and then I can switch to the role I actually want.”

Now I’m not out to judge anyone.  Not outright anyway.  And I’m not saying one lie or justification is better than any other.  All I’m pointing out is, no matter what we tell ourselves or how we try to shade things, a lie is, a lie, is a lie.  And in each of the cases justification can be given even for the justification.   And you know, who’s to say that wanting to spare someone’s feelings isn’t a noble goal?  But good intentions don’t wipe away lies.  In fact, there’s a well known road that’s paved in good intentions, but I don’t think anyone actually wants to end up at that roads’ destination.  Yeah, if you tell that person you don’t think they are good enough to run with, you most certainly will hurt their feelings.  But, if you are honest as well as kind there is potential for you both to grow.  Maybe all they need is a little encouragement and a little nudge in the right direction to become an awesome player.

Every at some point will tell a lie.  Be it a lie of omission, an exaggeration, a downright deceit, or to protect someone–it’s a lie.  But maybe we don’t need to be lying to each other so much.  Or at all.  Even when it seems harmless or for the greater good or like it doesn’t matter because it’s just an online game not real life.  But I’m a strong believer that the golden rule still applies online just as much in real life.  And by acting like decent human beings we aren’t just improving ourselves.  We are elevating the entire human race.  And the gnomish race too.

“[Insert clever sign off phrase here]“
~Fizz

Sick Leave

My apologies for having started up this blog, getting some solid entries in, and then disappearing into the night…I’ve been sick the last week.  But I am returned and ready for more bloggin’!  Stay tuned for an entry later on the Plaguelands as well as the entry on addons I promised.

“[Insert clever sign off phrase here]“

~Fizz