Tech Theatre Terms Mack Daddy

Director:

the person who makes the final judgments on artistic decisions in the production, subject to the financial approval of the producer

Scenic Designer:

the person who designs the look of the scenery and then paints renderings and drafts floor plans

Prop Master:

the person in charge of collecting and distributing properties

Electrician:

the crewmember that hangs, adjusts, and operates lighting instruments

Lighting Designer:

in the theater, the person who decides where the lighting instruments should go, how they should be coloured, and which ones should be on at any particular time

Dimmer Board Operator:

the person who operates the lighting control console during rehearsals and performances

Stage Manager:

the person, who runs rehearsals, calls the cues during the show and, in general, organizes things backstage

Stage Crew Chief:

the person who decides how the shift will be done and assigns crew their individual jobs

Costume Designer:

the person who researchers the costumes, decides which styles and fabrics to use, and then draws or paints the costumes in renderings

Costume Shop Manager:

the person who decides how to construct the costumes and gives individual workers their assignments

First Hand:

the second in command in the costume shop, assistant to the costume shop manager

Cutters:

costume shop workers who cut the fabric for the costumes, using patterns and/or intuition

Stichers:

the costume shop worker who assembles pieces into finished costumes

Drapers:

a costume shop worker who makes clothes by draping them over a dress form or tailor's dummy

Dressers:

the person who assists actors with their costumes before, during, and after a performance

Prop:

any items that could be carried by an actor in the course of a show

Prop Designer:

the person who selects, designs, and finds the props

Craftspeople:

people working in properties shops who are proficient in carving, working with fabrics, and/or any number of other construction skills

Props Crew:

the people backstage who get the props in the right hands at the right times during the performance

Stage Crew:

the crew that works backstage during the show, shifting scenery

Master Electrician:

the person in charge of all the electricians

Electrics Crew:

the crewmembers who hand, adjust, and operate lighting instruments

Follow Spot Operators:

the person who operates a movable spotlight during a performance

Lighting Cues:

the instructions that tell the lighting operators what to do and when to do it

Sound Designer:

the person who chooses sounds, makes tapes, and deigns the sound system

Sound Engineer:

the person who operates the sound system during a performance

Monitor Speakers:

speakers that are designed to help performers hear themselves

Monitor Mixer:

the person who controls which sounds are heard in the monitor speakers (the speakers that the performers listen to) onstage

Assistant Stage Manager:

the all-purpose technical assistant; the backstage entry-level position

Production Stage Manager:

the person in charge of the technical side of the production, generally the technical director and the stage manager report to this person

Company Manager:

the person who arranges food, lodging, and other details for the cast and crew

Technical Director:

the person who figures out how the set will be built and then oversees construction; sometimes in charge of lighting as well

Scene Shop:

where scenery is constructed

Scene-Shop Manager:

the person who maintains the scene shop and, with the TD, decides how the scenery will be built

Master Carpenter:

the person in charge of all the carpenters

Paint Shop:

where scenery is painted and otherwise decorated

Scenic Artists:

a person who applies paint and other forms of decoration to scenery

Charge Artist:

a scenic painter

Flyman:

the person who operates the flying system

Cable:

any long, rubbery cord with plugs on each end that carries electricity

When touring a place take with you:

a notepad and pen, 50' tape measure, flashlight, and a camera

Playing Space:

the amount of room available onstage for the performance, does not include wing space, storage, or any part of the stage that is not visible to the audience

Wing Space:

the amount of space on the stage that is not visible to the audience

Prop Tables:

the table backstage where handheld props are put when they are not being used onstage

Changing Booths:

a small, temporary booth in the wings where an actor can make a costume change without going to the dressing room

Loading Dock:

a place where you can unload scenery, costumes, and other items that you are bringing to the theater

Dressing Rooms:

a space for performers to hang costumes, put on makeup, and otherwise prepare for the show

Fast Changes:

a costume change that must be done very quickly, and is therefore done in the wings instead of in the dressing room

Green Room:

a common area where performers wait until it is time to go onstage

Crossover:

a passageway that leads from one side of the stage to the other, out of view of the audience

Light Trees:

freestanding metal poles with wide bases, designed to hold lighting instruments

Truss:

a horizontal grid work structure that is suspended from the ceiling or held up by towers on either end, designed to hold lighting instruments, standard equipment for larger industrial shows or rock and roll concerts

Battens:

metal pipes that hang over a stage; used for flying scenery and lighting instruments

Dead-hung:

scenery or lighting that is hanging in the air and not designed to be moved during the performance, as opposed to "flying" scenery or lighting that is designed to be moved up an down

Grid:

the network of steel beams or pipes over the stage that bolds up the rigging

Arbor:

in a flying system, the cage where the operators put the counterweight to balance the weight of the scenery

Counterweights:

the slabs of iron that are loaded into a counterweight system to offset the weight of the scenery

Line Set:

a set of cables that hold one batten in a system for lighting scenery and lighting

Legs:

drapes that hang to the side of the stage, hiding the backstage area

Borders:

a horizontal drape that runs across the top of the stage, hiding the lighting instruments

Grand Drape:

the main curtain, it's used to open the show to start

Front-Of-House:

anything in the audience commonly used to describe staff and lighting positions

Lighting Inventory:

the list of lighting instruments in a theater, showing their size and type

Circuit Plot:

a list of all available circuits in a particular theater

Dimmers:

an electronic device that reduces the amount of power that a lighting instrument receives, thereby reducing the light that it is putting out

Control Console (dimmer board):

the panel that controls the lighting instruments

Stage Plug:

one or two common types of plugs on stage lighting instruments, it has three round pins and a square black plug

Twist-Lock Plug:

one of two common types of plugs on stage lighting instruments, it has three curved blades that lock when inserted and twisted

Edison Plugs:

the standard household plug in the US two parallel metal tabs

Monitor System:

a system that allows people backstage to hear what is happening on the stage

Headset System:

using headsets to keep in touch during a performance

Base Station:

the main station in a headset system; the part that provides the power and connective ability for all the other headsets

Belt Packs:

part of a headset system that connects the headset to the rest of the system

Headsets:

phone like systems used to keep in touch during a performance

The Statement:

the big picture, it's the ultimate answer to the "what is the story about?" question and it gives designers a place to start and place to return to when they need inspiration

How to read a script like a designer:

look for the number and kind of spaces the show requires, make lists of locations

One-set show:

a show that takes place in one location, set doesn't change

Box Set:

one set interiors where the walls are built to surround all three sides of the set

Multi-set show:

shows that move from location to location and need fully realized sets for each location

Unit set:

designer creates a space that will accommodate lots of different scenes, then smaller pieces are added and subtracted to communicate specific locations

Ground plan/Floor plan:

the single most important drawing in the theater, it's how people talk to each other about space, can be understood as a bird's eye view of the stage

Center Line:

the beginning of all measurements in a theater space, a line that alternates between short and long dashes and ends at the bottom of the drawing with a symbol, runs down the center vertically

Platforms:

any horizontal playing surface

Heights:

in a set they are usually measured from the real stage floor, usually shown in circles on a floor plan

Traffic patterns:

how will actors move around the stage, where are there crossovers, alleyways that exist for actors to move through

Masking:

has the designer created enough walls or drapes so the audience won't be able to see backstage and stuff

Extreme sightline:

this is the worst seat, the seat that is way out to the side and close to the stage that has the best view of the backstage area, one on either side of the auditorium usually marked with a +

Moving scenery:

any piece of rolling scenery should have more than one position marked

Glare:

it's produced when a light shining from upstage toward downstage (a back light) is reflected into the audience's eyes by a shiny floor

Bounce:

light coming from down stage bounces off the floor and splashes onto the walls upstage

Colour wheel:

be aware of it, poor colour combinations can be disastrous, lighting filters change colour by subtracting colours

Skin:

scenic platforms are made out of a variety of materials but they all consist of a frame covered by some kind of top where the actors stands (the skin) all of which held up by legs

Stock scenery (4x8):

scenery that is stored and used for many different productions (like flats and platforms)

Deck:

platforms are combined to build a deck

Coffin Lock / Lip and Clip:

hatches that lock the platforms together

Raked Stage/Rake (inches per foot):

deck is slanted toward the audience, it makes performers easier to see and make stage closer to audience for intimate relationship, rakes are measured in "inches per foot", a one-inch-to-the-foot rake, rises one inch in altitude for every foot you walk upstage

Perspective:

the scenic trick used to increase the apparent size of the stage

False Perspective:

using the effect to fool the audience with raked stages

Upstage/Downstage:

upstage walking away from the audience, downstage walking towards the audience

Steps (18" rule):

the rise plus the run should be about 18 inches