#unit 59

[dog-beast]

Well!! She's mostly cleaned up now! All of the flash has been trimmed away and the first pass at sanding is complete. I still need to do some detail work and a bit of reforming with heat.

Now I get to start doing color mock ups :)

[philipmashederblog]

Health and saftey.

Ladder safety You must have 3 points of contact at all times. You must have someone footing when you are working at height. You must NOT use a broken ladder. Keep the ladder on a level surface. Keep the base of the ladder at a suitable distance away from the wall corresponding with the ladder’s height. You must NOT go any higher than 3 rungs from the top. You must NOT lean out from the ladder further than your waist.

Lifting safety Remember to bend your knees and keep your back straight to avoid injury. If an item is too heavy, or you are having to over strain then you must get help. If an item specifies the amount of people for lifting, then you must follow it’s guidelines. If you are lifting using a rope then you must make sure the item is secured properly, and the rope is not rapped around you.

Electrical safety Make sure that your appliance is not live when being worked on. Ensure that there are no splits in wire or cable that could cause damage or injury. Make sure that the power is off before connecting or disconnecting. Make sure there are no loose cables or wires when turning on power.

[philipmashederblog]

For each of the shows all four of the ASMs weren't needed because it was just an un necessary amount. So we made a rota which should have had 2 people a day. However on the first day we were all there to know exactly what we needed to do on each show, and we were all there on the last show because it was our last show as an ASM team. We all told matt which days we were wanting then he sorted out all of the days to suit our choices. We had made a props list to make sure that we knew every prop in the show. When sourcing the props, we marked the props we had with a green box to show we had it. And if we didn't have it we didn't give it a marker. To find the props we searched the script and wrote down every prop tat we could find. We then took our findings to the directors and asked which props they wanted or if they wanted t discard any. Once the directors okayed all of the props we set about trying to get hold of them. Throughout finding the props we kept asking he directors to make sure that we were about to order the props. With som props we had to give them rehearsal props not for the show; for example the whip. We weren't able to get hold of the whip until show day because there were complications with it's delivery. So I made a prop whip which was basically just some rope with knots in it to represent the 'handle area'. We were only able to make all of the props list green on show day, when we eventually had every prop. Fixing the crates was a recurring task because they kept falling apart. The crates, which were already a year old, and were made of old pallets which were weathered. Because of this the wood kept coming apart and splitting. Whenever a crate broke we had to fix it for multiple reasons. One being that it was a broken prop and needed fixing, the more immediate reason is that the nails and screws were sticking out and could easily cut an actor or at least scratch them. When fixing it we had to make sure that the screws were completely in otherwise the actors could injure themselves on the screw head. So before any crate went out of the workshop we had to check that they were completely safe to use.

[philipmashederblog]

Roles of an ASM

The main purpose of an asm is to assist in the smooth running of a production. The assistant stage management job is the lowest in the stage management roles, under deputy stage manager and stage manager. ASM jobs include sweeping and mopping the stage/ rehearsal space, siting in the rehearsals and sometimes covering for the DSM, making sure that actors are where they should be i.e. cues and call times, they also assist the crew as well as the actors and they have too, depending on the theatre company size they need to get props. Some of the worst jobs a stage manager has to do is paper work and getting a cup of tea for someone else.

The main skill that an ASM needs is to work well in a team. This is because the ASM team has to solve problems and if the team didn't get along or work well the tasks would never get done. One of the big group tasks is to do a floor plan mark up of the set. This is marking out the shape and size of the set with tape for the actors and directors to visualise the set before it has been built. To get the dimensions of the set the ASMs must talk to design who would have drawn out the scale floor plan.

Depending on the size of the company the ASMs may need to create the props, either sourcing them or building them. When buying, an ASM needs to have good negotiation skills to get the props for as cheap as possible, because of budget the ASMs may need to get the props for free, if not just as cheaply as possible. This may mean either talking on the phone and getting a deal that way, or going to a particular establishment to get the props quickly or to be sure of what they are buying. Although another reason could be that the place where the prop is being sourced doesn't actually deliver. When making the props the ASMs may be working with the construction team depending on the size or complexity of the prop. The ASMs, depending on the prop, may need to talk to the director/s about the design specifications, for example; when we were tasked with making the TNT detonator we had to ask about size and colour.

In either sized theatre the ASMs have to sweep/mop the stage and generally make sure that it is clean. Also the ASMs have to look after the stage and note anything missing or broken then report it to construction to fix it. Other roles include assisting the SM with helping the actors if necessary. Sometimes an emergency will occur which means that the ASMs need be there to help sort the situation out, it could be that an actor has been injured or a prop has broken.

While on the show itself the ASMs would have to check the show is completely ready, this includes making sure the actors are in their 'beginners' position and the props have been pre-set, also making sure that set pieces are correctly set up. This is all to help the show run as smoothly as possible. However if the company was extremely small then a SM may be al tats needed, this keeps the cost of hiring people cheaper.

[rozzabozzportfolio]

show evaluations

1st show:

props left in the dressing rooms not to mention the props table looked like a bomb hit it hard 

2nd show

Props almost broken from all the circus parade stuff like one of the flags so that will have to be flagged up as it were in notes for the actors, and again they leave the props table in a state of unbearable disorganisation 

3rd show 

finally getting it told them how valuable the things are and they're actually looking after them this time.

[rozzabozzportfolio]

30th may 14

so this morning i had to perform a routine with the actors an overture that will be used in the show, it was to be a very cheesy and slapstick comical stylisation. 

The directors asked us ASM's to come up the front and perform with the actors to perform the dance from the start to finish. I just took it in my stride  to work with the actors, it gave me the opportunity to show what I had skills wise from previous years in dance and theatre combined to show up my fellow technicians and let the actors know about skills I could influence onto them.

The overture is a piece of dance that the actors would have to perform for the show and it gave us techies the chance to see what its like to sing and dance (even though I'd done it two years coming to Miskin ) on a stage with not much room at all

[rozzabozzportfolio]

ASM work

Oh what a lovely war, I was enroled as an ASM and started to read through the script with the actors and also exploration of the characters.  From an ASM point of view I started to read through the script and started to write down all the props that was used in the original text and whether it could be used in our version. The main props that could be used in the play were flags of the countries involved in World War One which were :

Austrio-Hungry

Germany

England

France

Russia 

Belgium 

one of the major things to come out of the early rehearsals was the FOH castings were set, we were to have 5 Female M.C's, 3 newspaper boys, and three clown pierrot type characters and they were cast already by the directors. Entrances from the audience were a must to engage the audience for entertainment purposes.

[jacknicollogbook]

hair show risk assesment.docx

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