This will become an informal series (meaning- not sure when the next one will come out) about techniques and considerations for communication with Gaffers and Designers in your role as programmer. There are two reasons I’m creating this:
- I had to study communication very hard as communication always felt like a mine field to me.
- I’ve always been intensely interested in how Politics and Communication interact. Over time, I’ve learned better techniques and it might be helpful to share them.
The Politics of being on Set or at the Tech Table is very real. “Perception creates reality” accurately describes the tightrope everyone is walking. The complications becomes even clearer when I say that- in my opinion- a good lighting console programmer is also a contributing designer. How do you contribute how you are expected to while always making sure everyone thinks that the Gaffer/Designer is the absolute lighting authority? Well, I certainly don’t have all the answers, but what I have I’ll try to share.
An important note to understand how I approach things. I believe strongly that I should take as little time as possible from my Gaffer or Designer. They are extremely busy people, so the height of great service is to anticipate their needs, study what they like and dislike, and remember that to save time.
Since this is a new series, let’s try to begin at the beginning of the process- Prep. Whether you have the worlds largest and most organized template start show file, or you’re new and you’ll need to put everything into it, we all need to prepare for the particulars of the job. And, of course, Production will not give you enough time to prep for all possibilities. So we need to draw out as much information as possible to get ready for the show. Here are my priorities and how I try to approach things.
- Read the Script
If you possibly can, get the script and read it. If you’re asking yourself why I’m suggesting you get the script in a piece about communication- follow me for a second. What is the greatest assistance to communication? A common reference. If you’ve read the script, you’ll get a sense for how the piece feels, which will inform your interpretations of your G/D’s commands. If the piece is a farce, you might choose a different Red when requested than a Horror property. You can also go through the script and notate every effect that happens in the script. Many programmers struggle with delivering effects in the time we are allotted. If you see it on the page, you should start working on options to show. Or perhaps it’ll just save you a moment or two when your G/D refers to a character by name, and you won’t have to stop and ask “who’s that?”
2. Profiles
Which profile you use for the fixtures in your show can be a huge decision. Often when I speak to D/Gs, they don’t have opinions on what profiles we should use. Why is that? Only because they are not programmers. They DO have opinions on what profiles we choose, so it’s up to you to investigate their value system and figure out which profiles THEIR WORK wants you to use. Easy conversations start with pixelated fixtures. How many pixels do they want? Harder conversations center around options of:
- Color Mixing System (film lights)
- 16 bit parameters
- 540 degrees of pan or 630 degrees (context- really only a big deal if you plan on having these fixtures do a spin all the way in one direction, then all the way in the other effect. These few lights that have the option for more pan won’t match the ones that don’t).
- Wireless or wired the caution I always repeat- they will not sync in exact timing, so make strategic decisions.)
The list could go on, but you get the idea. A huge limiting factor is your overall parameter budget. Do you have 4 universes to play with? 8? 12? 16? 24? 48? 64? If you have tons of parameters available in your system, many topics become easier- just set up everything in the finest control possible. But this very same issue pops up again if you have a wireless package. You will have a finite number of universes you can control wirelessly, so you need to prioritize your profiles to support that need as well.
Besides studying the previous work and asking either previous programmers or the Best Boy for info on how your gaffer work, here are a few leading questions:
How granular do you think your work on this project be? Is this a “bold strokes with subtle touches here and there” or is this a “anything could tip the delicate balance we are striving for” piece. In general- the more granular, the more 16 bit parameters and the more pixels you will need to support the work.
When you bring on a light, do you usually call for it at full to start? This question is sneaky, which I love. Either way they answer, they are going to look at you weird. But if they say yes, you might be safe in guessing they will seldom be using extreme lower ends of the intensity. This means it might be an option to go with 8 bit and save some parameter count. If they say “depends on the scene” then absolutely make sure your dimming is in 16 bit mode if you can. They will be calling for lights at 20 percent, then the same light at 15, 17 and 16.
Tell me about an effect you called for that was a tough one? When they answer, you are listening both to the effect description (what do THEY think is hard) vs how they describe the problem. Do they describe it as a problem for their programmer, or tricky effect? I’m very cautious in general, but if they describe it as a problem for the programmer- my takeaway is they might not have a good idea of how long complicated effects can take and so I now know that I need to ask ahead what effects might be coming up and I’ll prep options (either during prep, during stand by time, or on my own during unpaid hours) to make sure I’m ready.
3. Where am I?
It’s important to know where you’ll be programming from. In film-if they expect you to be right next to the DIT cart or if you can be a little further away. This greatly affects what cart and setup you should choose. In theater- I personally always wanted to be in the front of the balcony or any view that allows me to see the floor. In theory, the designer shouldn’t care where you are in the space. If they want you right next to them, that sometimes is an orange flag for me. It can be because they struggle to communicate with programmers and so they want to be close or it can be they are the type of designer that wants to be close to exert more control on how you do things. I mention this as a communication issue since it’s important to be able to setup in a place that helps you do your work.
If they want me right next to them in a position I think isn’t good- I usually gently push back that seeing the beams on the floor helps me be symmetrical as we are creating on the fly. In my case, there is also the reality that being too close to the politics of the tech table is very distracting to me and slows me down. I don’t phrase it that way, but instead say “You know tech tables, people always coming and going- it’s a lot of people to see around.” You can easily translate this for film, though I think you are far less likely to win.
Wrapup
Obviously, there is no way for this to a complete list of every question and issue you may encounter, but hopefully it’s a starting point that helps. If you have examples of things that have come up for you on gigs, or questions or anything- hit me in the comments. I’m not exactly sure how this series may evolve over time. There’s definitely going to be a post on communication around effects, since that’s a big one. But I’d love to hear form y’all to shape this to suit your needs.
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Mark LaPierre is a programmer in film and television based out of Albuquerque. He grew up in live entertainment and has been a designer/programmer for musicals, concert dance, live music, circus and corporate. Mark is a proud member of IATSE, an ETC Eos trainer and an enthusiastic trainer of many other platforms and subjects. He offers Zoom console training as well as in person. If you enjoy his content, please consider commenting on his posts on the website to appease the Algorithm.
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