Com & Video Engineer
Com Engineer
My experience on the show Heathers, although difficult, was worth wild. As a second-year, it was my first time being a part of a technical crew where I was responsible for the sector of expertise that my position called for. In this case, my position was that of the Com & Video Engineer. This was a new position, meaning that I was the first-ever Com and Video Engineer at UNCSA.
Being the first Com and Video Engineer was exciting but came with a lot of responsibility. Handling everyone's com needs on such a big show with only four channels was no easy task. But it all came down to communication and compromise. The com system for this show was unique. The lighting crew brought in two of their remote stations. In total, I had to work with 3 remote stations, 2 for lighting and one for the production stage manager. This allowed for them to access all four Channels. During tech, all the remote stations are in the same general area. I had to figure out how to connect all the com that would be in the house to one wall plate located in front of the house. The method I used was daisy-chaining. Each remote station to one another, while also daisy Chaining single/duel com sets. I was able to do all of this using splitters, with 1 input and 6 outputs. One splitter for each channel. My method can be seen more clearly in my paperwork below.
Lessons Learned
1. It is ok to say no. One new request can completely alter the method completed in your paperwork. If they did not meet the deadline and their change is not a necessity, stand your ground.
Position
Com & Video Engineer
Com Paperwork
Video Engineer
Being the first Com and Video Engineer was really exciting, but came with a lot of responsibility. A lot of extra nights where I was alone in the amp room setting up the prototype and learning how to put together a ZeeVee4k video system in a theatre. With the guidance of Jason Romney I even developed my own paperwork for the system.
For this performance of Heathers there was a live band, but due to the Freedman theatre not having a pit, the band played up stage, while the actors and set were all downstage. This meant that the actors would not be facing the composer, leaving us to answer the question, how will the performance stay on time with the band? The answer is TV's!! For this show, I placed monitors over the voms and an info red camera right at the composer, so that actors could have a direct view of the composers tempo. This camera view also being screened on monitors on stage right and left, and on the Stage Managers monitor. The Stage Manager also receiving a digital full view of the stage, backstage halls, and an info red full view of the stage. The digital view of the stage and back stage hall was already set up in the Freedman theatre all I had to do was patch the system to the Monitor. Leaving me to rig the Info Red cameras for the composer and full stage shot along with their emitters. This can all be seen in my paperwork below.
Video Paper work
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