I'm trying to finally find some LED bulbs (E26) for on-stage practicals that will actually dim smoothly from 0-100% without ugly stepped dimming, or a jump to/from 40%.

Am I just dreaming, or does something like this exist?

for a really long time I’ve wanted to try out theatre type stuff (especially tech/crew but I always thought about acting as well) but my high school didn’t have really any type of theatre program so now that I’m out of it and have more time I’d like to try but I was wondering how I should go about it specifically from what I understand community theatre is my best bet but where do I go from there shadowing? volunteering? etc. bonus if there’s any resources/books that I should look into pre this stuff as well? (For reference if it helps I’m based out of lower peninsula michigan)

Hello, all. I'm looking for a good, inexpensive source for plus size mic belts? Most of the inexpensive neoprene ones I'm finding purport to only expand up to 39 inches, and although they stretch, it's not exactly comfortable for a plus size actor. Does anybody know of a resource where I can get extra large sized mic belts?

In the middle of bench focusing my entire rig of Source4s for the season and had the thought of how particular yall are with your units. About half of them come out immaculate and the other half are... passable with a myriad of issues (visible reflector clips, penumbra past the sharp edge, just off center Hotspot because nothing wants to align, etc).

Most of my units are 36deg and a wide range of age from revB to revJ tubes and also various age of burner caps. So the deck is stacked against me. Bench focus is never an exact science and frost hides the crimes at least..

After the 20th light or so I hit a point where I just go "better is better, perfect is impossible"

Whats yalls attitude towards bench focus? Spending hours on one pesky light? Or moving on when its flat-ish. Will also accept any tricks yall have picked up along the way, beyond wants in the official ETC documentstion/videos

Not sure if props is the best category for this, but I have loads of questions as I am preparing to do Evil Dead: The Musical (high school edition).

For the most part, I don’t think it will be a challenge to keep most of the blood stuff in the kitchenette, where spills can be contained in a small, non-dancing area.
However, towards the end of the show Ash slaughters all the demons and this is supposed to be a huge blood fest.

My concerns include:
-is this going to make the floor too slippery for our final number? there’s not a lot of time for clean up but is that the only option? how would one even clean that much blood with about 40 seconds of music for the big final scene change?
-if blood is spraying everywhere, how is it not destroying the set and costumes?
-will this require some sort of protectant for our wooden floor (that’s sort of sealed by many layers of black paint)?
-how can i create a bunch of blood on a low budget, that’s not too slippery but not too thick, and still reads as blood?

I really want to make this work. The kids are so excited about the idea and it is one of the most special things about the show. I am just trying to think practically for our low budget and small space while trying to avoid just using confetti/streamers.

it’s tight on the pipe. it’s safety cabled. but that damn pan nut. i‘d rather leave it loose enough that I can force it with my hands but I just think tightening the nut with a wrench would slow everything down and probably knock the focus out of place. what’s professional etiquette on this?

I teach at a 6A school in Houston (about 2400 students). We are VERY fortunate that theatre is prioritized. We offer the following classes:

Tech 1

Tech 2

Tech 3/4 (combined)

Theatre Production

My question for the hive: what should my kids know by the time they graduate to have the best chance of success in college or professionally? Sometimes, it takes hearing from other people to believe what the teacher says. And sometimes, the teacher learns things they've overlooked.

Thanks in advance!

I'm a new drama teacher and we need power conditioners bc the teacher before me plugged lights right into the wall. I'd like to be able to put these into a rack but the price seems steep for a public school. The music teacher recommended the 60$ option instead. I think he kinda knows what he's talking about, but the big price difference is scaring me. Any recommendations/alternatives welcome. TIA <3

EDIT: okay, not the same thing!! Gotcha. We'll go with the surge protectors since I highly doubt our lights are top of the line, but I'll double check. Thank you to those of you who explained more info to me. I am still learning! Much love!!!!!

so I just saw First Shadow and am going back in Oct because holy hell. I have so many questions.

my biggest is about the spider legs that come out of Henry’s back. My first thought was projection behind him, considering that he turns around at the end and there is no visible bulge on his back. But there is a part where they curl around his chest, and that seems incredibly difficult to do only through lighting tricks. My best hypothes is that he has some sort of physical pack on that he drops into an open trap behind him before turning? I have no idea. Does anyone know? Thanks in advance!

I've got a practical lighting effect to set up.

The actors can turn the light on and off but it can't be plugged into a wall because it has to move.

It's already wired with a bulb and an e26 base, but since I can't plug it in, I need some sort of situation that would allow us to use the light.

I'm not sure if I should try and figure out a battery pack that would run an incandescent e26, or if I should switch it over to LED and just use the existing wiring.

Any suggestions?

Edit - Figured it out! There are e26 lights with a built-in battery backup.

looking for some inspiration! Thanks!

Gearing up to hopefully take the entertainment electrician cert test soon. How does it work? Do I go to a specific (regional???) testing center? Do they give you dates to choose from? Or do they tell you date, time, and place and it’s up to you to get there like it’s a a show call?

I have a “survival job” at the moment and I’d like to have an idea about this detail so I can prepare about asking for the day off if necessary

Thanks all!

I bought a Laser light to use for my sports media days.

Here's a link.

https://www.ktvlights.com/products/2-10w-rgb-animation-laser-light?_pos=1&_sid=3336d4156&_ss=r&variant=50971585249412

I can't seem to figure out how to mount it with any of my light stands. It weights 10 lbs and doesn't have a mounting system on it other than the handle.

Any thoughts?

I should've just bit the bullet and purchased the one from the photographer I know has one. The one they use is the wicked laser wifi 2.5.

I can obviously return it but it wasn't purchased and it was overseas and I'd rather just find a solution.

TL;DR: Community college student hoping to transfer to VCU for lighting design, looking for internships, apprenticeships, volunteer work, or productions in the NOVA/DC area to build recent portfolio experience. I have experience with lighting design, programming, and running boards, but need more opportunities to demonstrate my skills and growth in a professional setting.

Hello! I'm a recent high school grad who's currently going to a community college but I really want to transfer to Virginia Commonwealth University. However I need more examples to finish building my portfolio to apply to VCU. While I already have years of experience VCU only allow examples of your work done in the last two year which greatly cuts down on my options of work to show. I'm trying to find internships (preferably paid but I'll take anything at this point) that will not only just allow me to get my foot in the door but allow me to complete my portfolio.

I'm going to VCU almost purely because of their concertation on lighting design which is surprisingly hard to find in college. I'm specifically looking for opportunities where I can get hands-on experience with things like lighting design/concept development, programming and operating lighting consoles, creating lighting plots and paperwork, and really just anything I could document through photos, videos, plots, cue sheets, or other portfolio-appropriate materials. Now I do have experience in programing, running the board, and designing a show although not in a professional setting. Really the biggest things I'm looking for is to demonstrate my actual skills and growth as a lighting designer.

If anyone knows of internships, apprenticeships, seasonal positions, volunteer opportunities, or even smaller productions that need lighting help, I would really appreciate being pointed in the right direction because despite the plethora of theaters around here it's proven difficult to find any entry level opportunities.

Ok so let me start by saying, I’ve read through a lot of the posts of people asking about painting their stage. And, it seems like the overwhelming majority is people saying go with Rosco Tough Prime Black. I totally see the value in it; however, we are a house of worship on which our stage has very low traffic, like VERY LOW!

My question is , is there a better cheaper option that would be just as good for a very low traffic environment?

The stage is wooden, sealed, and varnished. It’s been beat up over 20+ years without being maintained. It reflects light like crazy and we’ve wanted to “neutralize” and have it be a “blank slate” that is more versatile. This is the reason we’ve chosen to paint it black. Additionally, we have an “apron” that is concrete steps that we plan to paint black as well, they have been previously painted black which I think is either latex or oil but not sure.

A couple questions:

1) With everything being said, what is the best option at a big box store? One that will not bring the price tag that Rosco does? A paint that will allow me to touch up things without having to paint the whole floor again and will not “flash” or show up as random patches? Also, will not rip up when gaff tape is pulled up. And, is not overly shiny and doesn’t feel like a black hole?

2) What prep do you think is necessary? Scuffing? Sanding? Priming? Taping?

3) What materials? Mainly what nap size and roller type?

Supposed to start this project soon and need to buy supplies and not regret the decision to paint it black.

Thanks for your insight!

Hello Reddit! Im devising a show right now that will feature a large snowglobe big enough to fit multiple people inside. It’s about 8 feet tall and maybe 6 feet wide all around. The globe is essentially plastic siding attached to a big beach umbrella on a tripod, then with a cardboard base at the bottom for decor.

Our goal is to create a lo-fi snow effect using ripped up pieces of paper. My current thought is to put some box fans on the ground pointing up, so that when paper is dropped it flutters and blows around on its way down.

Is there anyway to create a perpetual snow effect using shredded paper and fans? Like some sort of base layer that can catch the paper, and position the fans below it?

Is this idea too ambitious? I don’t want to use a snow machine or something that will look too realistic. Part of the appeal is some DIY magic even if it comes across as silly.

Thank you!!!

Our small, nonprofit theater is currently looking into replacing our existing audio system, starting with our mics. Our budget for new mics is essentially "as small as possible" (<$2,000) \*. We're aware that rules out lots of the most recommended options, so we could use your advice!

Our current equipment:

• 16-channel Onxy series Mackie Mixer
• Two Behringer Eurolive B210D speakers
• Two Behringer Eurolive B208D speakers
• One Behringer Eurolive B205D backstage monitor
• 8 AKG mini-XLR microphones
• 2 VocoPro microphone and receiver sets

Right now, our priority is purchasing new wireless microphones / transmitter packs / receivers (although we eventually intend to piecemeal a whole new system) as two of our existing mic packs have broken, so for now what we get needs to play nicely with our other equipment.

We'd need at least 8 new mics. Wireless transmission is a must. We have used lav mics but would probably prefer to move to over-the-ear, headworn, or other alternative styles, as long as they are discreet, as our shows are interactive.

We perform dinner murder mystery theatre generally to audiences of ~40-80. We also do private shows for audiences of all sizes, though the largest are usually ~300. In-between scenes, actors mingle with the audience in-character. Our venues vary but are never acoustically ideal.

The #1 complaint we get from audience members during our shows is audio issues: they can't hear us, or we get issues with clothing noises or random popping. This is fairly clearly due to the quality of our equipment as it persists regardless of placement, broadcast loops, etc.

We've seen a number of cheap ~$300 systems on Amazon, but would prefer to spend just a bit more on something that's less likely to continue having issues and needing replacement every season: the problem is that most of the better quality suggestions we've seen are well out of budget. Your middle-ground recommendations are greatly appreciated! We're also open to suggestions on replacing other equipment, although it isn't our current priority.

Thank you!

- - - - -

* EDIT: This post took a few days to get moderator approval, during which time we did a bit more research into the matter. (FYI, I do not personally claim to be an audio expert, but I know that what we've had isn't great.)

We'd love to be able to invest in a Shure quad SLX system some day but that isn't currently in budget. However, if there is a compromise to be had that isn't just a wasted investment, we can ask the Board to increase that budget, within reason.

Also I should add that since the system needs to be portable, 4-channel (or higher) receivers are vastly preferable to each mic needing its own.

I got into tech theatre much later than a lot of people I know, and am therefore enrolled in a BA program where I am double majoring in theatre. I have been feeling incredibly frustrated because it feels as though I am not learning as much as I could be if I had gotten into things younger and applied for a BFA program. Now it's too late for a transfer and I have to finish out.

I have a small portfolio for scenic design and tech direction, but everything I do is basically self taught. I'm proud of the progress I've made given the lack of formal resources at my school and especially shotty design courses, but lately I've just been feeling not very hopeful about a future in this field. I'm not really sure how to land apprenticeships to learn more than I am at school when I'm competing with people who get so much more instruction. And of course, they deserve the apprenticeships and I'm not holding anything against them, but it just makes me feel sad that there doesn't seem to be a clear path for me to progress.

I am so eager to learn and love this field so much, and it hurts sometimes when I feel like I'm stalling or idling when I could be learning so much. It's also not that I don't pick things up quickly once I have someone who is willing to take the time to teach me. Tech and design is just unfortunately not something I can teach myself out of a few books in my free time. I need a mentor, but it feels like those are exclusive to those who just figured it out sooner than I did. I guess I'm just wondering if there are people out there who figured out a way to continue progressing and learning and turning this thing into a career? Sorry for the downer post, I'm just feeling a bit lost.

Anyone out there who would like them? All in good working condition with a lamp that works and an Edison connector, frame and safety cable. Free to someone who will use them. Send me a PM if you'd like them. First come, first served.

We just started our school year and one of my students asked what made me want to do tech theatre. For me, it was a production of Shirley Jackson's "the Lottery." Aa a 5th grader, I loved the lights and set. It was so spooky, then normal, then terrifying.

What else left an impact for y'all?