Paperless Line Notes

As we approach tech for A Number, David and I have been looking for an efficient, paperless way of delivering line notes for the actors when they run the show in rehearsal. The best route, we found, was similar to David's blocking notation - while I'm on "book" (ha) during the run, it's quick and easy to post a comment on the line in question with what the actor said and the correction. At the end of the run, that day's script with the line notes is password protected and posted on the production website. This process is working because it's very efficient during the run (I don't have to leave the "on book" script to write notes) and easy to navigate (using the Comments toolbar in Word, actors can jump from comment to comment to find the notes intended for them and can see the context of the line they missed). See below for an example of what a page looks like:

Paper Mache?!

As part of the children-character building and potential props for Still Life, our actors are currently making paper mache bugs. I was invited to join in the craftwork, but I politely declined, feeling that paper mache flies directly in the face of Project Paperless.

In other news, I've discovered how much easier it is to accommodate changes in the script when it's all electronic. Our scene 9 got changed a few days ago- some lines were cut, some added, and some moved around. As I simply saved the new scene onto my desktop, replaced it in my script and saved a new copy (so that the old script is still available) I was so pleased that I didn't have to copy, print and hole-punch an entirely new script to put into a heavy binder that I would have to lug around.

So the score is:

• Paper Mache: 1
• Project Paperless: 1

More to come!

Today is a paper-filled day...

I am currently overseeing a discussion of Still Life being held by the Director, Asst. Director, and actors. It's a very calm rehearsal, that seems to be going really well. A lot of questions are being answered and a lot of text-work is being done...

...and a lot of paper is being used.

The cast and directors are currently sitting in a circle in the rehearsal space, with a large (3'x2') sheet of butcher paper between them, as well as several sheets of construction paper. There are 2 equally sized sheets of butcher paper waiting to be used in the corner of the room.

Because Still Life is a very children-oriented show, the cast is communicating and developing their characters by drawing pictures and maps of the world they are portraying. Maggie (our director) has also had the cast bring in pictures of themselves when they were younger to post on the walls of our rehearsal room. These are labelled with their names printed on strips of paper...which I cut out and posted.

I knew going into this project that paper was going to be used by everyone except for stage management, but it seems to me that the next step (not anytime soon, mind you) could be expanding the paperless idea into other departments in a production. For things such as signage, which is what a lot of paper has died for today, there are resources that are currently outside of the means of our department that we would need. Also, if Project Paperless was ever expanded to include *all* involved in a production, it would need to be a show that would lend itself to that kind of production. Still Life with Iris is not that kind of show in my mind, but I can see it working with other shows.

Still Life- Week One!

Last week the Still Life with Iris team completed their first week of paperless stage management. My blocking method is very similar to the one David described earlier (although I am a new Mac user, and am still getting used to how I should use it to best benefit my stage management). So far I haven't had many issues with going paperless, and I find it so convenient to be able to carry everything around in my laptop at all times. There are times though when I feel overwhelmed by the amount of items I have open on my computer at once during a rehearsal (daily call, rehearsal report, blocking script, stopwatch...) and I have become a giant fan of toggling between screens on my laptop to keep things cleaner and less distracting.

So far all is going well!

Paperless Blocking Sample

Paperless Blocking Sample

Here is a screenshot of what I am looking at during rehearsal.  See the previous post for an explanation.

Paperless Blocking

One of the things that I worried most about when starting project paperless was how to record blocking without the conventional method of drawing diagrams and writing in blocking notes on the script.  I have found that through the paperless recording method I am using, I am actually taking more usable notes and it is taking me a lot less time to record them.

I am using two programs to record the blocking: Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat (two programs which most people have anyway).  I have a copy of the script (my book) in which I use Word’s comments feature to record blocking.  This is nice because if something moves I can just cut and paste the comment and because they become searchable which has proven to be useful.  The second part is the PDF, which contains a copy of the ground plan for each page of the script.  On each page also is a symbol for each of the actors as well as the major prop and set pieces.  That way all I am doing is copying, cutting, and pasting and drawing lines to show the actors path.

The one true advantage to this is the ability to cut and paste between different pages.  Because of that I am able to create a diagram easily for every page, which allows for easier conversation with the production team as I can literally show them where everything is at any moment in the show.  I think this will also be extremely helpful in tech for holds and re-setting.