Talk:Running crew

Remove Electrician

Running crew refers specificly to a crew involved while the audience is watching, at every show. Electricians are involved in pre-production, not running. Should these be removed into a seperate article?

Electricians run the lighting console, plug in electrified things on stage, and run follow spots for the production. Therefore they should not be removed.Lekogm 20:37, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

In my experience, that person who runs the light board or spotlight is not an electrician but rather a seperate position of board operator or spotlight operator respectivel.. While electricians do plug things in on stage, this is done generally before the show begins.Is this perhaps a matter of locale? As the other positions are listed, I am inclined to consider electricians as not working during the running of the show. 48v 21:16, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

I agree with 48v. The Electrician is the crew that works under the Master Electrician to hang and focus the plot onstage. Electricians should be in as pre-production staff. In my experience, the person that runs lights for the show is called the "Light Board Operator" or "Production Electrician". The follow spots are usually billed as "Spotlight Operator" or "Follow Spot Operator". In some small theatres the Board op and/or Master Electrician acts as an Electrician. So, these lines do get blurred every once in a while. But the positions are seperate and sometimes have different pay rates attached. Humhead 15:16, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

I think what Humhead said was really what I was trying to get across. I think I just confused myself. Basicly, IMHO, light board ops, spot ops, and the deck elec, are all electricians. electrcians that hang and focus the show are not part of the running crew. so i'm just going to get rid of those things from this list. --Lekogm 19:29, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

Just a quick suggestion for the list. Just a little cleanup.

Stage Manager

Asst. Stage Manager(s)

Deck Manager - Responsible for everything that happens on deck

Deck Crew

Fly Master

Fly Crew

Light Board Op

Follow Spot Op(s)

Projectionist

Sound Board Op (A1)

Sound Assistant(s) (A2)

Head Wardrobe

Wardrobe crew

Makeup crew

Props Master

Props crew

I think this is right, I have to look it up and will make changes. It should also be noted that depending on the size of the theatre, these positions may be combined for less amounts of crew. We all have to wear lots of hats, that's why our heads have to be big. :-) Humhead 02:12, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

Recommend listing Hair and Makeup separately. They're distinct skills, even if it's not unusual for them to be combined into a single department. JayhawkTerp (talk) 00:46, 20 March 2023 (UTC)

Difference?

This article needs to explain the difference between Running Crew and Technical crew. Does Tech crew include pre-production, such as designers and set constructors? Bards 10:29, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

The technical crew covers every aspect of a performance, except for the performers themselves. The running crew is a subset of the technical crew, and only includes people who are doing things during the show itself. A lighting designer, for instance, would be credited as being on the technical crew, but wouldn't be on the running crew. The light board operator, who executes the designer's plan, however, would be considered part of the running crew. Ourai ^тʃ_с 11:47, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. But what about front of house, or house management? The article on Technical crew says it includes everyone except the performers. It still seems a little unclear. Bards 07:14, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

In my experience, front of house operators are definitely part of both technical and running crews. House management is a bit harder to define, depending on what aspect is being covered. If it all seems a bit unclear, that's probably because, to an extent, it is. I guess the exact boundraies of "production crew," "technical crew," and "running crew" depend on what type of event, its location, and how large/professionally run it is. Ourai ^тʃ_с 12:45, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Thanks again. I am trying to properly categorise all of the articles in Theatre, but I've run into a few difficulties regarding some of the terms. I have a few more -

• I understand Stagecraft to be the *implementation* of designs and intentions. Is there a comparable term which lumps together all of the designs and intentions, eg. props, costumes, scenes, scriptwriting, choreography, etc - would I call that "Theatre pre-production"?

• The category Category:Sound production currently isn't tied into Stagecraft, but I think it should be, to sit alongside Category:Stage lighting. Currently the sound-related articles are haphazardly dumped in Stagecraft, and there are a lot more waiting to be added or linked up. I need a name for a new subcategory, eg. "Theatre sound production" - or is there a more common term for it? It would include sound design, sound production, mixing, etc.

• Are the director and the blocking process considered a part of stagecraft?

Bards 17:57, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Bard, alright, so I'm going to do my best to help clear up some of the confusion.

• Jobs in theater can be divided along 3 lines: Performers, production staff, and business/administration. Performers are, obviously, anyone who fullfills an onstage performing role (actors, dancers, singers and musicians, including those in the orchestra pit). The production staff includes the director, choreographer, designers, stage management, house management, ushers, crew heads, and technicians (this is by no means a difinitive list, it's just for example). Business/administration include the producers, publicity, payroll, maintenence, and catering (again, not a difinitive list). Currently, the articles on running crew and techinical crew are a little vague and need some clean up, but I think they can both be wrangled under the term of "Production Staff." So, if you are working on categorizing things, IMHO I think the category should be "Production Staff" rather than tech crew, running crew or even stagehands, because it's just a better, broader term.
• Next, the term Stagecraft is a tricky one because it means so many things. It's basic, dictionary definition refers only to skill/experience in writing/staging plays. Here the wikipedia article about it only refers it to the technical aspect of the implimentation. In practicality (re: real life) it is generally used to refer to all aspects of creating, implimenting, and performing staged works. So, I know it didn't really provide the simple answer you were looking for, but that's really what it is. I am of the opinion that a group decision needs to be made about what the term should mean. Until then however, I think the easies thing is to just follow the trend currently in use and have Stagecraft refer to the implimentation of designs and intentions. Additionally, it seems that for now "Theatrical pre-production/desing" (or something similar) is a fine term.
• I agree with you that Sound as a category needs to be tied into Stagecraft. Since I'm not a sound designer I can only provide an educated guess at a good catch-all term. I would call it "Sound design/engineering." But hopefully a sound designer will read this and be able to give you a better term.
• Finally as to direction and staging/blocking aspect, first, see my previous comments on stagecraft. But if you want a seperate category for them it would simply fall under "Direction" (which would include input from the director, choreographer, conductor, fight choreographer, and possibly even dramaturge, though that might be better grouped with script writing).

I hope that this has helped some. Good luck and thanks for helping to make this project better! Benjo 22:51, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

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