Imagine this: I was working on a stadium concert for a big rock band in an indoor stadium. We had a well known LD and were just about to start the first rehearsal with the band. Our front of house technician came walking out to the consoles wearing only his shorts. With no shirt and no shoes he paraded across the floor and right up to the LD. Then he took his seat and waited for the rehearsal to start. I am sure you can guess the LD’s reaction; no one was surprised when the FOH tech was replaced just a few days into the tour. When you’re working on any production, it is important to understand what is expected of you. Sometimes this means dressing a certain way and other times it means turning off your cell phone at certain times. A professional lighting programmer should always present him or herself in the best manner possible. While this may seem obvious, I am afraid that to some people it is not. Unfortunately many programmers let their position of “control” go to their heads and they forget about how they are presenting themselves to the audience, client, LD, producer and others.
I have worked on many different types of productions from heavy metal concerts to church events and I have learned that the dress code varies. Some corporate events may ask you to wear certain clothing if you will be operating the console and mingling with the audience. Other formal events may even require a suit or tuxedo. Of course when you are working a rock concert you can pretty much wear whatever you want (as long as it includes a shirt and shoes), but I do not suggest wearing a “Shout at the Devil” Mötley Crüe shirt when you’re programming the church’s Easter pageant.
Earlier this year I was working a large corporate event. I asked the client ahead of time if there were any dress requirements and I was told there weren’t. Even so, I made the choice on the show days to wear slacks and a nice button down shirt. Although I was not required to dress up, I felt it was important to match the attire of most of the attendees. Since I would be walking through the audience and standing where many of them could see me, I did not feel it would have been appropriate to wear shorts and a T-shirt.
When a client does ask you to dress up even more than normal, you need to consider the cost as well as any problems that could occur. For instance, I was on a show where they were going to have all the crew wear tuxedos during the performance. The producers were going to rent tuxedos for all of us until they decided to save the money and asked us to wear standard “blacks.” (“Blacks” are black clothing with no print.) When dressing up for an event you need to consider if the clothing will interfere with your job. For example a necktie will usually get in the way of console operations and cufflinks may interfere with button pressing. In these situations you should explain to the client your reasoning for not fully complying with their request.
Dave Rat is the audio FOH mixer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and on a recent tour he came up with a cool idea. He decided to sell the back of his shirt during a concert! He is standing in the middle of the crowd for every show and figured that everyone behind him can see his shirt. So he created a page on EBay and sold the rights to the back of his shirt for one night. The winner could choose the message (certain wordings were banned), but they would still have to buy a ticket to the concert to see the shirt in person. I don’t suggest following his plan unless you get permission from the band or producers first. In a fun twist, I have seen many creative shirts with sayings like The Top 10 Answers to LD FAQs that you can find on the PLSN Web site.
In addition to being considerate with your attire, you should also always pay attention to non-lighting distractions. Most LDs will tell the programmer what to program and then go back to working on the plot for his next gig while the programmer is busy creating the look. This is acceptable for an LD, but a programmer should not spend spare time at a console working on another gig. I have heard stories of programmers who made an LD wait while he finished a phone call with a client for another show. Cell phones, e-mails, Blackberries, video games and the like should not interfere with your programming tasks. You are being paid for the gig you are on, so you should give it your full attention.
When you’re running the lights on the third day of a corporate event, listening to doctors drone on about the latest medications might make you want to play a DVD on your laptop or surf the Internet and read PLSN’s breaking news. But you need to consider whether the distractions will cause you to miss a cue and consider who is watching you. If your FOH riser is backed up against the wall and no one can see, then surfing the Internet might be okay (check with your client first). However if you have audience members surrounding you, then it might be best to turn off the Simpson’s DVD and look interested in the production. Plus, if you happen to miss an important cue because you were not paying attention, then you will likely have lots of time to surf the Internet at home because you will not be working much longer.
Hopefully this is common sense for most of you. If it has given you new ideas then I am pleased to have helped. The important thing to remember is to act and dress as you would expect an employee of yours to do. Showing respect for your environment, audience, clients and LD are of the utmost importance when working as an automated lighting programmer. And remember, there is always something magical that happens when you allow your own light to shine.
