The more time I spend here, the more I seem to discover the enormous scope of a lighting technician's job. Yesterday, for example, I helped log the RSC's recent purchases on to a spread sheet and even though it might sound strange, I actually had a lot of fun discovering everything that the RSC had to buy for their recent shows, Richard II and Henry IV parts I and II.
We had to buy millions of different types of tape, two different types of smoke fluid and fire gel for pyrotechnics – and I have to admit that I hadn't even known that pyrotechnics fell into the lighting department's hands until I filled out the order for lighter fluid, but let's just keep that between us. Today, we mounted a time-lapse camera on a chimney across from the main house so that the RSC can have pictures of the renovation progress. Why this particular job fell to the lighting department, I'm not entirely sure, but I actually had a nearly good time and learned a lot about out-door electrics. We had to get two absolutely enormous ladders to reach the spot where we wanted to place the camera so that we could get the rachet straps around the surprisingly wide chimney. Thankfully, the theater owns the house on which we were placing the camera, so we weren't disturbing anyone while we worked and we had the freedom to put one ladder in the back garden so that be could get at both sides of the chimney. We then had to run a power cable across the rooftops and down the road to the costume department, where there was an outlet specifically for this camera. I have to admit that it was actually a lot of fun to figure how and where to attach the cable and we certainly got more than a few strange looks from passers-by watching us zip-tie a cable to the gutter, and I've definitely found that I always have a good time when I'm around the people l work with. Recently, I've been helping with lots of vastly different jobs, but l never stop learning new things or having a good time.
Thanks again for reading and I hope to post again soon!
