Although programmers for film do record cues, we typically are not playing back cues like you would on a live show. We do have our moments when we have to create some sort of cue list to play back, but mostly we set a look in a cue, and then we shoot that shot. We label the cue the scene number that matches the camera slate. Once that shot is done and they are moving to the next shot, we start to create the next cue as they light it. The reason for using an advanced console is to have a greater amount of efficiency and to be ready for anything that they might throw at you last minute. There’s usually not a lot of prep time for these things, so the more ready you are the better.
– From Brad Schiller’s upcoming September Feeding the Machines article, an interview with film lighting programmer Scott Barnes.
