19 May 05 @ 8:06 am
Show Production Lexicon
Over the years I’ve compiled a list of key terms used by production crews for stage events. They use a language all their own, and if you’re not experienced in the theater, most of it sounds like nonsense. Still, it’s always good to talk to experts in their own language, and you might find the list useful before you participate in or coach someone for your / their next big speech, town hall, or convention. I’ve posted it in the extended entry.
* Block: (1) To copy the speech text into the TelePrompTer and break it up into small one-or-two line chunks. (2) To decide where people will move on stage, as in “We still need to block Mike’s exit>”
* Blocking: The design for where people will move on stage … entrances, exits, transitions, etc. In acting, all the decisions of where actors will move is called blocking.
* Break: To take a break on the schedule. If it’s a union crew, the breaks are often required and scheduled. May also be only for part of the participants … “break talent until 8:30” would mean talent can take a break until 8:30 while the rest of the rehearsal proceeds.
* B-Roll: General topical video, like shots of customers coming into a restaurant, or people getting on an airplane, etc. (rather than footage of a specific person). Usually used as speaker support (and generally distracting if shown while the presenter is speaking).
* Come from the back of the house: To come to the stage from the very back of the room or auditorium. Usually reserved for dramatic entrances.
* Come up from the house: To come to the stage from the audience itself.
* Downstage: Toward the audience.
* Floor monitors: Big TV’s a the front of the stage on which the crew can scroll TelePrompTer scripts or show speaker support.
* Green Room: A room, typically just back stage, where talent and presenters can wait their turn on stage. Great green rooms have couches, food, etc.; poor green rooms are often just a makeup room.
* Hall: The room in which the show is taking place. Also called the “house.”
* Heavy: Running too long. “We are 10 minutes heavy” means the show is running 10 minutes behind schedule or long.
* House: The room in which the show is taking place. Also called the “hall.”
* Kabuki: A screen or curtain that hides something from the audience. At some point they typically drop the Kabuki, creating a “Reveal.”
* Light: Running too short. “We are 10 minutes light” means the show is running 10 minutes ahead of schedule or short.
* Paper Tech: Another term for “Run a Tech.” Sometimes, a Paper Tech is to get cues only … so if a video is to show for 5 minutes, they’ll start it then go to the next thing (cue) on the agenda. Thus, it’s a tech “on paper” but not on stage.
* Podium Special: A spotlight devoted to the podium.
* Presidential Glass: Stand-up TelePrompTers, like that used by the President of the United States.
* Reveal: To physically reveal an on-stage surprise to the audience. Usually involves some part of the set sliding out of the way or sliding off stage to reveal the surprise. For example, a screen on the stage may split in half to “reveal” Clay Aiken, who then sings the national anthem. A crowd of people on stage may also split for a reveal.
* Run a Tech: Run a technical rehearsal, which is music, lights, speaker support, videos, etc., but no presenter. Also called a “technical rehearsal.”
* Speaker Ready Room: A room where presenters can practice before the set is ready. It usually is either a large meeting room at the hall or a meeting room at the hotel, and typically is equipped with full prompter and speaker support, as well as coffee, drinks, snacks, etc.
* Speaker Support: PowerPoint slides, video, or B-roll that are shown to the house while the presenter speaks.
* Stage Left: The presenter’s left.
* Stage Right: The presenter’s right.
* Talent: Entertainment or speakers hired for the show, especially dancers, singers, etc. Guest speakers from the outside also might be considered talent.
* Technical Rehearsal: Run a technical rehearsal, which is music, lights, speaker support, videos, etc., but no presenter. Also called a “tech run.”
* Top Of Show: The beginning of the production.
* Upstage: Toward the back of the stage (away from the audience).
* VOG: “Voice Of God.” The public address in the house. “The VOG will call Curtis to the Stage.”
* Setting From: The point from which the crew is going to rehearse the show. “We are setting from the Honors Award” would mean they are getting to run the show from the point where the Honors Award is given. “We are setting from top of show” means their getting to run the rehearsal from the very beginning.
posted in category(s): Coaching Points
Doug Cody (3 years ago)
An additional bit of trivia in this vein: the origin of the phrase, ‘to upstage” (someone), meaning to steal the focus or scene from the person who everyone should be watching; or in script direction, to “move downstage” (as in closer to the audience).
In early days of theatre (we’re talking Shakespearean) the stages were raked (tilted) because the floor of the theatre was not. This gave the people in the back rows a view of the entire stage and all the action on it.
So imagine, the focus of the scene is supposed to be “downstage” (near the audience) while another actor was doing something “upstage” (away from the audience, behind the main performer) to distract everyone from watching the “star.”
That star had been “upstaged”…
Doug Cody (3 years ago)
It might also be worth noting the various setups for a meeting, as in a hotel ballroom:
Theatre Style - Just chairs, set in rows with aisles - nothing else. This is the most efficient use of space, and can cram the most people into the room
Classroom Style - where the audience is seated in rows, behind a phalanx of narrow tables for note-taking. As you can imagine, it almost halves the number of people who can fit into the room.
Rounds - Where the audience is seated around large round tables. This REALLY reduces the number of people you can fit into the meeting (especially if you seat them in HALF-rounds, where no chairs are placed on one side of the table, where the person would have their back to the stage). But it’s best for conversational meetings, e.g., where you want people to chew on a topic for awhile. However, I’ve done meetings where I’ve set them in classroom style, but for a discussion created “instant rounds” by asking everyone to turn and create a group with the four or five people behind or in front of them.