h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Are you really sure the people you talk about are lighting technicans? I do lights for my school and am called a lighting technican, ut i run the lights and spot light during things at the school. And I don't usually have to fiddle with wire. Although I must admit I do have a weird obession with duct tape (gaffer tape), but I'm told that's some what normal.

*grin* School theatre's a little different... I'm in HS, and those who run spot and lights are referred to as lighting technicians, but there's also focusing, setting up, and the lighting design, which this covers. The entire lighting process. Ahhh.... Gotta love watching lighting technicians. I'm a backstage/carpentry type due to my fear of heights, and watching people strolling along the electrics, mere pipes, is rather.... disturbing. But the tools of the trade are something most technicians have... My maglites have saved my life, time and again. And my Leatherman's saved my butt, fixing things before the TD notices.

And weird obsessions with gaff or duct is normal... You could be obsessed with weasels and I'd still think you were a perfectly normal theatre technician. Never seen so many creative folks as on my high school crew.

Guzzling Pepsi for the scant weeks before opening the show..
-JS-

ah...pepsi...the exilir of caffine varies from techie to techie...i am a lipton's iced tea woman, myself...

ironically enough, many of the electricians that i work with are afraid of heights. it is one of the greatest ironies of our field of work/study. One in particular sought it out as a way of trying to get over his fear of heights, in which he often successfully got me up in the cherry picker so that he might stay more firmly planted on the ground.

as for gaff tape...gaff tape deserves an entry to itself!

Mmm.... I'm a Diet Coke person, but by a week before a show opens, anything with caffeine heads straight down my throat.

Really? Whoa... I've never even thought of being an electrician, after our stage manager said he didn't want me running lights 'cause of my fear. How can a person get over it? Got any recommendations? I've missed a lot of chances for learning more about theatre due to my paralysis on even short ladders. I've seen some electricians with a fear of heights... Why I don't understand some of the odd risks they've done when 30 feet up.

Gaff.... Mmm. Nothing of more beauty and usefulness. Glo tape may be inticing, but it's gaff that's can fix almost anything.

Glo-Tape is over-rated, and was likely developed out of a hostage situation in which a TD was held hostage by actors who refused to walk the set in the dark before the show.

To continue with the whole electricians who are scared of heights, there really isn't any one thing you can do to conquer it...but by constantly dealing with you can confront it. I suggest start with short ladders to rails or boxes firmly attached to the house wall so that if you start to feel a bit wobbly, you can steady yourself with the pipe. It's important to have a healthy respect for heights because it's very easy to get into unsafe hanging/focusing situations--which you should avoid at all costs!

As a practicing UK LD and electrician, I also know some Lx crew afraid of heights. I myself am fine as long as I feel safe. If not, I'll be down like a shot.

I am getting over my fear of heights by having someone I trust on the bottom of the ladder and a bunch of rude patrenising guys at the bottom saying I bet he can't do it.

i was a bit nervous the first time but im fine now.
i would see it a s essential to get over if you want to work in theatre, unless you are a performer or a director.

theres some things that just dont work, like death sound engineers (well, i doubt joe meek could do straight live sound)

we had some new regulations sent through the other day about what not do to with ladders, its like a guidebook to our ladder practice, for example "no more than 1 person up a ladder at any one time",we've had 4!!!

lol, yeah me and the other lighting techies at my school like gaffer tape its like if we dont have cable ties we wil gaffer the cabels to the rig but it is very good stuff

gdgd iam not scared of heights any more, but after a while of going up a tower or big A- frames and hanging of a rig to rig up a source4 you get over the being scared of heights