Welcome to netHEADS!
The Occasional When-we-feel-like-it
Email Newsletter from Sapsis Rigging, Inc.
008 December 3, 2001
Contents:
Memo from Uncle Bill: Research and Development
Uncle Bill Out Loud
New Products
News from USITT: SRI Professional Development Award
We Win an Award
Baby News
In Memoriam
Links We Love: Smart Sites for Troubled Times
This page can be
viewed in all its html glory at
http://www.sapsis-rigging.com/HEADS.html
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During a meeting at LDI this past October, I overheard someone say, "That's
the way we've always done it" several times. Now, in the context of that
discussion, the comments were appropriate. But I've heard the "this is
the
way we've always done it " argument before. How do we get to that point
where we identify a piece of equipment as a solution for the problem at
hand?
Research and development
(R & D) in the entertainment business has a rich
and colorful history. Folklore would have us believe that the only true
method for conducting R & D required the aid of a cocktail napkin, the back
of an envelope or a matchbook cover. I know for a fact that the back of a
hand has served as a writing surface for many a stage effect. Whatever the
method and medium, it boils down to one basic fact: In our little industry,
at least in the rigging and scenic sectors, R & D has been more
serendipitous than scientific.
We're a small industry
and theatre folk are a transient lot. We tend to skip
from one job to another the way other folks switch vacation spots. And
because of that gypsy-like behavior, the solution for a problem at one place
can easily travel from theatre to theatre and TV Studio to theme park in
short order. Before you know it the solution found at the break table
becomes a "common practice". From "common practice" it's
a short and
inevitable walk to "industry standard". ("Common practice"
and Industry
Standard" are, among other things, terms that can be used in court where
there are no clear official guidelines or standards to point to.)
True R & D
- the kind that follows all those pesky scientific guidelines -is
time-consuming and expensive. It is much easier and cheaper to sit down at
lunch, draw the problem up on a napkin and then rummage around in the memory
vaults of your crewmates for an appropriate solution. Invariably, someone
comes up with a gizmo or piece of hardware that they had seen used by their
sister's brother-in-law. (The underwater fence repair technician for a
salmon fishery in Nova Scotia.) The device is held aloft and those magic
words are uttered "Hey, think this'll work?"At the risk of sounding
like an old pharte, I'm more skeptical about this R
& D procedure than I was 20 years ago. Mainly, it's because I've come to
realize that the solution found at the break table worked well on that
particular day for that particular problem at that particular theatre, but
not necessarily for the rest of us.
So now we have,
as an industry standard, something that some TD thought up
who knows where or when. (You're showing your age if that line reminds you
of a song title)
Wire rope clips
(what many people call Crosby clips), for instance, are
illegal for overhead lifting in many European countries. It doesn't matter
if the clips are malleable or drop forged; if you want to terminate steel
cable onstage, you have to use something that does not damage the cable.
European theatre has managed to survive without cable clips or swaged
fittings. Stage technicians in Finland use fasteners that do not damage the
cable when installed nor do they require a special tool to tighten. Back
here in the states most folks use cable clips because many years ago a TD
decided clips were a good idea. He or she chose, for reasons long forgotten,
not to use fist grips, ferrules or swages fittings of any type.
Now here's some
good news. I've discovered that most - if not all- of the
rigging equipment manufacturers in the States do indeed test their products.
They test them in-house and they use independent labs. Not only do they test
finished products, like winches and loft blocks and arbors, but they also
test components. This is a very cool thing and it's why you almost never
hear of a failure in new rigging gear.There's still a lot of equipment being
installed in theatres that's the
result of impromptu R & D. There are many home-made cable winches that are
just plain dangerous. Some use belt drives and others use shaft couplings
that aren't designed for suspended loads, let alone shock loading. And very
few of them have any type of protective housing to keep sleeves, apron
strings or fingers out of sprockets and chain drives.
I'm the last person
who wants to stifle the creativity of our technical
people, but I also don't want to see people get hurt. The joy of discovering
a really great solution to a problem should be tempered with the
understanding that others will probably pick up on the idea and use it down
the road in their facility. Before putting that device into practice, take a
long hard look at the ramifications of it failing. Will the failure cause
serious damage to your building? Could someone get hurt? If the answer is
yes to either of these questions you should stop and get the device
professionally tested before you start using it. There is probably a testing
lab not too far away. Most towns and cities have them. Check the Yellow
Pages or the Web under Engineering Companies. The cost of a test (One pull)
is determined by the complexity of the equipment that you want to test, but
it usually starts around $50 a pull. And lab engineers need some
entertainment, just like the rest of us. They spend their days testing
concrete core samples and bending I-beams. They love it when someone walks
in with a batten clamp attached to some aircraft cable with a shackle. And
they really light up when confronted with a piece of rope and a
counterweight arbor.
I realize that
some may think that what I'm suggesting isn't terribly
practical. The reason many people think our technical design work is done in
a bar on the back of a cocktail napkin is because, for better or for worse,
a lot of it is. Unforeseen problems crop up at tech rehearsals all the time.
And tech rehearsals don't usually end till late in the day, at best. The
director needs (wants) a solution by morning. So you sit down at the bar,
wolf down some dinner and try to fix the problem. One of the complications
these days is that the gear is a lot bigger, more intricate and moves faster
than 20 years ago. Present day motorized winches commonly run at 150 - 200
feet per minute. Think about the damage a 2,000 pound deck piece would cause
if it broke away from it's wagon or track and was sent careening around a
stage at that speed. It may be that we, as a group, have to learn how to say
no or "give me more time" a little more often.
By the way, that
meeting I referred to earlier was the Rigging Working
Group; one of the many groups operating under the ESTA Technical Standards
Committee (TSC). The TSC and the various working groups are committed to
protecting the health and well being of all of us in the entertainment
business by working on standards through the American National Standards
Institute. These standards help identify the proper way to manufacture,
install and operate a wide range of equipment that we use on a daily basis.
If you'd like to know more about the TSC and any of the working groups, I
invite you to stop by at http://www.ESTA.org.
That's it for me
today. As always, if you have any questions or comments,
please feel free to drop me a note at
bill@sapsis-rigging.com.
Be safe.
Be well.
Bill
For more Uncle
Bill visit the Uncle Bill Archives and catch up on those
veritable pearls o' wisdom from our favorite rigging master.
http://www.sapsis-rigging.com/UB.ArticleIndex.html
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Uncle Bill Out Loud
Bill Sapsis will be a panelist in the Big Apple Lights Institute seminar
"Working with a Rental Shop" on December 8, 2001 in New York City.
Other
panelists include Lighting Designer John McKernon, Broadway Electrician Lee
Iwanski, Pat Dignan of Big Apple Lights, Zoe Paine of RoseBrand, Bohdan
Bushell of Jauchem and Meeh , and Dan Bonitsky of Vari*Lite. The panelists
will discuss the kind of information rental shops require, the difference
between a lighting designer's shop order and an electricians's shop order,
how to manage substitutions or unavailable equipment, and a host of other
rental related issues.
For more information visit the Big Apple Website http://www.balny.com/
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Bill will also be a panelist at ProProduction 2002 Jan. 10 - 13 in San
Diego. See the PLSN website for details. http://www.plsn.com/
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How Much Truss Could It Take to Fly a Lingerie Show?
Sapsis Rigging, Inc. provided a full rigging package including design,
equipment and management services for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
The show, which was shot in Bryant Park in New York City, was produced by
Bureau BETAK and aired on ABC-TV.
Michael J. Sapsis, head rigger for the event, described the rig as
consisting of a 100,000 pound roof system utilizing over fifty chain motors
for the production elements. Installation took eight days; the strike
lasted 30 hours.
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News from USITT:
Sapsis Rigging Professional Development Award
Here's an opportunity for any student interested in Programmable Logic
Controls. Sapsis Rigging will pay the fees for two students to attend the
two-day session on PLCs chaired by Loren Schreiber which will be held
February 17 and 18 at Tulane University, immediately after the 2002 Annual
Conference & Stage Expo in Long Beach. Each session participant will receive
a new, state-of-the-art micro PLC and programming software to take home and
play with further.
Two student members who sign up for the session will be eligible to have
fees refunded if they are designated in a totally random drawing. There are
no forms to fill out, and no essays to write. The drawing will be conducted
immediately after the Early Registration deadline has passed, by a team of
certified professionals who have never had anything to do with a Florida
election, so students are urged to sign up early. Sucking up to Uncle Bill
or any of his crew will not increase your chances of winning, since they
will have nothing to do with the final selection of scholarship winners.
More information and registration is available at the USITT website.
http://www.usitt.org/
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Award of Merit
Presented to Sapsis Rigging, Inc.
Sapsis Rigging, Inc. has been selected by the New York Construction News
http://www.fwdodge.com/dcp/NYCN/NYhome.html
to receive the 2001 Award of
Merit for a Restoration Project for their work at the Carol and Carol
Montante Cultural Center at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. The
Montante Project involved design, fabrication and installation of a
complicated aluminum truss system to support lighting and sound equipment
and a full array of acoustical panels. The 2001 Award of Merit, to be
presented at the New York Construction News annual ceremony in New York City
in December, recognizes the contributions of Michael J. Sapsis, and other
key members of the Sapsis team, for their innovative solutions to the
project's challenges.
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Baby NewsGreg Williams announces the birth of his granddaughter
Haley Marie Rankhorn
born 8/14/01 7:25 in the evening,
weighed in at 7 lbs, 8 oz.
the lucky parents are Heidi and Chris Rankhorn
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Christy Havard announces the birth of her son
Tobias
on July 12, 6:09am.
"What a way to start my day" says Christy
6lb 7oz, 21 inches long,
full head of hair and sooooo cute!
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In Memorium
Anna Thompson, the manager of Norcostco's Denver shop, died recently after a
long illness. In keeping with her dedication to the entertainment technology
industry, Anna has left provisions for the U.S. Institute for Theatre
Technology to create the Anna M. Thompson Scholarship Fund for the
advancement of Women in Technical Theatre. Anyone interested in contributing
to the fund may send donations to:
The Anna M. Thompson Scholarship Fund
C/o The Bank of Denver
Attn: Ginny Maes
1534 California Street
Denver, CO 80202
"She was a good friend who, with her ready smile and country humor, helped
make those long and sometimes tedious regional conferences and stage expos
more tolerable." Bill Sapsis
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Links we Love: Smart Sites for Troubled Times
Check out the Sapsis Rigging Quick Guide to Internet Information and
Resources for links to sites we have found both reliable and useful in
dealing with information on the internet.
http://www.sapsis-rigging.com/quickguide.html
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For some of the smartest humor on the net, check out a few of our favorite
satirical fun sites:
The Onion http://www.theonion.com/
our all-time favorite satirical news source.
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The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/
a whimsical
literary competition that challenges entrants to compose the opening
sentence to the worst of all possible novels. The contest was the brainchild
(or Rosemary's baby) of Professor Scott Rice, whose graduate school
excavations unearthed the source of the line "It was a dark and stormy
night."
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The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) http://www.glyphs.com/moba/
is a
community-based, private institution dedicated to the collection,
preservation, exhibition and celebration of bad art in all its forms and in
all its glory.
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The Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) http://www.improbable.com/
is a
humor magazine of science, medicine, and technology known for (a) funny
genuine science; (b) deadpan satire; and (c) the Ig Nobel Prizes. AIR is
produced by the same gang of people who from 1955-1994 founded and edited
the Journal of Irreproducible Results. The editorial board consists of
fifty-odd eminent scientists, doctors, etc. from around the world, including
eight Nobel Prize-winners and a convicted felon.
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Copyright 2001 Sapsis Rigging, Inc.
http://www.sapsis-rigging.com
233 N. Lansdowne Ave. Lansdowne, PA 19050
800/727-7471 FAX: 800/292-3851