Research into ASM Job Roles (Taken from a previous Essay)

During the first term I was on the course I had to do an essay into Assistant Stage Management and Deputy Stage Management plus other Roles. I decided that I should include the research I did into the role of an ASM in my Blog as a way of showing what I should be doing during this process. This is then also a guide for me to complete my role/job the way it should be.

ASM’s (Assistant Stage Managers) and DSM’s (Deputy Stage Managers) come under the stage management team along with the PM, SM and CSM, Most ASM’s will have the role of a DSM at some point in the career in the theatre industry and All DSM’s will have been ASM’s before becoming a deputy stage manager, some students come out of university or college looking to become a DSM and they will have had to of done a lot of work experience to become one, because one of the main skills of being a DSM is knowledge of how a theatre works and runs.

Analysis of the Roles, Functions and Skills needed and used by a ASM (Assistant Stage Manager):

An ASM is a member of the stage management team, and is usually a stage hand that will have knowledge and experience of all aspects of a theatre but they will also usually have one area that they specialize in be it lighting or Sound etc… The ASM’s assist the SM (Stage Manager) and the DSM (Deputy Stage Manager) during the whole production process of a show and on help with the performances in many different ways. The roles of an ASM usually vary depending on the Size of the show, the budget, amount of staff and what the show is about.

ASM are used on larger scale show, touring shows and small scale theatre companies but their roles will vary depending on which one they work on due to many factors, there are advantages and disadvantages to work on any type of show as a ASM.

Assistant stage managers usually have a wide range of roles and responsibilities when it come to a production and this is because they will have skills in all areas of the theatre and thus can help out with all aspects of it, the typical sort of roles they would do is assist the set designer and construction team in the building and painting of the set as long as moving scenery that will be used during the performance, then on the nights of the performance will take cues from the DSM and SM and move scenery on, off and around the stage during the performances and these will be called stage cues in the DSM’s “book”.

So for example theatre companies like The National Youth Theatre will have a lot more ASM’s for stage productions compared to The RSC because the National Youth Theatre do productions and projects with a lot of technical aspects to them whereas The RSC tend to have a permanent set for most of their productions and just have actors bring on the props they need, so then the ASM or ASM’s would be responsible for those props getting to the right actors and to make sure they are maintained and kept in good condition. The for small local theatre companies like Rare Productions and The LLTC they will only have 1 or maybe 2 ASM’s so then they will be doing a lot of work during the production process and on shows because they have a smaller budget to pay for lots of staff so then usually the ASM will double up doing Lighting or Sound and maybe even costume depending on size and nature of the show.

When theatre companies choose to dance shows like The National Ballet School in London there tends to be a lot less props or staging for this production, so ASM’s would usually help out with costumes or costume changes during the shows, or they might be doing onstage lighting or sound duties during the performance or just generally looking after the cast and dancers. Then you get dance shows like Chicago in which there is a lot of set and props used so then there will be a lot of ASM’s doing different roles all co-ordinated by the stage manager.

Advantages and Disadvantages of being a ASM (Assistant Stage Manager):

Advantages:

-          Great theatrical work experience and you will learn skills and gain more knowledge of how a theatre works and you will be able to specialise at a skill if you get work in a large scale theatre company.

-          If you get work in a small theatre company and you love to work hard then the job of an ASM is great here because you will be in charge of many different roles and responsibilities during production and on the actual shows.

-          Being a ASM can lead to you getting a job as a DSM or being able to go off an specialize in one field e.g. Lighting.

Disadvantages:

-          Depending on the size of the production job you are doing you might only have a small role or maybe loads so it could be a bit boring or too intense for some people to handle or like.

-          ASM’s work a lot of hours and need lots of work experience in theatres and will have to work long hours to get this work experience.

-          If you’re a ASM on a touring company you will be travelling a lot and be away from home for periods of time, also you will be on the road a lot.

In conclusion of the roles of a ASM (Assistant Stage Manager) it really depends on many factors to what they do or what skills they need, most ASM’s have lots of overall skill in every department because they would of started in smaller theatre companies have to do multiple roles but then when they get into larger scale productions then they will be given a specific role to fulfill  Also ASM roles depend on the genre of show they are working on so roles will vary if you’re doing a musical or stage show to if you were doing a ballet.

Start of the Production Process of The Wedding Singer

At the Start of term me and my class attended a Production Meeting with the Director and Musical Director who was also co-directing the show The Wedding Singer. In this meeting the director used his Script to help him visualize scenes that were included in the show and then explained his ideas and concept to us as a whole. This helped us to gain a detailed idea of what they wanted the final set to look like. The whole was through the meeting we would all jump in and add ideas and discuss how certain aspects could be brought to life etc...
A massive aspect of this Production Meeting was for us to make/take notes throughout and to also visualize the Scale of the Production/Project that we were taking on and to be able to understand exactly what has to happen in the period leading up to the 3 Shows.

Before the meeting and weeks before we were told that as part of the course we would be marked on Model Box Making and Scale Model Construction which ties in with Set Design. We knew the first one of these would be one for The Wedding Singer so it was essential we made notes about the set during the meeting.

Then for a couple of weeks as a class we all got on with the research, development and then the design for a Set for The Wedding Singer. One of the 5 Designs would then go onto be constructed and used as the Final Outcome.

These lesson which happened mainly on a Thursday from 2pm-6pm (also we then carried on the work at home on the days we were not in college and also at other points in the week) would be dedicated to individual work and not class work so that we could complete the task within the deadline because we wanted to get onto the practical/construction stage as fast as possible.
When the task deadline came to a end we had the Director (Ashley) and the Musical Director (Dave) come into one of our Lessons to be talked through our Set Designs and how concepts came together to form our Final Design.
After all the Sets had been viewed they went away and made a decision on which design they wanted to be used, and when they got back I found out that they wanted my set design to be built as long as some changes and alterations were able to be made to it.
The Alterations that needed to be made included:

• Band needed to be seen/visible to the Audience.
• More Space made for the Dance Numbers.
• also aspects and design concepts for my other classmates design needed to be merged into my design.

The biggest problem for my set design was figuring out where to put the band, because originally I had them backstage and not visible because I didn't realize it was essential for them to be seen. This I had to think about leading up to the next session in which the modifications to the set design would be made and hopefully we would then have a model to go by when it came to construction. 

Description of What the Blog is going to be about!

During this section of the Course we will be Working in a production team on The Wedding Singer and will Cover Unit 2 Production Arts Workshop and Unit 59 Assistant Stage Management, during this process I will be keeping a Logbook style Blog and will include what I did and what I learnt, it will contain Pictures and paperwork relevant to my Role and also have Research, Sketches, Diagrams, Plans and Photos etc.. attached. 

Instead of doing a Daily Account I will do the blog in Sections of a couple of weeks (as at the start we will only be working on the show for a small period of time each week) and include detailed accounts of what happened and what was constructed and how it everything came together etc..
I will also include as many links to websites, and upload documents and photos of the work that will go into this show and also try my best to log the whole process from start to finish.