1. These are the cue sheets that I made and used whilst I was operating the lighting
desk for the Winter Showcase. The performance I was operating for was called “I
Wanted To Kill”. Cue sheets are used as a clear way of seeing when your next
cue to change the lighting state on stage is, and what you’re changing it to. The
cue numbers at the side are useful because if you miss a cue, you know which
one to go back to on the lighting desk. The fade time means how long the period
of time is before one lighting state changes to the next – it could take a few
seconds or it could be a snap, which is instant. The description is simply a brief
description of what that cue is, for example cue 127 snaps to a general wash
when the music starts.

2. This is a photo of me operating the lighting
desk. It was important that I kept my cue
sheets in front of me for the entirety of the
performance so that I knew exactly when
my next cue was. In the technical runs, I
had to discuss with the lighting designer
what his vision was and programme the
desired lighting states into the desk. I
programmed the specific light and what
percentage power it required. The lower the
percentage, the dimmer the light. There was
one point in the performance where myself
and the sound operator had to work
together to get the timing perfect, this was
right at the start of the show when the music
started at the same time as the lights came
up.

3. This is the screen when I began transferring the
sound files over to Qlab. I then began putting them in
order of occurrence, and then started to set the
levels using the bars at the bottom of the screen until
the desired level was reached.

5. The arrow points to where I have made notes for
myself so that I know what the cue is. This could
be a line that an actor says, a lighting state or
anything that makes you remember your cue.

6. This arrows shows where the intro music had to be
cut because the actors wanted it to start in a
specific place. I edited the music so that it played at
the right time for the right amount of time. You can
alter the speed at which the next cue comes in by
clicking on the fade button and choosing how fast
you want it to happen (in seconds).

7. Here, the red cross next to the cue means that there is
a problem. In this case the music wouldn’t play, so
because it was a fade-down cue I had to make sure the
levels at the bottom of the screen were fully down.
After all the cues are entered correctly and the show
begins, all that needs to be done is to press “GO” in the
top left corner to start the first cue running. Then the
cues will run accordingly to how you’ve programmed
them, all you need to do to move to the next one is
press the space bar.