Cues
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A cue is the trigger for an action to be carried out at a specific time. It is generally associated with theatre and the film industry. They can be necessary for a lighting change or effect, a sound effect, or some sort of stage or set movement/change.
Cues are generally called by the stage manager. The stage managers starts by giving a "standby" cue a few seconds to a minute before the cue, depending on the cue type (for a light board cue 10 seconds is enough since most boards only need one button to be pushed, while set cues require more time to prepare for). This is the time to get ready for the cue and to make sure everything is set. A standby cue is stated: "Standby cue 17, lights", "Warning cue 3, rail", or "Standby cue 27A, lights and sound."
The technician or technicians who are to take the cue generally respond with a thank you, eg. "Thank you lights."
The second cue is the "go" cue. This is the cue that tells the crew to carry out this cue. A go cue is stated: "Lights 17, Go" or "Set cue 3, Go".
Notice that for standby cues, the standby comes before the cue type and number, while for the go cues, the go comes at the end of the cue. This is because the person who carries out the cue waits for the word "go" to carry out the cue.
Many types of cues are not apparent to the stage manager, or are subtle. In this case the technician who executed the cue usually responds with a taken note; eg. "Rail cue 11 taken."
Cue lights are sometimes used for back stage cues when a headset for communications is impractical, such as when an actor needs to make an entrance, or if there is a cue needed on stage when the crew needs to be silent. The cue light is controlled by the stage manager using a switch the same way that (s)he would call audio cues over the headset.
