# Eavesdropping tales~



## MillburyAuditorium (Sep 23, 2009)

Hello everyone,


Okay, don't even tell me that all of you haven't at one point soloed a wireless mic before and listened in on the holders conversations before 

Any funny tales of what you heard? 

The most random thing I heard was two girls and a somewhat girly guy talking about cupcake recipes. xD


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## cprted (Sep 23, 2009)

I only do it for mic checks at the top of the acts. I really don't care what actors talk about in the dressing rooms. I also think its pretty unprofessional to listen to what actors assume are private conversations.


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## DaveySimps (Sep 23, 2009)

cprted said:


> I also think its pretty unprofessional to listen to what actors assume are private conversations.



I couldn't agree more. It also does not contribute to the trust that tech staff should have with actors. It is an issue of respect.

~Dave


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## rochem (Sep 24, 2009)

cprted said:


> I also think its pretty unprofessional to listen to what actors assume are private conversations.



I couldn't agree more with both of the above posts. As techs, we are frequently put into positions where other people don't normally find themselves: an actress doing a quick costume change right in front of you, being able to listen in on people's "private" conversations, being personally responsible for not dropping a set piece on your leading actor's head, the list goes on. As soon as we violate the trust actors have in us, we have lost the ability to work as efficiently as we once could. Imagine what would happen if some actors found out you were listening in on their conversations. Do you think they'd just never talk about anything private while wearing mics? No, they'd just turn off their mics briefly so they could talk in private, and then walk on stage 10 minutes later having totally forgotten to turn it back on. Not to mention that it's highly unprofessional and an extreme violation of privacy. 

In the course of normal duties (verifying a mic works when I'm getting strange readings, mic check), I have heard some very private and embarrassing things about some of my peers. But rather than laugh about it and tell everyone I know, I simply ignore it and move on. If you're doing sound so you can listen in on people's private conversations, it's time you find another hobby.


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## avkid (Sep 24, 2009)

MillburyAuditorium said:


> Okay, don't even tell me that all of you haven't at one point soloed a wireless mic before and listened in on the holders conversations before


I think it's fair to say that almost everyone has done this either by accident or on purpose.

Those of us with ethics respect the privacy of any parties involved and keep what we hear to ourselves.


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## NashvilleTechie (Sep 24, 2009)

I will admit that on occasion I've listened in on conversations intentionally, but with good reason. I work for a school, and the administration frequently feels the need to just not tell us about important details, so when we're doing an event and the higher-ups have their mics on, I'll pull them up and listen in if I see them talking to each other, just so I know what's actually going on during the event so they don't pull any surprises on us.

Other than that, I'll listen in enough to make sure that the pack has good enough signal strength and quality, but I don't really listen to what I'm hearing.


All that said, I did catch our senior vice president jokingly picking on a student he knew once. That's about it.


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## kiwitechgirl (Sep 24, 2009)

Listening in on people has one inevitable result: you will hear someone saying things about you - usually, nothing nice. As others have said, occasionally you will hear things not meant for your ears when you're checking mics; if you want to get anywhere in the world, learn to never mention it. And if you ever deliberately listen in on my watch, you can bet that it's a can of worms you don't want to open.


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## Eboy87 (Sep 24, 2009)

cprted said:


> I only do it for mic checks at the top of the acts. I really don't care what actors talk about in the dressing rooms. I also think its pretty unprofessional to listen to what actors assume are private conversations.



+1

and extraneous comment


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## 3dB (Sep 24, 2009)

MillburyAuditorium said:


> Any funny tales of what you heard?



Hmmmm. I think what Millbury meant was ... "what was the funniest or most embarrassing thing you've ever broadcast to the audience by accident?" Wasn't that what you meant ... Mill? 

Regards,
Mark


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## lighthouse (Sep 24, 2009)

3dB said:


> Hmmmm. I think what Millbury meant was ... "what was the funniest or most embarrassing thing you've ever broadcast to the audience by accident?" Was that what you meant, Mill?
> 
> Regards,
> Mark



You mean like when the bodypack was SUPPOSED to be on the actor who just entered, but it was still on the previous actor who is now flushing the toilet?

That's why I always listen long enough to recognize which actor is wearing a given mic at any time! (But I could care less what they say)


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## 3dB (Sep 24, 2009)

lighthouse said:


> ...That's why I always listen long enough to recognize which actor is wearing a given mic at any time! (But I could care less what they say)



Not the usage being inferred by the original post, I think...


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## lighthouse (Sep 24, 2009)

3dB said:


> Not the usage being inferred by the original post I think...



Agreed. There's a big difference between "eavesdropping" and "monitoring" (or whatever you want to call listening to make sure you don't screw up). Actors get reminded about "monitoring", especially if they are first-timers, but never repeat what you hear.


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## cprted (Sep 24, 2009)

3dB said:


> Hmmmm. I think what Millbury meant was ... "what was the funniest or most embarrassing thing you've ever broadcast to the audience by accident?" Wasn't that what you meant ... Mill?
> 
> Regards,
> Mark


Well in that case, I've got a good one ...

Cast your minds back to the mid 90s when cprted was still a young impressionable high-schooler. During the run of a show, Annie maybe (that I wasn't mixing), a mic got left on after an actor exited. Miraculously he stayed quiet until he hit the drama room/co-ed dressing room downstairs ...

Off-stage actor: "I see breasts!"
Next line in the play: "Dear God I hope so."

There were no monitors so the actors didn't hear the off stage line and couldn't figure out why the audience was in stitches.


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## 3dB (Sep 24, 2009)

I'll play...

The scene: Annual Children’s Play – Auditorium filled with elementary-aged kids accompanied by their respective teachers.
The talent: Student sound tech and jokester actress
The act: Student tech goes backstage to change out a bodypak battery – leaves mic channel ON - Tech swaps battery, turns bodypak ON and begins clipping bp onto actress’ waistline – I walk into rear-of-theater sound booth to check on tech – Actress' voice booms LOUD over mains (in the voice of her character, no less); “GET YOUR HANDS OUT OF MY PANTS!”

Instant silence ….

Initiate slow-motion sequence --- --- NOW!: I …. dive … for … fa-der. El-e-ment-a-ry … teach-ers … heads … spin … round … toward … booth … in … time … to … see … me … stand … up … be-hind … mix-er … prompt-ing … them… to … im-med-iat-ly … de-liv-er … look … of … death. They … want … to … kill … me. Is … my … ca-reer … over? … I … shrug … like … I … don’t … know … what … just … hap-pened. Teach-ers … dig-ging … in … purs-es … for … mace. Will … the … col-lege … be … sued???

Restore real-time motion --- --- NOW!: Student tech (oblivious of what has just happened) pops back into booth with big smile and says; “Hey, how’s it goin’! I got all the batteries swapped out and we’re good to go!!! … … … … …  ... ... ... ... ...


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## Eboy87 (Sep 24, 2009)

Ok, with the new topic, I've got one. It's the end of a scene at a Saturday matinee, and the scene ended unexpectedly about a page from where it should (read: they forgot a line. Several in fact). Lead actress exits while I'm trying to figure out what the hell is going on, and I miss the exit. The actress realized her mistake, and before I went to the next scene, she comes out with this gem, still at show level: "Oh f*** me in..." I hit recall next before she finished. Still, all the bluehairs were giving me the look of death. 

Lesson: If there's a screw up, watch the stage before you figure out what snapshot you should be in. 

Then there was the time an elderly actress grabbed the wrong bodypack, but that's probably a story best left for the bar.

Mods, feel free to delete if you think it's a little too risque.


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## rwhealey (Sep 24, 2009)

Eboy87 said:


> Ok, with the new topic, I've got one. It's the end of a scene at a Saturday matinee, and the scene ended unexpectedly about a page from where it should (read: they forgot a line. Several in fact). Lead actress exits while I'm trying to figure out what the hell is going on, and I miss the exit. The actress realized her mistake, and before I went to the next scene, she comes out with this gem, still at show level: "Oh f*** me in..." I hit recall next before she finished. Still, all the bluehairs were giving me the look of death.
> 
> Lesson: If there's a screw up, watch the stage before you figure out what snapshot you should be in.



Oh man, that happened to us once. Screw-up within the scene, actress leaves at an odd time, says "oh s___" after she gets off stage. I wasn't running the board, but the operator felt really bad. It wasn't really his fault, though... We (and the audience) laughed it off.

I've also gotten the toilet flushing- but that time I was on cue and the actress wasn't. She was supposed to come in with the mic hot, but was in the restroom. Fortunately, I think I was the only one who realized exactly what the sound was.

As to listening in, I pretend not to hear things I accidentally overhear. We had a tech once who really disliked the stage manager, so he set her monitor to prefade when somebody started talking bad about her. It wasn't a pretty fight...


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## epimetheus (Sep 24, 2009)

While I completely agree that it's very unprofessional to eavesdrop on somebody wearing a wireless mic, the person wearing the mic should be aware of the fact that they are wearing a mic. It's not like they don't know they're wired. The talent has a responsibility to maintain decorum just as the sound tech does. Should something go wrong, and the wrong mic go hot, it's a much better situation for the overall production if the conversation is benign.

Moral of the story, if I'm wearing a mic or near a mic, I'm sure as heck going to watch what I say. I don't think it's too much to ask for others to do the same.

Edit: My funny wireless mic story - while it didn't occur in a theater, several of my prof's in college used wireless lapels, and more than once they'd forget to turn them off before a restroom break. Quite hysterical for the class, and occasionally gross...


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## Eboy87 (Sep 24, 2009)

rwhealey said:


> We had a tech once who really disliked the stage manager, so he set her monitor to prefade when somebody started talking bad about her. It wasn't a pretty fight...



If it's at Keating, at least they don't have to sit next to each other. That would've been a long second act for whoever was on lights.


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## MillburyAuditorium (Sep 24, 2009)

Im sorry if I worded my post wrongly.

I don't mean I just sit there all evening listing to people talk. I just flip on a solo now and then to see if anything funny is going on, because it started when I was checking if people had the correct mics, because a lot of high school actors tend to think they can just take any beltpack and not listen to us. 
Of course I don't go tell the world, or anyone what I hear, and usually its just either, nothing, or someone asking for a prop. And its no more than say 5 seconds, not like I sit and listen to a 10 minute conversation.


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## rwhealey (Sep 25, 2009)

Eboy87 said:


> That would've been a long second act for whoever was on lights.




Yeah, but it almost came to fisticuffs at intermission 

These two shouldn't have been working together at all, but I guess everything worked out. At least all the cues were in the right spots. I was running lights once when the two got into it over Telex. The original conversation wasn't pretty, but I got to hear what the stage manager said _after_ she turned the talk button off on the headset. A bit awkward, to say the least...


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## MrsFooter (Sep 25, 2009)

MillburyAuditorium said:


> I just flip on a solo now and then to see if anything funny is going on



Uh-huh. Let me know what happens the first time you do that to an Equity actor.
If you ever hope to be a professional, you might want to start acting like one. Yesterday.


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## fredthe (Sep 25, 2009)

rwhealey said:


> Screw-up within the scene, actress leaves at an odd time, says "oh s___" after she gets off stage.


OK, not quite the same, but in college I spent too much of my time at the campus radio station. Not one of those low-power ones that only the dorms get, but a 10kW FM station. It was 3AM, and I decided to read some news (we were pretty free-format at that hour of the morning). Well, "Linda Ronstadt" came out as "Rinda Lonstadt." Realizing my mistake, I made the same comment as the actress above. Then, realizing what I'd just said over the air, I started to make *the same comment* again! After a few seconds of silence, killed my mic, and started the next record. Luckily, we didn't have many listeners at that hour of the morning.

-Fred


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## mstaylor (Sep 26, 2009)

We were doing a religious community theatre in a local HS. The school hired me as the board op and to oversee the hang and focus. We were in preshow of the opening show. Now it was a low budget operation and they were using Radio Shack wireless headsets and had a small child mic with a Realistic wireless. During move-in we tested the headsets and the mic but not both at the same time. It turns out they were the same frequency. Remember this was a religious show and the booth seems to be reverse soundproofed, everything said can be heard but you can't hear live. The SM was telling me that they had been skinnydipping at the hotel pool the night before. Halfway through the story I realize she is broadcasting through the PA. Not pretty but funny.


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## Anonymous067 (Sep 26, 2009)

I always warn my actors/actresses that they are subject to being listened to, not because people will, but because it is technically possible. It's also not unlikely for them to accidentally end up in a recording or backstage bus, so please be appropriate. Now, I have better %$#@ to do than eavesdrop on my talent, but I do occasionally listen to see if an actor is preset in the right place, or if they are ready etc etc. 

Once I heard an actor talking about me, and saying things that were kinda rude. I didn't think much of it, because it's true, I am a jerk. But I did mysteriously pop up in the dressing room and hear a few "oh he's here stop talking shhh".

With regards to the comment about the "I see breasts" post earlier...
It was opening night, and I'd been having wireless problems like CRAZY. I slapped a new bodypack on my lead actress before the show, and as it turned out, it was worse than the first one. Well, she had a huge wardrobe malfunction that night (we had a really bad opening night, not gonna lie), her entire dress fell apart basically. She ran off stage and her understudy was playing a background part at the time (she took over).

I go flying backstage to get a different bodypack to her. As I come flying around the corner to the backstage entrance...I barely get around the corner, and saw that her and the dresser hadn't fixed her bra yet...and I involuntarily had a view of the poor girls body. I immediately spun around so I couldn't see, and in no more than two seconds later she said "will its ok, you can come fix the mic now."

She later thanked me for my professionalism and maturity in the matter.


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## photoatdv (Sep 26, 2009)

The blackbox booth at my old hs was like that. You couldn't hear the actors screaming, but the audience could hear the techs whispering/laughing in the booth.

Soloing mics to hear the actors wise... I've never done it (other than for show reasons), but I once had an L2 that REALLY wanted to know what a group of actors were talking about (they were onstage whispering during a dress...). So I kinda wanted to know if there was an issue (it was pretty obvious/bad) and I REALLY wanted L2/op to stop pestering me, so I handed her my headphones and soloed their mics for her. Big mistake... they were just talking about food or something totally stupid, but L2 would not stop asking me for the headphones so she could eavesdrop for the rest of the show :-(... she eventually got replaced due to, uh, the fact that she couldn't run the show.

As far as the never speak near an open mic... I was doing strike at this TV studio, and was giving the crew chief crap about something he broke (I knew the people that would've tattled on him were out of earshot), next thing I know I'm getting a shut-up-don't-you-know-this-is-a-tv-studio. Opps... fortunately no one was listening/decided to tell. Worst part was I had been wondering all week why we'd all go outside to talk..... moral of that story is don't say anything in a TV studio you don't want overheard....

Being generally the only girl on the crew (and often the only student on the larger productions) I often got the job of getting the wireless mics on the girls... yeah fun times. Somehow the mics going to have to go (insert awkward place) doesn't always go over so well.


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## philhaney (Sep 26, 2009)

photoatdv said:


> Being generally the only girl on the crew (and often the only student on the larger productions) I often got the job of getting the wireless mics on the girls... yeah fun times. Somehow the mics going to have to go (insert awkward place) doesn't always go over so well.



I know what you mean. I'm the sound and light op for our church's children's Christmas musical each year. This always entails wiring up 10 to 12 chiuldren with body packs and mics. When akward placement issues arise, I just hand the mic to the girl and say, "This has to go up under your shirt and come out here." 

The only real problems I have are kids whose parents dress them with no belt or pocket to clip the body pack to.


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## photoatdv (Sep 27, 2009)

If you've never had the pleasure (not) of figuring out how to put a mic on a girl wearing a skin tight dress, who has to come running in, in a skit where the audience can't have noticed she had the mic on previously... be glad. There were really only very awkward places that fit the description... she did end up putting it on herself with me standing outside the bathroom telling her how to put it on.

On two other occasion I nearly ended up needing to be miced in a way that a person standing next to me wouldn't have noticed... one of which would have involved a costume change in the middle. Yeah, glad neither of those happened... I wasn't looking forward to how those would have had to go...


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## NickVon (Sep 27, 2009)

in a past run of "Sound of Music" there was a time where i let Leisel know that she needed to try and quite the kids before they made a particular entrances, as the enter and immediatly had lines. Trouble was I was not having enough time to punch in all their mics inbetween them chit chatting about school, and entering the stage. I'll usually pre cue mic's in headphones before turning them on especially with Children. The last thing you want is to broadcast non-stage talk over your system as well. After I told Leisel this and she passed it to the littlun's, all i heard during my pre cue of their mics is them teasing the Sound guy 

Cue mic in Headphones should be done proffesionally and never to listen in privately on convosations. I don't usually even cue adult actors before the enter but children are little bit larger wild cards


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## narc792 (Sep 27, 2009)

I'll PFL a mic before an actor comes on just to double check it, and occasionally that happens during a mic switch. I've gotten someone singing Brittney Spears (because I called the large obnoxious headset mics a Birttney Mic) and I've also gotten "Hmm this is gonna sound weird if Anthony(me) is listening."


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## Dionysus (Sep 29, 2009)

I of course also PFL wireless occasionally and agree that it is unprofessional to "eavesdrop" on the line. Before I start micing any cast, I arrange with the SM to sit down with the entire cast. I talk to them about the packs, whats up with them (how they will be put on them, who will be doing it, etc, along with telling them not to get them or the mics wet, to put on 'tophats' (I use heat-shrink to make little mic covers to protect them) when they touchup makeup and hair or not onstage for a long time, to make sure the tophats come off, etc), and tell them that they have to be conscientious about what is said backstage.
Generally something like "you should be careful what you say backstage anyways, you don't want to offend or put off others you are working with, but be extra careful around wireless. They could accidentally come on, and occasionally be listened in on among other things.". I am very clear up-front that they should not say ANYTHING that they do not wish EVERYONE to hear.
It's sometimes important to listen in on a mic if it has not come up for a while to make sure it is still functioning before it comes on the stage.
I also always say that they should make sure not to say things directly before coming on or off stage in-case a cue is early or late.

Of course sometimes you do hear interesting things accidentally, who is 'dating' who, etc. But this is not to repeated or used as gossip-fodder.
I remember once I had an actress show up late, so I could not do a proper mic-check with her. So as it was being strapped onto her, I PFLed it so I could make sure it was working. Heard a most interesting thing said, and immediatly stopped listening. A couple minutes later, when it was surely completely in-place I listened again for a check-see... Decided that she was getting a cold and adjusted her EQ, then stopped listening.

I've been to a few shows where mics did not get turned on/off in time to miss something being said... Most often a curse as the actor/actress finally got off the stage. I remember once at a show (I was an audience member) suddenly hearing "You're ON, get the %Y&# OUT THERE!" "OH %Y&^#&, SON OF A %(^#U" "Susshh, your mic is HOT!" "OH $^#$^".... Then the actress strolled onto the stage, face red as could be.


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