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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.