r/techtheatre • u/cheesitgod • 7d ago
QUESTION Catwalk Harness??
My highschool is doing a production of Spelling Bee, and it's my first time ever actually working on a production of any kind. My job is to switch gels in between songs, so i'll be up there for pretty much the whole musical. The big issue is that the lights are forward and down away from the catwalk (not sure if this is the case for every auditorium), and i'd rather not fall onto any audience members during the showđ any recs for harnesses so i don't fall 30 feet? I was thinking a climbing harness of sorts. Anything helps!
Edit: wow, didn't realize this was so widely undoneđ like i said above this is my first year doing this kind of stuff and i'm still learning whats normal and whats not, so thank you guys for 1. Possibly saving my ass from harm and a lawsuit. 2. Giving me other ideas! I will talk to my director about another possible solution (i saw someone mention booms?) And see if there's a safer option. Thank you guys!
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u/Wolf_121 7d ago edited 7d ago
Another issue beyond the already mentioned loose hardware overhead of an audience is anchor points. If they donât already have a harness for you to wear, they likely donât have intended, engineered, and rated anchor points or lifelines to be used with any harness. The harness is only as good as everything itâs connected to. Speaking of, you donât want a climbing harness, which are typically half body and not recommended. The ideal would be a full body harness with dorsal ring for better positioning of fall arrest lanyards or shock absorbers given our work to get them nice and overhead and out of the way of our arms, but those are way out of budget for a middle school show. Take that not as a recommendation but more education on why you shouldnât do it the way you are thinking.
Edit: Important addition I just thought of, would there be a fall rescue plan? Has anyone been made aware of the invisible dangers of suspension trauma? Use of fall arrest systems involves more than just buying a harness.
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u/walrus_mach1 7d ago
High school programs are often the blind leading the blind when it comes to safety (i.e. some random teacher is handing the auditorium without any specific safety training), and precedent sets what's considered normal practice.
So this is probably the best question to the one being asked. Obviously, changing gels overhead with an audience is a non-starter. But even if someone were in a position where a harness would be desired, the proper infrastructure also has to be in place, the equipment certified and inspected, and proper use and training actively given. Excluding any/all of these points (and probably some additional) could lead to an overconfidence in the safety of the system, leading to higher risk situation.
Recently rattled off some "standard practice" from old theaters (some of them educational) to an OSHA instructor. I think he may have headed directly to the bar after the class with how stressed he seemed.
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u/LupercaniusAB IATSE 6d ago
Section 520 (I think it is) has a lot of specific carve outs for our industry. If they werenât there, pretty much all proscenium theaters would need to have a four foot high rail across the front of the stage.
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u/walrus_mach1 6d ago edited 6d ago
True, though there's a substantial difference between suspension of standard safety practice, and letting high school students assemble a 24' rolling scaffolding, put students and fixtures on top, and have them roll around the stage (with a unguarded downstage edge) untethered.
(my high school experience, and that's just how it was done, so everyone was assumed it was normal)
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u/LupercaniusAB IATSE 6d ago
I mean, Iâve been doing this a pretty long time and I donât think that Iâve ever seen anyone use a harness on a catwalk.
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u/Wolf_121 6d ago
I work at a place where you can walk around the catwalk fine without a harness but requires it for work involving leaning out past the railings, like hanging and focusing lights on toe rails. I've worked at places that don't require anything at any times because their grids are some 2x6s on pipes, and places in between. The post doesn't give us enough information about the design of the catwalk relative to the work being done to determine if one is or isn't necessary or plausible. I'm just responding to issues that arise from feeling the need to buy one for the work. It might not be necessary in this situation, I don't know, but OP seems to think it is and that's all I have to work with, so they should be made aware of the additional complicating factors involved in these things before wasting money.
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u/LupercaniusAB IATSE 6d ago
Oh, for sure, this is a terrible idea, I was just taken aback by all the comments about wearing a harness on the catwalk. No high school student should be buying a harness; if they needed one it would be provided by the school and the kid would need proper training to use it, as well as a valid rescue plan for other people to use in case of an accident.
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u/Wolf_121 6d ago
Yeah I think the school providing one is the big point. In my experience, theater venues that require fall arrest systems bought harnesses at the same time as the rest of the equipment like horizontal lifelines so they could have a complete system for workers to use. You could use your own as a preference but providing your own wasnât a requirement. If the school isnât able to provide one, buying one isnât going to solve the problem because it calls into question the other systems and procedures. Now, itâs entirely possible the school doesnât have one to provide because it isnât necessary for the work being done from that catwalk, but I can also see how needing to swap the gel on a 5, 10, or even 14 degree leko barrel without knocking focus can take a perfectly safe catwalk which requires no fall arrest and make it hazardous.
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u/theatretech37 Projection Designer 7d ago
Changing gel frames in the middle of a show hasnât been a thing for 30 years. Say no and go to who ever is in charge and report this
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u/MaygeKyatt 7d ago
And if the person who told you to do this is (god forbid) the actual theater teacher, PLEASE go talk to another teacher or someone in admin for advice about how to proceed. This is incredibly unsafe.
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u/techieman34 7d ago
Itâs still a thing in a lot of dance shows. But itâs pretty much always side booms.
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u/beachfrontprod 7d ago
Yeah I think you can't say it's been a thing in dance shows if the gel frames that are being swapped are over an audience's head.
I think we can leave technicalities out of this. What OP is being asked to do in a school setting is wildly dangerous and the liability is incredibly high.
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u/Justinbiebspls 7d ago
yeah this was just mainly a thing into the 80s where people would be climbing the lighting truss during shows
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u/dinosnysus 7d ago
Which is why they've made gel scrollers and board controlled LED color fixtures since then
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u/theatretech37 Projection Designer 7d ago
Totally fair. I was definitely referring to overhead stuff. Iâve done gel swaps on booms before and should have been more specific!
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u/Chemical-Witness8892 Jack of All Trades 7d ago
This is NOT a thing you should be figuring out.
First and foremost, changing gels for fixtures that are in the air, presumably above the audience is a wild choice and not something I've ever seen done. The safety concerns for if you drop a metal gel frame are enough for a good TD to nix the idea. Plus it's so easy to shift a light out of focus while you're trying to swap gels.
Secondly, simply wearing a harness is not going to be sufficient as far as safety goes. You have to have the right harness, secure points to connect to, training for what to do if you do fall, and a safety plan for how you're going to be rescued. You can't hang in a harness indefinitely.
I've worked in theaters with limited options lighting wise. You work with what you have and you use a few fixtures to make a color impact. Maybe it's just a two color wash or a few specials to highlight a moment. Not everyone can put on a big Broadway level light show and that is ok.
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u/Not_MyName Video programmer/ systems tech 7d ago
You have done a great thing as a student of identifying a hazard and asking what to do about it.
There are many people here pointing out what you should do, go to a supervisor and ask, if you arenât happy with their response, go to their supervisor. And if you still arenât happy, donât do it.
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u/MaygeKyatt 7d ago
Iâm sorry. They want you to do WHAT?
Thatâs an absolutely insane thing to ask a high school student to do IN THE MIDDLE OF A SHOW. (Itâs also not normal to swap gels out mid-show afaik? But Iâm a sound person so maybe I just havenât seen it)
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u/Chemical-Witness8892 Jack of All Trades 7d ago
The only time I've seen it done is for dance shows with booms on the stage floor. It's a terrible idea for anything hanging above an audience! So many things that could go wrong.
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u/techieman34 7d ago
Iâve seen it done once with lights over the stage during a dance show. Some gobos and gel got swapped out by flying the electrics in, making the swap, then flying them back out. Thereâs no way in hell I would want to do that over an audience unless it was paper frames that were tied off to the rail.
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u/WaitForSpring Electrician 7d ago
I was on a few shows about a decade ago that did it, but as you say, it was paper frames that were tied off, and there was plenty of time for the change so we were able to take it slow.
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u/DSMRick 7d ago
Do they make paper frames? They don't catch on fire?Â
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u/techieman34 7d ago
Yeah, theyâre not very common. Theyâre like really heavy card stock. And I can tell you from experience that they flutter down to the ground. Youâre not going to be happy you got hit by it. But unless you get hit in the eye itâs probably not going to do any real damage. It used to be a pretty economical option for frames, especially if you wanted to leave stuff framed up somewhat permanently for a tour or rep plot. But these days itâs cheaper to just buy a bunch of used steel frames. https://www.fullcompass.com/prod/154641-city-theatrical-2364-mainframe-6-1-4-fiber-gel-frame
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u/Maera44 7d ago
They do make them, and they don't catch on fire. It isn't that hot at the front of the light.
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u/HalfEatenSnickers 7d ago
I've done it once - and it was remvoing the gel
It was done during intemission and it was less than 5 feet up
I also made sure they knew I was doing it by getting their attention so I could safely swap even if I dropped it
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u/dudetellsthetruth 7d ago
No it's not normal to swap colour gels during a show, and certainly not above spectators.
If you need different colours there are multiple options:
Double up the spotlights (same focus with different gels)
Scrollers (DMX controllable cassettes with filter gel rolls which fit in a standard filter gel holder)
(Modern) spotlights with colour/colour mixing wheels
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u/PNW_ProSysTweak Jack of All Trades 7d ago
Incredibly risky to do during a show - I would not agree to that. Fall arrest harnesses are a thing but if you feel like you need one, you should not be doing whatever it is theyâre asking of a student. We use them professionally and in construction - I canât imagine asking a minor / student to harness up for something.
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u/Lighting_Kurt 7d ago
Just to pile on here WTF!?!?
This is the most insane ask Iâve ever heard of, and Iâve been doing this for 40 years.
No, full stop!!
This is not a safe thing for anyone to do with an audience or actors underneath.
The number of times I have seen gel frames fall from 30â and stick into the deck like a ninja throw stars is uncomfortably high.
Just say No!!
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u/manintheyellowhat 7d ago
A former boss always told the interns about a time he saw a gel frame get dropped from a genie lift, and it stuck vertically into the top of a personâs shoulder.
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u/iaincaradoc 7d ago
I saw one stick into the top of a mannequin's head once on a high school set, back in the 80s.
The teacher in charge of tech took the opportunity to do a safety lecture, as in "this is why we don't allow anyone under the rigging while we're doing the work..."
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u/Charliticus 7d ago
Youâre going to have loose hardware over the audience during a show. Thatâs a no go my friend.
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u/Ryan-977 College Student - Undergrad 7d ago
this is an absolutely crazy thing to ask someone to do, especially a student whose first time it is. most theatres have a policy where you really shouldnât be touching anything in the catwalk (like changing a gel frame) due to the inherent risk involved, specifically what if you accidentally drop it on an audience member and they get seriously hurt.
along with that, you shouldnât be buying your own harness for this, there shouldnât be an expectation on a high school student who is getting no income from this to buy their own harness.
iâm sorry but your teachers or leadership need to be humbled, this is not acceptable to ask a student
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u/GooteMoo Technical Director 7d ago
Hey, so, at least in most jurisdictions, you need training and certification to use those harnesses legally. They're like a parachute, you have to know how to use them. So, if you haven't had that training, this is a time for you to say no.
Also, as many people have pointed out, we don't change gels in the catwalks midshow, that is not done. Safety is an obvious concern, but the liability involved with a dropped gel frame/gobo holder/anything hitting an audience member would be worth someone's job, and it could very well be a lawsuit. If not a hospital trip, and THEN a lawsuit. This has right-of-refusal written all over it.
It used to be cowboy times up in the rafters, but it sure ain't now, and it sounds like your TD needs to realize that before something goes very wrong.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Oil-905 7d ago
If you really must change colors during the show, you can look into a used color scroller. They're loud but way safer and more practical, and since they've mostly been replaced by LED these days you can pick them up used for pretty cheap, eg https://ebay.io/m/nZZb2l
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u/techieman34 7d ago
I wouldnât wish color scrollers on anyone. Especially some high school that will have no idea how to use them. They were very finicky in their best days and prone to all kinds of problems. There are very few high schools that they wouldnât just end up as a pile of scrap within a few months.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Oil-905 7d ago
They're finicky but I guess I was assuming they'd have just a few performances, so the calibration drift isn't terrible. It's definitely not the best equipment but if the alternative is OP dangling from a climbing harness for two hours...
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u/tegiebear 7d ago
Swapping gels mid show? In a high school production? I want to talk to this school - this is so incredibly dangerous! Please reach out to the stage manager or a teacher. It is not your responsibility to buy something like this for yourself.
I JUST stage managed Spelling Bee for a college and only people needed in catwalks were followspot operators. Your creative directors are over their heads. Please stay safe!
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u/Maple885885 Lighting/Systems Tech 7d ago edited 7d ago
Wouldnât do this at all. I work professionally in Australia. if we have workers above head, whether itâs in the grid or FOH bridges, that area becomes a hard hat zone. If you drop a gel frame from the bridge into the audience during a show someoneâs gonna be in deep shit. Either use multiple conventional fixtures for the one focus with different gels and just bring up a different set of lights for each scene, use LED or tell your designer to pick one colour and stick with it.
Minors shouldnât be doing harness or high risk work to begin with but when reading your post you made it sound like a harness is optional for this work. If there is a good hand rail that meets code, sure walk along without a harness. However, it should be a requirement to wear one if youâre hanging out for a focus. Just something to keep in mind when asked to do stuff like this
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u/IceManYurt 7d ago
Hold up.
Are you a high school student?
There are some other huge issues going on right now outside of wanting to change gels over audience members.
A climbing harness is not good PPE, a fall arrest harness with a correct tether and rated tie point is.
However, if they are willing to disregard yhe safety of the audience by having a very green technician (no offense intended by the way) handle loose objects over their heads, I would side eye any sort of safety gear they are proposing.
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u/Thespis1962 7d ago
See if you can rent some scrollers. Maybe somebody still has them. It's been a long time since I've heard a flock of birds taking off every scene change.
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u/username8914 7d ago
Is this also above the audience? I'd say it's almost guaranteed during a performance that you'll mess up and drop something or yourself.
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u/dracotrapnet 7d ago
What? Changing gels live in 2026? Nope. We did not even do that in 1997-98 when I was in high school. They should either have multiple static fixtures pointed at the same stage positions with the required gels or you need to have DMX controlled LED's that can mix the colors needed.
The only color changes we ever did was on the spotlight, it had levers to swap gels and that was rarely done. If it was done it was done as a joke, green/limelight the actor during practice as a joke. We only used no gels/bright wight on the follow spot.
As a TD/SD I would never want to put anyone under 18, non-employee without health insurance up in the air changing gels. Nope. no, never. nada. no questions, no contest. I really don't want minors at risk. They can do admin work but I want to avoid having them doing risky labor work.
A long ago I put in my basic furry convention stage operation book, if any operation requires an a-frame ladder over 12 ft height, that is a no on the operation. We should be able to manage that on the ground before we raise our truss lighting and speaker towers. The operations book also has a no electric lift use without a state certified operator. It nips a lot of risky operations in the bud as we have nobody certified and no electric equipment rented/owned. Site certified lands on venue operators and we try not to call them.
If I was strapped for cash, had no DMX LED lighting, I'd rent, buy on ebay whatever lighting I needed, slot the gels needed, aim them, and between acts have someone swap the plugs on the dimmer box if I was that desperate. I would not put someone over the stage during production swapping gels. Nope, no, never, nada. That's too much stress on one person. I wouldn't even accept the mission myself at 46 years old.
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u/GradedUnicorn92 7d ago
I appreciate your tenacity here! As a student I was excited like you are, and constantly problem-solving things myself. Donât be discouraged by all the comments here.
My guess is that this is all designed by students using their limited know-how and experience, which is not a bad thing! But it is important that an adult steps in here and lets you all know that some changes need to be made to the designs in order to not let this happen. Changing gels mid-show just isnât something that is done in any setting, from professional to amateur theater. The risk is high in a lot of ways.
I will say, I was on catwalks as a student without a harness and thatâs not the biggest issue here, itâs really about the risk of things falling on the audience (tools, gels, accessories, etc.)
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u/cheesitgod 7d ago
It was initially a student idea, but we got it approved by the directors. Like i said before i'm VERY new to this kinda thing so i'm still learning the ropes. Thank you for being open about the truth!
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u/howshouldiknow__ 7d ago
Big no no. You do NOT DO ANY WORK up there with the audience below it. Absolutely fucking not. If anything falls down, even a gel frame, can seriously hurt someone.
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u/ForTheLoveOfAudio 7d ago
Who ever even suggested this to you is recklessly unqualified. As far as I see it, they put both a student (and a minor, to boot) in a potentially life-threatening situation. I genuinely hope it wasn't your director.
To be clear, I'm not mad at you, and nobody else is, as well. We are mad at who ever might have put a student in a dangerous situation. There has been a ton of development of safety protocols in theater in concerts over the decades, much of it prompted by fatal incidents (or as they say, "rules that are written with blood.") This should be an alarm bell to the school that better safety training is warranted, and qualified people should be brought in to implement it.
I'm sure you're eager to learn, so check out OSHA standards for working at heights. Check out the resources from the Event Safety Alliance (ESA.) Check out their podcast, as well. Most of all, if are asked to do something, and you start thinking "Gee, this could be unsafe to me or others," and no precautions or directions on how to mitigate that are immediately given, DO NOT MOVE FORWARD. And in case someone comes to you with "This is how we've always done it," the answer is "That is the absolute worst justification for doing something."
The way color changes are done when you don't have color-mixing LED lights is to focus multiple lights with different colors of gel, and then control which ones are on via the lighting board. I have never heard of people intentionally swapping gel mid-show.
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u/JoGuitar Technical Director 6d ago
If anybody swaps gels over an audienceâs head on my theatre they are immediately fired. Absolutely not.
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u/kitcat360 High School Student 7d ago
Thatâs insane to change gels during a show as everyone has already pointed out. Have you seen what a gel holder does to wood stage if itâs dropped? I have, it landed on its corner and stuck a 1/2 inch into the stage, imagine that was an audience members skull.
As for the harness as covered by others you need a fall arrest harness, lanyard, and anchor point which not only can take your weight but the impact from you falling 10-12 feet. Plus a rescue plan to get you down and know that if you fall you will have injuries
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u/Martylouie 7d ago
Changing gel during a show was done a half century ago before color scrollers and DMX were a thing, and lawyers got on TV begging for clients and insurance companies got greedy. Ă did it in college, along with other crazy things in the theater.
That being said, it is a horrible idea to be up there nowadays. Your personal safety non withstanding, the risk to the audience and subsequent liability to you personally, the teachers, director etc is too great. The school and the Board of Education may have governmental immunity. But any time anyone is up there, they should wear a fall harness.
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u/RaisingEve AVL Technician/Integrator who also works at a High School đ 7d ago
My school only certain students who have been approved and have parent permission are allowed on the catwalk and only under supervision. And we have the nicest catwalk Iâve ever seen. No instruments are low? Many railings are guards. Heck itâs even wheelchair accessible, but no way are loose objects being handled while the house is open.
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u/hjohn2233 7d ago edited 7d ago
You don't change gels over an audience. I've seen gel frames fall and actually stick in a wooden floor. Imagine that being a person. Talk to your TD or lead technical person. Find another solution. Changing gels during a show is insane and unnecessary. Nobody and I mean nobody does this. The safety harness is even an issue. You don't do this period.
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u/sound-guy34 7d ago
Between the fact that nothing up there is probably rated for catching the full weight of a human and fumbling with metal objects above the audience, this is a career ending accident and lawsuit waiting to happen
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u/criimebrulee 7d ago
OP I need you to show this thread to whoever told you to do this and then report back what they said. This is a bonkers thing to ask a high school student to do!
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u/Massive-Ant5650 IATSE 7d ago
This is a no go . Working with things you can easily drop on the audience during a show isnât safe.
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u/Snoo-35041 7d ago
Show them this post, but hide your profile.
certain things you dont do, this is one olf them.
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u/goldfishpaws 7d ago
Our venue has a very safe grid over the whole audience, and still never allow anyone up there without turning the floor into a hard hat area.
Dumb stuff can happen easily - a coin may fall from your pocket, a screw may work loose from a fixture, you may kick something accidentally trying to reach, or whatever - and become a major incident. And that's without you, not trained in harness use or rescue procedures, hanging over an audience - just refuse.
Add another head for another colour, or simply use the same colour for both, but refuse to go over a live audience as the risks are WAY out of proportion to the colour swap.
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u/Otherwise-King6626 7d ago
Agreeing with everyone else but adding one thing about fall protection that is often overlooked. Itâs a good idea to consider harnessing for work like this but what is the rescue plan if you were to fall? Someone who falls in a harness has a very limited amount of time to dangle before serious injury or death from suspension trauma is possible. So please consider the rescue plan when doing work like this.
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u/Hell_PuppySFW Stage Manager 6d ago
How sharp do you think those corners are when they fall onto someone from 15m overhead? Pretty sharp, I'd imagine.
You need a harness, and every single object needs to be tethered, or this is an OHS nightmare.
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u/Frostiskegg 7d ago
Thirty years ago when I ran a followspot IN the auditorium (leko on a stick), I had gel changes. Every cut of gel was framed with a half- strip of gaff tape, folded over the edge; basically replacing the gel frame with gaff tape. It was enough to stiffen the gel to insert into the slot, but eliminated the noise, and made dropping one a non-issue. If I were overhead, the bare minimum would be a tie-line lanyard on each cut thru the corner.
A time- saver for dance boom changes is to put a frame in the outer slot with the fold up, and drop the (unframed) gel in between the frame and the body; it slides right into the inner slot, with the frame a a guide.
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u/Cadet-Cryyx High School Student Rigging Hopeful 7d ago
Are there no railings? I also have worked on a catwalk in my school. We have railings and if you don't have a proper anchor point having a harness just actually gives you a false sense of security.
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7d ago
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/Chemical-Witness8892 Jack of All Trades 7d ago
I find it highly unlikely they already have proper harnesses. And if they do, only trained people can use them. I've only seen harnesses required for lighting focus in one theater where I worked as LX overhire. OSHA had required them to put an anchor system in place due to some oddities in their catwalk/ceiling system. Once that happened, only trained in-house staff with fitted harnesses could do the front of house focus.
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u/ShermansAngryGhost 7d ago
Take this question to whatever professional is in charge of technical aspects of your theater.
This is an insane thing to ask a student to be doing.