Rigger (entertainment)

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A rigger is one who works on ropes, booms, lifts, hoists and the like for a stage production, film, or television show.

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The term "rigger" originally referred to a person who attended to the rigging of a sailing ship. In the age of sail, trading followed seasonal patterns with ships leaving port at set times of the year to make the most of winds. When not at sea sailors would seek employment ashore. Their skill with ropes and booms found use in the theatre. [1]

The original canvas backdrops used in the theatre moved with ropes and pulleys, being developed from techniques used for sails. It is from these roots that modern fly systems emerged. This also gave rise to the tradition in British theatres of never whistling on stage as the riggers would use the same whistled instructions on stage as they did aboard ship. A misplaced whistle could be taken as an instruction to the riggers to change the set. [2]

The term rigger is still used for people backstage in theatres, the road crew for a live concert, conventions and trade shows, and by extension to similar jobs such as those who are responsible for fastening chain motors (like CM Lodestar, EXE Rise, Chainmaster) by wire rope to the structural steel of a building. [3]

With the birth of the film industry, just as stage actors adapted their techniques to the new medium so did those back stage. The complexity of the new environment giving rise to specializations such as those in the film industry who rig scaffolding for film sets and camera rigs; also termed as a standby rigger if they are on site and 'on call' all of the time. [4]

Wire riggers

In the theater and film industry, a wire rigger is a worker in the special effects/stunts film crew who "flies" actors. They are responsible for rigging special harnesses to attached wires which in turn are run through a series of "blocks" (pulleys) to a control area where a wire rigger raises, lowers or traverses an actor wearing the harness. Wire riggers also rig up rails along which travels a "skate" from which the wire is attached. Many plays and feature films (e.g. Peter Pan, Harry Potter, Superman) use this technique. [5]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rigging</span> Ropes, cables and chains which support masts of sailing ships

Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support a sailing ship or sail boat's masts—standing rigging, including shrouds and stays—and which adjust the position of the vessel's sails and spars to which they are attached—the running rigging, including halyards, braces, sheets and vangs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sailing ship</span> Large wind-powered water vessel

A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships carry square sails on each mast—the brig and full-rigged ship, said to be "ship-rigged" when there are three or more masts. Others carry only fore-and-aft sails on each mast, for instance some schooners. Still others employ a combination of square and fore-and-aft sails, including the barque, barquentine, and brigantine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jibe</span> Basic sailing maneuver, where ship turns its stern through the wind

A jibe (US) or gybe (Britain) is a sailing maneuver whereby a sailing vessel reaching downwind turns its stern through the wind, which then exerts its force from the opposite side of the vessel. Because the mainsail boom can swing across the cockpit quickly, jibes are potentially dangerous to person and rigging compared to tacking. Therefore accidental jibes are to be avoided while the proper technique must be applied so as to control the maneuver. For square-rigged ships, this maneuver is called wearing ship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Running rigging</span> Lines that control sails

Running rigging is the rigging of a sailing vessel that is used for raising, lowering, shaping and controlling the sails on a sailing vessel—as opposed to the standing rigging, which supports the mast and bowsprit. Running rigging varies between vessels that are rigged fore and aft and those that are square-rigged.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yard (sailing)</span> Sail-carrying part of the rigging of a sailing ship

A yard is a spar on a mast from which sails are set. It may be constructed of timber or steel or from more modern materials such as aluminium or carbon fibre. Although some types of fore and aft rigs have yards, the term is usually used to describe the horizontal spars used on square rigged sails. In addition, for some decades after square sails were generally dispensed with, some yards were retained for deploying wireless (radio) aerials and signal flags.

This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water. Some remain current, while many date from the 17th to 19th centuries. The word nautical derives from the Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos, from nautēs: "sailor", from naus: "ship".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bermuda rig</span> Configuration of mast and rigging for a type of sailboat

A Bermuda rig, Bermudian rig, or Marconi rig is a configuration of mast and rigging for a type of sailboat and is the typical configuration for most modern sailboats. This configuration was developed in Bermuda in the 1600s; the term Marconi, a reference to the inventor of the radio, Guglielmo Marconi, became associated with this configuration in the early 1900s because the wires that stabilize the mast of a Bermuda rig reminded observers of the wires on early radio masts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Full-rigged ship</span> Sailing vessel with three or more square-rigged masts

A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel with a sail plan of three or more masts, all of them square-rigged. Such a vessel is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged, with each mast stepped in three segments: lower, top, and topgallant.

Rigging may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derrick</span> Lifting device

A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower, and a boom hinged at its base to provide articulation, as in a stiffleg derrick. The most basic type of derrick is controlled by three or four lines connected to the top of the mast, which allow it both to move laterally and cant up and down. To lift a load, a separate line runs up and over the mast with a hook on its free end, as with a crane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spritsail</span>

The spritsail is a four-sided, fore-and-aft sail that is supported at its highest points by the mast and a diagonally running spar known as the sprit. The foot of the sail can be stretched by a boom or held loose-footed just by its sheets. A spritsail has four corners: the throat, peak, clew, and tack. The Spritsail can also be used to describe a rig that uses a spritsail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fly system</span> System of rope lines, blocks, counterweights and related devices within a theater

A fly system, or theatrical rigging system, is a system of ropes, blocks (pulleys), counterweights and related devices within a theater that enables a stage crew to fly (hoist) quickly, quietly and safely components such as curtains, lights, scenery, stage effects and, sometimes, people. Systems are typically designed to fly components between clear view of the audience and out of view, into the large opening, known as the fly loft, above the stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brace (sailing)</span>

A brace on a square-rigged ship is a rope (line) used to rotate a yard around the mast, to allow the ship to sail at different angles to the wind. Braces are always used in pairs, one at each end of a yard (yardarm), termed port brace and starboard brace of a given yard or sail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rigger (industry)</span> Worker in lifting, landing and assembly of large or heavy objects

A rigger or slinger is a skilled tradesperson who specializes in the assistance of manual mechanical advantage device comprising pulley, block and tackle or motorised such as a crane or derrick or chain hoists or capstan winch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junk rig</span> Type of sail rig used in the Junk ships of dynastic China

The junk rig, also known as the Chinese lugsail, Chinese balanced lug sail, or sampan rig, is a type of sail rig in which rigid members, called battens, span the full width of the sail and extend the sail forward of the mast.

A theatrical technician, also known as a theatrical tech, theatre technician, or theatre tech is a person who operates technical equipment and systems in the performing arts and entertainment industry. In contrast to performers, this broad category contains all "unseen" theatrical personnel who practice stagecraft and are responsible for the logistic and production-related aspects of a performance including designers, operators, and supervisors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rigging (material handling)</span> Equipment and procedure in material handling

Rigging is both a noun, the equipment, and verb, the action of designing and installing the equipment, in the preparation to move objects. A team of riggers design and install the lifting or rolling equipment needed to raise, roll, slide or lift objects such as with a crane, hoist or block and tackle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dismasting</span>

Dismasting, also spelled demasting, occurs to a sailing ship when one or more of the masts responsible for hoisting the sails that propel the vessel breaks. Dismasting usually occurs as the result of high winds during a storm acting upon masts, sails, rigging, and spars. Over compression of the mast owing to tightening the rigger too much and g-forces as a consequence of wave action and the boat swinging back and forth can also be result in a dismasting. Dismasting does not necessarily impair the vessel's ability to stay afloat, but rather its ability to move under sail power. Frequently, the hull of the vessel remains intact, upright and seaworthy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bolt rope</span>

A bolt rope, is the rope that is sewn at the edges of the sail to reinforce them, or to fix the sail into a groove in the boom or in the mast.

This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water. Some remain current, while many date from the 17th to 19th centuries. The word nautical derives from the Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos, from nautēs: "sailor", from naus: "ship".

References

wordpress.com, Production Team & Crew Glossary