5 Stagehands; 1 Stage Crew Introduction In the theater industry, stagehands set up platforms to expand a theater's stage space.

The attached video transcript records how a crew of five stagehands sets up one platform extension at the UC San Diego Mandeville Auditorium. In the transcript, there are two stagehands (R and A) on the stage and three stagehands (N, K and D) at a lower, ground level. The analysis is separated into three phases of the activity: moving the platform from the platform cart, receiving support from the stagehands at ground level, and installing the platform. Utilizing the semiotic resources of body orientations, body postures, body movements, gestures, and eye gazes as means of nonverbal communication (Hutchins and Palen, 1997), the stage crew expertly coordinates their activity to set up one platform in less than thirty seconds. Phase I: Moving the Platform from the Platform Cart In the first phase of the activity, the two stagehands on the stage, R and A, utilize their body orientations, movements and postures to coordinate their actions. The phase begins with R and A facing each other with a platform between them (20:94). By orienting their bodies towards each other, the stagehands establish a setting that enables visual access to their partners actions. A then continues by leaning forward into a pushing posture. This is illustrated by the line that outlines her back, which is not as steep as the one in the previous frame, indicating that she is leaning forward (21:22). Before A completes her pushing posture, R has already begun to lean forward (21:33). This suggests that R perceives A's initial movement and predicts that A is going into a pushing posture; in response, she leans forward to coordinate her own actions with A to move the platform. Although A maintains her pushing posture, the platform remains stationary (21:45-22:08). This indicates that A has either started pushing but is physically incapable of moving the platform alone or she is using her pushing posture to indicate to R that she is ready to move the platform. In either case, A's pushing posture is a form of nonverbal communication to R, which leads R into perceiving that she is expected to pull. This expectation is fulfilled when the platform moves towards R (22:69), indicating that R has begun pulling. Phase II: Receiving Support from the Stagehands at Ground Level In the second phase of the activity, the stagehands employ the semiotic resources of body movements and gestures to nonverbally converse with each other. By moving her left hand rightward, A communicates her intention to pass the other end of the platform to K (26:10). This is evident when A completely shifts her hands rightward, causing the platform to slant towards K (27:45). By then, K has begun to raise her right hand, signifying that she acknowledges As intention and that she is ready to receive the platform. Upon seeing Ks gesture (27:45), A moves to the side of the platform and hands off the end of the platform to K, who receives it, thus completing their communicated action (27:64). By merely moving her hand, A reveals her intention to K, who responds with a simple hand gesture.

During this phase of the activity, D also communicates her intention to the stage crew by lifting her left hand as the platform approaches her (30:52-31:02). This gesture projects the thought that she will support the platform corner. When the platform is within her reach, D expresses her previous intention by holding onto, and as a result, supports the corner that is opposite of As (32:14). Through body movements and gestures, the crew nonverbally communicates their intentions and acknowledgements to each other. Phase III: Installing the Platform In the final phase of the activity, all five stagehands repeatedly exercise the semiotic resource of gaze to divide cognitive responsibilities and to cross check each other, in effect finalizing the platform installation. The phase begins with R gazing at her left corner of the platform (33:18), then at her right corner of the platform (35:50). During the same period, A gazes down at her corner of the platform on the opposing end while D gazes at the other corner of the same end. The three stagehands' gazes convey a division of cognitive responsibilities, with the three stagehands focused on their respective corners of the platform during the same temporal period. After R drops her end of the platform (35:76), A gazes at R's end (36:37), then stands up (36:95-36:95) and leaves the area (37:58-39:47). Here, A employs her gaze to check R's side to ensure the platform is positioned correctly. Her act of leaving suggests that she did not perceive any problems with that end. Subsequently, N begins to gaze at her corner (37:58), and continues to attend to it as evident in her interaction with the area (37:58-40:30). R and As perception of the platform is constrained to the top view since they are on the stage and above the platform; however, Ns position from the side of the platform allows her gaze to complement their gazes. In this regard, even though A has already checked Rs side, Ns gaze offers a different perspective that ensures the platform is installed correctly. K further cross checks the other stagehands by gazing at N's corner (39:47), then at D's end (40:30), before crawling out from under the platform (41:20). Ks position allows her to see both N and Ds corners from the side view as she is below the platform. Consequently, K's alternate view of the platform enables her gaze to complement R and A's incomplete gazes and to reinforce N and Ds gazes. By crawling out without further actions, she confirms that the two sides of the platform are correctly positioned from her perspective. As a result, through their eye gazes, the stagehands are able to divide their cognitive responsibilities on different aspects of the platform and then cross check each other's results from different perspectives. Conclusion To conclude, the Mandeville stage crew utilizes multiple semiotic resources to coordinate their activity to set up a platform extension. These resources are a form of nonverbal communication that expresses each stagehands intentions and acknowledgements to one another. Moreover, these resources allow the stagehands to divide their cognitive responsibilities and to cross check each other to ensure a successful installation of a platform extension.