158 A prActicAl guide to stAge lighting As the preliminary light plot approaches comple- tion, discussions take place about which shops to use, and preparations are made to submit the shop order. The lighting designer may be tempted to continue working on the paperwork and generate more docu- ments for the load-in. This is a really good time to take pause, and NOT work on any other elements of the paperwork packets until the plot has passed this demarcation line. If the quotes returned from all the shops are too high, it'll be necessary to completely chop the light plot in order for it to fall inside the budget's limits. As soon as that step is taken, any doc- uments created looking too far ahead will be seen as "jumping the gun." Those documents will all become contributions to the recycling pile, and the time spent constructing them will have to be repeated. Once the preliminary light plot has been distrib- uted for approval, producing the documents for the shop order is the next step in the process. While this is the first time that lighting rental shops will be dis- cussed in this text, they've been a topic of discussion that started back around the time the lighting designer's contract was signed. expense, always allow the producer the first opportu- nity to select who he or she wants to pay money to. Check with the producer or the management office to insure that for each new type of expenditure, they don't have a preferred vendor. If there is none, then the designer's free to contact his or her personal list of preferred vendors. But taking this pro-active stance avoids awkward (and possibly defining) moments when, after the bids have been awarded, the producer expresses disappointment because no one asked him or her about vendor preference. Sometimes defining vendor preference is as simple as inquiring if the producer has a special rental shop, or if the general manager has established accounts with specific perishable vendors. Either may welcome fresh applicants to the pool of potential shops. Inquiry may also reveal old bad blood between the producer and a particular shop. Finding out about that before- hand saves the embarrassment of innocently asking for a bid from the producer's bitter nemesis. Not asking for vendor preference is a potential mindfield; there's no telling which teeny, seemingly innocuous purchase may be the producer or gen- eral manager's personal white whale. Moving lights? Color? Fog juice? Paper color frames? When a new