Staging Comes Alive at Grammy Awards

Transcription

Mar. 2006
Photo courtesy of American Hi Definition, Inc.
Staging Comes Alive at Grammy Awards
“We built the entire piano shell from metal work
to hold V9 frames, and then we had the wooden
trim lacquer-painted at an auto body shop,” said
Fairorth. “It couldn’t look shitty to Paul McCartney; it
had to look beautiful to him.” The upright was built
in less than a week and tested on-site by Nocturne
video techs.
In the entire broadcast, a total of 18 Christie projectors were supplied by Christie through American
Hi Definition, Inc. Eight Christie Roadster S+16K
projectors were double-stacked on four connected
screens for the center stage 75 foot-long (23m), 180°
circular screen to create one continuous panoramic
image. Another 10 Christie projectors were projected
from underneath the special floor of the main stage
to allow performers walk on the images. The multiple
images were integrated using the Christie Twist Pro
image warping and edge-blending solution.
For more on the Grammy Awards and a photo of
that piano, see Projection Connection.
CM Hoist Produces
Millionth Lodestar
DAMASCUS, VA—In 1955, the
first CM Lodestar rolled off the assembly line. CM Hoist of Damascus,
Va., recently celebrated the production of the millionth Lodestar
electric chain hoist.
A CM Industrial distributor,
Teamsesco of Charlotte, N.C., was
recognized for the purchase of
the millionth Lodestar. Currently
owned by Greg and Trey Smith,
Teamsesco was founded in 1913,
and the Smith family—now representing four generations—has
been involved since 1918. The
company first began distributing
with Budgit hoists (a Columbus
McKinnon brand) in the 1950s.
Then, in the 1970s, they became a
continued on page 55
A.C.T. Lighting to
Distribute Brother,
Brother & Sons
LOS ANGELES, CA—A.C.T
Lighting, Inc. is representing the
Brother, Brother & Sons (BBS) line
of products in the United States
and Canada. Denmark-based
BBS is a design and productdevelopment company working
in the professional lighting and
entertainment arenas. It currently
makes a line of yokes for large
video projectors and long-distance
profile spots as well as the EvenLED
system for evenly-lit backdrops.
Bob Gordon, president and
CEO of A.C.T. Lighting, stated, “The
team at Brother, Brother & Sons are
some of the most creative folks I’ve
ever met. They work in a house in
Copenhagen that was once used
40
Vital Statistics
ETC celebrates 30 years.
44
XX Winter
Olympic Games
The massive undertaking that is the Opening
and Closing Ceremonies.
48
Delirium
The new touring show
from Cirque du Soleil.
Ad info: www.plsn.com/rsc
LOS ANGELES, CA—When Sir Paul McCartney
took the stage at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards,
broadcast live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, his upright piano made a statement about the
production values of the show. It was completely
encased in hi-res Vidicon V9 Saco Technologies
video tiles, the content of which matched the rest
of the set.
Tait Towers of Lititz, Pa., built the physical structure of the piano around a wooden shell, giving the
piano its shape. The lightweight aluminum frame
was then covered with the 9mm pixel pitch LED
tiles, which were supplied by Nocturne Video.
Roy Bennett, McCartney’s lighting designer and
the set designer for his Grammy appearance, is
credited with coming up with the idea. According
to James “Winky” Fairorth of Tait Towers, McCartney
had used a “magic piano” with scenic painting in a
previous show. So Bennett took it to the next level
by creating a design for a piano with virtual scenery.
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TABLEOFCONTENTS
What’s New
FEATURES
18 Inside Theatre
A handful of actors and a plethora of
pixels is all that’s needed to transport
the audience down the track of Johnny
Cash’s life in Ring of Fire.
20 Production Profile
What happens when an award-winning
designer works with the award-winning
Keith Urban? They “make a show.”
44 By the Numbers
22 LD Dan “Malibu” Krygowski
Malibu Ken has grown into a rock ‘n’ roll LD.
46 The Madness of Middle America’s
Regional Theatre
48 Cirque du Soleil: Live Without a Net
For Delirium, Cirque’s first arena
touring show, they turned to touring
professionals.
This new PC-based DMX controller
with the little price tag offers some big
features, like pixel mapping.
39 The Biz
If the IRS thinks you’re an employee, but
you think you’re a contractor, who’s right?
IGBT dimming: The new technology
that’s transforming the dimming
landscape.
52 Product Spotlight
New features and plans are evolving in
the production suite known as WYSIWYG.
53 Focus on Design
When will LEDs move from the back
wall to the Front of House truss?
56 LD at Large
What’s in a job title? Not nearly as much
as the job entails.
DEPARTMENTS
04 Editor’s Note
05 News
05 Letters to the Editor
09 Event Calendar
11 On the Move
12 International News
14 New Products
16 Showtime
31 Projection Connection
40 Vital Statistics
41 Welcome to My Nightmare
30 Feeding the Machines
Six minutes is all that’s allowed to stage one of the highest
profile shows of the year.
38 Road Test
COLUMNS
New book on automated lighting due
out in August.
26
The proverbial ounce of prevention and
how to concoct it, as told by Mark Haney.
42 Product Gallery
Four programmers working with 150
trucks of gear, 900 automated lights,
and 1,000 LED fixtures covering 4,000
square meters of staging—must be the
Olympics.
Regional theatre is not immune to the
incredible shrinking programming time.
World’s Most Watched 12 Minutes:
The Super Bowl Halftime Show
37 Video World
Dall Brown and his posse light up downtown Detroit during the Super Bowl.
36 Video Digerati
How to avoid those last minute snags
during a video show.
www.PLSN.com
PLSN MARCH 2006
EDITOR’SNOTE
The Publication of Record for the Lighting,
Staging and Projection Industries
Automated
Lighting: The
Art and Science
of
Moving Light
T
he other day, I went to FedEx to drop
off a package that represents two and a
half years of my life. It was the manuscript that will soon be my new book called
Automated Lighting: The Art and Science of
Moving Light. It will be published on Focal
Press around August of this year.
I’ve been working on this book since
May or June of 2003. Having been in the
lighting business since just after the release
of the Vari*Lite VL1 and having worked for
two automated lighting manufacturers
over the span of 15 years, I felt minimally
qualified to tackle the subject. But in the
process of researching it and writing about
it, I learned more in 2.5 years than I learned
in the previous 15.
A big part of the learning process, I
should say, was undertaking lighting design
jobs and programming gigs, getting handson time, visiting various factories, attending
trade shows and talking to dozens and dozens of lighting industry veterans. The book
covers everything about automated lighting, including history, DC and AC electricity,
analog electronics, digital electronics, me-
Publisher
Terry Lowe
tlowe@plsn.com
Editor
Richard Cadena
rcadena@plsn.com
Editorial Director
Bill Evans
bevans@fohonline.com
Associate Editor
Allison Rost
arost@plsn.com
RichardCadena
chanics, electro-mechanics, optics, materials,
communication (DMX512, DMX512-A, RDM
and ACN), programming, digital lighting
and more. It also includes several chapters
about the use of automated lighting, lighting design with automated lighting, design
issues specific to automated lighting, as well
as the future of the technology.
What I learned that I didn’t already
know could fill another book. But the essence is this:
• We owe more to the pioneers of
theatrical lighting than I previously thought.
People have had the idea to motorize or
mechanize lights for almost 100 years. The
technology to perfect what we now know
as automated lighting wasn’t available until
many decades after someone first thought it
might be a good idea to mechanize the functions of lighting, but some of the concepts
were far ahead of their time.
• Automated lighting technology is advancing even more rapidly than I had previously thought. We are benefiting from computer technology, which is making strides in
speed, cost, size, power and memory storage.
This translates to better, smaller, lighter and
faster fixtures and more powerful controllers.
Some of the enabling technology is buried
so far under the hood that it never comes to
the attention of the average user.
• Digital lighting is having an even bigger impact than I had previously thought.
Once you start scrutinizing the current
technology, I think you’ll find that it is completely changing the face of the industry.
Think about the last big show you saw and
compare and contrast it with a similar show
of 10 years ago. It’s off the charts.
• Automated lighting will have an
even bigger future in our industry than
I previously thought. Media servers use
primarily the same syntax as automated
lighting, and the automated lighting
programmers of today will be the digital
lighting programmers of tomorrow. Digital
luminaires are nothing more than a specialized automated luminaire, albeit one with
lots of attributes, but it’s an automated
luminaire nonetheless. Don’t abandon your
inventory just yet.
Mike Wood, my technical editor, was a
tremendous help with the book, as were
numerous other people in the industry
who opened their doors and shared their
thoughts, knowledge and opinions. Thank
you one and all.
I have already begun thinking about the
next book, tentatively titled Digital Lighting: The Art and Science of Moving Pixels. I
think I like that. P.S. I didn’t really want to
make this an infomercial about my book,
but you can order copies of Automated
Lighting: The Art and Science of Moving
Light in advance at www.plsnbookshelf.
com. You’ll have to wait to order copies of
Digital Lighting: The Art and Science of Moving Pixels.
Contributing Writers
Vickie Claiborne,
Phil Gilbert, Cory FitzGerald,
Rob Ludwig, Kevin M. Mitchell,
Richard Rutherford, Brad Schiller,
Nook Schoenfeld
Photographers
Steve Jennings, Bree Kristel
Production Manager
Shawnee Schneider
sschneider@plsn.com
Senior Graphic Designer
Robert A. Gonzalez
rgonzalez@plsn.com
Graphic Designer
Ezra Padua
epadua@plsn.com
Graphic Designer
Josh Harris
jharris@plsn.com
Graphic Designer
Bree Kristel
www.breekristel.com
National
Advertising Director
Gregory Gallardo
gregg@plsn.com
Advertising Representative
James Leasing
jleasing@plsn.com
General Manager
William Hamilton Vanyo
wvanyo@plsn.com
Business and
Advertising Office
18425 Burbank Blvd.
Suite 613
Tarzana, CA 91356
Ph: 818.654.2474
Fax: 818.654.2485
Editorial Office
10305 Salida Dr.
Austin, TX 78749
Ph: 512.280.0384
Fax: 512.292.0183
Circulation
Stark Services
P.O. Box 16147
North Hollywood, CA 91615
Projection, Lights & Staging News (ISSN:
1537-0046) Volume 07, Number 02 Published
monthly by Timeless Communications Inc. 18425
Burbank Blvd., Suite 613 Tarzana, CA 91356 It is
distributed free to qualified individuals in the
lighting and staging industries in the United
States and Canada. Periodical Postage paid
at Tarzana, CA office and additional offices.
Postmaster please send address changes to:
Projection, Lights & Staging News, PO Box
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ON N8X 1Z1 Overseas subscriptions are available
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Duplication, transmission by any method of
ES TA
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NEWS
Dust Begins to Settle in Lighting Industry
SIMI VALLEY, CA—After several nearlysimultaneous personnel changes in the
lighting industry near the beginning of the
year, the dust has begun to settle as more
hirings have been announced. The most
recent is the announcement that Martin
Professional has hired industry veteran Paul
J. (PJ) Turpin as the national manager for
the company’s show segment. Turpin, who
recently vacated his position at Clay Paky
America, will also be involved in the Television and Theatre segments.
Turpin’s departure from Clay Paky
America coincided with the departures of
CEO Troels Volver, VP of sales Eric Loader,
Tim Brennan and Ray Whitton from Martin
Professional, and VP of sales Bill Morris’
departure from High End Systems. Volver
was replaced by Brian Friborg, who comes
from Martin in Denmark, while Morris was
replaced by Jeff Pelzl, who has been and
continues as the global tech support manager at High End. Meanwhile, Tim Brennan
has joined PRG in Las Vegas and Ray Whitton
has gone back to work at Vari-Lite, where he
was previously employed.
Turpin had been the CEO of Clay Paky
America since 2003. Prior to that, he worked
for Vari-Lite as a regional sales manager. He
started his career in the entertainment technology industry in the early 1990’s, working
for Olsen Lighting in Hollywood and then
A.C. Lighting (later A.C.T. Lighting) as national
sales manager. Turpin, whose position takes
immediate effect, will be working out of
Martin’s West Coast office in Simi Valley, Calif.
“I am very pleased to be a part of
the Martin U.S. team,” Turpin commented in a press release. “I am intrigued at
the challenges and opportunities the
position presents and look forward to
working with Brian and his team to realize the potential of these key markets.
Brian Friborg, Martin U.S. president,
stated, “We are very pleased to have PJ
on board. With his extensive knowledge
base and broad background in this
industry, he will be a valuable addition
to our sales team. PJ will be a driving
force in maintaining our leading role in
live productions and will oversee our
continued expansion into the television
and theatre lighting markets.”
Paul J. (PJ) Turpin
Can’t We All Just Get Along?
Thanks for the great article about the
positive attitudes of LD and their techs
(“Why D’Ya Gotta Be Like That?” Jan. 2006,
LD at Large). I completely agree with you.
I’m not the best designer or programmer,
but I don’t mind loading in or out. I truly
believe that has been the key to my own
successes in Nashville touring. I have the
same outlook on the expectations of my
techs as you do. If the lighting guys can
get along with each other then maybe—just maybe—we can get along with
the audio guys as well. What a concept,
being civil towards other human beings!
I believe we could take this a step further
though. I think there is a line where “too
friendly” can get in the way of the
integrity of the show. For instance, there
are a couple of LDs in Nashville who I
would love to get on a tour where I
design and program, but just can’t be on
the road with it. But they are the type of
guy who puts too much time into maintaining his friendships with the other
crew guys, and don’t pay attention to the
finedetails of taking care of the gear
while on the road. I believe there is
some balance there.
Johnny Caudill, Nashville, TN
In regards to your recent “Why D’Ya
Gotta Be Like That?”: I’ve been in the business as an M.E./programmer and
LD, off-and-on, since 1989. For many years
now, I too have pondered in thought and
out loud the same subject matter that
you address in your article. I agree with
you totally. Maintaining a great positive
attitude and treating others with
consideration is the key to being successful in this business. I greatly appreciate
that you felt inspired enough about
this subject to put it into print. This
certainly is a topic that so many of us
“older guys” in the industry can relate to. I
too deal with coworkers in the same ways
as you. I have always treated them, no
matter how harsh they were with me, like I
would like them to treat me. I enjoy working right along side of them. It’s a great
experience being part of their camaraderie and horsing around. I have feelings
and I know that they do too. You meet a
lot of self-centered prima donnas in this
business. I guess that’s just the way it is.
But they’re not enjoying and loving what
they do like I am.
Darrel “Beammer” Cummins
Frankie’s Basement of Dimmers
I got a kick out of the article “Confronting Your Patchwork” (Feeding the
Machines, Feb. 2006). The reason I found
this article so amusing is that when I
started with lighting back in the ‘80s, our
high school theatre had autotransformer
dimmers with big levers, a patching
system which resembled something from
Frankenstein’s basement and lighting gear
that was made in the ‘50s!
When my then-partner and I
diversified our company, he was to work
with the theatrical side of things and I
was to handle the rock ‘n’ roll. So he went
to the National Theatre School of Canada
and I began working with local bands.
He said when he got there, they had an
old autotransformer dimmers backstage,
which was “for emergencies.” But the
other students in his class couldn’t grasp
how it operated.
Around that time was when I had
my first taste of SCR dimming; however, it
was still all hard-wired. I thought, “This is
really the way of the future, and it cannot
get any more high-tech than this!” Turn
the clock forward to today, where we
have DMX patching and automated
lighting fixtures, and the industry gets
even more complicated. Kids today don’t
know how easy they have it! However, one
advantage of the old gear is that you can
operate it in a hurry: There’s no programming chases, submasters, etc.
Robert C. Gilbert,
Omni.Media Technical Services
www.PLSN.com
High Points of Low Res
I was just reading your article titled
“Giggin’ in Low Res” (Video World, Jan.
2006). I found it very interesting. We were
the first people to use James Thomas
PixelLines on tour—Massive Attack’s
100th Window tour—but Andi Watson
was the first to use them as a video screen
on Radiohead, beating us by one month
when we used them for the second leg
of the tour (see our Web site: www.uva.
co.uk). We make our own pixel mapping
and video visualizer software, which you
might find interesting. It is being used by
Smasher and Willie Williams to drive the
Barco MiSpheres and the SACA video
floor on the stage. It is called D3 and is
in 3-D; it is a visualizer and production
tool in one.
Chris Bird, UnitedVisualArtists Ltd.
Letters to the Editor
PLSN MARCH 2006
NEWS
USITT Keynote Speaker, Award Winners Announced
LOUISVILLE, KY—Jon Jory, founder of
the Humana Festival of New American
Plays and former artistic director of the
Actors Theatre of Louisville, will deliver the
keynote address kicking off USITT’s 46th
Annual Conference & Stage Expo March 29
in Louisville, Ky. Jory will speak at 10 a.m.
on March 29 at the Kentucky Center for the
Arts in Louisville, examining the interaction
between designers and artistic directors.
Actors Theatre of Louisville, along with
Jory and current artistic director Marc
Masterson, will receive USITT’s Thomas DeGaetani Award for 2006 honoring contributions to the performing arts community
in a particular region of the country.
Jory is currently a professor of acting
and directing at the University of Washington. His published works include Tips: Ideas
for Actors; Tips: Ideas for Directors and, in
2005, Tips II for Actors.
While the majority of USITT Conference
& Stage Expo sessions and exhibitions
will be held at the Kentucky International
Convention Center, several major conference events will be held at the Kentucky
Center for the Arts, including the opening night party. Conference sessions,
seminars, and meetings begin on March
29 and continue until Apr. 1. Day-long
and multi-day Professional Development
Workshops and regional events, including a multi-performance package of plays
from the Humana Fest, begin on March
27. Other distinguished achievers who will
enhance the USITT Conference and receive
awards in 2006 include Rosemary Ingham,
costume design; Ming Cho Lee, education;
James Moody, lighting design; Don and
Carolyn Davis, sound design and technology; Marjorie Bradley Kellogg, scene design
and Frazier Marsh, management.
USITT’s Annual Conference & Stage
Expo is expected to draw more than 4,000
designers and technicians in the performing arts and entertainment industry to
Louisville, one of the largest gatherings
of technical performance professionals in
the world. Stage Expo, which will be held
March 30 to Apr. 1, is expected to break
records as USITT’s largest trade show ever.
Huff Lights
the Crabb
Family DVD
KNOXVILLE, TN—When lighting designer
André Huff got a call from production manager Bruce Adams, he began working on the
lighting design for the new Crabb Family DVD
that was to be shot at the Tennessee Theatre
in Knoxville. The Family is a gospel group
with 16 number one songs on national charts
to their credit, three Grammy nominations
and four Dove Awards.
Using VectorWorks, Huff created an
industrial-looking design using scaffolding
and projection screens. “They didn’t want
a church-type look,” Huff said in a telephone
interview from his current lighting design
project. “The first concept was scaffolding with video screens at different angles
throughout the stage.” Though the Crabb
Family liked the design, they decided to
shelf the scaffolding idea for use at a later
date, and they asked him for a slightly
different design.
In his second iteration, Huff came up with
a similar industrial design, this time using
20.5-foot Thomas box truss at various angles.
For stage wash, Huff, who works for True Grip
and Lighting in Knoxville, used eight Coemar
iWash 575 with electronic ballasts and Martin
MAC 600s for colored backlight on the Crabb
Family singers downstage. MAC 500s and
High End Systems Cyberlights were used to
project images and for effects. All of the lighting was supplied by True Grip and Lighting.
To create depth on the stage, Huff ran
tabs up and down the stage, and he placed
vertical trusses in front of them. They were
toned with ETC Source Four PARs using ½
CTBs to give them a bluish look in the video.
More PARs were used between the trusses to
give them separation and depth.
For control, Huff used a Jands Vista console, which True Grip and Lighting bought at
LDI. “I love it,” he said. When quizzed about
the object of his affection, Huff replied, “The
whole timeline feature and visualization. It
took me 16 hours to program a Christmas
show two years ago; this year, it took six
hours on the Vista.”
The automated programmer for the
Crabb Family DVD was Weston Wilkerson and
the conventional programmer was Jimmy
Kidd. The lighting crew was Jeff Humphrey
and Mark Wright.
Foundation Pledges
$6.5M to Theatre School
and Dance School
KENT, OH—Plans for new and renovated facilities for the School of Theatre
and Dance will move forward as the
result of a pledge of $6.5 million—the
largest capital gift in Kent State University history—from The Roe Green
Foundation. The estimated $12 million
project will unite theatre and dance
under one roof, occupying up to 70,000
square feet of space, for the first time
since the two programs merged in 1994.
“More than 300 students are
involved in the theatre and dance programs, and I feel they deserve to have a
wonderful building to work in,” says Roe
Green, of Aurora, Ohio, a member of the
School of Theatre and Dance Advisory
Board who earned a master’s degree in
theatre from Kent State in 1980.
Enrollment in the dance and theatre
programs has doubled since 1998, and
the school has outgrown its facilities.
“Roe Green’s generosity will bring
together all of the performing arts—
theatre, dance and music,” says Dr.
John R. Crawford, director of the School
of Theatre and Dance. “We will be able
to do more collaborative work and
present more student-generated pieces.
Right now, we don’t have a place for
that to happen.”
Plans for the performing arts center
call for a four-floor addition, including a
new entrance complete with an atrium,
lobby, box office, outdoor patio and
cafe area. The top floor will feature four
dance studios and a specialized room
for Pilates and therapeutic movement.
The centerpiece of the new facility
will be a black box theatre, specifically
for student and experimental productions. These spaces will provide more
flexibility to encourage theatre and
dance students to explore and present
their own work.
Preliminary renovation plans
include classrooms that accommodate
both lecture and lab activities, rooms
for individual practice and coaching
and a technical theatre lab to support
a new certificate program in entertainment arts and technologies. In addition,
there will be two separate labs for learning set-making skills and for constructing the actual scenery used in productions. Also, there will be space to store
theatrical sets that can be recycled;
currently, these materials are discarded
when a production closes.
“The 21st-century facilities built
as a result of Roe Green’s vision and
generosity will allow two of Kent State’s
outstanding arts programs to attain a
new level of excellence and innovation,
and a creative synergy that will provide
students in theatre and dance with a
distinct advantage as they pursue their
professional goals,” says Kent State
president Carol A. Cartwright. “In turn,
Kent State will provide northeast Ohio
audiences with an even richer array of
artistic programs and performances.”
Groundbreaking for the addition to
the Music and Speech Center is planned
for summer 2007, along with major
renovation of existing space.
The construction, funded partially
through state allocations, will likely be
done in time for Kent State University’s
centennial celebration in 2010.
NEWS
ABC Enlists LEDs for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
BLACKSBURG, VA—The living space of a
Blacksburg, Va., homeowner was transformed
on the Feb. 12 episode of ABC’s Emmy-winning Extreme Makeover: Home Edition by
the use of LED fixtures. The new home was
designed by Roanoke, Va.-based Building
Specialists and faculty and students of Virginia Tech’s School of Architecture + Design,
who chose Color Kinetics’ ColorCast® lighting
system to enable their energy-efficient design for a yoga and meditation studio.
The studio’s translucent, polycarbonate
walls were designed to be both attractive
and functional, based on the team’s research
of color and the psychology of space. They
were insulated with Cabot Nanogel®, a translucent aerogel material, and illuminated from
within by ColorCast to fill the environment
with dynamic colors.
“We wanted to create a compelling, dynamic space using sustainable materials and
technologies, and Color Kinetics’ LED-based
lighting systems delivered on both fronts,”
said Joseph Wheeler, assistant professor of
the School of Architecture + Design at Virginia Tech. “This technology offers a powerful
means for controlling light to improve the
way people feel, work and live in spaces—all
while addressing the need for reduced energy consumption.”
“We’re very pleased to play a role in this
unique project, which exemplifies the positive influence that dynamic lighting can have
in our homes and daily lives,” said Bill Sims,
president and CEO of Color Kinetics. “We believe that intelligent solid-state lighting offers
a host of aesthetic and practical advantages
for residential use, and that it will ultimately
change the way homes are lit—transcending
the limits of conventional fixtures as demonstrated by the Virginia Tech team.”
NEWS
Chuck Berry Rocks the Paramount
AUSTIN, TX—One of the true architects
of rock ‘n’ roll music, Chuck Berry recently
performed at the historic Paramount Theatre
in Austin using a variety of automated
lights. Lighting design company Ilios Lighting of Austin designed the show lighting,
which included Martin MAC 250s under
Maxxyz control.
The rig consisted of 10 MAC 250 Wash fixtures, eight MAC 250 Entours and ETC Source
Four Lekos and PARs. The wash fixtures were
ground-based and arranged in a straight
line across a backdrop cyclorama. The spot
fixtures were located at the base of three triangular scrims on small risers. LD Bryan Azar
of Ilios Lighting commented, “Chuck Berry
currently doesn’t have a regular on-the-road
band, so we didn’t know how to approach
focus until the day of the show. We needed
something quick and flexible that could still
provide some good artistry and punch.”
About the controller, Azar commented,
“Hands down, one of the most useful features
about the Maxxyz for this particular show
was the onboard visualizer. We did not have
an advance for this show. Really, all we knew
for the month before the show was that
Chuck Berry was going to play. We were
able to get a boatload of work done before
the date of the show with several potential
backup plans in the programming and operations scheme.”
Meagan Metcalf and Jack Davis of Ilios
programmed and operated the show. “What I
found useful about the Maxxyz was its ability
to run multiple banks simultaneously,” commented Metcalf. “I like the ability to add fade
times into presets in order to give me more
on the fly capabilities, as well as the ease of
access to all my presets, groups and banks.
The built-in visualizer was also valuable as
there was little time on-site to do programming. I also like the large, well-lit buttons that
I can read in the dark.”
Control Protocols, Fog, and Photometrics
Standards Available for Public Review
NEW YORK, NY—Three standards
documents are available for public review
from now through the end of the day UTC
on Apr. 11.
ANSI E1.3-2001, Entertainment Technology-Lighting Control Systems-0 to
10V Analog Control Specification, is being
considered for reaffirmation without any
changes. ANSI E1.3-2001 is approaching its
fifth birthday and action needs to be taken
to keep the document active and in the
ANSI catalog. The standard has been useful
as a lowest common denominator control
method for connecting a variety of controllers and controlled products. No one makes
a big deal about analog control, but it is still
being used on new and custom products.
The public review response form is available
at www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_
review_docs.php.
ANSI E1.14-2001, Entertainment Technology-Recommendations for Inclusions in Fog
Equipment Manuals, is being considered
for reaffirmation without any changes. ANSI
E1.14-2001 is approaching its fifth birthday
and action needs to be taken to keep the
document active and in the ANSI catalog. So
far, it has been a useful guidance document
for specifying what information fog equipment manufacturers need to give equipment users and for telling end-users what
information they should expect to receive
so they can use the equipment in a safe
and responsible manner. The public review
response form is available at www.esta.org/
tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php.
BSR E1.9-200x, Reporting Photometric
Performance Data for Luminaires Used in
Entertainment Lighting, is a revised version
of the existing ANSI E1.9-2001. The standard
is approaching its fifth birthday and action
needs to be taken to keep the document active, but the existing standard has not been
used widely because it has a great number
of requirements. It is hoped that by removing some of the non-essential requirements,
In Brief
Pyrotek Special Effects, which is
celebrating its 25th anniversary this year,
is currently on tour with Kid Rock, Rascal Flats and Fall Out Boy, and supplied
colored flame units for two sold-out Ricky
Martin shows in Puerto Rico. Laser Design
Productions recently completed tours
with Foo Fighters and Backstreet Boys in
the benefits of the isolux diagram, which is
the heart of the standard, may be enjoyed by
more lighting designers, and by more stage
and studio luminaire renters and purchasers. The public review response form and
the revised draft standard, which is free, are
available at www.esta.org/tsp/documents/
public_review_docs.php.
In other ESTA news, the Electrical Power
Working Group, part of ESTA’s Technical
Standards Program, approved the start of a
project to write a standard to offer guidance on the inspection of stage and studio
luminaires. The new project, BSR E1.32-200x,
Recommended Practice for the Inspection
of Entertainment Industry Luminaires, is
designed to help electricians conduct
regular inspections of lighting instruments.
In working on the BSR E1.19 GFCI project, it
has become clear to the working group that
one of the causes of ground-fault circuit interrupters tripping on stages, in studios and
on location shoots is faulty lighting
equipment. Regular inspection would allow
faults to be identified and corrected so they
aren’t risks to personnel or causes of
production delays.
Interested parties are invited to participate in the project by joining the Electrical
Power Working Group or by participating in
future public reviews of the draft document.
Information about joining this working
group and others is available at www.esta.
org/tsp/working_groups/index.html.
Anyone objecting to the project because
they feel it is not needed, because it would
duplicate or contradict advice given in an
existing standard or because of some other
reason, is invited to state his objection in
writing to standards@esta.org. Objections
should be filed before the end of the day on
March 12.
For more information, contact Karl G. Ruling, ESTA Technical Standards Manager, ESTA,
875 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1005, New York, NY
10001; Tel: 212.244.1505.
addition to supplying two 15-watt red YAG
lasers for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra tour.
Brash media server is currently debuting
on Kid Rock’s North American tour. The
Martin U.S. distributed BigLite™ 4.5 was
seen recently in the Orange Bowl halftime
show, the Radio Music Awards and the last
leg of Tego Calderon’s U.S. tour. Martin U.S.
is the exclusive distributor in North America for the BigLite product series, manufactured by ZAP Technology of France.
PLSN MARCH 2006
www.PLSN.com
NEWS
Vari-Lite Technical Training: March 13-16,
Dallas, TX (www.vari-lite.com)
Elation Training & Roadshow: March 15-16,
Miami, FL (www.elationlighting.com)
National Systems Contractors Association
(NSCA): March 16-18, Las Vegas, NV
(www.nscaexpo.org)
Martin Professional – Maxxyz Console/
Maxedia Training: March 20-22, Simi Valley,
CA (www.martinpro.com/sub/
seminars/seminars.asp)
Mountain Productions 21st Annual CM
Hoist School: March 20-23, Wilkes-Barre, PA
(www.mountainproductions.com/
hoistschool.htm)
Elation Training & Roadshow: March 22-23,
Dallas, TX (www.elationlighting.com)
Digital Projection Tech Training - Highlite
Pro Dsx+, Lightning 35HD: March 22-24,
Atlanta, GA (www.digitalprojection.com/
content/view/61/73/)
VectorWorks Training – Intro to VectorWorks, Architect Fundamentals: March 2224, Red Rocks Community College Multimedia Technology Center, Lakewood, CO (secure.
nemetschek.net/store/pls/show_cities.php)
Martin Professional – Light Jockey Training: March 23-24, Simi Valley, CA (www.
martinpro.com/sub/seminars/seminars.asp)
Martin Professional – Stage, Studio and
Entertainment Field Technician: March 2731, Simi Valley, CA (www.martinpro.com/sub/
USITT: March 29 – Apr. 1, Louisville, KY
(www.usitt.org/louisville)
VectorWorks Training – Intro to VectorWorks, Architect Fundamentals: pr. 3-5,
MicroTek, New York, NY (secure.nemetschek.
net/store/pls/show_cities.php)
Rigging Seminars, Principles and Practice
with Harry Donovan and Jay Glerum: Apr.
3-6, Las Vegas, NV
(www.riggingseminars.com)
Elation Training & Roadshow: Apr. 4-5,
Chicago, IL (www.elationlighting.)
VectorWorks Training – 3-D Modeling and
Rendering: Apr. 6-7, NNA corporate office,
Columbia, MD (secure.nemetschek.net/store/
pls/show_cities.php)
Vari-Lite Technical Training:
Apr. 10-14, Dallas, TX (www.vari-lite.com)
High End Systems Console Training – Hog
2 on iPC: Apr. 11-12, Austin, TX
(www.highend.com/support/training/)
High End Systems Console Training
– Wholehog 3: Apr. 13-14, Austin, TX (www.
highend.com/support/training/)
VectorWorks Training – Intro to VectorWorks,
Architect Fundamentals:
Apr. 17-19, Learn iT!, San Francisco, CA
(secure.nemetschek.net/store/
pls/show_cities.php)
High End Systems Digital Training – DL2
and Catalyst: Apr. 17-18, Austin, TX
(http://www.highend.com/support/training/)
Elation Training & Roadshow: Apr. 19-20,
New York/New Jersey
(www.elationlighting.com)
Martin Professional – Stage, Studio and
Entertainment Field Technician: Apr. 24-28,
Sunrise, FL (www.martinpro.com/sub/
Rendering: May 4-5, Learn iT!, San Francisco,
CA (secure.nemetschek.net/
store/pls/show_cities.php)
Rendering: May 11-12, MicroTek, New York,
NY (secure.nemetschek.net/
store/pls/show_cities.php)
LEDs Perform at 2006 Premio lo Nuestro Latin Music Awards
MIAMI, FL—For the 18th consecutive
year, the biggest names in Latin music performed live on Univision’s Premio Lo Nuestro
a la Música Latina (Lo Nuestro Latin Music
Awards). The most popular Latin music
awards show on television was broadcast
live from Miami’s American Airlines Arena
on Univision.
Carlos Colina of Univision designed the
lighting, a large part of which was the various LED elements and video. The backdrop
consisted of a high-res Main Light SoftLED
fed by a High End Systems Catalyst media
server. Eight Catalysts in all were used to
supply video to rear projection screens, Element Labs Versa Tubes, Versa Tiles, Barco D7
LED modules and MiPix. Jason Rudolph was
the Catalyst programmer.
“We just listened to the music, and be-
tween me and Jason, we’ll pick up
content from various sources,” said
Colina. “We buy some, artists bring
some, we create some…”
More than 100 Versa Tubes,
which were supplied by Roca Video
in L.A., were incorporated into the
design, and a chandelier with 84
Color Kinetics Color Blast fixtures
was hung stage left. Rudolph bitmapped and drove video through
the piece with the Catalyst system.
“There were lots of LEDs,” Colina
said. “It was an LED-driven show.”
For key light, Colina used Super
Trouper IIs and Martin MAC Performance
fixtures were used as a backup wash. “I
ended up using mostly Vari*Lite VL5s from
PRG. I had 91 VL5s, 60 VL5 arcs, 42 VL7s,
11 Color Blaze 72s on straight truss for
camera candy and 71 Coemar LED PARs for
truss toners,” he said. “I love them. I’m just
amazed by them.”
Upcoming
Events
www.PLSN.com
PLSN MARCH 2006
NEWS
ShopNBC Studios Installs Distributed Dimming
Visit of Nomadic Museum Leads to Collaboration
SANTA MONICA, CA—When the Nomadic
Museum exhibit “Ashes and Snow” voyaged
to the Santa Monica Pier, Visual Terrain was
invited to collaborate with Alessandro Arena
of Catania, Sicily, principal lighting designer
for the exhibit. Visual Terrain was responsible for the
execution of the original lighting design and
additional lighting design of several spaces
new to the exhibition in Santa Monica.
“The opportunity to work with Gregory
Colbert, Shigeru Ban, Gensler LA and the
entire project team on this stunning project
was an honor,” remarked Lisa Passamonte
Green, project manager for the Visual Terrain
design team. “Given the fast-track schedule,
our first priority was to assemble a proficient
team of professionals capable of responding
to the unique lighting requirements of this
structure and photographic essay. Together
with Electrosonic and ShowPro, we were
able to bring our deliverables together with
maximum efficiency and expertise. As a
team, we worked with the contractor RMS
and Carol Electric to implement the design.”
When asked about the design approach,
Edward S. Marks, associate principal lighting
designer for Visual Terrain, commented, “The
architecture and the photography were
so perfectly married to one another, and it
made sense that the lighting design would
illuminate the union. The blending of cool
and warm pools of light created an environment that encouraged guests to enter and
immediately feel welcomed. Some of the
new elements we designed were the lighting for a new theatre space and retail space
added to the Santa Monica Pier location.
The lighting design for the main theatre
juxtaposes the warm architecture and cool
pathways of the surrounding galleries.”
Elaborating on the original lighting concept for “Ashes and Snow,” project designer
Kristie Roldan explained, “The design called
for an integration of the photography into
its surroundings through use of pure color
and a rhythmic pattern of light in the galleries and surrounding areas. The lighting
created a natural frame for the large-scale
photographs in the museum. We were able
to carve a space for the artwork in the galleries using the textures and natural tones of
the materials within the Nomadic Museum’s
breathtaking structure and design.”
Concluded Roldan, “It was truly a pleasure
to be involved in lighting such an intrinsically
creative space and creating an accessible environment for the ‘Ashes and Snow’ exhibit,”
The Nomadic Museum is a 56,000square-foot temporary structure housing
more than 100 large-scale photographic
works and three accompanying 35 mm
films by Gregory Colbert. The building is
composed largely of recyclable and reusable
materials constructed of 152 steel cargo
containers stacked in a checkerboard
pattern designed by renowned architect
Shigeru Ban.
EDEN PRAIRIE, MN—At the ShopNBC
studios in Eden Prairie, a new broadcast
studio was needed and only a thin time
frame existed for completion of the project. The studio had dimming capabilities
ordered, installed and operable in less than
one month by installing a distributed dimming system.
When lighting director Dave Pekach
joined ShopNBC on Oct. 31, 2005, he inherited the task of retrofitting Studio E with
a new broadcast lighting system. “In the
beginning, Studio E was used for pre-shots,
which means shooting still photographs of
the products to be sold on-air,” stated Pekach. “There was no lighting or dimming in
the space, but there were 20-amp circuits
on breakers.”
Pekach enlisted the help of Dave
Johnson of Minneapolis-based Gopher
Stage Lighting. As they began to research
all the possibilities, it was determined that
there was enough power for a retrofitted
system, but there was no room for dimmer
racks. But there was another option. “Space
was the biggest advantage because the
raceways could be installed onto the existing lighting grid and the dimmers would
be located next to the lights,” said Pekach.
However, there was one big potential
stumbling block. In a TV studio, silence is a
must and noise from the dimming system
won’t work. The answer came in the form
of an IGBT dimmer from Entertainment
Technology.
“Because there is no ancillary space
PLSN MARCH 2006
10
for dimmer racks next to the studio, I
knew the Intelligent Raceway was the
right choice,” said Pekach. “With the silent
IGBT dimming and the fact that they are
convection-cooled, it is perfect for an onair studio.”
In the end, 120 2.4KW dimmers were
installed in six Intelligent Raceway sections, each 64 feet long. Pekach went on
to say, “The installation was a piece of
cake. We didn’t have a single hiccup. We
held several meetings with the electrical
contractor and everyone involved, so we
all knew what was going on and how it
needed to happen. It was a wonderful
team effort. Gopher Stage Lighting was
phenomenal; they really made it happen.
They knew the product and how to put it
in. They are true professionals and great to
work with.”
www.PLSN.com
ONTHEMOVE
360 Systems, a developer of advanced
video products for the pro A/V and broadcasting markets, has made several personnel
changes. Geno Durante is a new inside sales
representative in the company’s Pro A/V sales
group and Philip Cox is a new executive vice
president.
Audio Visual Innovations has made a
number of personnel changes. Darren Smith
has joined the company as project manager
for the office in Denver, John Watts has been
promoted to general manager for AVI’s Corporate Rental Division, Robert Robinson has
been hired as project manager for the Creative Show Services Division office in Tampa
and Jason Brantley has joined the company
as account manager for Electronics Specialists, a subsidiary of AVI.
corporate, theatre, concert touring, festival
and themed events.
Les Hill has joined Electrosonic Systems,
Inc. as sales
engineer. Hill
brings extensive
experience in
international
technical and
project management to his new
Les Hill
position. For the
past six years,
Hill was project
director for the attraction development division of Iwerks Entertainment, Inc., where he
worked in the U.S. and abroad on a host of
attractions.
Leprecon Pro Lighting has appointed
of DC Lighting & Controls as its new sales representative for the Pacific Northwest, which
includes the states of Alaska, Washington,
Oregon, western Idaho, western Montana,
Hawaii, Northern California and northern
Nevada.
Mitch Hodge
Chris Musgrove
Creative Technology has made several
additions to its sales and project management staff. Mitch Hodge is the new senior
account manager, Chris Musgrove is the new
senior project manager and Robert Parker is
the new senior account executive.
Digital Projection International, a manufacturer of high-performance projection
systems, announced the addition of NewComm Technologies to the company’s team
of manufacturer’s reps. NewComm Technologies brings more than 40 years of combined
industry sales and technical assistance to the
DPI sales force.
Australian
lighting control systems
manufacturer
LSC Lighting
Systems has
appointed Peter
Floyd to the position of international technical
Peter Floyd
Mega-Stage has a new dealer in its
network. Concert Systems USA, Inc., owned
by Randy Frierson, has become a main MegaStage dealer in the Southeast.
Modular
Display Systems
has appointed
Jennifer Turner to
oversee administrative management for its sales
and operations
departments. As
senior account
manager, Turner
Jennifer Turner
brings 11 years of
experience managing client accounts at two major players in
the event marketing field.
Craig Gaff
the company’s New
York headquarters,
he will also use his
part-time base of
Boston to support
work that comes
from New England.
Robert Klahre
Sean Leo,
formerly director of
sales with CTLA, has
a new role as director of national accounts, for Orange
County, Calif.-based
Videocam, a full
service audio/visual, projection and
indoor/outdoor LED
rental provider.
Sean Leo
Melissa Santiago
Three new faces
have joined the Robe
America team. Wendy
Medrano is with Robe
America’s California
office as administrative assistant and
Wendy Medrano
receptionist. Melissa
Santiago is a new
administrative assistant at Robe America’s
Florida office And Craig Gaff joins Robe
America’s California offices as a senior sales
associate.
Robert Klahre has joined Scharff Weisberg as event manager. While Klahre will
primarily be involved with staging projects at
Production veteran Randy Wade has
joined the operations of Eagle Audio and
Lighting in Dallas/Fort Worth as vice
president of sales and marketing. Wade has
been tapped to grow and develop audio,
lighting, staging and power solutions for
clientele in a variety of markets, including
Mark McKinney, formerly the
national sales
manager of Lex
Products for the
U.S. and Canada,
was recently
promoted to
vice president
of sales. McKinMark McKinney
ney first joined
Lex Products in 2001. Prior to working for
Lex, McKinney was the product manager for
Strand Lighting, where he focused on the
motion picture industry.
sales and support. Floyd will be initially based
in the UK supporting LSC’s European dealer
and customer base and will move to Australia
later this year.
www.PLSN.com
100.0306.OnTheMove.BK.indd 11
PLSN MARCH 2006
11
3/3/06 4:37:46 PM
INTERNATIONALNEWS
India’s Best-Known LD Designs Awards Show
On the Australian Road with Joe Cocker
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA—Joe Cocker—one of the truly great rock voices
of all time—has just completed a world
tour with a series of shows in Australia.
Tim Bradsmith from Concert & Corporate
in Perth has been on the road with Joe
Cocker as his lighting designer. Bradsmith
used the new Martin MAC 700 Profile in
his rig, 10 in total, along with 26 MAC 600
washlights. Analog lighting included 12
ETC 19° profiles, 10 4-liters and 20 ETC
Source IV Parnels.
“I believe that this was one of the first
times that a rock band had taken MAC
700s on tour,” said Bradsmith. “When I
was at Martin’s Denmark factory earlier
in the year, they showed me a prototype
of the MAC 700 and asked my opinion on
it. I have to say that they have really put a
lot of thought into the effects; it’s like an
advanced MAC 500.”
Tim reports that the MAC 700s have
been trouble free on the road.
“I think the gobos are excellent for the
pure reason that you can get the animation wheels and really mess them up. The
dispersion from tip to tip of the gobos was
excellent even with the animation wheel.
You got nice clean edges and the output
wasn’t affected at all,” Bradsmith said.
”I think I probably only used about
10% of the MAC 700’s potential; I could
probably sit there for a week and still find
new things to do with them.”
MUMBAI, INDIA—The 2005 ITA Awards
- Indian Television Academy Awards, the
country’s most prestigious honors ceremony,
was held at Bhavans Ground in Mumbai. The
event featured a lighting design by India’s
best-known show designer, Atul Sonpal,
utilizing Robe Show Lighting moving lights.
It was attended by a host of top Bollywood and Indian TV celebrities, some of
whom also performed, and the show was
also broadcast live on TV on “Star Plus.”
Sonpal has designed all the major awards
ceremonies in India for the last four years,
and so he was the natural choice to be the
creative mastermind of this one. All lighting
equipment was supplied by his rental company, Mumbai-based Jagmag Electric.
Sonpal’s starting point for the lighting
was the wide set designed by Mr. Kunal
for Kosmos India, consisting of a spherical
central feature and a series of cone-shaped
pyramids flanking both sides of the stage,
used for stage entry and exit points.
To match the set, he wanted the lighting
to look very “televisual.” The rig was configured across three trusses, and utilized 12
Robe ColorSpot 1200 ATs and 20 Robe Scan
1200 XTs in addition to a large generic rig.
The ColorSpots were rigged vertically
on the floor and on the front truss and six of
the Robe Scan 1200 XTs were positioned on
either side of the set pyramids, with the other
14 rigged vertically on the center truss.
Sonpal uses Robe on all his major shows,
and he chose them for this one because
of their “good optics, brightness and zoom
facilities.” He maximized the ColorSpot 1200’s
gobo collection for set and stage texturing
and numerous projection effects, commenting that he particularly likes the “sun man,”
“space tunnel” and “radial dashes” gobos.
He also produced some “beam technology” looks—one of his favorite programming
tricks. Sonpal operated the show himself using an Avolites Diamond 4 Vision and a Pearl
2004 console.
100.0603.IntlNews.BK.indd 12
3/3/06 10:46:22 PM
Siberian Performing Manchester Concert Fights Cancer
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND—ADLIB supcrew chief Dave Kay.
The first half of the show was run by
On the lighting side, ADLIB’s Pete
Tomlinson using a Hog iPC console, and the
Arts Center Takes plied sound and lighting production to the
Manchester vs. Cancer show at the MEN
Abraham and Ian Tomlinson were at the
second half was run by Liddle using a WholeArena.
helm,
and
they
designed
a
generic
system
hog 2. ADLIB also supplied an Avolites Pearl
the Spotlight
The lineup included New Order, The
in conjunction with Dave Reason (DVD LD)
for Dave Reason to control the key lights.
Doves, Johnny Marr & The Healers, Elbow,
808 State, Nine Black Alps and Badly Drawn
Boy, and the tightly-packed evening also
included DJ sets from the Utah Saints, Tin
Tin and Mr. Scruff plus other local talent and
acoustic artists during the changeovers.
ADLIB fielded a total crew of 19 who
worked in two shifts to separate the load-in
crew from the event crew. The load-in started
at 6 a.m. that morning, and the show commenced at 6:30 p.m. With doors at 6, this
left 12 busy hours to rig, set up and sound
check eight headlining live acts. To make sure
all their engineers and lighting designers
were happy, plus sort out the DJs and other
performers. “It was effectively a nextremely
hectic one-day festival scenario,” says ADLIB
to satisfy both the requirements for the DVD
and to cater for a multiple high profile headliner situation. Some specials were added by
New Order’s LD Andy Liddle to give an extra
dimension for the headline act.
The moving lights were a mix of 26
High End Studio Beam PCs and 25 Martin
Professional MAC 550s, plus eight Martin
MAC 2000 profiles on the floor. These were
joined by eight Atomic strobes; 12 PixelLine
battens on drop down trusses either side of
the upstage LED screen. Eight Studio Spot
250s on the front truss and 12 repositionable
floor PAR cans were available for band key
lighting. Four 8-lite Moles on the front truss
and four 4-lite Moles on the mid truss were
utilized for audience illumination.
Other visiting LDs were Andy Emmerson
(Elbow) and Simon Watson (Nine Black Alps),
who was also on the ADLIB crew.
Dave Kay sums up, “It was a challenging
event for both sides of the company and timing was critical for the success of the whole
event. Most band sets were only 15 minutes
long with very strict 10-minute changeovers.
Thanks to the professionalism of all of the
crew and artists working on the day, we kept
within five minutes of our seemingly impossible schedule. Thanks must also go to all visiting engineers, suppliers and the production
team for maintaining a sense of humor and
making the event something that we were
all proud to be a part of.”
KHANTY-MANSIISK, RUSSIA—When
Westerners think of theatre in Russia,
Moscow and St. Petersburg usually come
to mind. The Kremlin Palace, the Bolshoi
and the Marinskii have been the great
names of Russian stage. Most Westerners would be surprised to hear now
that a venue in Siberia is a rising star of
the performance industry in Russia. The
Khanty-Mansiisk Autonomous Okrug
(KhMAO), the capital of the Yugra region
in Western Siberia, is home to the new
Yugra-Klassik Theater and Concert Hall—
a cultural benefactor of the region’s
oil wealth. The arts are flourishing in
this place virtually unknown to people
outside of Russia.
The economic center of Yugra,
KhMAO is now considered the cultural
capital of the region, owing in part to
the Yugra-Klassik Hall. Planning for the
20,000-square-meter hall began in 2002,
and the grand opening was held Dec. 10,
2004. The contemporary architectural
design of the building features neon-lit
geometric shapes, metallic beams and
large-paned windows, which stand in
stark contrast to the traditional design
of most Russian theaters. The YugraKlassik houses an 1,100-seat concert
hall, a chamber music hall seating 150,
rehearsal studios, master class studios,
an 80-seat film screening room, two
restaurants, a 30-room hotel and an
underground parking lot.
The Yugra-Klassik also uses entertainment technologies including lighting equipment from ETC. The concert
hall is outfitted with hundreds of ETC’s
Source Four line fixtures. Dimming
is done by ETC Sensor ESR 48s, ETC
ECEM96 and ETC Sensor Advanced
dimmer modules. Also featured in the
hall are ETC portable SmartPack dimmers, which can be used for the Hall’s
touring shows.
Light Power Design (LPD), a theatretechnology distributor based out of
Moscow, did the installation for the Yugra-Klassik project. LPD has an extensive
history of providing lighting and sound
equipment to many of the country’s
theatres. ETC Eastern Europe regional
sales manager Armin Kloss says, “As the
theatre industry in Russia continues to
grow, ETC’s Russian distributors are getting more requests for the latest lighting
technology. We’re thrilled to contribute
to the technological advancement of
theatre in Russia.”
100.0603.IntlNews.BK.indd 13
3/8/06 3:39:25 PM
NEWPRODUCTS
>
NEWS
ETC Enhanced
Definition Lens Tubes
ETC is introducing new Source Four field
angles, including 14˚, 70˚ and 90˚. The new 14˚
Source Four provides an intermediate-throw
field angle to fill the gap between the 10˚ and
19˚ fixtures. Short-throw applications such as
blackbox theaters and dance lighting will benefit from the 70˚ and 90˚ Source Fours. The Source
Four Enhanced Definition Lens Tube (‘EDLT’) option was introduced at LDI 2005 and will soon
be available in 19˚, 26˚, 36˚ and 50˚ field angles.
The EDLT enhances gobo projections in both
HPL and HID-equipped fixtures.
Electronic Theatre Controls • 800.688.4116 • www.etcconnect.com
>
Techni-Lux
Tracker 250 Spot
The new Tracker 250 Spot from Techni-Lux is an automated moving yoke fixture with a stepped zoom system,
including beam angles of 15°, 18°, 21°, 24° or 26°. It features seven dichroic colors, five interchangeable, indexable, individually rotating gobos and a third wheel with
three static gobos and three dichroic colors for colormixing and gobo morphing. Other features include a UV
blacklight filter, a three-facet prism, shutter, a frost effect,
motorized focus, dimming and a digital display for addressing and fixture settings. It comes with a GE CSD250/2
250-watt, 3,000 hour lamp. MSRP is $1,679.
Techni-Lux • 407.857.8770 • www.techni-lux.com
>
VectorWorks
Version 12.0.1
VectorWorks version 12.0.1 from
Nemetschek is a maintenance update for
VectorWorks Designer, Architect, Landmark, Spotlight, Machine Design, Fundamentals and RenderWorks. Free to VectorWorks 12 users, the update adds new
center snapping for regular polygons,
the ability to display section views in perspective projections, the ability to import
SketchUp® architectural elements into
VectorWorks Designer, Architect, Landmark, and Spotlight, 3-D image prop support in the Place Plant tool for VectorWorks Landmark
and new lighting device capabilities for VectorWorks Spotlight with RenderWorks. To download the update, visit www.nemetschek.net/downloads/fundamentals/version12/12.0.1.php.
For a nominal fee, the 12.0.1 update is available on CD-ROM or DVD.
Nemetschek North America • 410.290.5114 • www.nemetschek.net
>
American DJ
Accu Spot 300
The American DJ Accu Spot 300 is a 250watt automated moving yoke fixture with auto
focusing via DMX and a rotating three-facet
prism with macros. Features include nine colors
plus white, seven replaceable rotating gobos
including two glass gobos, 360° pan and 265° tilt,
auto X-Y repositioning, remote DMX addressing
and a 15˚ beam angle. The fixture can be operated with a DMX controller, in standalone soundactive mode or in master-slave mode. It weighs
39 pounds and measures 13.5 by 14 by 19.5
inches. The suggested retail price is $1,499.95.
American DJ • 800.322.6337 • www.americandj.com
>
14
PLSN MARCH 2006
100.0603.NewProds.JH.indd 14
Arri Ceramic
Lighting Technology
Arri’s new Arri X Ceramic 250 and Studio Ceramic
250 employ the Philips ST 250 HR discharge lamp, which
produces a 3200°K tungsten-quality light in a long-life
package. The Studio Ceramic 250 uses the housing and
accessories of the Arri Studio 1K Fresnel. The 7-inch
(175mm) lens produces a beam angle of 10° in spot and
57° in flood. Arri X reflector technology and frosted diffusion glass provide even light distribution over a 112°
field. Both use a built-in igniter and ballast and consume
less than three amps at 120V.
Arri Inc. • 845.353.1400 or 818.841.7070 • www.arri.com
www.PLSN.com
3/2/06 11:08:20 PM
>
EasyKlip
EasyKlip fasteners are constructed of glass-fiber reinforced nylon and provide up to 220 pounds of gripping
power for virtually any fabric. The clips provide an instant
fixing point where and when you want it, and it works with
velour, vinyl, scrim, muslin and meshes. They can be used
to temporarily shorten rental drapes or to adjust backdrop heights. The EasyKlip Midi 10-pack in black or white retails for $9.99 and the EasyKlip Midi
250-piece box in black or white retails for $172.50. The clips are distributed by Sew What Inc.
Sew What Inc. • 310.639.6000 • www.sewwhatinc.com
>
>
Martin Professional • 954.858.1800, 805.581.8001, 702.597.3030 • www.martin.com
Matthews Road Flags
Matthews Studio Equipment’s Road Flags are a
new, portable lighting control system designed to duplicate studio lighting effects on location or in studio.
The 4- by 4-foot (122cm by 122cm) lighting modification system consists of two breakdown easy-toassemble frames, a single scrim, silk diffusion and a
solid flag in a lightweight case. Matthews has a range
of light modification fabrics, including reflective materials, to slip onto the Road Flags frame. A folded flag
in a simple airbag can reach shipping destinations
quickly and allows the photographer/videographer/
cinematographer the ability to create studio lighting
effects on any location.
Matthews Studio Equipment • 818.843.6715 • www.matthewsgrip.com
>
Litepanels 1x1
The new Litepanels™ 1x1 LED lighting system
combines silent, heat-free LED technology with a
slimline design. Available in 5600ºK flood or spot
and 3200ºK flood models, features include integrated dimming or remote dimming capability. The
unit weighs three pounds (1.36kg) and measures 12
by 12 by 1.75 inches (30.5cm by 30.5cm by 4.4 cm).
It can be yoke-mounted via standard TVMP receptacle or in multi-panel configurations. The unit runs off a variety of 9-30V sources, including
a camera battery or car battery or an external 90-264V AC adapter. Prices start at $1995 list.
Litepanels, Inc. • 818.752.7009 • www.litepanels.com
Martin Mania EFX600
The new Mania EFX600 from Martin Professional is a
150-watt discharge effect light in the Martin Mania series
of portable effects. Based on the Wizard Extreme, it features
new graphical looks from a combined color and gobo wheel
with 12 gobo designs projecting from a rotating and swiveling mirror drum. Other features include strobing, shake
function and manual focus. It includes a number of mounting options and it is DMX controllable with built-in macros.
The unit is CE-, ETL- and CETL-approved.
>
>
LEDtronics
MR16 TrackLED
LEDtronics’ new white MR16 TrackLED™ drop-in replacement lamps are engineered to handle variations in
voltage from “noisy” or “dirty” power supplies. They also
eliminate the need to stock a variety of MR16s for different voltages from 12V to 24V DC. MR16 TrackLEDs have 42
LEDs with a two-pin base and draw 2.5 watts. They are offered in cool white and incandescent white in four beam
angles: narrow (15º to 20º), standard (25º to 30º), medium (40º to 50º) and wide (100º to 120º).
The lamps may be ordered in other colors, voltages and beam angles. They have a three-year
limited warranty.
LEDtronics • 800.579.4875 • www.ledtronics.com
>
Luxeon PWT1
Lumileds Lighting’s new Luxeon® Portable PWT1 LED emitter generates 26 lumens at
350mA from a package size of 2.0 by 1.6 by 0.7mm. It provides 2,000-hour life and uniform
white light in a package that is roughly 75% smaller than other LEDs with similar light output and delivers about 4.5 times the amount of light (lumens) per square millimeter. This
enables manufacturers to build lighting products with smaller optics, smaller form factors
and less weight. Its moisture sensitivity rating of JEDEC level 1 allows for unlimited factory
floor life, and the surface-mount package has 8kV of electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection.
Philips
Lumileds
Lighting
Company
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4
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5
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6
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w w w . p h i l i p s l u m i l e d s . c o m .
Graphics:
Luxeon
PWT1.jpg
Wybron Nexera
LX 19º-26º Profile
Wybron’s new Nexera LX 19º-26º Profile luminaire is part of
Wybron’s family of luminaires with a built-in CMY dichroic color mixing. The integral Wybron color mixing module produces a virtually unlimited color palette via CMY subtractive mixing. It features hard-edge
illumination in an adjustable field from 19º-26º degrees, a dual-lens
system, a compact tungsten 575-watt source and convection cooling system for virtually silent operation. Each unit requires three DMX
channels and the system is RDM-compatible. Made in the USA.
Wybron Inc. • 719.548.9774 • www.wybron.com
>
Pelican Emergency
Lighting Station
Pelican™ Products’ new 2480 Emergency Lighting Station (ELS) features a clear polycarbonate case, mounting
screws, two-sided tape and photoluminescent decals. The
MityLite™ 2440 LED flashlight, secured inside the case with
a special clip, sports a durable photoluminescent body that
adds another level of instant visibility in a blackout situation. Energizer® e2® Titanium Technology® batteries, which
have a seven-year shelf life, are included with the light. Additional features include a five-LED array that projects 21
lumens for up to 90 hours and a tail switch for one-handed
operation. Both the ELS and 2440 are backed by a lifetime
guarantee.
Pelican Products • 310.326.4700 • www.pelican.com
>
SetWear Journeyman Gloves
New SetWear Journeyman Gloves increase protection without compromising dexterity. The gloves feature durable SureGrip™ panels in the palm, fingertip and saddle area. They are
built with 100% breathable synthetic leather with a pre-curved,
anatomic design. They are SetWear’s first full-fingered glove
with a hook and loop wrist closing system. The two-way stretch
padded spandex top help mold the fit.
SetWear • 877.738.9327 • www.setwear.com
www.PLSN.com
100.0603.NewProds.JH.indd 15
PLSN MARCH 2006
15
3/2/06 11:09:07 PM
SHOWTIME
Audi Designers’ Tuesday, Press Event
Venue
Art Center College for Design, South Campus,
the Windtunnel, Pasadena, CA
Crew
Producer: Sandra Bartsch Productions, Inc.
Lighting Company: Brite Ideas
Production Manager: Kent Black
Lighting Designer: Nathan Jones/
Kevin Cook
Lighting Director: Greg Christy
Automated Lighting Operator: Nathan
Jones
Master Electrician: Joe Garcia
Lead Electrician: Jay Martin
Electricians: Eddie Avalos, Ray Chacon, Nick
Coltas, Matt Thrope, John Wampler, Brian
Kubik, Dana Casey, Mike Camerina, Manuel
Huerta, John Lister, John Howard, Michele
Jones, Jon Acton, Steve Murillo
Set Design: Planungsbuero Feld, Germany
Lead Architect: Uwe Tillack, Heike
Heringhaus
Passion ‘06
Venue
Gear
Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, TN
1
20
10
2
10
4
4
3
5
7
6
5
1
1
1
Crew
Producer: Louie Giglio
Lighting Company: Majestic Productions
Production Manager: Ryan Bates,
Brian York
Lighting Designer: Jon “Hillbilly” Weir
Lighting Director: Christian Hahn
Automated Lighting Operator: Christian
Hahn
Lighting Technicians: Scott Reed,
Stephen Seal, Heath Hunt
Flying Pig Systems Wholehog 3
Martin MAC 600s
Martin MAC 250+
Martin MAC 500s
James Thomas Engineering Pixel
Par Pixelpup 87s
Altman Zip Strips
Thomas 4-lites
Thomas 8-lites
CM 1-ton motors
Thomas 20.5” x 20.5” x 8’ truss
Thomas 32’ circle sections
Thomas 12” x 12”x8’ truss
ETC 2.4KWx24 Sensor
Dimmer Rack
Motion Labs Moving Light Distro
Motion Labs 8 Ch. Motor Distro
16
PLSN MARCH 2006
www.PLSN.com
Set Construction: Ethos Design
Rigger: Russ Draeger, Icarus Rigging
Staging Company: Ethos Design
Video Director: Clint Roberts
Video Company: AV Concepts
Gear
18
78
10
12
18
80
24
12
10
24
12
15
6
1
ETC Source Four 10º
Source Four PARs MFLs
Source Four PARs WFLs
Altman Zip Strips
Booster Lighting Sky PARs
Altman Sky Cyc Single-Cell
Strand Iris Cyc Single-Cell
PAR 38 250-watt floods
PAR 20 50-watt NSPs
Wybron Forerunner Scrollers
ETC 48 x2.4K Dimmer Racks
Flying Pig Systems Hog iPC
Barenaked Ladies
Venue
Gear
Masonic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA
16
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44
22
6
4
9
6
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Crew
Lighting Company: Christie Lites
Production Manager: Paul McManus
Tour Manger: Craig “Fin” Finley
Lighting Designer: Jason Jennings
Lighting Tech: Dave Heard
Set Design: Scene Ideas (Vancouver)
Martin MAC 2000 Profiles
ETC Source Four PARs
Christie Lites CL3 scrollers
Orion single-cell cycs
Martin MAC 2000
Performance (house)
Martin MAC 600 (house)
Sections 10’ Christie Lites
swing wing truss
Sections 5’ Christie Lites
swing wing truss
MA Lighting GrandMA console
Trey Anastasio
Warfield Theater, San Francisco, CA
Trey Anastasio, Brad Sands
Rigger: Hadden Hippsley
Crew
Gear
Lighting Company: Christie Lites
Vancouver
Production Manager: Hadden Hippsley
Lighting Designer/Director: Chris Kuroda
Lighting Tech: Jason Jennings (first leg),
Geoff Frood (second leg)
Set Design: Chris McGregor, Chris Kuroda,
6
6
11
3
100
10
Martin MAC 2000 Wash Fixtures
Martin MAC 2000 Profiles
Vari*Lite VL 2202 Hard
Edged Fixtures
Martin Atomic 3000 Strobe Units
PARs
ETC Source Four 19º Lekos
Sharp Booth CES 2006
Venue
Gear
Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV
1
240
180
12
12
24
2
1400’
42
Crew
Lighting Company: Go Media Productions
Production Manager: David Olson
Lighting Designer/Director: David Olson
Set Design: Elements
Set Construction: Elements
Flying Pig Systems Hog IPC
Source Four Lekos
Source Four PARs
Martin MAC Washes
Martin MAC Profiles
Double rotators
ETC 96x2.4K dimmers
12x12 Thomas
1-ton hoists
INTRODUCING THE
Our exclusive Patented modular decking supports up to 150 lbs per sq ft!
Pixel Panel decking incorporates the most advanced programmable LED technology
using a grid of individually addressable tri-color LED nodes to create the ultimate
stage. These modular interlocking decking panels allow you to create your
own video imaging design or utilize the pre-programmed library to set
your staging apart from anyone else.
Call toll free 1-866-591-3471
www.PLSN.com
PLSN MARCH 2006
Venue
17
INSIDETHEATRE
By CoryFitzGerald
Ring of Fire
The Story of the Songs of Johnny Cash
the music to life on stage, allowing for an
abstract and amorphous plot. There are no
character names, but implied relationships
that connect each segment to the mythology of Cash.
To commence this “train ride,” the show
begins with the recently recorded song
“Hurt,” originally recorded by Nine Inch Nails
and recorded by Cash on his last album, The
Man Comes Around. It is an extremely powerful song about a man looking back through
his life, which prepares the audience for the
journey they are about to undertake. While
T
he arrival of March will bring with it the
opening of Ring of Fire, the new musical
based on the songs written and performed by Johnny Cash and the evocative
stories those songs tell. The show’s premise
revolves around the telling of these stories
and how the smaller vignettes tell a larger
overarching story in and of themselves.
To bring the now-immortal songs of Cash
to life, projection designer Michael Clark
and lighting designer Ken Billington have
created a stage environment to match the
versatility of the lyrics and the wide range
of both emotional and physical space that
the characters must go through along their
journeys. I recently spoke with the creative
team behind this show to find out how they
ignited this Ring of Fire.
18
PLSN MARCH 2006
100.0603.InsideTheatre.JH.indd 18
All Aboard
blocks that act as a single screen, and they
can track downstage, separate and hinge
together at an angle. The wall is made from
60 Daktronics Pro Tour 8 video tiles in a 5- by
12-foot configuration, which makes the size
of the full screen approximately 9 by 20
feet. “The size of the screen was important.
We wanted to be able to make the stage
intimate, and at times, feel about the size of
a room,” says Clark. When the screens track
downstage, they hinge together to create
an obtuse “V,” which also helps to wrap the
video in a way that makes the set feel more
like a 3-D room, rather than
just a video image. The content
on the screen was controlled
with a Watchout system, which
split the full wall into two separate 1,024 by 768 images that
could be seamlessly blended
and manipulated.
The screen was primarily used as an extremely
-Ken Billington
flexible painted cyc which
could morph and change
into any image imaginable.
the story told by this song is not the life of
“We could have done anything we wanted,
Johnny Cash, it does, at times, resemble it
but we wanted to keep the quality of a
and captures his thoughts and feelings.
painted scenic drop,” explains Clark. As all the
designers and director agree, the success of
Pixel Wrapping
the design’s implementation rested on the
To create this travelogue of Cash’s life, an
restraint each of them used when applying
extremely versatile set was required, not only their craft to the show. “We probably ended
to take the characters to the variety of difup using about 20% of the technology we
ferent worlds they would inhabit, but also to
had,” says director Maltby.
give a visual depth to the scope of the music.
As Billington explains, “The video is so
The “set” is simply a series of wooden frames
restrained, it’s magical. It allows the show to
serving as portals with a wooden stage deck, remain focused on the company and the maall supporting four large connected high-res
terial.” By holding off on using all the tricks
LED video walls. The screens are actually four
they had to offer, both Clark and Billington
“The video is so restrained,
it’s magical... We probably
ended up using about 20%
of the technology we had.”
The story of this show is literally
in the songs. Johnny Cash wrote
songs about what he knew, his life
experiences, and each song tells a complete
story. “The songs tell huge stories in two
to three minutes. If you know the song ‘A
Boy Named Sue,’ that alone could be its
own Broadway musical,” says Billington.
With more than 1,500 songs recorded by
Cash, and 1,000 of them considered for the
show, creator and director, Richard Maltby,
Jr., selected 38 to be in the final version. Using these songs, he was able to show how
the story of each song was part of a larger
journey. The story that evolved from the
selected songs about a country family brings
www.PLSN.com
3/2/06 11:00:52 PM
were able to subtly yet continuously give
the audience something new to look at and
work with the material to also help bring out
its meaning.
The first incarnation of this show opened
in Buffalo, N.Y., with a similar look and feel to
the current production. As Billington points
out, “We lost about 15 feet from the screen to
the edge of the stage that we had with the
thrust stage in Buffalo. We also didn’t have as
many fixtures for the cyc there due to some
electrical issues. When the show first ran, the
electrics were hung as high as they could,
at the ceiling of the stage, which left the
majority of overhead fixtures visible. When
the show moved, we agreed that we liked
the look of the exposed lighting and decided
to keep it for the Broadway run.” Although
much of the show remained similar between
the two runs, there are always small tweaks
necessary to fine-tune the show, including
right through previews.
The Digital Scenic Shop
Towards the
end of the show,
the screens suddenly turn into a cyc,
something that had
never been done
before during the
show. It’s not quite
a solid color, but it
is one unified color
image that pops
the characters into
silhouette at a strik-
a better angle so there is less noticeable spill,”
says Billington. One issue with LED screens
can often be the brightness factor, and specifically that it can overpower the stage. With the
control system they used, it was easy to adjust
the brightness to allow the screen not to
overpower the rest of the show.
ing retrospective moment. As the characters
become shadows, the audience is reminded
that we started the show looking back at a
man’s life and the stories that reveal his life
are all in the past. One of the final images of
the show is of a train and a journey towards
an end, which helps to connect some of the
references made throughout the show. The
song “The Man Comes Around” begins to
wrap up the show, correlating to an image
of train tracks behind the cast members. After we’ve watched them all grow and evolve
into various characters, the song connects
them and their amorphous
lives to images from real
life, bringing individual
meaning to each audience member. This lively
celebration of the music
and stories of Johnny Cash
brings to life his memories
as they are told through his
own words.
-Michael Clark
“We wanted to be able to
make the stage intimate
and at times feel about
the size of a room.”
The collaboration process was key to both
Billington and Clark. Clark sat in on staging
rehearsals and made suggestions about incorporating imagery or staging action to better
connect the projection with the flow of the
scene. Billington worked with Clark to create a
unified look, allowing the blend of scenic and
staging elements.“It really was like working
with a traditional set designer,” says Billington.
“It was a true collaboration.”
Clark points out,“Instead of having carpenters and scenic painters on hand to make
changes during the tech process, we used digital Photoshop painters who can digitally alter
the images on the spot. My assistants in the
process were Jennifer Kievit and Chris Kateff.”
One point of collaboration between the lighting and projection departments came in the
form of the cyc. The cyc and the projection
are intentionally linked, but do not necessarily
match, meaning that they complement each
other. At one point in the show, they blend
perfectly, creating an image where the projection seems to flow onto the cyc behind it.
“This was all intentional. We didn’t want them
to always match, which was hard to do in its
own right, but we also wanted the video and
lighting to create some of the contrast in the
scenes,” says Clark.
Using their restraint, the design team
was able to highlight the work in a way that
could have easily been lost on a Broadway
stage. “We only wanted to use each trick
once,” explains Clark. Making sure that they
did not repeat any of their transitions or
effects helped to give variety to the piece.
Since the screens allowed the show to move
at a very rapid pace through multiple locations, it was important not to feel as though
the transitions were always the same and
that the images were not similar. “A lot of the
scenic imagery was a collaboration between
us and scenic designer Neil Patel and his
assistant, Tim Mackabee. They would help us
‘prop shop,’ finding images for us to incorporate into the digital paintings,” Clark says.
Unlike some other shows that use digital
scenery, this show’s images are designed to
be very realistic, carefully configuring the
proportion of the image on stage to make
a realistic-looking setting. “We were trying
to create Richard’s idea of a painted back
drop, using a lot of stills and holding back on
moving animation that might distract from
the show.”
There are several advantages to using an
LED video wall as opposed to a traditional
projection surface. One benefit is that it is
brighter, because it is emitting the light as opposed to reflecting it from a screen. Another
benefit of a light-emitting surface is that
spilling light onto it means that the image
does not get washed out.“In Buffalo, our spot
lights were at head height so that they were
continuously all over the screens, but the images were still visible. On Broadway, we have
www.PLSN.com
PLSN MARCH 2006
19
PRODUCTIONPROFILE
Keith Urban
Photos and Text By SteveJennings
L
ighting designer Chris Lisle started in the
business in 1992 when he toured with
the St. Louis-based rock band Novella.
Along his way, he has picked up experience
as a production assistant, stage manager,
tour manager, production manager, assistant
producer and producer. In 2003, he won the
Bandit Lites “Rookie of the Year” award, and
he recently picked up the “Rock” award from
the same company. And now, he can add to
his resumé lighting designer for one of
country music’s hottest commodities, Country
Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year
and Male Vocalist of the Year for 2005,
Keith Urban.
Urban is packing arenas on his Alive in
‘05 (and ’06) tour. We caught him just after he
won Artist of the Year at the 2005 Radio Music
Awards. The show was designed by Chris Lisle
and lighting veteran Jonathan Smeeton. Lisle
got the job when good fortune met opportunity.“When I was with LeAnn Rimes,” he said,
“Keith opened up for her in Australia and I lit
him there. The following spring, he was looking
at adding an LD, and fortunately, I got the call.”
Making a Show
Smeeton and Lisle collaborated on the
design for the tour—sort of. “The physical
structure of this tour’s design was done by
Jonathan Smeeton, who also designed the
set. The first day of programming, Jonathan
20
PLSN MARCH 2006
{ Award-winning designer lights award-winning artist }
walks in and says, ‘Here is your toy box; make
a show.’ So, I actually did all of the design
on the cueing and such. I did a lot of the
programming at Bandit’s shop, which has
a separate building just for hanging the rig
and programming. A lot was accomplished at
rehearsals as well,” Lisle said.
Urban knows exactly what he wants from
the lighting and he’s not shy about vocalizing his preferences. His biggest directive? “No
pink!” Lisle said.
“After working with him for several years
now, I already knew how he liked his show to
be lit. We videotaped the first few shows and
Keith would watch them on his bus at night,
then he would give me input. He is very easy
to work with, and I like the fact that he gives
input and direction in his show.”
Connecting with
the Audience
One of the highlights of the show is when
he flies over the audience and onto the “B”
stage. That was Urban’s idea, for a very specific
reason.“It is very important to him that he connects with and be near the audience,” Lisle says.
“We went to Branam for the fly gag and have
been extremely happy with their product. The
B Stage is simple and fun. He does three songs
from there. I mainly light him with four Martin
MAC 600s and four MAC 2000s and leave it at
that, so even the spot ops get a quick break.”
The show relies heavily on automated
lighting with some LEDs, strobes and a
couple of handfuls of conventional lighting.
All swag aside, the designers easily settled on
the choice of automation. “Fortunately,” Lisle
says, “Jonathan is also a big Martin fan, so the
main lights used on the rig are Martin MAC
2000s. I have been very happy with their
performance and durability. We also have
the vertical towers with MAC 250s, which are
great space fillers. Most of the front and side
lights are the MAC 600s, and then to round
it off I have MAC 2000 Wash fixtures on the
floor. (Thanks for the jacket, Martin.)”
The LED Carnival
The LEDs are a big part of a certain effect
Lisle was going for. “For the song ‘Better Life,’
Keith wanted a carnival atmosphere and
feel. So we loaded a 15-foot diameter circle
with 18 Color Kinetics LED tubes. During that
song, we lower the circle in and make it look
‘happy.’ I absolutely loved the way that the
tubes came out, and will definitely use them
in future design work,” Lisle says.
The video content was created by Chris
Hicky, a Keith Urban veteran of his last few
videos. Moo TV provided the live video
reinforcement, and, according to Lisle, “really
did an incredible job.” The video director is
Nick Keiser (Hilary Duff ). There is, it seems,
no lighting/video rivalry here. “They put out
www.PLSN.com
a great product and have some really great
crew guys,” Lisle says.
Kudos
Lisle worked for many years as a freelancer, but he found a home at Bandit Lites a few
years ago. “Bandit has been a mainstay in my
career for many years now. The product they
put out and the people that are involved
are top notch. My Bandit rep is Mike Golden,
and my project manager is Donny Lockridge.
Both are always accessible, no matter what
time of day or night, which is great. My road
crew this year was crew chief Shawn Worlow—a two-year tour veteran—Brad Rogers,
Josh Fenn, and Aaron Swetland. As any LD
knows, the rig is only as good as the guys
putting it up, and I was given some ‘A-level’
guys,” Lisle said.
For any production vet, working any tour
can become stale, but not so for Lisle. “It has
been a definite highlight of my career working with Keith. It has been a great experience
to start with an artist doing fairs, festivals and
clubs and then working into a show of this
size. Most of us core crew guys have been
with Keith for a while now, so we are actually
like family. We bicker and fight, but still love
each other. It was a great experience working
with Jonathan Smeeton as well. He is a very
creative man, and I learned several things
working with him.”
“Here is your toy box;
make a– Jonathan
show
.”
Smeeton
CREW
& GEAR
Crew
Lighting Vendor: Bandit Lites
Lighting Designer: Chris Lisle,
Jonathan Smeeton
Lighting Director: Chris Lisle
Lighting Techs: Shawn Worlow,
Brad Rogers, Josh Fenn, Aaron “Lippy”
Swetland
Set Design: Jonathan Smeeton
Set Carpenters: Nate Cromwell,
Tyson Clark, Bernard Slatton
Video Vendor: Moo TV
Video Director: Nick Keiser
Video Crew: Bo O’Brien, Mark “Elvis” Ellis,
Jason “Coach” Jenks
Tour Rigger: Sonny Oyler
Branam Rigger: Mario Rodriguez
Production Manager: Mark Miles
Stage Manager: Dave Carney
Tour Manager: Chuck Hull
Production Assistant: Angela Haines
Gear
24
27
14
4
6
28
13
11
16
8
12
36
3.5 1
Martin MAC 2000 Profile
Martin MAC 250
Martin MAC 600
Martin MAC 2000 Wash
Martin Wizards
Color Kinetics Tubes
Martin Pro 400s
Atomic 3000 strobes
ACL bars
8-light Mole strips
ETC Source Four 19º Lekos
Single PAR 64s
Metric tons of raw granite
(for the set)
Flying Pig Systems Wholehog 2
w/ Wing Lighting Console
PLSNINTERVIEW
Dan
Krygowski
‘Malibu’
Auspicious beginning leads to permanent gig
By Rob Ludwig
T
he jam band scene is a tight knit group
of kindred spirits that are less corporate
rock and marketing, and more in-theknow rock ‘n’ roll music junkies. Most bands
have die-hard followers and rely on their live
performances to not only generate income,
but also to create the scene that results in
their success. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that LD Dan “Malibu” Krygowski plays a
vital roll for the band he tours with, O.A.R., or
that he even has his own fan Web site. After
all, he’s rock ‘n’ roll at heart, and he’s one of
the family.
PLSN: How did you end up with the
“Malibu” moniker?
Dan Malibu: I got it from a lighting
designer from Chicago who was kind of my
mentor and gave me my start, Mark Serpico,
who’s the head lighting designer at the
House of Blues Chicago right now. When I
started in the business—I was like 15 or 16—I
was a lifeguard full-time and did stagehand
work part-time at the Vic Theatre in Chicago.
I had blond hair—you know, like the Barbie
doll Malibu Ken…Well, the Ken thing kind of
fell off and I was stuck with “Malibu.”
How old are you now?
I’m 27.
22
PLSN MARCH 2006
“…my heart is in
rock ‘n’ roll.”
And now you’re touring full-time. How
did you get your start and progress as a
designer?
I started as a stagehand at the Vic. And
then I started working with Mark, learning
how the console worked—they had an old
Avolites Rolacue—learning timing, how dimmers worked and basically how a lighting
system works. I’d help him re-gel and focus.
And then, I started doing the opening bands
to learn timing. He used to tell me, “Anybody
could have a 300-moving-light rig, but if
you don’t have timing, it can make or break
a show.” I tell that to everybody. Seriously, if
you don’t have timing on a band that you
don’t run sequencing control with, if you’re
running live, it can make or break it.
What’s the name of your company?
The company I am associated with is
Luxious Lighting. I am actually an associate designer. I do a lot of Vectorworks plots
for the company and pick up gigs here and
there. We are doing Lexus at the Chicago
Auto Show right now, and we did the big Kia
reveal in Detroit. It’s a nice little company;
we do a lot of corporate, a little theatre and
a little rock ‘n’ roll. But my main act right now
is O.A.R.
What types of shows are you inclined
to do?
I pretty much handle the rock ‘n’ roll side
if it because that’s my background. I’ve done
a couple of corporate events, and the money
www.PLSN.com
is great, but I love rock ‘n’ roll. I was in a
theatre with Carrot Top for the last year and
it was a great gig—we had pyro and moving
lights—but my heart is in rock ‘n’ roll.
This O.A.R. rig is rock ‘n’ roll. What are
you using?
I have 90K of conventionals, six High
End Systems x.Spots, six Studio Spot 575s,
six Martin Atomic Strobes and then a whole
lotta ACLs. That’s kind of my thing.
And don’t forget control. You’re using
the “ultimate rock desk?”
You gotta stick with the Avo Sapphire
2004.
As far as design goes, these guys
play a long time. What do you have to do
differently when you are designing for
bands like O.A.R. or jam bands?
Well, these guys have toned down
the jam part of it quite a bit. Unfortunately,
this is not a band like U2 or Dave Matthews,
where they let me go into rehearsals
for two weeks—or two months—in an
arena and program. I usually have a day or a
day and a half where I nail down 30
songs. Right now, I’ve cataloged 42 songs.
I usually can get about 30 in rehearsals.
“I had
blond hair—
you know,
like the
Barbie doll
Malibu Ken…”
“Anybody could
have a 300moving-light rig,
but if you don’t
have timing, it can
make or break
a show.”
Once you start building palettes, it
starts going a lot faster towards the end. So
I do the core stuff and try to build off
of that. A lot of the rigs are rigs I’ve had
out before, and I just update and add fixtures
to it. The x.Spots came from the Madison
Square Garden show; we did a oneoff and sold it out. They were added to
this rig because everything was pretty
much programmed.
With 42 songs to choose from, is a lot
of bouncing around and playing back onthe-fly or do you stick to a set list?
They do a set list. This is the first
tour where I am actually in personal monitors with the band so if they call an audible
or a change, one of the musicians on the
stage will call it on a mic and let everyone
know what’s changing. So they will do
different versions of their songs. If the
crowd is really into a song, they’ll throw in
a verse and extend a song that’s normally
three and a half minutes to 12 minutes. And
I was around for the 18-minute version of
“Crazy Game of Poker.”
I guess that’s where the jam band
label comes from?
Definitely; especially with their
crowds, it’s a high-energy show. For a
band that doesn’t sell multimillion records,
to sell out Madison Square Garden in the
middle of January—17,000 seats in the
round—is surreal. It was the biggest thing
I’ve ever done.
How did you start working
with O.A.R.?
My cousin. He’s a huge O.A.R. fan and
used to bug me for tickets when they
came through House of Blues in Chicago. I’d
never heard of the band. Finally, I asked him
to burn a CD for me and it was okay,
but I’d always heard their live show was
where it was at. So, they came through
House of Blues in Vegas, which was where
I transferred to after Chicago, and—they
still give me a hard time about it—I called
the tour manager and introduced myself
and asked for a set list. Well, it was early in
the morning and they had a long drive, and I
guess no one had ever asked them for a
set list before. So they were giving me
crap…like, some dork guy is calling asking
for a set list to program lights. Then when
they came though, it just so happened that
they were going to start looking for a
lighting designer. So I submitted my resumé
and I came out to do two shows for the
band in L.A., at House of Blues in Los Angeles. I did two shows in New York and two
shows in D.C. And after that, it was a permanent job. It’s great—these guys are like my
family out here.
www.PLSN.com
PLSN MARCH 2006
23
INSTALLATIONS
(L to R) Andrew Miller, Nick Treitman, Scott Connolly, Michelle Balasz,
Shelley Guy, Michael Dominici and Tim Mendolia - technical director
Valley Christian HS Theatre:
Making the Hard...Easy
Rigging and safety challenges are met by new automated technology
By PhilGilbert
“C
hildren have a natural antipathy
to books—handicraft should be
the basis of education. Boys and
girls should be taught to use their hands to
make something, and they would be less apt to
destroy and be mischievous.”
- Oscar Wilde
(Growing) The Hard Way
Dave Dunning, CEO of Legend Theatrical,
says, “There’s an argument that’s been made
that ‘most colleges are using a counterweight system and kids should learn that.’
But, in reality, you’re not going to school to
learn to operate a fly system. You’re going to
school to learn to be a technician or be
a designer.”
Dunning and his staff have a longstanding relationship with the Valley Christian school system, a rapidly-expanding
group of Silicon Valley private schools. When
the high school built their theatre five years
ago, the need for a performance space was
great, but the funds for a fully operational
space weren’t available yet.
Matthew Demeritt, director of the VCHS
theatre department, says they built “a beautiful theatre that was built to have a fly gallery
installed in it. But, unfortunately, we found
ourselves without the finances initially.”
Instead, a drop tile ceiling and a pipeand-grid system were installed as a temporary hang structure for the theatrical lighting.
(Learning) The Hard Way
“As we did our research in years subsequent, we found that we didn’t actually
have the room in the wings of our theatre to
install a traditional fly gallery,” says Demeritt.
“So we started looking really seriously at the
Vortek system.”
Vortek, an all-in-one theatrical rigging
solution manufactured by Hoffend & Sons,
includes motorized theatrical battens and a
24
PLSN MARCH 2006
100.0603.Installations.EP.indd 24
computer-based control system.
“I think one of the main reasons we
started looking at it was the space. With
a traditional fly system you have to have
the catwalk, the pulleys, the weights and
everything, on the side of the stage,” says Tim
Mendolia, the technical director at the VCHS
theatre department.
Demeritt adds, “We only have about 8
feet of wing space on either side. So the
traditional fly gallery where you’ve got the
ropes, pulleys, and weight systems would
have just decimated our wing space.”
The staff at VCHS wanted to make sure
that whatever decision they made was going
to be the right one, as they knew they only
had one shot at getting it right.
“We looked more into what it was like.
We went and looked at another facility and
really liked the way the system was laid
out…the simplicity of it,” says Mendolia. “So
there are no pulleys and weights and everything that sits on your side stage. It was an
extremely simple system for what it did.”
legal. So we had to stop that, which means
that for me, as the technical director, I, or
someone that we found, would have to load
everything. So everything from our legs, to
our borders, to the lights, to the cyc—all that
stuff—had to be hung by someone over 18
years old.”
With a busy year-round production
schedule, the wear and tear on drapes and
equipment was becoming worrisome as well.
The school puts on a major production each
semester and shifts quickly into an all-ages
theatre program in the summer. With no way
to fly soft goods in and out, construction and
painting were performed in the midst of on
stage blacks.
“And then anytime we had to paint the
floor, we had to basically ball the legs up so
they’d come up off the floor,” says Mendolia.
“The kids were constantly running into our
curtains with equipment, ladders and screwdrivers. They’d just run around and run into
stuff. We’d get accidental tears in our legs.”
(Teaching) The Hard Way
Matt Gordon, the project manager for
Legend Theatrical, says, “This was originally
the dream. We kind of brought it up to them
as, ‘Hey, check the system out. I really don’t
think you guys can afford it, but this is what
it is and we wanted to set it before you.’ The
plan, really, was not to install a fly gallery
this year, but they got so excited about this
system that they went ahead and pulled the
trigger on it.”
At the end of the day, the most important selling point was probably the added
safety of the system. With built-in load sensors on every Hoffend batten, the system can
sense load changes as small as plus-or-minus
five pounds.
“I think we got a big push because it was
a safety aspect for us as well. Having the students climb the ladder to get to the catwalk
Being an educator generally isn’t easy on
the best of days. Add in a stage, electricity,
heights, and—dare we say…actors—and
the simple act of hanging a light fixture can
become a tough assignment indeed.
“In the past, we were using Genie lifts,
Skyjacks, scissor lifts and single man lifts to
get the kids up into the air to load lights onto
our dead-hang,” says Mendolia. “We had no
dedicated circuitry over the stage, only over
the house. We had to run a lot of multi-cable
over the stage. So every time we’d have to
load a new show, we’d have to almost rewire
the entire system to make sure that we had
enough circuits to run all the lights that we
wanted to work.
“Then we found out that if you’re under
18, you’re not supposed to use lifts. It’s il-
(Deciding) The Easy Way
to load the weights is dangerous. Dealing
with the weights is dangerous. And the oldstyle traditional braking systems are dangerous,” says Mendolia.“And Valley Christian has
always tried to be extremely safety-conscious
when we do anything. So the braking system
that we saw in the Vortek system proved to
be superior to anything we saw out there.”
And as it turned out, when Dunning and
his team did a cost analysis of the Vortek
system, he says, “it wasn’t going to cost the
school much more, if anything than doing a
counterweight system.”
Without the standard summer break, installation time was a serious concern as well.
Demeritt says, “It was a hit right away, with
myself, the rest of the production team and
also with the school’s administrators. They
liked the cost benefits, the ease of install—a
month tops getting that put in there.”
New Gear
20
1
1
2
96
4
Hoffend Vortek
Hoist Modules
Hoffend Vortek
Automation Center
SGM Regia Opera
Lighting Console
SGM Giotto Spot 400 Moving
Head Fixtures
Strand C21 Dimmers
with Distribution
8’ H x 45’ W Stage Borders
Future Planned Gear
6
1
Hoffend Vortek
Hoist Modules
Full Set of Stage Drapes
www.PLSN.com
3/2/06 11:04:00 PM
(Installing It)
The Easy Way
“I think we got the go-ahead in the
middle of December,” says Gordon. “Typically, we would need around a month or two
months of prep time just to get ready for a
project of this size.”
When the school finalized their decision,
they proposed a Jan. 1 start date for the
installation and a completion date of
Feb. 1 in order to rehearse for the quicklyapproaching spring musical.
This was a pretty major request for the
Legend Theatrical team, who not only had
another major install going on simultaneously, but also had to await delivery of the
vital system components.
“You have to budget in a week to ship
the units, because they come in from Europe,
and you’re not going to get them here any
faster than that,” Gordon says.
He adds, “We’ve been running right on
schedule, and they’ve been very happy with
so that they are the most well-equipped
when they go out into the workforce or go
on to other colleges.”
(Teaching & Learning)
The Easy Way
But at the end of the day, the most
important thing in any learning environment
is not motorized battens, moving lights
or the latest flashy piece of gear. All of
these things are only tools for the teachers
and the students. Working with Legend
Theatrical, the teachers at VCHS are striving
to offer the greatest possible learning
environment possible.
“We really have a heart to help better the
school in whatever way we can,” says Dunning. “It’s been a good relationship.”
Demeritt comments,“It’s a real passion of
mine to see the theatre continue to grow and
be able to accommodate larger scale productions, more shows a year, students becoming
more and more involved at every level. We felt
“…you’re not going to school
to learn to operate a fly system.
You’re going to school to learn to
be a technician or be a designer.”
- Dave Dunning, CEO of Legend Theatrical
like this allowed us to do all of that, but it also
really maintained safety, which is incredibly
important, especially in the litigious society
of San Jose. We want to make sure that our
students are having an exciting theatrical
experience, but are a 100% safe at all times.
This is the perfect unit for that.”
Mendolia says that it is going to allow
him more time to actually teach his students,
“…which is awesome for us, being able to
teach the students lighting design and allowing them to actually go, and in a timely
manner that’s realistic for us, load a lighting
design project.”
“It’s going to make the technical side of
the theatre much easier for myself and for
the students as well. So hopefully our shows
will be that much better for it.”
Phil Gilbert is a freelance lighting
designer/programmer. He can be reached at
pgilbert@plsn.com.
that. They were a bit nervous at the beginning that it would actually be able to be
done that fast.”
Dunning and Gordon also worked with
the school to upgrade some of the related
stage systems. The school doubled their total
dimmer count with the addition of a Strand
dimmer rack to power the raceways on the
new electrics. Up-to-date work lights were
installed, and a full set of stage drapery is in
the process of being purchased.
With a brand-new pair of SGM moving head fixtures and a SGM Regia lighting
console, the students at VCHS will also have
access to moving light technology for every
one of their future shows.
Dunning commented on the installation
of advanced technology at Valley Christian;
“This school pushes toward new technology.
They are an organization that wants to provide the best equipment for their students,
www.PLSN.com
100.0603.Installations.EP.indd 25
PLSN MARCH 2006
25
3/2/06 11:04:19 PM
World’s Most Watched 12 Minutes:
Super Bowl
Halftime Show
AP Photo/Carlos Osorio
The
By Kevin M.Mitchell
I
t seems like an awful lot of work for a
measly 12-minute performance by a
garage band.
Of course, it’s not just any 12-minute
performance; it’s the Super Bowl halftime
show. And it’s not just any rock band; it’s the
Rolling Stones.
An overview: more than 10 million television viewers. Three hundred fifty volunteers
led by 40 IA members have six minutes to
assemble a 5,300-square-foot stage that rolls
out in 58 separate pieces on low-pressure
balloon tires designed to protect the turf.
Then, there are 150 chain-hoist motors that
lower 67 tons of lighting equipment strung
on two miles of cable suspended from
trusses above the stadium floor.
Planning began in May and rehearsals
started the first week of January. But for veteran Brian Sullivan, president of B&R Scenery,
it starts even sooner than that.
Saving Seconds
This was Super Bowl XIII for Sullivan, and
it’s a year-round gig for him.
“It really starts the day we get back from
26
PLSN MARCH 2006
the previous one,” he answers when asked
when he starts work on it. The crew at B&R
carefully unload the structure and repair
damage right then, while everything is fresh
in their minds. From then until November,
“I look at it all and wonder how to save
seconds,” he says. He wonders how the
stage can
be put
together
more
easily and
reflects
on the
technical
ability of the
volunteers.
Less philosophical work begins Nov.
1. With no design
in hand, a crew of
30 to 35 people go through the mechanics
carefully, looking at every axle and bearing.
Repainting is done, too. The set design for
this year’s event was set in stone on Dec.
10 by production designer Mark Fisher, and
“
from there, they worked toward a ship date
of Jan. 13.
Sullivan and his company were responsible for the structural design of the stage. “It
was an unusual design to put our framework
under,” he says of the stage shaped in the
Stones’ trademark lips design. “So I worked
Changes occur, of course—a dressing
room might be added, for example. “But the
actual carts, the mechanics, are the same.
We have some very slick solutions to the
common problems of trying to put together
this many pieces in five minutes and we
solve them as they come up. Every setup is
different, but how to move the stage this fast
doesn’t change,” Sullivan says.
One of the many challenges is that all
solutions are dictated by committee, and
almost everything has to go around a few
times to the various disciplines involved.
Yet egos are kept in
check and turf wars are
nonexistent. “The project
comes first and everyone knows it,” Sullivan
says emphatically. “There
are disagreements, sure,
but it’s not of
the ‘I’m right,
you’re wrong’
variety. One
might be
arguing safety while another aesthetics, and
both are right. But no one says ‘no’ to anything and everyone keeps an open mind.”
The deck surface was given a high-grade
epoxy coating, and the color evolved over a
couple of weeks as they worked to get the
Check your ego at the gate:
“The project comes first and
everyone knows it.”
on the breakdown, the implementation of
all the details from the design people and
coordinated with the lighting and sound
people. Also, I got practical input from staging supervisors, which is critical.”
www.PLSN.com
“
While a mere “stepchild” to the game, the
talent and planning it consumes is mind boggling.
roffe. When asked about the process, he
sighs. “It’s ass-backward,” he says. “You have
to remember that we’re the little stepchild of
the football game, and it’s about the game,
not the halftime show. But it takes an incredible amount of planning, and it all has to be
done discretely so it doesn’t interfere with
the game itself.”
One might assume that lighting for
camera would take a priority over lighting
for the stadium audience, but Dickinson
says both are critical: “And they are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Good theatrical
lighting cues apply to both criteria.” That
said, a balance is done for the camera and
that requires a greater attention to details
than if the show was being lit just for the
live audience. “TV cameras aren’t as tolerant
as our eyes and require the hand-crafting of
lighting cues,” he says.
The tools of the craft included a number of Vari*Lite VL 2416 Wash units and VL
3000 Spot units, plus 49 Syncrolite SX 7K2s. Two VLPS Virtuoso consoles controlled
it all, which is Dickinson’s control system of
choice. “It’s capable of programming more
Would like to Thank:
right shade of red. (It was painted several
times, the last time the day before the show.)
Then, they had to ensure a nonskid surface,
so applications for this criterion had to be
applied. “But in certain areas, Mick Jagger
needed the stage to be slick so he could
do his characteristic shuffle, so some places
were sanded smooth,” Sullivan says.
Power and data distribution was incorporated in the staging during rehearsals. The
staging supervisors would have the stage
all day, but “the pyro guys would work the
midnight to 6 a.m. shift. There were always
enough hours—just not the hours you
wanted!” he laughs.
The band did six show run-throughs;
three on Thursday night, and three on
Friday night.
Lyle Centola
Paul Mauradian
Orlando Orona
Bill Spoon
Steve Thomas
“The Little Stepchild”
For their contribution to a
successful event!
2690 Middlefield Road
Unit F, Redwood City, CA 94063
650-299-1189 • Fax: 650-299-1617
www.PLSN.com
Bob Dickinson of Full Flood was the lighting designer, and he too is an experienced
hand at these shows. “In fact, in the early
1990s, I did the very first Super Bowl where
they allowed the stadium lights to be turned
off for the halftime show,” he recalls. “For
years, they were afraid the lights wouldn’t
recycle in time for the game, and finally for
the Super Bowl in Atlanta, the producers convinced the NFL officials to do it.”
Dickinson worked with Full Flood partner
Bob Barnhard and Stones LD Patrick Wood-
PLSN MARCH 2006
27
than 1,000 lights and you don’t run into a
situation where you have to have piggyback boards. One could have handled this
show, but I like to have two operators on a
project like this. It allows for more programming time,” he says.
On the stage were 150 Element Labs
Versa Tubes, which appear to be multicolored fluorescent tubes, but are actually
LED sources that can be fed video content.
“Sometimes they would just glow white or
red, and sometimes they would erupt into
animation and reflect the energy of the
music,” Dickinson says.
But that was as high-tech as it got. “When
we did *N Sync and Aerosmith in Tampa,
we rolled large lighting towers on the field
and had all this instrumentation. But it was
decided not to take that approach for the
Stones,” he says. “They are the quintessential
rock band, and they are not about big LED
screens and staging devices. So we stayed
away from projection and LED technology.”
But this straightforward approach was
hardly easy, and they had crews on the
ground at the stadium since Jan. 2.
“In truth, I feel we achieved exactly what
we set out to do. We wanted a show to be the
antithesis of the Paul McCartney show the
year before. We wanted a gutsy, raw, rock ‘n’
roll look,” Dickinson says. Thus, color was used
sparingly. For “Start Me Up,” only white light
was used. For “Rough Justice,” some amber
and lemons were added.“Satisfaction” started
with a cool look and then exploded in color.
Ford
Field Follies
28
PLSN MARCH 2006
“I don’t want to knock Ford Field because
it’s a great stadium to view a game,” Sullivan
says. “But the whole setup for us was one of
the worst logistically.” A single 300-foot long
tunnel is the only access to the field, and
that had to be shared with everyone from
the players to the press. The field also has a
particularly low wall with fans close to the
field, and this didn’t allow for any equipment
storage on the field.
Dickinson agrees the field was a challenge. It has a low roof and the architectural
and structural restrictions were significant.
www.PLSN.com
- Brian Sullivan
“
“
“Every setup is different, but
how to move the stage this fast
doesn’t change.”
“There is an NFL clearance height rule that
all stadiums need to meet, and the ball area
is 145 feet high,” he explains. “The load-bearing beams were just about at that height. But
Rocky Paulson did an amazing job rigging
so we could get as much lighting up there
as possible.” The lights were stored in the
160-foot range, and then had to travel down
between 100 to 130 feet—all in those precious six minutes.
Also, in the past, they’ve been allowed
to rehearse moving the stage on and off the
field in the stadium, but this year they had
to rehearse in the Pontiac Dome, 30 miles
away. There, for two weeks, the IA employees from Detroit’s Local 1 rehearsed with
hundreds of volunteers. These volunteers,
the lifeblood of the operation, are retirees
and students, with a few firefighters, along
with everything else imaginable. They have
to stand up to a security clearance, but what
they can and can’t do is to be a major part
of the strategic planning.
The first dry run took an hour and a half,
Sullivan says. “So we just keep working it
down until it gets in the six-minute range.
And I believe they achieved that in Pontiac
before we took it to Detroit. They did a great
job this year.”
Sullivan only sends four of his people
to the actual show. The four basically
act as stage paramedics, complete with
backpacks of air. Like a NASCAR pit crew,
they can change a wheel or an aluminum
jack in seconds. The stage managing
duties are handed off to Cap Spence and
Tony Hauser.
The volunteers waited outside the
stadium on the cold and windy day. The
line of equipment was a good 600 yards,
Sullivan says, and outside, the carts, some
with up to 5,000 pounds of gear on them,
snaked down the street and around a
couple of corners. “And the streets were
not even closed,” he laughs.
But did he enjoy the game?
“Sure I did! I left my seat at the two-minute warning, as I had to step in for one of my
employees. Watching the show go out was
intense. Then after, back in my seat, I could
have passed out, I was so relieved.”
100.0603.Ads.ss.indd 29
3/2/06 10:46:07 PM
FEEDINGTHEMACHINES
A
Super
Experience
I
have just returned from
quite an interesting gig.
It all started at LDI in November when Dall Brown
and I had dinner. He told
me about an upcoming
project in conjunction with
the Super Bowl in Detroit. He was planning
to light the sky over the city with about 50
large-format DMX-controlled fixtures, and
he wondered if I would be interested in programming for him. Dall and I go back about
15 years. In fact, he was the first LD to ever
hire me as an automated lighting programmer. Although we always meet at LDI for
dinner, we had not worked together in many
years. I was excited to work with Dall again,
and I was energized by the unique challenges I knew this project would present.
The Sales Pitch
As our food arrived, Dall told me of a
great light show happening in the sky as the
football fans partied in the streets. For four
nights (ending on Super Bowl Sunday), we
would help provide a party atmosphere to
the entire downtown area.“Front of House will
be located in a penthouse at the top of the
highest tower in town,” Dall told me. He went
on to explain how radio DMX would transmit
to the various rooftop locations of the fixtures.
Furthermore, he said that we need to spend
a week with a visualizer to reduce the on-site
programming time and provide some renderings and animations to his client.
Sitting there at dinner in Orlando, I did
not realize how much the scale of this project
100.0603.FeedMachines.RG.indd 30
By BradSchiller
would impact every aspect of the event. As
Dall dealt with many details on various levels,
including gaining access to rooftops, arranging crews and cranes, etc.—and keeping
the budget under control—I began to think
about the lighting programming challenges.
Reality Sets in with the Visualizer
Most visualizers are equipped to accommodate a full stadium-size location and allow
viewing from a few thousand feet. Anything
much larger is out of the normal operating
range. Dall had a full-scale 3-D drawing of the
100 tallest buildings in Detroit and wanted
to visualize in this venue just like you would
with any size stage. Luckily, Greg, AJ and
Dedrick at ESP Vision were extremely helpful
in ensuring that their new product, Vision
2.0, was up to the task. With some simple
modifications to the “normal” settings, we
were able to visualize in full scale and view
the rendering from several miles away.
When we began preprogramming using
the visualizer, it was instantly apparent that
the positions would need to be viewed from
many angles to determine if they would
be useful. As I began building my palettes, I
found that by “flying” around the virtual city,
I could gain insight into the possibilities of
the rig. Additionally, I was able to determine
which buildings would be in the way and
which ones were good candidates for architectural lighting focuses. The original plan
was to create just beams of light in the air,
but then, Dall’s client asked us to light some
buildings as well.
Due to the complexity of creating the
focuses with such a large viewing area, I
decided to document all my focuses. On the
last day in the visualization studio, I exported
a rendering of each focus and named them
by number and description. This proved to
be extremely valuable when rebuilding the
real focuses on-site.
The Penthouse Awaits
Prior to my arrival in Detroit, Dall
informed me that the location of FOH had
changed. The planned penthouse location
had to be given up due to some corporate
party, but he did find another location in the
same building. The new FOH location turned
out to be the top of a staircase on the 39th
floor. We could place the console and radio
DMX transmitters in this location as there
was no public access to the top of the stairs
(it was only for access to an elevator control
room). The stairwell was fully glassed most
of the way around and allowed for a super
view of the city. As it turned out, the stairwell
was a perfect location and no penthouse
was needed. Dall even hand-built a custom
table for the console so that I could work in
complete comfort.
Programming in Blind
Once the six primary locations of the fixtures were up and running, we had to begin
the task of updating the position palettes.
Although they had been preprogrammed
in the visualization studio, many real world
angles and placements required adjustments
to all the positions. This is typical when working with a visualizer, so I was not surprised.
However, it quickly became apparent that,
although I could see the entire city from my
vantage point, it was rather impossible to
perfectly dial in the positions. In fact, due to
my altitude and angle, the focuses had to be
updated from a ground-based perspective.
Dall took off across town in his car with
his laptop fired up, ready to view the previously-created renderings of each position.
As he sat in one location calling focuses to
me, our great lighting technicians would
be at the fixture locations calling in more
information. By using our radios, Dall and the
crew talked me through every single focus.
Never before had I focused so many fixtures
without being able to see the result. I just sat
in my stairwell staring at the values above
the encoders. “A bit more left,”“tilt down a
touch,” and “no, the other down” were all
commonly-heard phrases. I am sure that the
FBI stopped monitoring our radio communications within the first three minutes.
My Visual Assistant
We had also brought the visualizer rig
along with us and set it up at FOH. This
was very useful as I could quickly look at
the city from any angle and get an idea of
the perspective that Dall or the crew was
seeing. This then enabled me to quickly
determine if I was panning or tilting the
fixtures in the correct direction. In addition, I could monitor the show from various
angles to determine if each location was
programmed as I desired.
The Actual Programming
After spending a night updating the 30
or so position palettes, I put together the
actual lighting show. Dall and I had created many looks with the visualizer prior
to arriving, but now that we saw how the
sky reacted for real, we had to make some
changes. After determining what looked
best, we prepared a seven-minute looping
show. I then layered this with another cue
list that would allow the primary loop to play
as programmed for one pass, then play in
a particular color combination for the next
pass. This alteration of the original programming continued automatically for several
cycles, resulting in a varying light show over
the city. In addition, I created a number of
playbacks ready to override the routine with
the various specials or chases that I thought
Dall might ask for. During the game, we
would playback color-specific ballyhoos as
each team scored, and, of course, we had
special yellow cues for the Steelers after they
won the game.
A Winning Team
The end result was a beautiful light show
that surrounded and entertained the entire
city. It was a blast to be in control of fixtures
that were located a mile and a half from me
and watch the ever-changing city. Early on,
the public was posting positive comments
on Web sites and blogs. Then, on Super Bowl
Sunday, ABC showed footage of the city
lights during most of the bumpers coming
back from commercials.
This project was a success due to the
cooperation of everyone involved and the
coordination and planning of Dall Brown.
Without the crew acting as one unified team,
this gig would never have been so victorious.
Each one of us shared our knowledge and
experience to allow this production to be a
simple, fun event on a grand scale.
I again want to thank all those that
helped, including Dall Brown, Fantasee
Lighting and their crew, including Barb
Silber, Jimi Herr and Annemarie Stoll,
Syncrolite and their crew, including Glenn
Rupert, Jason Turner, Jeffery Smith and
Jason McMahan, AVM’s Ted MacDonald and
IATSE Local 38.
Contact Brad at bschiller@plsn.com.
3/2/06 10:57:14 PM
INSTALLS • INDUSTRIALS • FILM/TV • THEATRE • CONCERTS
LOS ANGELES, CA—It was Super Bowl Sunday
and the freeways of L.A. were surprisingly forgiving.
While most citizens were settling in for a long day
of chicken wings and clever commercials, I was
tooling toward Ground Zero for the music industry:
Staples Center, home to the 48th Annual Grammy
Awards. Despite the surface tranquility
of downtown this balmy morning, as
I approached the Staples/Convention
Center staging area, I could literally
feel the hum of activity in the hive. It
was the first of three days of rehearsals,
the technical shakedown before
Wednesday’s live broadcast of “Music’s
Biggest Night.”
I last covered the Grammys in
2000, the first year the show moved
from the relatively intimate Shrine
Auditorium to this then-new sports
palace. Built primarily for L.A.’s Lakers
and their corporate skybox sponsors,
the wild acoustics of the place struck
terror into the hearts of the National Academy of
Recording Arts and Sciences. Now, six years later,
the sound issues have long since been dealt with.
But the world outside has changed, and new terrors
need to be addressed.
V-Base Projector Yoke Hits U.S.
NEW YORK, NY—When Scharff Weisberg took
delivery of the Brother, Brother & Sons V-Base
Projector Yoke for Digital Projection’s HL12000
DSX+, they became the first and only company in
the U.S. to offer the video projector yoke from the
manufacturers, headquartered in Denmark.
“The V-Base yoke securely holds and moves the
12000 DSX plus projector so it can produce effects
not achievable via any other method,” notes Josh
Weisberg. “The V-base yoke essentially motorizes
the projector so that projected images move with
pinpoint accuracy and those movements can be
programmed and repeated. Used alongside moving
and conventional lights it adds a new dimension to
staging today.”
“The V-Base Projector Yoke is used extensively
on TV and awards shows in Europe,” adds Weisberg.
“We believe our clients are sure to find a host of
applications for its usage on this side of the Atlantic.”
The V-Base range is distributed in the U.S. and
Canada by A.C.T Lighting, Inc.
ETC Networking Partners
Program expands with ArKaos
MIDDLETON, WI—ETC’s
Networking Partner Program
now includes Belgian software
developer ArKaos, a provider
of media server technology
for live visual performances.
The Networking Partner
Program allows select vendors
to implement ETC protocols,
including ETCNet2™, in their
products. ArKaos will show the
latest version of the ArKaos 3.5 ETC
Edition on the ATF stand at the
SIEL 2006 trade fair. The softwarebased visual synthesizer that
runs on a PC or a Mac is a tool for
lighting designers or visual artists
to create and control projections.
At SIEL, the application will be
connecting via ETCNet2 with ETC’s
new Congo® console. The ArKaos
product will be available after SIEL.
“As control-hungry devices
like media servers move into the
mainstream, our network offers
the best option for controlling
them,” explains ETC marketing
manager David Lincecum. “Also,
as our console users further their
employment of visualization
software capabilities, we allow
them direct access to the wide
array of products on the market.
Media servers are the newest
area of lighting convergence,
consuming hundreds of control
addresses for a single unit. ETC’s
networking protocol provides
the best traffic management
available for high capacity
applications like media servers.”
Marco Hinic, CEO at ArKaos,
comments:, “Exposing the
capabilities of our latest media
server software through ETCNet2
protocol allows us to reach a
new level of integration between
lighting and video technology.”
Other recent ETC networking
partners include software
companies Capture Sweden and
ESP Studios, media display and
server company Green Hippo
and lighting controls company
MA Lighting. Earlier members
of this growing ETC club included
Cast Lighting, Sand Network
Systems and Pathway Connectivity.
Inside...
32
HD on
Bon Jovi
In a touring first,
HD cameras and
projection hook up.
32
Cullum’s Video
Culture
Live video mix
enhances concertgoers’
experience.
37
Video World
It’s all about the pack
when you’re headed
on the road.
Inside the 48th Annual Grammys
NEWS
Bon Jovi Tours with HD
PHOENIX, AZ—Bon Jovi’s current Have
a Nice Day Tour could be a first in HD video
support. The HD video system, supplied by
Nocturne Productions, is believed to be a
touring-industry first.
“Various acts have used HD playback, but
Bon Jovi is the first to carry an HD camera
and playback system with them for the
length of the tour,” says David Lemmink,
director of engineering at Nocturne.
The system includes three Vista Systems
Spyder 353 units, seven Thomson/Grass Valley LDK6000 and Ikegami HDL-40 HD cameras, a Grass Valley Kalypso video switcher, a
custom-built 40-foot wide Saco V9 HD LED
wall, Main Light SOFT-LED curtains, Saco V9
LED “fingers,” which extend behind the main
HD wall, and Barco G8 projectors for side
screens.
“This is the first tour where we’ve integrated video and lights so all video playback
and manipulation is controlled from the
lighting desk via a DMX interface to the
o
Spyder,” Lemmink explains. “With the Spyder
we can create six full-resolution HD screen
spaces—on the LED wall, curtain, fingers and
HD side screens—and manipulate 15 layers
of 1080i HD video.”
Inputs, all of which are HD, include
program feeds, the individual cameras, four
channels of Grass Valley Turbo IDDR and
three channels of Hippotizer media server.
Every input runs through a 64-by-64 router
and is processed by the Spyder. Custom
hardware and software feeds the unique 50by 1.5-foot “fingers,” which can mimic pyro
effects and display multiple images.
“Since we have random access to anything and anywhere, Spyder gives us the
capability to layer on demand,” Lemmink reports. “It’s my new favorite box, a real trouper.
Spyder works like a 15-channel DVE with the
added bonus of real-time control via DMX.
And we’re talking about 15 layers of HD/SDI
video. When you see the HD video signal 40
feet wide, it’s nothing less than stunning.”
Jamie Cullum Cultures Video
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN—Jamie Cullum’s
current tour features three upstage 10- by
7.5-foot video screens, showing an eclectic
and fluid mix of animations, prerecorded
footage, color and effects, plus live camera
feeds from two cameras. Video artists Yeast
Culture produce the video using equipment
supplied by XL Video UK.
The screens were deliberately trimmed
low to bring a sense of intimacy and close
proximity to the stage to the audience.
The visual dynamics of the live camera work
revealed Cullum close-up—raw, live and direct—a real person and a genuine performer.
Yeast Culture was formed by Nick Hillel
and Marc Silver six years ago. They create
music visuals, art installations, films and documentaries, and their work has acquired its own
individual, often combative style and aesthet-
ics. Two years ago, Cullum saw a Yeast performance and asked them to work with him.
XL’s project manager Paul Wood says,
“Nick has produced a very intense yet
intimate look that truly enhances the Jamie
Cullum live experience.”
Cullum does not have a set list and the
shows are completely random, so all the
mixing is done live and their video operation
setup has to be flexible and instantly accessible. The Yeast team consists of Hillel mixing
and two camera people (Kelly Sandall and
Niken Corrigan) who spend most of
the show each pointing a Sony PD 100 DV
camera closely at Cullum and occasionally
onto other band members.
Hillel runs the video show from stage
right, just to the left of Cullum’s piano, and
the two camera operators sit either side of
the piano with their target
in the middle. “We don’t try
and disguise or cover up
the fact that were are right
there onstage,” explains
Hillel, as it’s all essentially
part of their creative oeuvre. However, the show so
captivates the audience
that they virtually melt
into the atmosphere.
The canned content
consists of a series of loops,
all stored on a laptop. They
were created by Hillel
using Adobe After Effects
and Director and are
recalled and replayed
live via a Korg Kaoss Pad
Entrancer that allows the visual manipulation
of images in real-time with fingertip control.
The live cameras are also fed through the
Kaoss pad so they can be manipulated
in time to the music. The three Sanyo
XP50 projectors are backstage behind
the screens.
He also uses a Panasonic MX50 mixer
and a 16-way matrix switcher to switch any
source to any destination. It’s an older piece
of kit, but Hillel likes it because it works
really well for their camera material, which
is recorded in black and white to give it a
stark yet filmic quality. “The MX50 also has a
great feature enabling the layering of shots
in a very specific way that later models don’t
have,” he says.
There’s a DVD deck onstage which Cullum sometimes scratches live depending
on the songs he’s playing. He also controls
one piece of video playback himself with his
voice, fed from the sound desk into the video
computer, so the louder he sings, the faster
the image runs onscreen.
The discussions about the tour visuals
first started back at the beginning of 2005,
although the tour didn’t kick off till October.
Hillel spent a month of long days preparing
the video clips and animations before the
tour commenced. It moves to North America
in March, where the video will be once again
be supplied by XL.
32
PLSN MARCH 2006
www.PLSN.com
Inside the 48th Annual Grammys
Security
Back in the day—remember The Millennium?—the biggest challenge for awards
shows like the Grammys and the Oscars was
to keep the uninvited out. The stars, after all,
expect to be pampered and the hoi polloi kept
at a distance. Now in the age of the Clash of
Civilizations, another aspect of these events
has to be taken into account: They present a
juicy target for terrorists intent on taking out
the purveyors of Decadent Western Culture.
Three and a half days before the actual show,
11th Street in front of Staples was sealed off and
security guards were all over the event parking
lot. An official flyer warned of three-hour delays
from the freeway exit to Staples entrance on
Grammy night.
Press credentialing had been moved next
door to the more easily-defended Convention
Center. Security is tight, and even with my pass
I’m not allowed “all access” backstage without
my official NARAS Media Consultants. This
turns out to be a really good thing, as I would
have been lost, literally and figuratively, without
my guides, Robbie Clyne and Lisa Roy. They led
me through the labyrinths of Staples Center
for seven hours, and directed me to everyone
involved in production. Both were fonts of
information and a hoot to hang with. Not to
mention that they bought me lunch and told
stories about The Stones as we watched them
on TV at halftime. Yet even Robbie and Lisa had
to “assume the position” outside Staples as we
were all thoroughly wanded by security.“Even
executive producer John Cossette and director
Walter C. Miller get wanded every time they
enter the building,” I’m told. I’m only allowed
to keep my camera while outside the building.
Once inside, I’m asked to surrender it and any
recording devices a hapless journalist might
carry. After that day, even cell phones would be
checked. Guess you can’t be too safe.
Down on the Farm
The delivery ramp and underground
dock became “The Truck Farm” during the
Grammys. As the arena has no permanent
production facilities, the show’s audio and
video command centers were housed in
trailers parked here for the duration. Massive
trunks of cabling snaked from the deep
interior of the building to connect these
trucks, each with their own backup gennies
to protect against any power outage.
Inside the Supershooter
The NEP Denali “Supershooter #24” was the
video truck in the Farm. To say it was the nerve
center of production would not be farfetched.
It’s the biggest HD truck on the road, a twin
double expando. It carried up to 24 Sony or
Grass Valley cameras, Sony MVS8000 Switcher,
DVEous, Calrec Alpha and wiring for 10 EVS
servers. The 35- by 8-foot video wall displayed
feeds from the stage and the looping graphic
elements for the rear projection screens. Two
lonely screens were tuned into the Super
Bowl; this is normally a sports truck and some
of these guys were jonesing. But the vibe was
all business as rehearsal time approaches.
This was the first Grammy broadcast for this
Pittsburgh-based video behemoth, replacing
Ed Greene’s venerable All Mobile Video after
nearly 30 years. Tom Holmes serves as SD
production mixer.
This was where Walter Miller would sit
during the show directing 45 TV engineers,
and most everyone else. In television, the
departments overlap a lot. Lights might be
in a presenter’s eyes and he or she can’t read
the teleprompter. Mobile staging elements
might get in the way of lights or camera
cranes or mics. Untangling this mess largely
falls on the shoulders of the director, and
Miller would have his hands full.
Alan Wells, one of the video engineers,
pointed out the rear projection screens
scrimming the Staples set. “We’ve got 22
screens up there, with no two the same size
or shape. Stage right is LED, and the center
screen displays four projections blended together. There are 34 channels of video playback, all told. Kober Post, the video graphics
provider, is still delivering elements until the
day of the broadcast. HD and SD playbacks
are delivered separately.”
Ady Gil, co-owner of American Hi-Definition, provided the projectors.“We’re using 37
projectors total, all DLPs in the 12000-18000
lumens range,” he said. Eighteen Christie
Roadster S+16K 3-chip projectors were used
as part of the sophisticated visual display
systems that powered the main stage. Eight
of the Christie projectors powered the stage’s
main screen, while the other 10 transformed
the floor of the main stage with glowing
images. Four Digital Projection International
28sx projectors lit the “sails” on one side of
the set, with five more illuminating the longer
side. Ten more projectors shone on various
canopies, audience and close down screens.
“It’s the most fabulous awards show on TV,”
enthused Gil.“The biggest set, the most
beautifully lit, the most music.”
By Jerry Cobb
continued from page 31
www.PLSN.com
PLSN MARCH 2006
33
NEWS
VIDEO PRODUCTS
»
360 Systems Image Server Enhancements
360 Systems Image Server 2000’s
new features include Advanced Playlisting software, a RAID-5 drive array with up
to 170 hours of storage and multi-format
support of MPEG-2, DV25 and Targa file
formats. A built-in standard gigabit Ethernet interface supports standard FTP
protocol, thereby allowing file transfers
from and to desktop editors and graphics stations. Another key new feature is simultaneous support of composite analog
and digital SDI on both record and playback channels. The new Advanced Playlisting software runs resident on the Linux operating system that powers the Image Server;
no external PC or controller is required when using this software as the primary interface.
360 Systems • 818.991.0360 • www.360systems.com
»
Panasonic AJ-PCD20
Solid-State Memory
Drive
Panasonic’s new AJ-PCD20 is a five-slot P2 solid-state internal/external memory drive designed
for high-speed file transfer of 25Mbps DVCPRO or
50Mbps DVCPRO50 video into nonlinear editing
systems and servers. It allows a user to mount five 8 GB P2 cards (up to 160 minutes of record-
ings in DVCPRO, 80 minutes in DVCPRO50 and 40 minutes in DVCPRO HD) at the same time
and have access to the contents on all five cards. It eliminates digitizing so that material can be
accessed almost instantaneously. It can be installed in a standard PC type 5.25-inch bay drive
enclosure or connect through its high-speed USB 2.0 or IEEE 1394b interfaces. Available in July.
Panasonic Broadcast • 323.436.3507 or 201.348.7975 • www.panasonic.com/p2
»
Sharp XG-MB
Projectors
Sharp’s new XG-MB65X and
XG-MB55X projectors feature Texas
Instruments Dual Data Rate DLP
technology for 2,000:1 contrast ratio and XGA native resolution. The
series has built-in RS-232C connectivity to remotely check projector
lamp life or provide operational
support. The 3,000-ANSI-lumen
XG-MB65X and the 2,500-ANSI-lumens XG-MB55X incorporate a Condenser Lens Optical System. A new 3x-speed four-segment
color wheel with an enhanced white color segment optimizes white level and brightness to
ensure that all projected images are uniform. The projectors weigh less than nine pounds and
can be ceiling mounted (for permanent installations) or operated from a table-top or AV cart.
Sharp Electronics Corporation • 201.529.8200 • www.sharpusa.com
»
MultiDyne
USB-2000
The USB-2000 USB Fiber
Optic Link permits the extension of USB 2.0 signals up to
10 kilometers. The system
supports four USB ports. The
user can extend the distance
limitations of USB via MultiDyne proprietary fiber optic
link. Applications include remoting keyboard and mouse
functions for the remote
control of computer systems,
networking USB peripherals in remote location plus
many more. Systems are available in multi-mode and single-mode with one or two fiber optic ports. The
USB-2000 is a companion to the RGB2000 and RGB5000 RGB/ UXGA Video Fiber Optic Links, enabling you to transport high resolution graphics with USB 2.0.
MultiDyne • 800.488.8378 • www.multidyne.com
»
Altinex
MT107-104
Matrix Engine
The MT107-104 is a 64by-64 matrix engine used for
connecting various types of
audio and video signals from
MT107 series expansion cards.
Signal types include video, audio, keyboard/mouse, TTL Logic and Altinex CAT-5. The Matrix Engine has eight input IDC connectors and eight output IDC connectors. Each input and output connector is capable of delivering eight signals from any expansion card to the matrix engine. Expansion cards are mounted
to the engine with specially provided high bandwidth cables to maintain signal integrity. All
control of the Matrix Engine is maintained through the MultiTasker™ enclosure. The engine
may be controlled using the RS-232 bus, or by preprogramming the MultiTasker™ enclosure.
Altinex • 800.258.4639 • www.altinex.com
PLSN Bookshelf
Your #1 resource
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PLSN MARCH 2006
www.PLSN.com
100.0603.Ads.ss.indd 35
3/2/06 10:46:37 PM
VIDEO DIGERATI
Don’t Let Hiccups
Get Yo
u Dow
W
hat happens when you arrive and
the lighting crew or the video
projection crew is waiting for you
to tell them where you want the digital lighting projectors to be placed, but the truss
isn’t hung or where you need it to be? What
would you do if you arrived at the gig and
the screens were already hung, but they’re
10 feet further than the optimal throw distance? These situations, and many more like
them, are commonly referred to as hiccups.
How you handle them is going to require
n
asked for, you can make it through the show
and the show will not suffer. But if the screens
are hidden by shimmering silver Mylar or
blocked by the set, then you may need to
have a word with someone about the video
for which the client paid top dollar to have
produced—you know, the video of the corporate CEO singing at the company karaoke
lunch. It has to take top priority, after all!
Before arriving at the venue, contact the
people who will be providing the content, or,
if you are the responsible party, then you will
When you do find yourself in
a dialogue with the director
or production manager, it’s
in your best interest to listen
and ask questions.
thinking on your feet. Here are a few common sense things that may just help you get
through those stressful situations.
The key to having a show go as smoothly
as possible is good communication. Simple
communication requires that you tell others
what you need and that you compromise
when it is necessary. I like to think of this as
knowing when to pick your battles. Chances
are if that screen isn’t hung exactly where
you need it or it’s slightly smaller than you
need to know what content to prepare for
the show. Production meetings are usually
the place to ask all of these questions, and
you should not rely on anyone else to cover
any details about which you don’t ask. If you
aren’t sure about something, track down the
answer before you get on-site if you can, because it’s easier to deal with problems ahead
of time and before any equipment has been
shipped out.
At some point when you do find yourself
36
PLSN MARCH 2006
www.PLSN.com
By VickieClaiborne
in a dialogue with the director or production
manager (or the client or someone who has
an idea of what they want to see on those
screens), it’s in your best interest to listen
and ask questions. Video imagery makes a
huge impact on the mood and atmosphere
of a show, so it’s important to pick content
that matches that of the show. It’s a great
idea to get a script as soon as possible (if
there is one) so you can identify which looks
may work for each section of the show.
Matching the content to the show is as important as picking the right costumes for the
talent. Make a bad choice and it will detract
from the overall effect.
At the venue, you’ll want to be involved
in the placement of the projectors as they
are being hung. The hanging positions of
the projection devices and the placement of
display screens are decisions that are critical
to the integration of video in a show. If careful consideration is not given to how video
will be utilized in the production, then the
results will be less effective. Coordinate with
the video personnel with what your needs
are, and everyone will feel more comfortable
since they will know what is required.
And while we’re on the subject of rigging the gear, it’s a great idea to oversee the
hang to ensure that all cabling and addressing (if DMX-controllable) is finished before
the truss goes up. It’s a humbling conversation to have with the master electrician or
rigger when there’s an addressing problem
and the whole truss has to come in or
someone has to climb up because it wasn’t
checked before it went up.
If your equipment is interfaced with
other video equipment, you’ll need to be
ready to assist in that setup and answer
questions about your equipment if necessary to make the connections work. Some
common questions when working with projectors and LED panels are about resolution
settings and signal connections. Know what
options you have, and ask what options are
available with the other video equipment if
you are not familiar with it already.
Another important relationship to
establish is with the lighting console programmer—if that person is not you. Lighting
and video are not mutually exclusive, and
a great video image can be completed
washed out by a stage full of lighting. Good
communication about your specific cues will
help that person watch their intensity levels
and color choices during programming and
the show, making the entire production feel
more cohesive.
Remember that everyone at the gig
has their own job too, and they hopefully
want to do it well. Treat your coworkers at the
gig with respect, and they will do a million
things for you. However, treat them with
disrespect, and you’ll have a very long day
ahead of you.
Vickie Claiborne is a freelance programmer.
She can be reached at vclaiborne@plsn.com.
A
One-Up
VIDEO
VIDEODIGERATI
WORLD
on
One-Offs
An ounce of prevention…
I
By MarkHaney
and your own cache of equipment to reach
that highly coveted level of having it completely “sussed out” or reaching a premium
level of “sussage.” If you can appreciate
the vernacular, then you’re a true roadie.
“Sussed” is a common term on the road that
can be used as an adjective, verb or adverb
meaning organized, or very together. My
old friend Bill Calison, a director/engineer of
note, would describe a person who operates
in that state of suss as a person “who’s got
their s--- together.” (Sorry mom).
In projection, it’s all about having the
glass, or, more to the point, having the right
lens or selection of lenses to remedy any
venue-specific situation. On a one-off, it’s
easy. Advance the gig and you’ll know what
to bring. In a touring situation, it’s much
more difficult to know. Sometimes, you just
have to carry a lot of different lenses. Vendors
hate that because those lenses are so very
dear (read “expensive”). A couple grand a
pop for each is not unusual. Say you carry
four different sizes, times two projectors and,
whamo! That’s $15K to $20K worth of lenses!
The client doesn’t understand words like, “We
can’t because all that video stuff is expensive,
right?!” Well, perhaps in vague terms. But
that’s our cross to bear.
On the big screen LED side of things, motors and motor cable are next in importance
after the obvious power concerns. Be sure
to bring enough of both, and plenty of steel,
shackles, span-sets and whatever else it takes
to hang your LED wall. A sound, working
motor controller with a phase-reverse switch
is necessary, as well as dual redundant runs
from your video signal source. You might
need a good ladder, and, again, a workbox
with all those extras that are so needed
when the screen load-in starts. I could go further into the requirements for hanging big
screens on one-offs, but it really depends on
the particular kind of LED screen you have.
Each beast has its own particular needs.
In summation, I think the most important
thing in the preparation of one-offs is to give
a lot of thought to the upcoming event without over thinking it. Again, power and signal
cable is important, so bring plenty. And as always, it’s very important to meter your power
source and your power distro output as well.
It might end up saving your gear.
Do a good advance, as most of these
events are event or venue specific. Communicate with the shop, pack your equipment
to ride, and watch the weather, even if it’s
indoors. Once you’re on-site, it’s just like the
road; load in to load out!
P.S. In the January Video World column,
I mentioned the pixel pitch, in mils (or millimeters) of an LED screen. Specifically, the
article said, “…don’t expect it to look even
close to a 20-mil LED wall.” Pixel pitch is the
spacing between pixels on a video display.
After going back and rereading the article
post-publication, I realized that I should have
mentioned this for the sake of you folks out
there who are trying to learn more about
the industry. In fact, this could be an entire
article! See ya next month.
E-mail the author at mhaney@plsn.com.
recently had a change of scenery that
involved less of driving a switcher and
more of driving a desk. This has given me
a different perspective on preparation for
the one-off gig in the world of video. What
I’m finding is that an ounce of prevention is
definitely worth a pound of cure. So what
exactly is an ounce of prevention? This is
my take concerning video flightpacks, LED
screens and projection.
Most any one-off preparation begins with
power. The requirements are usually a 60 to
100 amp three-phase service for flightpacks,
or as our Euro readers say, PPUs. Where you
need to pay particular attention is with LEDs
and projectors. Make sure you have power
conditioning, proper outlets on your distro or
distros, “T”s for your feeder cable and enough
power to handle the gear. Exact power requirements are vendor-specific, so I won’t get
into what those might or might not be.
But we can begin with some basics.
A power distro with conditioned juice for
your electronics is a good place to start. The
ability to tie into whatever power source is
available at the venue with tails, cam locks
or cam lock Ts is the first thing you’ll need.
Cable, and plenty of it, is probably second.
Let’s stop right here because that could
apply to power or signal. Having plenty of
both and following their paths is the key to
solving problems; those are the mantras of
our industry—signal flow, baby! You never
know where the next monitor location is
going to be requested, so having plenty of
BNC runs in 25-, 50- and 100-foot lengths
for different destinations should always be a
priority on any pack list. And of course, patch
cables in 2-, 4- and 10-foot lengths that are
good for rack-to-rack and device-to-device
patches are key.
And speaking of your pack list, my favorite flightpack piece is the frame shaker, a device that lets you synchronize a video source
with the rest of a video system. The correct
term is a time base corrector (TBC). If you are
an engineer, tech manager, technical director
or a television director in any form, you’ll love
what this device does for your flexibility. It’s
like a trump card in any card game, and it can
resolve many issues.
A level of redundancy in playback
devices is always good, whatever the format.
Having extra cards for the video D.A.
(distribution amplifier) tray is a nice luxury.
Isolation transformers or hum buckers to
“clean” signals up are incredibly helpful. At
least two extra 9-inch monitors are nice
to have for just whatever comes up—and
believe me, something will come up! These
items apply to most any size of video world
or that area of video control that we on the
road call “the racks.”
On the camera side, rain gear, solar
blankets and lens wipes are always needed.
Always have on hand gaff, E-tape, trick line
and visquine (plastic tarp) with which to
cover gear—all the usual roadie suspects. A
portable signal, grid or color-bar generator
will also come in very handy, especially on
projection gigs. And obviously, a wellstocked workbox with any of these items
www.PLSN.com
PLSN MARCH 2006
37
roadtest
Light Factory
PC-Based Lighting Controller
A better mouse click?
By RichardRutherford
A
s an experienced sound and lighting
contractor, I am often put upon by
manufacturer reps to “…take a look
and let us know what you think” about this
piece of gear or that. Sometimes, there may
be an actual potential need for the product,
a free lunch or sometimes just plain old curiosity on my part. In this case, however, the
stars aligned properly and I came across this
product that I wanted to check out.
Light Factory is a PC-based software
solution for lighting control that is laptopcapable. At first glance, it seems to be just
another click-and-go software-based DMX
control program, but I found that there is
more to it than that.
First of all, I am one of those overconfident
types who reads the first page of a manual
and then starts pushing buttons just so I can
get really frustrated. Light Factory seems to
know me. They laid out their Web site with
agree—not because you really need it, but
because the software does so much that
you just wouldn’t want to miss anything.
The simple color-coding of active channels
is really effective, and making on-the-fly
changes to fixtures and dimmers only takes a
confident glance.
I also really liked the photographic icons
for individual fixtures and being able to simply “mouse” intelligent fixtures to X and Y coordinates. This is the way software should be,
where most of the detailed front end work is
done for you. While the open USB interface
is certainly fast enough at 40 frames per second, I suspect that some heavily burdened
laptops might bog a bit. However, some interfaces such as the Soundlight/Sunlight USB
interface have separate microprocessors, so I
don’t see this as an issue if you are willing to
spend a couple more dollars. I have to think
that any of the optional Ethernet interfaces
would also work even better, especially if you
require multiple DMX outputs.
Submaster control and interface is always
an issue, especially for facilities that may have
excellent programmers but less than experienced operators. The Light Factory supports
1,000 submasters that are easily accessed
through any conventional DMX desk. This is
simple enough both in programming and
hardware requirements. I suspect this capability alone will make this a logical upgrade for
the theatre, house of worship, large corporate
and touring markets. I would love to use the
submasters on a touchscreen or one of the
optional ErgoDex shortcut keyboards.
Visualizations are not included, but considerations for interfacing with software like
Capture and WYSIWYG are handled nicely
enough. At less than a dollar per control
channel, the software is very reasonable in
cost considering the quality, and if you pony
up for all 10 DMX universes, then you are
paying less than 40 cents a channel.
There are also a mind-boggling number
of possible macros, task schedulers, effect
and show runners, all of which can be hot
keyed or triggered just about any way you
38
a logical path to FAQs, system requirements
and hardware accessories. Very little reading is required to get to the meat of features
and operation. Their quick setup manual was
almost too clear and simple, and once the
software was downloaded, I had dimmers and
fixtures patched in about three minutes.
The attention to detail with regards to
operating both intelligent lights and dimmers is probably the outstanding feature
that goes almost unnoticed because the
software is so intuitive in this regard. There
may be cooler graphics out there, but the
visual response to the mouse and keyboard
was logical, useful and functional. Upgrading to the 5,120-channel version and using
a couple of large monitors would be great
for writing programs for a complex show.
The specs say you can get 450 channels up
on a single screen, but the company actually recommends a dual monitor display. I
PLSN MARCH 2006
www.PLSN.com
want because of the open architecture of
the software.
I suggest taking a few minutes and test
drive this software for yourself. Go to www.
stageresearch.com/products/Lighting
Software.aspx and take a look. We like toys,
and this is one that is especially fun. Now, if
you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go read the
manual and see what I missed.
What it is: Light Factory PC-Based
Lighting Controller, distributed in
North America by Stage Research
(www.stageresearch.com)
What it’s for: Clubs, theatres, houses
of worship, corporate events and
small tours
Pros: Up to 10 DMX universes (5,120
channels); up to 2,000 lighting fixtures;
output to industry-standard USB or Ethernet devices; unlimited cue lists each
supporting millions of cues; multiple effects engines; built in scheduler, macros,
palettes, user security and fixture library;
audio, MIDI and time code triggering; up
to 1,000 external submasters using any
existing DMX desk; unique LED/matrix
control; simple media playback (video,
audio, flash); Capture & WYSIWYG
visualization support
Cons: PC-based, no dedicated hardware
How much: U.S. $499
Yo!
A
pril 15 is coming at us faster than
we realize. It’s a good time to discuss
one of the big bugaboos in the
entertainment business: the status of the
freelance worker.
The term “freelance” translates in
IRS-speak to “independent contractor,” a
category that has undergone significant
revision and clarification over the last decade
because, in an age when few people stay
at one job more than a few years, the notion of self-employment has gotten fuzzy
around the edges. Back in 1996, the Internal
Revenue Service redefined what constitutes
an independent contractor, establishing a
complex set of 20 common-law factors plus
interpretations of numerous tax court cases.
THEBIZ
Who You
Calling
An Employee?
By DanDaley
submit oral or written reports.
• The worker is a corporate officer.
A useful FAQ list can be found at www.irs.
gov/govt/tribes/article/0,,id=134976,00.html.
These distinctions are critical to both the
worker and the employer. Independent contractor workers who perform as though they
were employees put a company at risk of
liability for withholding taxes on payments
(which suddenly become “salaries”), half of
the worker’s FICA (Social Security) responsibilities, plus any penalties and interest the
IRS assesses if they rule the worker was indeed an employee. Freelancers have to keep
their status clearly defined because they will
file tax returns based on that and will receive
But why let it get that far? Make sure you
have an agreement that clearly defines the
status of each party.
The fuzziness of the issue has engendered
its own mini-industry. Several companies,
such as MyBizOffice.com, offer to “employ”
independent contractors, listing them on
their books as employees. They assert that
the benefits include freeing the independent
contractor from having to file quarterly
tax payments and enabling them to
participate at group rates for medical and
other insurance coverage. MyBizOffice will
issue a W-2 at the end of the year. What’s less
clear is who pays the “employer’s” share of the
“employee’s” Social Security responsibilities.
There may be some advantage to these
kinds of schemes, but caveat emptor is
the watchword.
In fact, you might as well apply that to
the entire employee/independent contractor scenario. Let “never assume” be rule one.
Make sure that the distinction between 1099
and W-2 is clear. Employers should make sure
that HR departments know the intended
status of each person performing services
for the company. Freelancers should always
send a completed W-9 form to the client with
their first invoice, and it’s not a bad idea to
resend one at the beginning of each calendar year. When it comes to taxes, ambiguity
equals trouble.
Here’s how the IRS establishes the boundary between independent contractor and
employee:
A worker is an employee if...
• An employer or an employer’s representative tells the worker where, when and how
to work.
• An employer trains the worker.
• The business performance depends on
the worker.
• The worker has a continuing
relationship with the company.
• The worker’s services must be
personally rendered by him/her.
• An employer sets the worker’s
work hours.
• The worker works on the employer’s
premises.
• The worker is paid by the hour, week
or month.
• An employer furnishes tools
and materials.
• An employer can fire the worker
without violating a contract.
• The worker has a right to quit without
incurring a liability.
• The worker does not offer the worker’s
services to the public at large.
• The worker has no opportunity for profit or loss as a result of the worker’s service.
• The worker has no significant
investment in the business.
• An employer requires the worker to
notification of income in very different ways:
Employees receive a W-2 at year’s end listing
all salary and related income; independent
contractors will get a 1099 statement listing
what the contractee has paid them during
the calendar year. A ruling in retrospect that
changes an independent contractor to an
employee or vice versa would necessitate
refiling the return and paying the difference
in tax plus any penalties and interest.
Some scenarios are very clear-cut: A
lighting director who works for 15 different
clients in a year and who does designs and
layouts in his or her own home or office
and goes on-site only to supervise and
direct is obviously an independent contractor. But if the LD works for only a handful
of clients in a year, or worse, just one, on
a long-term basis, that could lead to
other interpretations.
That’s why contracts between companies
and freelancers have become significantly
more complex, and often onerous on the freelancer, in recent years. Agreements often not
only spell out the nature of the relationship,
but also indemnify the employer against legal
action if the IRS or a court rules that the contractor is an employee. These indemnifications
are legally questionable, and it’s a basic tenet
of law that contracts are implicitly construed
against the author, assuming whoever writes
the contract will by nature seek to craft it to his
or her own advantage.
www.PLSN.com
100.0603.Biz.EP.indd 39
INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR
WORKERS WHO PERFORM
AS THOUGH THEY WERE
EMPLOYEES PUT A COMPANY
AT RISK FOR LIABILITY
PLSN MARCH 2006
39
3/2/06 10:50:14 PM
COMPANYPROFILE
VITALSTATISTICS
ETC
ByKevinM.Mitchell
Who:
Full-time employees:
Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc. (ETC)
What:
A manufacturer of entertainment and
architectural lighting equipment.
Where:
Middleton, Wis. Other offices include
New York City; Hollywood; Orlando, Fla.;
Hong Kong; Copenhagen; Veenendaal, the
Netherlands; Rome; London; and Holzkirchen, Berlin and Dresden, Germany.
When:
Founded in 1975
Mike Griffith
Steve Terry
Nearly 600 worldwide.
Number of products in
catalog:
More than 70 products, plus ETC offers
hundreds of products in total, including
product-line versions, international-market
brands and more.
Recent projects
of note:
Copenhagen Opera House, Denmark;
Dave Matthews Band Summer Tour 2005;
Dubai TV, Dubai; Eurovision Song Contest,
Kyiv, Ukraine; Glasgow Royal Concert
Hall, Scotland; Hålogaland Teater, Tromsø,
Norway; Hangzhou Grand Theatre, China;
Fred Foster
Holland Performing Arts Center, Omaha,
Neb.; Hong Kong Disneyland; Jazz at Lincoln
Center, N.Y.; Munich Kammerspiele, Germany; Yugra-Klassik Theater and Concert
Hall, Khanty-Mansiisk, Russia
Products include:
Congo™ control console, Sensor+
SineWave dimming technology, the Smart
Solutions™ line of compact lighting gear,
SmartPack®, SmartBar™ and SmartModule™ dimmers; SmartSwitch™ and SmartLink™ control, plus SmartStand™.
By the numbers:
ETC shipped 1.7 million units of Source
Fours across the globe in 2005.
Bill Gallinghouse
Dick Titus
Did you know?
In 1979, ETC began controlling paradefloat lighting for Disney, beginning
a relationship that endures today, with
ETC systems in all Disney theme
parks worldwide.
Degrees of separation:
Current ETC vice president of business
development and marketing Bill
Gallinghouse was formerly vice president
of sales and marketing for PRG
(Production Research Group); Steve Terry,
vice president of R&D, was formerly
president of Fourth Phase Systems Group
(a division of PRG); and vice president
of world sales, Mark Vassallo, previously
worked for Colortran and Strand.
Mark Vassallo
40
PLSN MARCH 2006
100.0603.VitalStats.BK.indd 40
www.PLSN.com
3/3/06 4:36:04 PM
WELCOMETOMYNIGHTMARE
Friggin’Birthday!
Happy
I
n 1988, I had the chance to go to Cascais,
Portugal, on my 29th birthday no less, with
a group for which I was LD’ing. I should
have known when the airline lost all of my
luggage that I was in for a bad trip.
The show was to be broadcast “live” on
Portuguese national radio. When I showed
up to focus and program, I discovered the
lighting rig was only half set up, and there
were no local lighting personnel anywhere
in the building. As I walked around checking
out the rig, I also noticed that the power to
the dimmers was not connected properly.
I found this out the hard way when I got a
nice electrical jolt to my left hand. When the
crew finally did show up two hours later, the
first thing I did was to let the head electrician
know of the problem. He informed me that
I was completely wrong and he refused to
double-check his work.
The next thing I did was to make sure
that we had a minimum of three English
speaking spot operators as promised. Once
again, I was assured that all was well. After
they slowly patched the system, our tour
manager threatened to penalize them financially in the event that they didn’t perform
up to expectations. Finally, they were ready
to focus. Unfortunately for the local company, however, the person they sent to FOH for
focus activated all of the faders at the same
time and promptly
blew up two-thirds
of the lamps. Smoke
poured from the dimmer racks and that
fried component smell
filled the room. Sure,
the power was tied-in
properly. The locals
tried feverishly to repair
the fried racks, but to
no avail. I salvaged
what was left of the rig
with a quick re-gel and
re-patch. As all of the
locals abandoned the
sinking ship, I realized
that I had to focus the
rig by myself. I did so
with an A-frame ladder
onstage while the
opening act was performing to more than
2,000 people in tuxedos
and evening gowns.
As I sprinted back
to the console before
the start of our show, I
was thinking that this
was probably the worst
birthday I’d ever had,
but that the worst was, in fact, behind me.
Wrong again. Turns out that the locals
were a bit peeved about not getting paid in
full (they were to get one-third of the agreed
amount) and they did a little “re-patch” of
their own. As I grabbed my headset to brief
the spot ops, I pretty much knew what was
next. Yes, there were three spot ops, but only
one of them spoke English and he did so very
poorly. And of course, there was no translator
provided. Happy Friggin’ Birthday to me!
As I was fading up my first scene, I
discovered the locals’ “re-patch.” Greens
were patched with reds, blues with yellows,
upstage fixtures paired with downstage
fixtures, Lekos paired with ACLs etc., etc... I
guess they had decided that zero pay was
better than one-third pay. And that is exactly what they got—zero. I was thankful for
the fact that the show was on Portuguese
radio instead of TV.
The rest of our time in Cascais was awesome. But it will always be tarnished by the
gig itself. Oh yeah, all of my luggage finally
arrived at the airport on the day we flew
back to London. (Many thanks to our drummer and guitarist for loaning me socks and
T-shirts as needed.)
Steve Ponder
Production Services International, Boise, ID
Jeff Coonce
Owner/President
PyroGuys, Inc.
Reno, NV
www.pyroguysinc.com
775.853.2273
pyro4u@charter.net
wireless capabilities. Lots of PyroPak stuff.
Don’t Leave Home Without:
Patience and a sense of humor.
Personal Quote:
Licensed to thrill.
Services:
Pyrotechnics.
Clients:
Serving the Reno, Sparks, Carson
City and Lake Tahoe areas. Outdoor
concerts, outdoor close proximity,
indoor stage.
Bio:
I have been in business since 1990. I do
indoor and outdoor pyrotechnics and
fireworks as well as close proximity.
Hobbies:
Old car restoration. I have a 1939 GMC
open cab pumper fire truck, and a 1947
Chevy deliver sedan. My son and
I do the parades.
Equipment:
I have three PyroDigital systems with
www.PLSN.com
100.0603.Nightmare.rg.indd 41
PLSN MARCH 2006
41
3/2/06 11:14:58 PM
PRODUCTGALLERY
IGBT Dimming
By RichardCadena
A
relatively new technology is transforming the landscape in the dimming industry. When the Insulated
Gate Bipolar Transistor was developed in the
1980s, it was unreliable, costly and couldn’t
handle large currents. Second and third
generation IGBTs are much more reliable,
faster and capable of handling larger loads.
As a result, more of them are being used and
manufactured, which has helped to drive
Manufacturer
ETC (Electronic
Theatre Controls, Inc.)
Strand Lighting
Swisson
Entertainment
Technology
42
down their cost.
An IGBT is a transistor that is controlled
by a gate, much like a MOSFET, but it also has
the current-handling capabilities of a bipolar
transistor. It can be used as a switch to turn
the voltage on and off, which is precisely
what a dimmer does. The relatively high
speeds of IGBTs allow them to switch on and
off many times in a single 50Hz or 60Hz sine
wave cycle, giving them the ability to be
Web Address
used in a unique way to control the dimming
level of a lighting instrument. By varying the
applied voltage in just the right amount at
the right time, it can retain the shape of a
sine wave while adjusting the RMS voltage
to meet the needs of the dimmed load, thus,
they produce sine wave dimming.
When we originally set out to gather
information about the current crop of sine
wave dimmers on the market, we came up
with a relatively short list. One manufacturer
who uses IGBTs in reverse phase mode asked
to be included in the Product Gallery, so we
gladly changed the scope of the gallery from
sine wave dimming to IGBT dimming. This is
a newly-expanding field and the benefits of
IGBT dimming are many. We encourage you
to visit the manufacturers’ Web sites and arm
yourself with the facts.
Total
Harmonic
Distortion
Harmonic
Current on
Neutral
Number of
Channels
Channel
Capacity
Over-current
Protection
Sensor + SineWave
Dimmer Racks and
Modules
Up to 48 dimmers in a rack
2 x 20A
modules
@ 120V
Single-pole 20A
magnetic circuit breaker
per dimmer; digital
over-current protection
in each dimmer
SineWave Power
Modules
1, 2, 3, 4 or 6
depending on
capacity
10A or
20A
@120V
Single-pole magnetic
circuit breaker per
dimmer; digital
over-current protection
in each dimmer
iSine Bars
1, 2, 3, 4 or 6
depending on
capacity
2.5KW,
5KW,
12KW,
24KW
@230V
Digital over-current
protection; RCD/RCBO
breakers available
Matrix II Dimmer
Racks and iSine
Modules
Up to 162 x 3KW
or 90 x 5KW dimmers per rack
4 x 3KW, 2
x 5KW or
1 x 12KW
modules
@ 230V
Digital over-current
protection; RCD/RCBO
breakers available
< 1%
< 1%
97%
CE
C21 Sinewave
Dimmer
2
15A or
20A
Two single pole fullymagnetic breakers
<1%
<5%
96%
ETL
High
c
EC21 Sinewave
Dimmer
2
3KW or
5KW
SP, SPN or RCD thermal
magnetic breakers
<1%
<5%
96%
CE
High
c
XSD-R1222
12
20A at
110V
Circuit breakers on
mains, electronic
protection and fuse on
outputs
< 1%
No
harmonics
generated by
the dimmer
97%
CE, ETL
pending
Thre
for
ov
Intelligent Raceway®
Distributed Dimming
Up to 96
20A
Electronically regulated
N/A
N/A
97.6 % at
any load
UL, cUL
Bak Pak® Individual
IGBT Dimmer
1
750W or
1,200W
N/A
N/A
97.6% at
any load
UL, cUL, CE
Capio Plus™ Centralized Dimming Rack
48 or 96
15A and
20A
Electronically regulated,
plus single pole 20A
magnetic circuit breaker
N/A
N/A
97.6% at
any load
UL, cUL
IPS™ Dimmer Strip
6 x 1,200W or
3 x 2,400W
20A
N/A
N/A
97.6% at
any load
UL, cUL
IPS™ Dimmer Box
6 x 1,200W or
3 x 2,400W
20A
N/A
N/A
97.6% at
any load
UL, cUL
IPS™ Dimmer Panel
6
15A and
20A
N/A
N/A
97.6% at
any load
UL, cUL
Model
www.etcconnect.com
< 1%
< 1%
< 1%
< 1%
Full Load
Efficiency
Compliance
96.5%
UL, cUL
97%
UL, cUL
pending
www.etdimming.com
PLSN MARCH 2006
www.PLSN.com
V
dim
confi
< 1%
< 1%
97%
CE
www.strandlighting.com
www.swisson.com
Rack
sens
ove
Ve
dim
an
c
Swin
in, ho
nee
re
ance
ET Intelligent Raceway® Distributed Dimming
Swission XSD
Strand Lighting Sinewave Dimmer
ETC Sensor+ SineWave Dimmer
Features
Retail Price
Comments
UL
Rack and module installation; voltage, current and temperature
sensors in each dimmer; LED indicators for control signal, power,
over-current/short circuit; feedback via rack control electronics
module; 100,000A short circuit current rating
POA
Digital over-current protection in each dimmer includes current sensing with tolerance for
incandescent/tungsten loads, as well as a predictive algorithm that detects overcurrent at low levels and shuts
down the circuit often before the breaker trips
UL
ng
Versatile installation, compact, self-contained unit, built-in
dimmers and DMX node all in one, just connect main power and
data, convection-cooled, variety of dimmer and output
configurations available, DMX, Ethernet or local control capabilities
POA
Versatile installation, compact, self-contained unit, built-in
dimmers and DMX node all in one, just connect main power
and data, convection-cooled, variety of dimmer and output
configurations available, DMX, Ethernet or local control
capabilities. DimSTAT™ reporting software option.
POA
Swing-frame install rack for easy install and maintenance; plugin, hot-swap dimmer modules mix-and-match module types as
needed; Ethernet, DMX and Architectural control; DimSTAT™
reporting software with dynamic load-sensing and curvecorrection options
POA
High-density dimmer module, fully status-reporting with short
circuit protection. All modules are interchangeable with
modules of similar capacity.
POA
High-density dimmer module, fully status-reporting with short
circuit protection. All modules are interchangeable with
modules of similar capacity.
POA
Three-unit 19" rack; voltage, current and temperature sensors
for each channel, LED indicator for level, load detection and
over-current/short circuit. Fast access to each channel with
potentiometer, over voltage-proof, fast flash function.
$5,995
Five-year warranty
TL
ng
Use with C21 dimmer racks with up to 48 modules - 96 dimmers
UL
N/A
POA
IGBT microprocessor-controlled dimmer circuit makes automatic adjustments to voltage and the flow of current
in response to fluctuations in the load/electrical service. Intelligent dimming protects property and life as it
suppresses surges, protects against shorts and extends the service life of expensive lamps. A patented process
to control excess harmonic currents common to all phase control dimming systems. Reduces noise in electrical
conduit/panel, and reduces overloading of feed neutral conductors.
L, CE
N/A
$325 or $400
Mount wherever needed. It attaches to existing light fixtures or structures or to the wall. Requires no dimmer
racks or electrical installation. Solid-state, chokeless dimmers for silent operation.
POA
Performance and energy-efficient advantages of IGBT dimmer technology in an economical, lightweight,
low-profile, high-density rack. Twenty-four or 48-module racks can be used as a standalone solution or incorporated with other Entertainment Technology dimmer products such as the Intelligent Raceway distributed dimming system and Bak Pak individual dimmers.
$2,830 or
$2,150
IGBT-based dimmer strips are lightweight, compact strips containing six 1.2KW or three 2.4KW IGBT dimmers
that can be mounted anywhere within a performance space. The dimmer strips can be incorporated with other
Entertainment Technology dimmer products such as the Intelligent Raceway distributed dimming system and
Bak Pak individual dimmers. Each dimmer strip uses DMX512 control protocol and comes with a flush mount
outlet with a choice of stagepin, twist lock or straight blade connector.
$2,830 or
$2,575
IGBT-based dimmer boxes can be considered a replacement for a conventional drop box or used as portable
wall mount or deck circuit boxes. Installers can place a dimmer box where needed or hang it from pipe or truss.
Lightweight, compact dimmer boxes contain six 1.2KW or three 2.4KW IGBT dimmers per box. The dimmer boxes
can be incorporated with other Entertainment Technology dimmer products such as the Intelligent Raceway
distributed dimming system and Bak Pak individual dimmers.
$3,925
Lightweight, low-profile dimmer panels contain no fans or inductors and are virtually silent. The dimmer panels can
be used as a standalone solution or incorporated as dimming for architectural loads within a complete Entertainment Technology system using distributed dimming products such as the Intelligent Raceway and Bak Pak individual dimmers. Each dimmer panel uses DMX512 control protocol and can contain up to six 2.4KW IGBT dimmers.
UL
UL
UL
UL
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
www.PLSN.com
PLSN MARCH 2006
43
Massive Lighting Display Opens,
Closes 2006 Winter Olympics
TURIN, ITALY—When the Opening Ceremonies of the 20th Winter Olympics kicked
off in Turin, Italy, two billion viewers watched
as athletes from 84 different countries
paraded through the Olympic Stadium for
almost an hour, followed by a show featuring
“unique stage settings, massive choreography, amazing light effects and a memorable
soundtrack.” Andrea Varnier (TOROC image
and events director) and Marco Balich
(executive producer of the ceremonies) enlisted world-famous choreographers, stage
directors and costume designers to put the
ceremony together.
Lighting designer Durham Marenghi
and his team, including lighting coordinators
Eneas MacKintosh and Nick Jones, and programmers Ross Williams, Mark Payne, Pryderi
Baskerville and Emiliano Morgia, worked for
several months on the project. In the end,
it took 6,100 volunteers, 240 professionals
and 160 trucks to stage the event on 4,000
square meters of specially-designed staging.
The lighting included 124 Coemar iSpot
eXtremes, 64 ProWash 250LXs, 370 iWash 575
MBs, 130 Martin MAC 2000 Wash fixtures and
250 Robe ColorWash 1200 ATs.
Four Flying Pig Systems Wholehog 3
lighting consoles were used for control
during the opening and closing ceremonies.
Programmer Williams said that Marenghi
decided from an early stage he would use
four programmers—each on a console—to
bring his concept to life for the opening and
closing ceremonies.
“This was a wise decision given the
scale of the event, allowing a continuous
workflow with any or all operators at one
time; however it posed its own problems
technically,” Williams explains. “The idea
was simple—that no one console was the
‘main’ desk, rather that the rig and workload
were shared in all areas across the system.
Thus the blueprint for the control design
was born: four consoles, each with their own
tracking backup, controlling lights via 10
dimmer areas stadium-wide. Furthermore,
each operator needed the ability to program
the lights at floor level, plugging directly into
the network at any location. Each console
needed to connect to one or all of three
WYSIWYG systems running in the lighting
design sky booth.
“Armed with these requirements,”
Williams continues, “we turned to High End
Systems and their Wholehog 3 console. It
was an obvious choice as all operators—
myself, Mark Payne, Pryderi Baskerville
and Emiliano Morgia—were experienced,
long-time Wholehog 2 programmers, and
although in some cases relatively new to
the Wholehog 3, the transition was an easy
one to make.”
In all, there were more than 900 moving
heads, almost 1,000 LED fixtures and 400odd dimmers from various manufacturers
for a total of 24,500 DMX channels, which
required the use of 21 DP2000s (Data Processors) with the Wholehog 3s to distribute
each console’s data to the required areas.
Says Williams,“As is so often the case with
large shows, the programming was relatively
straightforward. Getting to the point where
we could start was the real challenge; however,
we were all pleasantly surprised with how
(BACK ROW L to R): Jason Potter, Emiliano Morgia, Nicola Manuel Tallino, Eneas MacKintosh, Chris Agius Ferrante, Nick Jones, Ross Williams, Pryderi Baskerville, Mark Payne. (FRONT ROW L to R): Durham Marenghi and Christopher C. Bretnall.
By the Numbers
What it took to stage the opening and closing ceremonies
6,000,000 watt-hours of electricity
100,000 meters (62 miles) of cabling
100,000 meals
24,500 channels of DMX
15,000 days of work
10,000 hours of rehearsal time
6,100 volunteers
6,100 costumes
44
PLSN MARCH 2006
4,000 square meters of staging
1,000 LED fixtures
900 automated luminaires
400+ dimmer channels
160 trucks
4 automated lighting consoles
1 Bic lighter
www.PLSN.com
easy the Wholehog 3 system was to plug and
play. Some of the fixtures were relatively new,
having been tested previously on a handful
of shows only, and a large amount of library
modeling was required to accommodate this.
All things considered we were up and running
very quickly from a control point of view.” The
weather, on the other hand, was not quite so
controllable, Williams points out.“This is where
the WYSIWYG connectivity really came into its
own,” he says.
He adds, “It’s not every day you get to
light a show with a cast of 6,000 for an audience of two billion. We are very grateful for
the support of High End Systems on this
project assisting us to achieve this.” High
End Systems’ Chris Ferrante, Frank Schotman and Jason Potterf were on the scene
as programming support for the opening.
Technicians and engineers associated with
Coemar, including lighting contractor Vittorio De Amicis from L’Aquila-based lighting
company Agora,
´ were also on hand.
The production designer was
Mark Fisher.
Silver
Dome
Staging
Set Up at
Olympics
TURIN, ITALY—Italian Prolyte distributor
Decima and their client Ital Stage designed and
constructed the main structure for the Silver
Dome in the medal plaza. The stage structure
is a mix of steel and aluminum. For the middle
grid, Prolyte S52SV truss is used. For the main
grid B100RV truss, either from steel and aluminum, is used, combined with S36R truss, which
is the supporting structure for an inflatable
on top of the stage. The inflatable structure
provides a flow of heated air to prevent snow
accumulation on top of the roof structure.
The dome is a circular roof structure
with an overall height of 22.8 meters and a
clearance of 17 meters. The structure has a
cantilever of 16 meters at the front, which is
supported by S36V truss and by guy-wires
attached to the middle tower. A huge video
screen of 29 by 10 meters was hung underneath the grid. Two ground-support systems
of ST towers with B100V truss stand within the
dome to support the video wall and sound
system. The dome is flanked by two Prolyte
rigging towers for a delay sound system.
The cantilever construction was tested
with a test load of more than 12 tons,
which resulted in a deflection of only
3.9 centimeters.
www.PLSN.com
PLSN MARCH 2006
45
The Madness
of Middle America’s Regional Theatre
Overall healthy and vibrant—but it has its (lack of ) moments
By Kevin M.Mitchell
L
ighting Designer Tony Tucci looks to his
European counterparts with a certain
amount of envy.
“I’ve worked in Europe on a 40-minute ballet where I had five or six days of
rehearsal. I told the European designer I was
working with I never get that much time,
that I rarely get more than a day. He said, ‘I
don’t know how you guys do it.’”
Tucci pauses, then adds: “I don’t
know either!”
A look at some premiere regional
theatres and the lighting designers who
work there indicates that—other than the
fact that time is an increasingly precious
commodity—amidst the backdrop of an
uncertain economy, global instability and
an ever-changing entertainment landscape,
it appears that regional theatre is healthy
and vibrant.
Tony Tucci
Ballet Austin
Repertory, Austin,
Texas
Tony Tucci’s career began in 1970 with
New York’s Hudson Ballet. “I started as a company carpenter and sound technician. I just
watched what was going on and thought, ‘I
could do a little more than this,’” he says.
Tucci has always worked primarily in ballet: “I just like the concept, that kind of movement—it’s very appealing to me. And I love
working with dancers. To me, they are the
most intelligent artists.” In 1989, he started
doing work for Ballet Austin from his base
in New York, and then made the capital of
Texas his home in 1993. He also keeps busy
doing lighting design work for Washington
Ballet, the Bruce Wood Dance Company
Robert Christen
Goodman Theatre,
Chicago, Illinois
Robert Christen, resident lighting designer/supervisor of the Goodman Theatre,
has been lighting productions there for 33
years. After graduating from the University
of Wisconsin, he started at the Goodman
as an assistant electrician. During his reign,
the theatre has launched or further established the careers of such talents as David
Mamet, Sam Shepherd, William H. Macy,
Christopher Walken, John Malkovich, Joe
Mantegna and Mary Zimmerman, among
dozens of others. In addition to his work at
this nationally-renowned regional theatre,
he is often called on to work with other
great Chicago organizations such as Steppenwolf, Looking Glass, Northlight Theater
and the Chicago Opera.
Recent work includes the annual staple,
A Christmas Carol, which he’s been doing for
28 years. A recent Edward Albee festival was
a big success for him, and he’s now looking
forward to an upcoming festival of David
Mamet’s work.
When asked if he’s doing more work or
less these days, the soft-spoken Christen
46
PLSN MARCH 2006
Light/The Holocaust and Humanity Project
based in Fort Worth, Louisville Ballet and the
Dallas Black Dance Theatre.
“Ballet Austin is a long-term commitment, and others I contract out to,” he says.
“Most ballets do five programs a year.”
Austin is a top-notch regional theatre area,
and Tucci says it’s often doing programs that
challenge him. In April 2005, he designed
Light/The Holocaust & Humanity Project. “It
was really exciting. It was full evening, no
intermission, and had multimedia elements.
The director, Stephen Mills, did a lot of
research, and it was almost a documentary
of what happened,” Tucci says. It was, to date,
one of the very few productions where he’s
gotten to work with multimedia.
“The problem is that most companies
aren’t high-budget companies. Like Bruce
Woods—they are in a great hall, but the
problem is that they can only book it for one
laughs and says, “I feel like I’m doing more.
Sometimes you wish you could have a day
off.” But he’s grateful to be in such a great
theatre town like Chicago. Though conflicts
arise sometimes, and he occasionally gets
involved with a production only to have
to pull out because of some previously
unforeseen schedule clash. Otherwise,
he does a lot of running back and forth
between theatres.
“It is a good theatre town,” he says. “The
1960s and 1970s saw a manifestation of a
lot of small theatre companies. And we had
more freedom then in New York, where the
commercial aspects puts a different kind of
pressure on you. In Los Angeles, the main
focus is on TV and film—not that there’s
not good theatre there, too, it just gets a
little lost.”
Christen notes that equipment has become better and the Chicago theatres seem
to have been able to increase their inventory marginally and use more computerbased products. As for budgets, he hasn’t
seen them increase. “I would like to see the
budgets expand. Just having the freedom
to get a new piece of equipment for a production would be nice,” he says. “But most
regional theatres can’t go out and rent or
day. So there’s not a lot of time for really
high-tech installation,” Tucci says. He does
add he’s working with more automated
lighting, which takes a lot of time
programming-wise.
He says the work has been steady for
him. Often he’s called to recreate some piece
he’s done before, but “there’s always something new coming up.”
Because of the budget issues, not a lot
has changed in the way Tucci approaches
his job. Budgets remain pretty much the
same for him, but as echoed by other LDs,
the noose of time continues to tighten. “The
thing that is most alarming is the time frame
is shorter and shorter,” he admits. “I think it’s
more a problem for new people coming to
do this kind of work.”
His typical schedule to implement a
lighting design is grueling; he and his team
have from 8 a.m. until noon for the initial
programming, additional hanging and
focusing. From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. is the cueing
session, then a dress rehearsal at 3 p.m. Then,
a short break, and he comes back to do
the show.
“It’s pretty crazy,” Tucci laughs. “If you
want to watch madness, come around on
that day! But the unfortunate part is we
keeping doing it for them.”
Technology-wise, he says he couldn’t do
any of his work without John McKernon’s
Lightwright software—that and a really
good assistant. Assistants help him do the
drawings, something he used to do himself.
“That’s a big change for me,” he says.
For Tucci, regional theatre seems pretty
solid, especially Ballet Austin, but most
companies are “right on the edge all
the time.”
A Christmas Carol
purchase a lot of equipment. ‘Can I have a
thousand dollars to have this thing?’ doesn’t
meet with positive responses,” he says.
One thing that has changed for him in
the last five years is the audience’s expectations. Theatergoers are also going to
concerts and seeing special live events on
TV, and they are experiencing more elabo-
www.PLSN.com
rate productions. It’s an issue of trying to
keep up with the Joneses a bit, he says. “But
I think it’s a good thing. It’s challenging in a
way to keep growing. Sometimes razzledazzle provides a higher quality product.
Ticket prices haven’t gone down, either!” he
laughs. “It’s a matter of trying to give them
their money’s worth.”
Peter E.
Sargent
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Peter E.
Sargent
St. Louis
Repertory
Theatre, St. Louis,
Missouri
Peter E. Sargent’s full title is a
mouthful; in additional to his
lighting design duties for St. Louis’
most respected theatre since its inception in 1966 (thus celebrating his 40th
year with the institution), he’s Dean of
Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts at
Webster University.
He received his BFA from Carnegie
Institute of Technology in 1959 and his
MFA from Yale in 1963 before landing in
St. Louis three years later. Sargent says,
“I’m a remnant of the original company and have been part of all of its 39
seasons” (it went dark for one season
in the 1970s). Recently, productions of
his include A Funny Thing Happened
on the Way to the Forum, Sweeney Todd
and The Mystery of Edwin Drood. He also
moonlights for Playhouse in the Park in
Cincinnati.
He’s kept busy with the Rep’s five
shows a year, and it’s been that way for
the last decade, he says. “It’s about all I
can do with my teaching obligations.
I think it’s important to do the professional work while I’m teaching. I don’t
know what value is in teaching if you
can’t show off your work—good, bad or
indifferent,” he says.
Sargent says technology is playing
an increasingly important role in his
work, but only to a certain point: “The
trend we all talk about is the nature of
how the technology has been changing for all of design. The exciting thing
is we’re getting better lighting instruments and sources and more control.
We have a greater variety of tools to do
our art.
“But there’s a difference in approach
to regional theatre as opposed to commercial. With regional theatre, you can
focus a lot on enhancing storytelling,
while with commercial theatre, you
sometimes get incredible productions
that tend to get technology larger than
life to its detriment.”
He’s seeing budgets stay the same
for the most part. While designers seem
to have all the tools necessary to do a
production, there is seldom room left
in the budget to buy or rent a special
piece for a particular show. “I always
think, though, the best thing about
lighting design is that we always start
from the same place. House lights
down, stage black. And I don’t always
think more is better,” Sargent says.
Otherwise, technology is helping with the paperwork—so are his
students. “I haven’t drafted a light plot
in three years. I give them a rough and
they take the next step,” he says.
Computers have given him more
choices and make the execution of cues
much easer. “You used to be nervous
about who your master electrician was,
because how they made the handles
move was key; now you’re more concerned with your programmer,”
he says.
Otherwise, Sargent, too, laments
the lack of time. The schedule continues
to get compressed, and tech days are
shortened. “I’m not negating regional
theatre, but it’s a luxury to get three
days, 30 hours, of tech time. You might
have more time to fine-tune if there are
previews, but it gets down to how fast
you can get it to work,” he says.
www.PLSN.com
PLSN MARCH 2006
47
Cirque du Soleil
“Live
Without
a Net”
By BryanReesman
C
irque du Soleil may like tents, but they
dispense with the notion of three
rings and big nets. In fact, their first
arena tour (called Delirium) features a stage
that cuts every venue in half so that the
show is viewed from two different sides of
an auditorium. It’s a giant catwalk that allows
performers and musicians to prowl across
the expanse of an arena, and it’s also a huge
challenge for the lighting designer and every
technical person involved.
Cocreated and codirected by multimedia
artists Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon, this
show is an artistic triumph and a technical nightmare. Take a look at the stats: 145
people on tour, including 45 performers, 75
technicians and 25 management and artist
support personnel. Twenty 18-wheelers and
14 tour buses are needed to haul everyone
and everything from city to city. Speciallydesigned rigging (specifically two special rail
bridges) supports 130,000 pounds of equipment above the stage. Twenty-seven motors
are needed to help characters fly, including
four for the balloon-borne protagonist.
Protagonists, Props and
Projections
Propelled by a pop and rock soundtrack
spiced with music from Africa, Latin America
and the Caribbean, Delirium’s surreal production is jam-packed with visual and auditory
information. The show features a character
that floats beneath a
balloon for most of the
show, six different singers
walking or floating across
the stage via wires or in cages,
a man who walks on stilts and
moves at strange angles, musicians roaming the stage
floor and all manner of
performers that walk,
sprint, jump, even fly
through each of the
distinct scenes.
Delirium also boasts 540
square feet of projection
space—nearly the equivalent of
four IMAX screens—including four
motorized screens suspended from
the top of the arena, two tulle screens
that stand at the stage extremities
and four wings. There are a total of 19
projectors, 10 of which are 25K ANSI
lumen projectors, cast images around
Delirium…boasts
540 square feet of
projection space—
nearly the equivalent
of four IMAX screens.
the venue, including one nestled in
the protagonist’s balloon.
It takes a talented cast to pull
off this fantastic feat of performance and an equally talented
crew to make it run without a
hitch. At the tour’s second night
in Albany, N.Y., which was early
in their itinerary, the company
was already settling into a
groove, working at a feverish
pace to prepare for the night’s
show. Among them was lighting designer Alain Lortie. In
the face-to-face setting of this
Cirque tour, Lortie was challenged to come
up with a dazzling show without interfering
with the mobile video projection. But he was
up to the task.
“The biggest challenge is that our directors are cinematographers,” explains Lortie.
“They are directors of video and film, and
there are a lot of video aspects that are really
important. We’re using TV screens, and we’re
using scrims. The lighting and the video was
my biggest challenge because the director said, ‘Don’t change my video, and don’t
change my images!’ At the same time, it’s a
live performance, and people want to see
what’s happening on stage. So that is a big
challenge, to be sure the public will be able
to have the rock ‘n’ roll feeling and power of
the lights, but at the same time, giving the
subtle feel of the projections on scrims at
that size. Obviously, when you’re not working
only from one point-of-view, you lose all the
backlight effect. When you don’t have just
one point-of-view, it’s more complicated to
create an amazing look. This is a weird space.
It’s a catwalk. It looks like we are going to a
fashion show.”
Maximizing with
Time-Share
Lortie runs an MA Lighting GrandMA
console, which he says is great for the Cirque
tour.“All the networking of our stations from
the board has been really useful because we
didn’t have too much time for creation,” he
explains.“We started only in the beginning
of January with the full equipment. So in
preproduction, we were just trying to get the
48
PLSN MARCH 2006
100.0603.Cirque.JH.indd 48
www.PLSN.com
3/2/06 10:51:21 PM
All photos by Alicyn Leigh Photography
l
feel of the cues. While I was programming on
the MA, I had two other people programming
on the GrandMA Light, working on chases and
special effects; so the networking of the MA
allowed us to be really efficient. At some time,
we were three people working at the same
time on the same show. Time was really short.”
At the lighting board, Lortie uses a WYSIWYG Perform Station for visualization, the
GrandMA and MA light and six NSPs. He also
utilizes eight Wireless Solution DMX transmitters, 14 Wireless Solution DMX receivers and
eight Theatre Wireless DMX4WL-HO 12V dimmers.
“We have the Lite MA as
slave backup,” Lortie
explains,“and we
also have a wireless
laptop to work on
the other side of the
building. We track the
show every afternoon
when we change the
city, so we need to check
the cues from the opposite side of the console.
That way, we can have it on
the network and I can do my
corrections from the laptop. We
have a big world of wireless gear. We have
four moving lights on the moving truss, which
are part of the set, and those are wireless. We
have AC Lighting Color Block LEDs, which are
wireless as well.”
The big issue was the weight of the rig,
which explains the choice of lights. Cirque
utilizes a lot of Vari*Lites on Delirium, including 24 VL3500 spots, 30 VL3000 spots, 34
VL3000 washes and 16 VL2500 spots. Other
lights include seven Syncrolite SX3K-2s, eight
Clay Paky Stage Scans, four Martin Atomic
3000 strobes, 100 ChromaQ Color Blocks, 196
Color Kinetics iColor Cove MX Powercores,
two Molequartz Maxi spacelites, six 51-inch
MR-16 zip strips, 36 ETC Source Four PARs
and 24 ChromaQ color changers.
Flying With a
Wireless Net
While he does not use many effects,
Lortie says that a special light called the
Luminous Swing was developed for one
number in the show. Because of the nature
of the show, with characters freely moving
through the arena, the 1,000-watt wireless
dimmer system was essential. “It’s on the
automation trolley, and those lights are flying
special flashlight—the Mega FlashLight—
and had two people on the ground following
that character with their flashlights during
the show.” They have a total of four.
The Arena Rock
Mentality
Beyond the focused issue of lighting
comes the issue of the road crew. Based in
“At some time,
we were three people working
at the same time
on the same show.
Time was really short.”
-Alain Lortie
through the air. So those were developed by
our people. We’re really proud of them. You’ll
see the artists attach themselves to the lights
and flying around the space. That was a big
challenge to develop them, make them work
and make them safe for the artists. There are
five units total.”
“We have spots on the rig—four Robert
Juliat Ivanhoe follow spots and four Altman
Q1000 followspots—as well,” adds Lortie.
“We also have a special flashlight on the floor
because we have one character hanging
under a big balloon traveling onstage. It was
a big task to follow that guy because he’s underneath a 10-foot-wide balloon, so no lights
were able to reach him. So we developed a
www.PLSN.com
100.0603.Cirque.JH.indd 49
Montreal, Cirque du Soleil usually does not
hire outside of its French-Canadian talent
pool, but for this North American arena tour,
they knew they needed the best outside
talent they could find. Marty Hom has been
tour manager for Barbra Streisand, Bette
Midler and the Backstreet Boys. Malcolm Weldon has been production manager for Tina
Turner, Cher, Janet Jackson and the Eagles. It’s
easy to see why both were hired to oversee
this mammoth production.
About running things smoothly, Weldon
says they “make sure that everybody is on
an equal playing field, that they get as much
information as possible and let them feel
comfortable knowing that they are part of
a team. And everybody contributes. In some
ways, it’s a dictatorship between me, Marty
and my stage manager, Kurt Wagner, but it’s
a benevolent one. We listen to everybody
and take comments, and we take it in. That’s
pretty much it.”
“I learned really, really early in my career
to just surround yourself with great people,
the best people in the business,” adds Hom.
“You go get the best production manager,
you go get the best stage manager, you go
get the road manager you can find and you
let them do their jobs. We just oversee that
and help them do their jobs.”
There is a lot to manage, with 145 people
on the whole production (performers, crew,
driver, even two physical therapists) and
130,000 pounds of rigging hovering above
the performers.“It’s like we’re rigging two
complete shows with a complete lighting
system on both ends and a P.A. on both ends,”
observes Weldon.“You’re rigging stuff in areas
where no one normally rigs.” He points out
that the automation is brand-new and the
rigging package, which includes 27 individual
motors, is very new with regards to how the
motor control package is installed. The duo
compares the new touring Cirque show to an
arena rock show that has a couple of gags, like
PLSN MARCH 2006
49
3/23/06 8:33:30 AM
Video Gear
a performer flying across the stage, except that Delirium is
full of gags and each performer and each act are the stars
as opposed to one person.
While it took the crew a day to set
up for the Albany show, they
eventually plan to roll
into a new town,
load in at 4
a.m. and
have
50
PLSN MARCH 2006
“In some ways,
it’s a dictatorship
between me, Marty
and my stage manager,
Kurt Wagner;
but it’s a benevolent
one.”
- Malcolm Weldon
the show ready to roll
that night. That’s
not too shabby.
Weldon states
that Cirque’s
normal 10
shows
take
them
10 days
to load
in and
five to
six to
load out.
“We’re changing that whole scheme,” Weldon
declares. “We’ll eventually get it to where we’ll
loading in in 10 hours and loading out in three hours.
That’s the big difference with Cirque. We’re bringing in
what I call the rock ‘n’ roll way of doing things. That’s the
big learning curve for them, whereas in their normal tent
world they’re controlling everything.”
Hom states that the challenge is to maintain the
artistic integrity of the show, even in the midst of fast
load-ins and load-outs. Weldon adds that, due to the sizable amount of flying elements, a bigger challenge is “to
be careful how to do it, as well as being aware of what
you’re doing, because you’re taking someone’s life in
your hands.” Especially without a net to catch them.
Video director Oliver Goulet has opened a real Pandora’s Box on the Delirium tour,
12 of them to be exact. Each of 12 video projectors is fed by a Coolux Pandora’s Box
media server. The software is running its own PC under the control of an MA Lighting
GrandMA console via Artnet. The real-time editing capability “made our life so much
easier during the creation (of the content) because we where trying (things) without
having to render them,” Goulet says. Once they captured the right look, they would then
save them as a sequence.
In addition to the media servers, Delirium is touring with 10 Christie 25K Roadie
projectors, six Christie 16K Roadies and three Christie LX 45 projectors. The LX 45s are
actually used inside of the hot air balloon. There are also a total of seven video cameras,
four of which are robotic and three are broadcast cameras.
Goulet’s company, Geodezik, supplied the video gear, and Fly supplied the content.
www.PLSN.com
PLSN
100.0603.Ads.ss.indd 51
3/2/06 10:47:11 PM
PRODUCTSPOTLIGHT
WYSIWYG Production
Design Suite
New features moving toward
encompassing production solution
By RichardCadena
W
MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS
hen Cast Software launched
WYSIWYG, a lighting-only design
software tool, in 1994, it was new,
innovative and the only one of its kind. Today,
there is no shortage of competition for the
Toronto-based company, but that hasn’t
slowed them down. And now, they have
supplemented their offerings to cover new
segments within the entertainment industry.
As of September 2005, WYSIWYG, which is
now being called a “Production Design Suite
of Tools,” delivered Release 14, which, among
other things, adds the ability to showcase
all types of video content in the 3-D virtual
world. Cast continues to crank out new software updates on an aggressive three-month
schedule aimed at fulfilling the longterm
vision of creating a fast, easy solution to
all production designs. The latest update,
Release 16, introduces “moving scenery”.
What It Is
DISTRIBUTION PRODUCTS
ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION
VALUE - ADDED SERVICES
SERVICES
52
PLSN MARCH 2006
For the uninitiated, WYSIWYG is an integrated design and visualization tool based on
a proprietary 3-D CAD engine and a variety of
tools to aid in the production process. It allows
you to easily build a 3-D black box, arena or
proscenium arch space with the venue wizard,
or you can import a 3-D model as a *.dxf or
*.dwg file. Alternatively, you can build a set
using the CAD tools. It has an extensive library
of real-world fixtures, truss, props and accessories that might be the most inclusive in the
industry. By inserting objects from the library,
it’s very easy to create a lighting and/or set
design. The lighting instruments can be numbered sequentially with a single click and the
properties of each instrument can be edited
to assign DMX addresses, dimmer channels,
gel colors, gobos and accessories. You can then
plot your design and customize the data associated with the instruments in order to present
the most clear and concise layouts.
When you’re ready to massage the
paperwork, you can use the Data Mode of
the software suite to pull up a spreadsheet
with an assortment of data. The hard-working library meisters at Cast Software have
already accurately modeled the fixtures in
the library, so they come preloaded with
data, including every software release and
mode available for automated lights and
LED fixtures. It also includes lamp types,
fixture weight and a lot more. So when
you move into the Data Mode, you get a
spreadsheet with 34 columns of data, much
of it already completed by the time you
click on the Data tab. You can export it as
a generic spreadsheet and edit it to your
heart’s content, helping you to do electric
load calculations, weight load calculations,
circuiting, shop orders and much more. There
is also a free viewer that you can download
from the Cast Web site so you can print plots
and rental orders.
When it comes time to sell your design,
you can go into the design mode and build
looks by creating focus positions, turning on
lights and assigning intensity, color, gobos,
zoom, iris and prism effects without having to
patch or use a lighting console. You can also
use the materials library to map a material
to any object, which creates a more realisticlooking object. As you finish a scene, you can
use the render wizard to output a bitmap of a
photorealistic picture that you can then use to
sell your design. You can choose the size of the
bitmap file in pixels so that you can create an
image with the right resolution.
One of the best features of WYSIWYG is
the real-time visualization windows that allow
you to use a console or an offline editor to
preprogram a show virtually in live mode. You
can also load the offline editor from a console
manufacturer on the same computer on which
you are running WYSIWYG and link them with
the device manager in live mode to be able to
visualize the cues and focus positions, color,
gobo, intensity and effects as you manipulate
them. You can create scenes and record them
in the offline editor just as you would in a live
situation and end up with an entire show that
is pre-cued and very close to being ready.
Then, you can bring your show file to the show
and touch up the focus positions, and you’ll be
virtually dialed in and ready to go. It’s a great
time- and money saver, and it allows you more
creative freedom in your designs.
The new video streaming feature from
Release 14 allows you to stream live or
canned video content to a video screen
and/or surface, which you can place in your
virtual design. With the importance of video
in today’s productions, this is a really useful
feature. And now, with Release 16, you can
visualize moving battens, set pieces or anything that needs to move. For the first time,
you can visualize all the lighting, video and
motion control in real time together in one
software package.
instruct it how to manipulate devices. Very
soon, these three entities will have the ability to communicate and interact with each
other; lights will be able to track sets, sets will
avoid lights, video will trigger sets and sets
will trigger video displays or locations.
And that’s just the beginning of the updates that are promised in the near term. Soon
to come is a new LED fixtures wizard that will
simplify the process of patching and programming of complex designs of all LED-based
fixtures and screens. Cast has had to redesign
and rewrite its library source files to be able to
handle the wide variety of LEDs now available
in the marketplace, some of which are incredibly challenging to model because of built-in
macros and pixel-mapping capability.
And as anyone who has ever had to chase
down a fixture profile will testify, keeping
a console fixture library up-to-date can be
challenging. Later on this year, WYSIWYG will
add the ability to download its library fixture
profiles directly into any console that can
and wants to receive them. You will be able
to design your show in WYG and automatically load your patch and fixtures directly into
the console. As more of these upgrades are
incorporated, the product is moving towards a
cohesive solution that encompasses the entire
production design process.
WYSIWYG is a PC-based software product
designed to run on an average computer. The
CAD engine is not as powerful and flexible
as some, and there might be the occasional
compatibility issue with exports and imports,
but most designers will never encounter
them. Although there are some more realistic
visualizations available, they have much more
stringent hardware requirements, and I would
venture to say that there are none that are
easier to learn and work with. What WYSIWYG
lacks in some areas is made up for in scope
and flexibility. It’s the type of design tool that
no serious designer should be without.
What It Will Be
Cast also has a very active WYSIWYG
developers program that allows lighting,
video and motion-control manufacturers to
simulate their console or server’s output not
only individually, but also as a system with
the ability to talk back to the controller and
www.PLSN.com
Cast Software
416.597.2278
www.cast-soft.com
FOCUS
FOCUS
ONTECHNOLOGY
ONDESIGN
The Dark Side of LEDs
The long journey from the taillights to the headlights
to 24 months, which has held true for the last
45 years. Does it still hold true today?
“It does hold true today,” Scott says. “In
fact, we’re a little bit ahead of the curve.”
But it’s getting more difficult to come by
those gains. One of the toughest issues is the
management of heat. “Heat is the death of
LEDs,” he says. Lumileds has just introduced
the Luxeon K2, which set a record for LED
light output by allowing higher junction
temperatures. At 140 lumens in 6500K white
light, the output of this LED is 15% to 30%
higher than its closest rival.
With LEDs offering about 40 lumens
per watt, the efficacy of an LED lighting
system is almost as high as a compact
work over the last four years doing that.”
Another piece to the puzzle is that they
have to be accepted by the distribution
channels. “Most of the lighting in North
America is driven through a distributor
network that’s been around for 100 years
and being serviced by the big four: Acuity,
Cooper, Genlyte and Lithonia. It’s taking
some time for these guys to come onboard
and accept the technology. They’re slower to
adapt and it’s up to us as the LED manufacturers to work with them. There are four
characteristics of LED white light that we in
the LED industry need to continue working on. First, the market continues to ask for
more lumens and more lumens-per-watt.
When the right wave comes
along, if you paddle as fast
as you can, it will take you
where you want to go.
fluorescent (CF) or a metal halide source. And
as the efficacy of LEDs increases, perhaps as
high as 200 lumens per watt, LED lighting
systems will surpass CF and metal halide for
overall efficiency.
“I think what we’ll see is that it will cap
off at about 80 to 120 lumens per watt; that’s
my wild guess as a marketing guy,” says
Scott. But first, he says, the industry has to
build the infrastructure to support that in
terms of optics, drivers and heat sinks. “That’s
coming along quite well; we’ve done a lot of
Next, many lighting people continue to ask
for traditional lighting color temperatures,
like 2700K, 3000K, 3500K, 4500K; these need
to be perfected by the LED manufacturers.
The question of CRI is another one. Some
LEDs have great CRI and others are less. This
becomes more of a qualitative issue. What
is LED light and what does it mean in terms
of visual perception? For example, the cool
white light of LEDs, according to the studies
done by LRC (the Lighting Research Center at
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) and others,
www.PLSN.com
100.0603.FocusOnDesign.EP.indd 53
By RichardCadena
is a bit more acceptable than the cool
white light of compact fluorescent or other
products. So there’s this paradigm out there
that we’ll have to work through as well.
Finally, white LEDs are manufactured to a
wide color temperature distribution, typically
several thousand K. This is new, different and
generally unacceptable in lighting. Most
people want to see the same shade of white
when multiple luminaries are lighted in the
same room. Those are four great big things
in front of us—once we begin to work
through them, it will begin to drive the
acceptance forward.”
What’s the bottom line as far as when
LEDs will compete with other sources for
general illumination? “I would hazard a
guess of five to 10 years,” Scott says. “What I
would say is that every major and mid-sized
lighting manufacturer today is on board
and actively working on it. Four years ago,
it was, ‘Well, it’s interesting stuff, but we’ll
wait and see.’ Two years ago, it was, ‘Wow,
it’s interesting stuff; we’re going to have to
get started soon.’ And then last year, it was,
‘My God, we’ve got to get going now.’ We’re
seeing a whole lot of interest out there in the
general lighting market in white light. I’m
highly encouraged.”
Until then, keep watching the horizon.
The forecast is for some big surf to be heading our way.
When the author is not at the beach, he
can be reached at rcadena@plsn.com.
S
eek the wisdom that will untie your knot,see
the path that demands your whole being.
Leave that which is not, but appears to
be, seek that which is, but is not apparent. – Rumi
When I was in junior high and high
school, my friends and I used to build our
own surfboards in our backyards and
garages. We would buy the foam blanks
and shape them with sanders. In a matter of
minutes, we would be covered from head to
toe in white foam powder, but in a few hours
a beautiful shape would emerge. Then we
would put designs on them and cover them
with fiberglass cloth and resin. When the
resin hardened, we would sand them smooth
and put a few more coats of resin on, and
when it dried, we’d have a brand new “stick.”
My favorite part was hitchhiking to the
beach with a brand-new board. I thought I
was soooo cool, right up to the point where I
hit the water and paddled out. Then I sucked.
I was the worst surfer in on the Coastal
Bend. My older brother, on the other hand,
was a surf legend in my own mind. He was a
shredder. The secret, he said, is to look to the
horizon. When the right wave comes along, if
you paddle as fast as you can, it will take you
where you want to go.
Lately, the lighting business is all about
media servers and LEDs. I’ve been working
on catching a few LED waves of late, but
alas, I suck at it. Last year I got a call from a
client who asked me to design the lighting
for a gymnasium. He specifically asked about
using LED fixtures because, like me, he had
read about how efficient they are and he
knew they have a long life. Having recently
returned from LDI 2004, one product in particular popped into my head. I had seen an
LED high-bay fixture that was very impressive. It was lying on a table pointing straight
up and it easily lit the ceiling of the Sands
Expo and Convention Center despite all the
ambient light. I had no idea how much it
cost, but I had a decent budget to work with.
So I called the manufacturer and inquired
about the luminaire. As it turns out, there was
no luminaire, only a proof-of-concept fixture
they prototyped to illustrate their core product, which was a substrate with a matrix of
RGB LEDs. Very clever, but it didn’t help me. In
the end, we ended up using some high-bay
fixtures with compact fluorescent sources,
which worked well.
About a year later, I got a call from a client
who wanted to relight his recording studio
because they were having problems with filament sing. Having recently returned from LDI
(are you starting to see a pattern here?), I was
aware of some white LED replacements for
MR-16s. I subsequently gathered the photometric data and did some rough calculations.
Much to my surprise, I found that it would
take a lot of LED modules to produce the
same amount of light as a single 71-watt MR16. I’m talking a difference of magnitude on
the order of 10, like a misplaced decimal point.
Needless to say, I didn’t recommend them.
LEDs are great as luminance sources, like
automotive taillights and video walls, and for
task lighting. But when will they be effective for general illumination, like automotive
headlights and stage wash? When will they
move from the back of the car to the front
of the car or from back wall to the Front of
House truss?
According to Keith Scott of Lumileds, a
manufacturer of high-powered LEDs, it could
happen in five to 10 years. Haitz’s law says
that LEDs will double in brightness every 16
PLSN MARCH 2006
53
3/2/06 10:58:37 PM
MARKETPLACE
Employment
National Sales and Business
Development Manager
Seeking a highly motivated individual to
lead efforts to increase CHAUVET’s market
share in the USA. The successful candidate
will meet sales, business acquisition, and
retention goals with effective programs
and initiatives. He or she will report directly
to the CEO. Responsibilities include:
• Prepare and implement sales presentations and programs to meet aggressive
goals for new and existing business.
• Manage, coach and support the professional growth of an in-house team of territory managers;
• Recruit, train and oversee a network of
independent sales representatives
• Conceive and implement internal and
on-the-road calling programs;
• Develop procedures and performance
measuring systems to assess on-going
sales & marketing programs and initiatives;
analyze, review and communicate results in
an effective manner.
• Travel extensively and as needed to visit
key and prospective customers, attend
trade shows, meet, train and oversee sales
representatives.
The ideal candidate is a college-educated,
high-achieving multi-tasker, a team player,
a skilled communicator and an effective
manager with demonstrated sales and
business development experience in the
entertainment lighting industry or another
field with comparable distribution channels. Please e-mail resume, cover letter, and
salary expectations to jobs@chauvetlighting.com.
All inquiries will be held in strict confidentiality.jobs@chauvetlighting.com
Assistant Head Rigger and Lead Rigger
for KÀ at the MGM Grand
Cirque du Soleil, the internationally
renowned French-Canadian theatrical
production company, is seeking a highly
motivated Assistant Head Rigger and a
Lead Rigger for its production of KÀ at the
MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Your
#1
resource
for
continued
education.
If you are interested in this position, please
apply online at: www.cirquedusoleil.com
or visit the MGM Grand website at www.
mgmmirage.com for job openings.
Order
on-line
TODAY
No Phone Calls Please
54
PLSN MARCH 2006
100.0603.Index.SS.indd 54
www.plsnbookshelf.com
g
Sound
Ligh
ting
www.fohbookshelf.com
Stagin
The industry
is watching...
PLSN
Where do you
need a wireless
lamp today?
BOOKSHELF
www.PLSN.com
3/3/06 10:00:10 PM
ADVERTISER’SINDEX
COMPANY
PG#
A.C.T Lighting, Inc.
Apollo Design Technology, Inc.
Applied Electronics
Atlanta Rigging
Branam
B&R Scenery
Bulbtronics
Chauvet Lighting
Checkers Industrial Prod.
City Theatrical Inc.
Coast Wire & Plastic Tech., Inc.
Coemar
Creative Stage Lighting
Daktronics
Doug Fleenor Design
Elation
ESP Vision
ETC
ETCP Certification
Full Sail
GE
High End Systems
Infinite Designs
Legend Theatrical
Leprecon/Cae Inc.
Lightronics
Light Source
Martin
MDG Fog Generators Limited
Milos
Mole-Richardson Co.
Musique Xpress, Inc.
Navigator
Ocean Optics
OmniSistems
7
9
31
28
3
38
10
23
33
27,54
52
47
8,15
33
14
C4
15
21
45
12
1
35,51
37
41
16
54,C3
4
FC
25
6
12
11
5
19
29,39
PH#
818.707.0884
800.288.4626
757.591.9371
404.355.4370
661.295.3300
805.388.8555
631.249.2272
954.929.1115
800.438.9336
800.230.9497
800.514.9473
954.689.8833
518.251.3302
800.325.8766
888.436.9512
323.582.3322
702.492.6923
800.668.4116
212.244.1505
800.226.7625
800.435.2677
512.836.2242
404.367.8070
888.485.2485
810.231.9373
800.472.8541
803.547.4765
954.927.3005
800.663.3020
800.411.0065
323.851.0111
787.787.2306
615.547.1895
727.733.2447
253.395.9500
CM Hoist Produces
Millionth Lodestar
continued from front cover
distributor of CM, making CM their l
argest partner in the distribution side
of their business.
Throughout the past year, CM Industrial Products has conducted the media
campaign “Celebration of Excellence” to
promote the production of the millionth
Lodestar. Through print ads, direct mail,
the Internet, press releases and trade
shows, the contest offered a $1,500 cash
prize to the person who could guess the
shipping date of the millionth Lodestar.
Dan Harris, an engineer from Areva
Framatome ANP, Inc., was the lucky
contest winner.
URL
COMPANY
PG#
www.actlighting.com
www.internetapollo.com
www.appliednn.com
www.atlantarigging.com
www.branament.com
www.bandrscenry.com
www.bulbtronics.com
www.chauvetlighting.com
www.checkersindustrial.com
www.citytheatrical.com
www.coastwire.com
www.coemarUSA.com
www.creativestagelighting.com
www.daktronics.com
www.dfd.com
www.elationlighting.com
www.esp-vision.com
www.etcconnect.com
www.etcp.esta.org
www.fullsail.com
www.ge.com
www.highend.com
www.infinitedesignsonline.com
www.legendtheatrical.com
www.leprecon.com
www.lightronics.com
www.megaclamps.com
www.martinpro.com
www.mdgfog.com
www.milosamerica.com
www.mole.com
www.mxnpr.com
www.hiretrack.com
www.oceanoptics.com
www.onmisistem.com
Osram
PR Lighting LTD
R & M Materials
Robe America
Roc-Off
Rosco Laboratories
Scharff Weisberg Lighting, LLC
SetWear
Stage Rigging
Staging Dimensions
Strong Entertainment Lighting
SuperScreen
Syncrolite Entertainment Technology
Techni-Lux
Theatrical Media Services, Inc.
TLS
TMB
Tyler Truss Systems
USITT
Xtreme Structures & Fabrication
13
29
40
2
34
11
30
14
27
17
34
32
36
C2
53
14
5
10
55
8
PH#
888.677.2627
253.395.9500
800.955.9967
323.260.7733
954.436.2118
203.708.8900
212.582.3860
818.340.0540
866.744.4887
866.591.3471
800.424.1215
303.778.0353
214.350.7696
407.857.8770
402.592.5522
256.533.7025
818.899.8818
903.877.0300
800.938.7488
903.473.1100
URL
www.osram.com
www.onmisistem.com
www.rmhoist.com
www.robeamerica.com
www.roc-off.com
www.rosco.com
www.swinyc.com
www.setwear.com
www.stagerigging.com
www.stagingdimensionsinc.com
www.strongint.com
www.superscreenusa.com
www.syncrolite.com
www.techni-lux.com
www.tms-omaha.com
www.tlsinc.com
www.tmb.com
www.tylertruss.com
www.usitt.org
www.xtremestructures.com
Marketplace
City Theatrical Inc.
ELS
Hybrid Case
Kangaroo Cases
Lightronics
Music Gear Capital
RC4 Roadshow Services, Inc.
Upstaging
27,54
54
54
54
54,C3
54
54
54
54
800.230.9497
800.357.5444
800.346.4638
800.890.1073
800.472.8541
800.614.4083
866.258.4577
800.861.3111
847.949.4900
www.citytheatrical.com
www.elslights.com
www.discount-distributors.com
www.kanagroocases.com
www.lightronics.com
www.musicgearcapital.com
www.theatrewireless.com
www.upstaging.com
For quick response go to www.plsn.com and click on Instant Info.
A.C.T. Lighting to Distribute
Brother, Brother & Sons
continued from front cover
by Hans Christian Andersen, and they
turn out wonderful high-tech products.
The v-Base projector yokes are the most
accurate of their type, and the fact that
they have a 100% duty cycle makes them
ideally-suited for continuous use with
high accuracy.”
BBS offers v-Base video projector yokes
for the Barco SLM R12+, Digital Projections
12000Dsx and Sanyo PLC-XF 45, which
securely hold and move a given projector.
The yokes can also be used for other projectors with some customization. The
v-Base video projector yokes have been
used on television and awards shows in
Europe. The yoke’s control pan and tilt
functions plus selected parameters of the
projector are controlled via a standard
DMX 512 lighting console. The parameters
include projector on/off, mechanical shutter, zoom, focus, orientation, shift, keystone,
brightness, contrast, color temperature,
color and control channels. The BBS
OperaYoke was originally custom-made
for the Royal Danish Opera, which needed
remote-control capabilities for Robert Juliat
711 SX profiles.
“Brother, Brother & Sons also makes
other products that will blow your mind,”
concluded Bob Gordon, “and I am honored
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The public will be amazed at what comes
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100.0603.Index.SS.indd 55
PLSN MARCH 2006
55
3/3/06 9:59:00 PM
LDATLARGE
By NookSchoenfeld
andy.au@verizon.net
L
ately, I’ve been trying to figure out what
my actual job is. For the last 20 years, I
thought I was a lighting designer. After
this week, I’ve pretty much realized that I
am not just an LD; I wear a whole lot of hats
at gigs. And I’ve been doing this more and
more over the last five years, so much so
that I am at a loss for words when trying to
describe my title.
Let’s face reality: Video elements have
become implanted on most touring shows
and all the industrial shows I work on. If
you’re an LD and you haven’t jumped on this
wagon yet, you’re late. I am not a huge fan of
all this technology. I still prefer good theatrically-lit scenes as opposed to high-tech
gadgetry, but I would be ignorant to ignore
it. It’s fun. But why am I picking and choosing
video content, let alone creating it now?
I once thought set design was complicated and best left to professionals who do
this for a living. Show me the set and I will
then design a lighting rig to illuminate it.
Those rules have all changed as well. What’s
happened to me in recent years is that I will
show some lighting concepts to an artist,
and the next thing I know, they are asking
56
PLSN MARCH 2006
100.0603.LDatLarge.EP.indd 56
me what their set will look like. Then I have to
whip out old set designs to see which direction they may be leaning towards. Do they
want ramps and risers on the stage? Perhaps
a stage thrust into the audience? Curtains?
Projection? How did this all happen to me?
I think I know. About 10 years ago, I
started drawing all my light plots in 3-D and
making glossy renderings to show different
bands. They looked cool, but without any
band members with instruments and assorted stage risers, it was hard for anyone to
conceive what the whole stage would look
like. Therefore, I started to insert such items
to take up space. I would look on the Web
and find pictures of where the band members stood and what their backline looked
like. This made my drawings look like they
were custom-designed for the act, which was
basically true. But then these bands started
expressing their ideas to me and asking me
if I could show them what it would like in
reality. So I did.
One of the first set ideas I had came from
drinking in a bar with some guys from the
band Sugar Ray. I had my laptop and a CAD
program called Vectorworks sitting next to
me. The guys asked to see a checkerboard
Marley floor. I inserted a texture this CAD
program provided and had the computer
render us a JPEG. From there, we added red
curtains, festoon lights, a tiki bar, a custom-lit
sign and a Wheel of Fortune-type spinning
wheel for a karaoke gag. Am I a set designer?
I sent the drawings out to a set guy
in L.A. named Joe Gallagher. He got the
contract, and I told him to build a set that
looked something like I had drawn up. One
month later, I’m looking at a full-size replica
of all my drawings. Joe had paid attention to
every detail from the precise tiki lanterns I
had drawn to the crooked spinning arrow on
the Wheel of Fortune device. What was a new
high for me was realizing that somebody
had just paid a lot of money for all this stuff
I drew up. I’m amazed at the stuff that Joe
at Accurate Staging cranks out. Last month,
I needed two 3-D metallic-looking replicas
of golden eagles complete with an 8-foot
wingspan. Joe found a sculptor in Idaho and
makes good on my vision.
A ha! I must be a visual designer. Nah,
sounds too frou-frou. I’ll keep thinking of
another title while I’m writing…I listen to
people’s ideas and I stockpile different concepts in the back of my head to use later. I have
pages of different cool light rigs and sets I have
drawn over the years. Stuff I drew five years
ago I may use next week for a project. When I
meet with a performer, I will often show them
several different concepts other than the one
I have personally drawn up for their event.
Sometimes, I piece different parts from sets
and light rigs into one new grand design.
But now, the management wants to
know how much everything costs. With any
luck, there is a production manager already
hired who can get prices on everything.
If not, here we go again. Gotta price the
new drapes, the lights to rent, the risers to
build…do you know where I can get some
old used stuff cheap? I’m pretty good with
monetary figures and spreadsheets. Guess
I’m now a visual accountant.
This month, I have received 16 CDs from
several different acts. They will go on tour
and play music from these albums. It’s my
job to learn this music. I learn it all over time,
mostly by keeping the same CDs playing in
my car until I want to hurl. Some of it is pretty
good. Some of it is painful. Got some punk,
some metal, some R&B, some kids who play
pop music, but who have informed me that
it’s punk. I love it all. The young bands are my
favorite. They are not afraid. They listen to me.
We bond. Guess I’m a musician consultant
as well.
One act needs a large arena rock-sized
light rig. I have a giant TV upstage center. I’m
talking about these D7 video walls at concerts, and I know how to treat them. I don’t
fight them by placing trusses of lights above
or in front of them. It’s a waste of light, as the
video wall will always be brighter. Instead, I
have a custom-built picture frame designed
to attach to the screen. Now, it looks sexy. I
want to light that.
I place trusses of lights off to the sides of
this TV. I design a set that fits just under the
TV, complete with a catwalk for the performer to run on and some giant horseshoeshaped trusses standing on end. All of the
trusses are curved sections kept lit by LEDs.
When lit, they become an integral part of
the set. The set is lined with conventional
lighting from MR16s to Moles to PARs to
hundreds of 25-watt golf ball lights lining the
ramps and thrust. I place moving lights every
10 feet along the 100-foot wide stage to go
for big sweeping moves and eye candy.
My lighting director is editing cues as
I bark at him. We’re pals. We spent a week
in Upstaging Lighting’s visualization suite,
so the lighting cues are pretty much in the
bag. Instead, I’m picking out media files from
my hard drive to show on the TV for certain
tunes. They have to be loaded into a media
server and get triggered by the light desk.
Brad is pretty new at this video stuff and
nervous. But he’s catching on fast. Guess I’m a
teacher now.
As you can well see, a career in lighting design can actually cover a wide variety of other
fields. People are coming up with fancy names
for their total performance services. Even
trademarking them, I hear. My buddy Mike and
I have been toying with calling ourselves “The
Ocular Edge.” But what’s in a name? Guess I’ll
just be good old Nook, the LD.
E-mail Nook at nschoenfeld@plsn.com.
COMING
NEXT
MONTH...
• the magic of the
sea cruise
come aboard the
liberty to see how
nautilus entertainment design helped
put video on deck.
• welcome to
tv land
design partners’
marisa davis talks
about lighting
for television.
www.PLSN.com
3/2/06 11:07:18 PM
www.fohonline.com
Month 2005
3/2/06 10:47:44 PM
3/2/06 10:48:21 PM

Staging Comes Alive at Grammy Awards

Transcription

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