Many of the students at Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg can’t wait for the new 15,000-seat auditorium to open on campus. The senior class, in fact, can’t wait — it won’t open until 2009 in the earliest, and most will graduate before then. Not that there’s a lot of grumbling on campus. Students are aware that tithing dollars from faithful LDS Church followers around the world are funding the construction that surrounds them.
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What is a theatre consultant? What do they do? Who are their customers? For this month’s PLSN Interview, we spoke with Bill Conner of Bill Conner Associates, LLC. Conner studied under the father of modern stage lighting, George C. Izenour, en route to building a successful career in the field. In this interview, he explains the vital role theatre consultants perform in our industry and why the discipline deserves full-time attention.
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Last night I found myself sitting in a bar with a bunch of lampys. How unusual. So I decided to check in with them on how they’ve seen the business of lighting shows change in the last few years. Between the five of us we have close to 100 years of experience in the entertainment biz. And since we’re lighting guys, it goes without saying that we have opinions about everything. So I posed a few questions.
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Antari M-5 Fogger
The new Antari M-5 Stage Fogger from Elation Professional is a 1,500-watt fog machine designed for stage and touring applications. Featuring a low-profile rectangular housing, the M-5 Fogger is designed to be unobtrusive. Two handles allow for easy transport and its 10-liter tank provides extended operation. With a warm-up time of eight minutes, the machine can produce 20,000 CFM. The M-5 weighs 33 pounds and includes a timer remote and onboard DMX-512. Optional accessories include a wireless remote and a heavy-duty flight case. Measuring 26”L x 12.5”W x 6.7”H, the Antari M-5 fog machine has a suggested retail price of $799.95.
Elation Professional • 866.245.6726 • www.elationlighting.com
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Do you know how you can tell a rookie entertainment professional from a veteran? When they walk into a show, the rookie cranes his neck to admire the lighting rig while the veteran cranes his neck to see if it’s safe to walk under the rig.
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The new logo caught me by surprise. Though I knew Strong had recently purchased the rights to build and sell the Technobeam from its former manufacturer, High End Systems, it didn’t really fully register. But when I took it out of the box, grabbing it by its two handles, and set it down on the floor standing on end, there it was, staring me in the face. The Strong logo on the mirror end of the fixture is a stark reminder of the new manufacturer. The question is, is it the same fixture?
Read More »Motorized rigging eliminates the need to figure out how to safely adjust rigged loads with counterweights in a conventional fly system. You just push a button, and up it goes. And so far, for the most part, it’s stayed there. Catastrophic hoist brake failures have been exceedingly rare. With the scarcity of major hoist failures, we want to avoid breeding a new kind of danger: complacency.
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Nick Freed, president, Inner Circle Distribution
Who: Nick Freed, president; Noel Duncan, vice president; and Gary Mass, vice president of business development.
What: A full-service distributor of entertainment lighting products for professionals.
Where: Sunrise, Florida
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When Ozzy Osbourne recently hit the road, it was the first time in almost ten years that he was the headliner. His recent forays into reality television have pro-pelled him back into the limelight and the world now knows that Ozzy’s shows can’t have bubble machines. Lighting Designer/Director John Clark grew up in Nashville, so he’s been around the business enough to be familiar with the no-bubbles rock genre. Having worked for Vari-Lite and VLPS and toiled under the tu-telage of Eric Wade, he has lit everything from hip-hop to country to rock shows, the last two of which were tours with Disney’s Cheetah Girls and Ashley Simpson. He has also worked with Available Light in Boston doing corporate shows, trade shows, and “a lot of one-offs.” He’s currently touring with Ozzy and making sure the Osbournes are happy.
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If you've read enough of my jargon, you realize I'm a big believer in "giving something back". In other words, for years people have spent their time teaching me my craft. So now I spend time teaching others the same thing. But this morning I had something cool given to me.
There are times when a conventional desk needs to trigger an automated desk or vice versa. The most common type of console triggering automation is… Read More »Know the ID for each triggered device
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Scenic designer Michael Hotopp and his creative partner/scenic designer Bill Hoffman have worked together for two decades on myriad productions — touring theatre shows, trade shows, and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular — but nothing could have prepared them for working during the last eight years on ice sculpture installations as part of the Ice series for the Gaylord Hotels. Working on Christmas-based themes, they have created walk-through attractions that depict famous holiday characters and events, but this past year they got a real treat — designing the Ice! How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
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