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The lights are broken in the sky

The lights are broken in the sky

I like to check out a local musician from time to time named Shelby James. He’s got a lyric on one of his songs “the lights are broken in the sky.” Hahaha sure enough they were. I’m so happy to be leaving the bar scene from a production stand point. The live music in bars for the most part is unique and still has a sense of authenticity. I had an experience a while back at a local pub/club where I got to watch his solo acoustic gig and wouldn't ya know the damn LED pars and scrollers are left on sound active function with no one at either present at the sound or light consoles.

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Active Production and Design, Inc.

Who: Matt Clouser, president/owner

What: Full-service production company specializing in audio/visual installations and live productions

Where: Atlanta, GA.

Founded: 1993

First gig: “Setting up the lights (PAR cans) for a local club. I was paid $25 dollars a night.”

Latest gig: “We recently had a successful show with the Caribbean Diplomatic Community in D.C.”

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Wybron Outdoor BP-2 Beam Projector

Entertainment lighting professionals are from Mars and architectural lighting professionals are from…well, at times it seems they’re from a different galaxy altogether. If you’ve ever tried to navigate the maze of manufacturers’ reps, distributors and suppliers trying to get specifications, samples or information about architectural lighting products, then you can appreciate the relatively small network of entertainment lighting pros, most of whom you probably know on a first-name basis. 

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Mr. Screen Evolves into Mr. LED

Roger Waters’ Dark Side of the Moon tour built a wall of light

When you think of a classic rock concert light show, chances are you’re thinking of Pink Floyd and Marc Brickman’s iconic masterpieces of the ‘70s and ‘80s. “Mr. Screen,” the circular projection surface ringed by Vari*Lites, the magnificent arched truss loaded with more automated lights, large inflatables and the flying, crashing airplane came to define the pinnacle of theatrical concert production.

Roger Waters, the main songwriter and one of the lead singers of Pink Floyd, left the band in 1985 and embarked on a solo career. After a short-lived reunion with David Gilmour and Pink Floyd, Waters was again on his own, touring and performing on the strength of his Floyd hits and his solo material. The recent leg of his tour, which was designed by Brickman, recently brought him through North America where PLSN caught up with some of the crew, including lighting director Mark “Sparky” Risk, video tech Clarke Anderson, and production manager Chris Kansy. 

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High End Systems Showgun

High End Systems is back in the automated lighting business in a big way.

To be sure, they never really left it, but since they introduced Catalyst in 2001 and DL.1 in 2003, it seemed at times as if they might leave “conventional” automated lighting behind altogether, were it not for the debut of the Studio Command automated wash luminaire in 2006. Their newest offering should leave no doubt that they are planted squarely in the business. 

 

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Pixel-Packin’ Mamas

Working with Mixed Media and Mixed Resolutions  

So, you’ve just returned from a major industry trade show, and the LED exhibits were stunningly beautiful — simply breathtaking in their creativity. So, fresh with ideas, off you went back to the shop, slammed together some content, set up your company’s LED wall, sized up the video through your scaler — and voila! Third-generation VHS dubs look better than this. What gives? “Them trade show guys must know something,” I hear you mutter.

Well, in fact, they do. 

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Something Borrowed, Something Blues

As John Mayer moves toward the blues, the show borrows a warehouse look

John has revitalized my live concert experience,” Michael Keller says. “The last few years weren’t fun any more.” Lighting designer Keller is talking about how every night on this tour is new; as he works the show, he doesn’t know what’s going to happen until it happens. Not in a “these-guys-are-crazy” way, but more in the vein of musicians making music fresh at the moment for the audience, as opposed to every note, beat, light cue and song order exactly the same show after show.

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Life on the Road: Getting In and Getting Out

I spend a lot of time traveling, but I’m home a lot more often than I was when I toured the world with rock bands. I’m frequently asked by lots of young folks how to get into the road business. But lately, I’ve been asked by older people a more important question: How do you get off the road? 

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Scaling Down Production

Long before there were software packages, Patrick Woodroffe kept it real for pre-viz

Long before WYSIWYG, VectorWorks, 3D Studio Max and ESP Vision, there was Patrick Woodroffe’s 4-to-1 real- life studio, albeit in miniature. Woodroffe, who gained notoriety in the industry chiefly as the lighting designer for the Rolling Stones, but whose résumé bulges with superstars and shows dating back to 1972, put together a working scale model studio for preproduction using PAR 16s and miniature truss. The London-based precursor to virtual reality preproduction software was very successful when he sold it to a production company. We spoke to Woodroffe about his venture and how it came about. 

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Digitizing Deuce

Sven Ortel gets projectors to serve up an ace

When he speaks with PLSN, video designer Sven Ortel is adjusting to life in Denver, Colorado, home to his latest gig. “It’s nice and sunny here,” he reports contentedly. “It’s very high. You don’t realize it’s a mile high, and you’re sort of huffing and puffing the first two weeks.” His ears haven’t popped yet, “but I went jogging the first morning. I was like an old man. I had a beer and almost fell over.” Ironically, the show he is designing there is Disney’s The Little Mermaid, which is going through a test-run in late August before being tweaked for its Broadway debut on December 6. One can imagine how much worse his ears would be if he literally had to swoop down under the sea from high in the sky. 

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Mammoth Lights for Evangel Cathedral

Koster Design installs an inspired rig.  

Christmas at the Evangel Cathedral is one of the growing number of eye-popping spectacular Broadway-style productions being put on in today’s modern houses of worship, except the Cathedral has a history and reputation for doing it better than most. 

A cast of hundreds, live animals, the works — and now they have a digital lighting system worthy of not only their biggest events, but one they use creatively in their “regular” services as well. And while it certainly was not their intention, nor are they likely interested, in the process, they have made entertainment technology history by having the world’s largest installation of High End Systems DL.2 digital luminaires.

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Tour de LED

I recently saw some new LED effects that really turned my head. Up until now, I think every LED fixture I’ve ever seen produces a soft-edge beam and creates a color wash. For the first time that I can recall, I saw an LED fixture with sharply focused beams of light. This could change everything. A few weeks ago the Tour de France was on television. It’s one of the few TV shows I like to watch – if you don’t count The Daily Show. Watching a bike race might sound about as exciting as watching your hair grow, but it’s not like that. It’s actually very exciting.

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