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So, You Want to be a Video Director

Rob Darcy, directing at a Tim McGraw concert

So, You Want to be a Video Director

At a concert, the director controls what the audience sees on the I-Mag. At a professional sports event, the director controls the visual story that’s seen on television, or on a stadium’s huge video screen. Here, we’re talking about directing for live events, with multiple cameras, media servers and various other video sources at the director’s fingertips. There are certainly other types of directors, such as the Kubricks and the Coppolas — but that’s a different breed of cat entirely.

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MADRIX control page

Madrix LED Lighting Control Solutions

With the popularity of LEDs on the rise and the increasing need for better tools to program them, the boundaries of existing software solutions is constantly being tested. Take, for instance, the world of pixel mapping. Once upon a time, pixel mapping more or less was confined to a 2D flat plane on which an image would be displayed. That has changed in the last several years. With products like Pixel Tubes (Eurolite) and LT 100/200 3D Graphic Tubes (SGM) being used to create three-dimensional structures of pixels, traditional 2D pixel mapping software quickly falls short of the task.

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SolaSpot Pro 1500 from High End Systems

High End Systems SolaSpot Pro 1500

Let it be known that a manufacturer has finally built a hard edge moving light with an LED source that’s brighter than the 1200W discharge fixtures now on the market. Barco-owned High End Systems has proven that their SolaSpot Pro 1500 fixture has the horsepower to outshine most of the top selling fixtures others offer while only using a 400-watt white LED light source.

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Phenom from Lightwave International

Phenom from Lightwave International

Last fall at LDI, I was privileged to walk past the Lightwave International booth and see their new fixture, the Phenom, a moving-head RGB laser that combines the best parts of a moving head fixture with the power and visuals of a laser, offering LDs a brand new, previously-unseen effect for their toolkit.

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CEOs Wanna be Rock Stars, Too

To quote Nickleback, “We all just wanna be big rock stars, live in hilltop houses, drivin’ 15 cars….” Or, more to the point, our clients do. Over the past 25 years, we’ve seen corporate shows change in dramatic and unexpected ways, the most profound being the energy level and aesthetic of the productions.

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Corporate event planners should negotiate with venues on AV services before signing the contract

Watch Out for Hidden Venue Costs

Costs for “Venue Exclusive” Production Services Can Add Up Quickly

Sometimes it’s what you don’t see that can sink your ship. Planning and executing successful meetings for your organization can be an undertaking of a Titanic proportion. For every decision you make that shapes the meeting, there will be other issues that lurk beneath the surface and which are not readily apparent. These hidden hazards can easily put a big hole in your budget.

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The Trauma Team

If you have ever watched any of the reality TV shows about emergency rooms, you have probably noticed how well the staff works together to help the patient. I find it a striking resemblance to the way that an automated lighting programmer must relate to others on his/her team. A programmer must work well with each team member to ensure a healthy lighting contribution to the production. By studying this relation in comparison to an emergency trauma team, one can easily see the responsibilities that a programmer has with the production team.

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Sufjan Stevens, Lady A, Zac Brown, Hozier, The Who, Fitz & FitzGerald and More

Production designer Marc Janowitz devised a design in early April for singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens’ Carrie & Lowell tour in support of the March 31, 2015 album release named for the singer’s mother, Carrie — who died in 2012 after suffering from mental illness — and his stepfather. Stevens channeled his grief into his most personal, intimate songs. To present them on the road, he eschewed the props and gimmicks for which he’s known, and Janowitz sets the stage for a more melancholy mood.

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LD at Large

The Art of Lighting Chrome and Brushed Metal

I am blessed to work with some of the greatest scenic designers on the planet. They seem to have endless veins of creativity and come from all sorts of backgrounds and educations. However, it never ceases to amaze me how often they design with the most impractical scenic elements. Well, at least from this lighting designer’s point of view.

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Bahnemann Awards 2015 recipients

Fifth Annual Volker Bahnemann Awards for Cinematography Honor Sheldon Chau and Antoine Combellas

NEW YORK – Sheldon Chau and Antoine Combellas have won top honors at the Fifth Annual Volker Bahnemann Awards for Cinematography at New York University’s (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. The grants were established in 2010 to honor Bahnemann’s 48 years at ARRI; he served 32 years as CEO and President of ARRI Inc. and ARRI CSC. Pictured here are the 2015 award recipients.

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