How Do You Like ‘Em Now?

For whatever reason, intercom seems to be a no-man’s-land of technology for many of us.  This is probably for a couple of reasons.  The first and foremost is that most of us don’t consider it part of our technical field.  We figure ‘sound runs through it’, so the sound guy should be in charge of it.  Sound guys don’t want to run any more cables, so they think the lighting guys should do it.  [Did I say that?]  Secondly, many production companies (including one of my old haunts) categorize this as a light crew’s responsibility.  This probably stems from the fact that we end up needing a lot more stations than the sound crew, and possibly that we’re better at coiling cables properly.  [Where did that come from?]

Hello to everyone who is reading this blog! My name is Tony Caporale; I am 24 years old and have been working as an exclusive lighting director/ designer/ programmer/ videographer for a band named EastonAshe for three years. Here’s a rant on my background and how the hell I ended up doing what I do. I basically went to college following the footsteps of my older brother Brian who happens to be a freelance Cameraman. I also got some direction from a close family friend Tim Walbert who is a video director from WWE Entertainment. So I pretty much went on to get my degree in Electronic Media and Film with a TV production focus from Towson University in Maryland.

Being a lighting designer often brings up a whole slew of duties that one would not expect to have to look after. I get calls about what outfits the rock stars should wear on stage to questions about where they should be standing when playing their big rock god solos.

How many times have you heard lighting designers say that you shouldn't notice the lights, that they should reveal the subject, and that they shouldn't… Read More »It IS About the Lighting

Almost everyone of us has a workbox or gig-bag that goes out with us to every show.  What form your gig-bag takes can vary quite a bit.  For an international man of mystery or hot shot Video Director, it may be a simple computer bag, with your favorite kewpie doll sharing a compartment with the most important weapon in your arsenal, your laptop.  On the other end of the spectrum, the road-hardened lighting tech may have a twelve-hundred pound fully-customized thirteen-drawer double-hardened triple-galvanized welded-steel-frame road case that is designed with the perfect truck pack in mind.