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The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Image courtesy of Columbia Pictures ©2013 CTMG

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the first film in the Spider-Man franchise to shoot entirely in New York State, was filmed on locations in throughout New York City and Rochester, as well as on sound stages and backlots on Long Island and Brooklyn. It is also perhaps one of the last of the blockbusters to be shot on actual film. One of the pivotal sets, Oscorp’s power plant, was built on the production’s back lot at Gold Coast Studios in Bethpage, NY. To fully realize the aesthetic of the power plant scenic design, the film’s production designer Mark Friedberg collaborated with City Theatrical’s Gary Fails.

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New tools provide a better look at nasty weather that might be coming your way. Far from the vague, county-by-county watches and warnings of yesteryear, today's mobile devices provide a more granular look. In the alert pictured here, the red box is the extent of the tornado warning; if you are outside the red box then the NWS does not consider that storm to be a threat to you at that point.

Wireless Emergency Alerts

It’s spring, and that means the start of severe weather season, and also the time when many of us in show business start working on outdoor shows. I’ve done a lot of outdoor shows, and I’m also a storm chaser and weather geek, so when I’m on an outdoor show site, I’m often running real-time radar on my laptop in addition to my sound system alignment software.

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Marshall Bissett

Retiring TMB Founder Marshall Bissett Looks Back

Marshall Bissett has played a key role in  the live event industry for four decades, and is the founder of TMB, long rumored to stand for either “Too Many Beers” or “Too Much Bull****.” He was in the live event industry before “there even was an industry.” He sat down with PLSN recently and reflected on his career, the business and what’s next.

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Lena Sherwood, who has spent more than 30 years in client-focused roles within mid to large sized companies, consults with organizations to help them reinforce their long-term relationships with their clients.

CAPS Payroll Keeps Up with a Changing Industry

Managing payroll for any company can be both difficult and complex. Because of the challenges involved, many choose to use one of the Administrative Employer payroll service providers available to delegate work, responsibility and — most importantly — liability to a third party. But what if you work within a highly specialized field like the music industry with its myriad twists and turns, from differing state regulatory codes to union and guild contracts that must be honored?

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The Pyramid structure with 3D projection mapping in the Caterpillar booth

Video Mapping at ConExpo

Did you have the opportunity to visit one of the largest trade shows for construction equipment this year, a show called ConExpo? Held every three years, this show features extremely large booths filled with all types of machinery used in every aspect of construction, and it’s like a playground for adults (okay, males mostly) who spend a week climbing over every inch of these trucks and diggers from manufacturers like Hyundai, Konami and John Deere. Many of these booths feature shows and/or presentations showcasing various aspects of their latest technology. However, two manufacturers, Caterpillar and Volvo Construction, incorporated video mapping into their booth designs and shows, making for some eye catching and interesting visuals.

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Video Mapped Tribute Fills the Home of the Cavs. Pictured here, a preview of the show within 20,562-seat Quicken Loans Arena (aka The Q)

Honoring “Big Z” at the Q with a Full Court Show

On March 8, 2014, The Cleveland Cavaliers honored their former center, Zydrunas “Big Z” Ilgauskas, by officially retired his #11 team number. But the Cleveland Cavaliers QTV crew did it with a lot more visual sizzle than just an announcement over the P.A. and I-Mag on the center video display. They teamed up with Think Media and Quince Imaging to produce a large format projection that not only covered the expanse of the court but was mapped to its various parts, transforming the 2D surface and content with 3D movement and effects.

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Martin MAC Quantum Wash

Martin MAC Quantum Wash

Harman’s lighting division, Martin Professional, has long been the innovator of new light technology, especially along the LED line. Following in the footsteps of their MAC Aura series, they have introduced The MAC Quantum Wash. Rather than concentrate solely on the LED eye candy trend, Martin committed themselves to a fresh new concept — using an LED source to create a stunningly bright, pure white light beam.

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I’ve Been Framed!

Automated lighting fixtures have many great features such as rotating gobos and color mixing. Some also include motorized framing shutters. These blades enable you to crop and shape the output of the fixtures as you desire. Some automated lighting consoles provide the programmer with very sophisticated interfaces for framing shutters, while others simply treat them as any other variable parameter of the light. It is important for a programmer to understand the unique requirements and processes that are involved when programming fixtures that have framing shutter capabilities.

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More info on the 2014 arena tour can be found at jesuschristsuperstar.com

“Jesus Christ Superstar” Tour; Quick Cues

LD Patrick Woodroffe is helping bring new life to the 1970’s classic rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. The Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice production revives to perform on its arena spectacular tour in more than 50 cities in North America, rolling out June 9 in New Orleans and closing August 17 in Philadelphia. The show is a two-hour live rock concert with a cast of 50 actors and musicians dramatizing the last seven days in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, but with contemporary costumes and arena-scale lighting and video effects. Dave Hill programmed the show. Operating it on the road is lighting director Luke Radin. The tour has already performed in other parts of the world, including the U.K. and Australia, but with some different performers in some of the lead roles.

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Christie Lites logo

Christie Lites Moves to Expanded Las Vegas Location

LAS VEGAS – Christie Lites is moving May 12 to a larger location in Las Vegas to accommodate increased demand for its entertainment lighting and rigging services. This expanded location further strengthens Christie Lites’ multi-office network supplying full service stage lighting equipment rentals across North America.

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Illustration by Andy Au

A Little Help from My Friends

I’ve opted to spend the summer lighting one offs for my bands. Between them, they are working enough to keep me busy. I will bounce around the world doing a large amount of corporate gigs, Internet broadcasts and TV jobs. And if I want these gigs to go smoothly, I am going to need some cooperation from the house programmers at all these venues. A little help from my friends can make things go so much easier for me.

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