LD at Large

Lighting is a team sport. Designing the lighting for any event is a process that depends on a number of variables and answers to a lot of questions. The questions must be answered by venue employees, electricians, rental inventory managers and many more. Clients depend on us for a spectacular show. But designers depend on everyone else's support.

Over the years, I've come to realize that talent isn't always enough to get you by in life. You might be a gifted designer, but if you can't talk a good game, sometimes a gig may pass you by. To keep working steadily in this wacky business of ours, you have to have an edge, something that makes you stand out, something that makes people remember you long after they've witnessed your talents on a production or shared a meal with you. You've got to have your schmooze down.

There's a sign posted on the wall of the shop at Upstaging Lighting that says, "If you arrive right on time for load in, you're late." These words are gospel; I have never been late to a call time in all my years. And I have zero tolerance for anyone who isn't there to meet me on time.

I think the majority of us in the lighting business are not too sorry to see 2009 end. We all seemed to work a bit less last year. I ran into my buddy, John Featherstone, at a convention center last month and we spoke about the workload last year. "The thing that was key for me was that our company is so diversified in the types of projects we obtain," he said.

In the last 20 years we have seen more lighting consoles come on the market than I can remember. They all strive to achieve the same thing; talk to lighting fixtures, dimmers and media servers. They all get the job done eventually, but I've come to conclude that certain consoles execute some tasks well and others, not so much.

When I run a show, I like to do everything I can to insure a flawless performance. Whether it's a rock show, a comedy shoot or a full-on theatrical performance, there are cues that have to be hit on time, every time, or I get upset.

The efficiency of the load in and out of any show is directly related to the cable management of everyone involved,” says production manager/rigger Dano Rowley. The man is right. One of my pet peeves is a sloppy stage with cables strewn all over the place.

Anyone who has ever looked after lighting a musical artist will eventually find themselves having to work in strange surroundings, with a light rig and set they did not design. Whether it’s a TV show, an awards presentation or a radio station-hosted arena bash, there is an unwritten etiquette that would be wise to follow.

Sometimes I think I’m too old to learn new tricks. But that’s just an excuse for being set in my old ways. What I really need to do is practice what I preach now, and start making lists. I’m thinking that if everybody made little lists we would probably save on a lot of things besides aggravation. Things like gasoline, overtime and shipping bills.

Over the years I’ve watched technology grow in leaps and bounds. America always seems to be a step ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to new gear and ways of setting it up, but eventually everyone catches up. I like to watch as they do, just as much as I like teaching in countries that are way behind. Last week I went back to Africa for the first time in years and noticed quite a change.

My friend Kenny Mednick is also a lighting designer who illuminates musicians on their tours. While I was speaking to him this year I mentioned that I had been working with some less-than-pleasant people in the last year, namely musicians who were, for lack of a better word, mean, disgruntled people.

One of my biggest joys of watching a live performance is when I see a lighting show where the designer has put a lot of thought into different aspects, when that lighting person is professional enough to know when to use the latest technological gadgets and when not to, when sometimes “less is more” and old school prevails.