April 2 is National Autism Awareness Day. In case one doesn’t know, this disease is now an epidemic, and one in every 100 kids born is being diagnosed with this incurable condition. In honor of this day, the Autism society has requested that everyone turn on a blue light. Structures such as the Empire State Building and John Hancock Tower turned blue that weekend to raise awareness about this alarming statistic. The fact that we are using something so simple as a colored light to draw attention to a cause makes me happy. You can see these at www.lightitupblue.org.
Blue — on a Budget
I am the father of an amazing autistic boy, so of course I need a way to turn my house blue for the weekend. I live in a city. I’d like to light just my house and not the one next door. To do this properly, I need to choose the right fixtures and come up with the correct distance between the house and the fixture. My first thought is “where can I find an LED Leko fixture?” I could use the shutters to keep the light off the neighbors place as well as make a gobo that changes color. Then I realize I have never seen such a fixture. Why hasn’t anyone built one of these? My friend Olivier mentioned this to me the other day, and I was astonished that nobody has gone there yet. Certainly this would be a marketable commodity. Well, let’s get back to fixtures that do exist. There was still snow on the ground in my yard, so a UL listed; waterproof fixture would be ideal. I know a little about architectural lighting. Problem is, I don’t really want to spend any money lighting my house permanently. And I’ve never known anyone to rent architectural lighting for a day. So it’s time to put my thinking cap on.
My friend John Featherstone owns a bunch of Color Kinetics Color Blasts. He uses them to light his house on special events. Makes for some of the most excellent Christmas lighting. He’s actually turning his house blue tomorrow evening to help the cause. I could do that, but unfortunately I would be taking a big risk. While I live in an upscale part of town, I am not immune from crime. I’d be an idiot to think that some punk on dope wouldn’t walk by, think they looked cool…and steal them. Then I would be out a few grand. Nah, think I need another fixture. Perhaps it’s time to take a ride over and see my friends at Heroic Lighting, the premier rental house for lighting equipment in Minneapolis.
A Favor for a Cause
I contact Tom Gorman, an old friend I know from his touring days and currently one of the in house designers for this company. I tell him I need a favor, for a good cause. No problem. He doesn’t hesitate for a second and invites me to come down to their shop. I’m welcome to use anything they have available, since this is for a good cause. So I’m thinking about some ETC pars and blue gel. But I have an old house (complete with asbestos wiring and no grounded circuits). I have a total of two 10 amp circuits on the exterior of my house. And there’s no way anyone would leave a window open in Minneapolis for an electric cord to stick out in April. So I reckon I need to utilize some LED fixtures. Turns out that Heroic owns a bunch of Martin Stage bars and they just happen to be sitting there on a shelf. I love these little things. I can run them in standalone mode with no console or data cables.
Once again, I take into mind the fact that I can’t leave them where the hoodlums can get at ‘em, but they will sit on a window sill just fine. I may not be able to light the exterior of my place, but I could uplight each of my windows nicely. Especially if I place them between the window and the curtain. I just happen to have a white backing on all my curtains, making a mini cyc. I’m a goon at figuring out these menu systems on the LCD panels of lighting fixtures. Good thing the guys at Heroic set them up to come on in blue when I applied electricity. In the end, I achieve my goal of turning on some blue lights.
Going Architectural
A few years ago, I realized I knew little about architectural lighting. While I don’t get hired for installations often, I realize that if I’m going to design sets for theatrical productions, I’d do well to educate myself. The first thing I did was look online at magazines that dealt with this theme. I realized that there were a few trade magazines dedicated solely to this subject. Some of these monthly publications were shipped free to anyone willing to spend a few seconds to order them. I took advantage of the zero cost factor, and now I stockpile these. Every once in a while I grab a few of them when headed to the airport. I may never purchase anything from these rags, but they make me use my imagination. The magazines feature the latest models of LED, incandescent, fluorescent, you name it — fixtures for lighting anything from showcases to gas stations.
I use these pics to help with my set designs. For instance, one of my touring acts has requested a cigar bar on his stage. These being one of the things that I don’t smoke, I am unfamiliar with what an actual cigar bar interior looks like. So I Google it and am shown hundreds of different pics of various real-life bars. Once I get a general idea, I turn off the Internet and open up my mind…as well as my Vectorworks CAD program. I come up with my own bar idea, but then I need some complimentary lighting to mount to the set. So I start browsing the free mags ‘til I come across these really cool glass sconce lights. The mag provides a website for the manufacturers. I email them and inquire if they make them in green? No problem. I now attach a link for this site to the CAD drawings I will send to the set manufacturers. Let them buy the lights I want and attach them. They can include the price in the bid.
This particular artist has expressed a desire to have about 10 custom signs made for the set. So now I need motel signs, casino emblems — heck, he wants an actual traffic light. I start leafing through the mags and realize this isn’t going to help me. One of my partners is on it. Alex Skowron takes the ball and runs with it. He starts checking out every hotel and marquee sign he can find on the web. Once he has planted enough seeds in his head he starts sketching some ideas. Use rope light on this one, maybe some LED tape on another. Chasing golf ball lights and faux neon are incorporated. It’s not ‘til you start looking at all these examples that you find the selection is endless.
Turns out that half the lighting fixtures on my stage will be architectural.
So I leave Alex to the signs. I’m off to shop fr chandeliers and traffic lights.
