The subject of lighting really covers a broad scope of fields. The best lighting designers are folks who pay attention to detail. Whether they’re lighting a car or a rock star, certain de-signers will spend hours on minute things, but they all add up. That’s why they are good. When I was an electrician, I met a lot of designers. My head was in a different world back then. I remember skating by on some easy gigs with minimal effort. Then I remember working like a dog for hours on end while some designer would fuss over a PAR can focus forever. I knew guys in New York City who could be totally set up for a show three days before the opening night, but they weren’t happy. They needed to move fixtures, change gels and refocus for three days. Three days!?
Yes, three days. I first met Jeff Ravitz 20 years ago in a convention center. He was lighting cars for a regional auto show. I have yet to meet a designer close to Jeff in his attention to detail. He’ll spend hours combing over every shadow on a product, focusing every PAR three times. At this show we had a dozen cars up on scaff platforms. Ravitz spent days fo-cusing and softening the edges of Lekos to perfection. He lit them to a beautiful sheen and illuminated them from the top and side. It was just awesome. The show producer and everyone thought it looked great, but not Jeff.
He insisted that the wheel wells needed to be illuminated from underneath. After all, people would be looking up at the cars as they walked by. They would see the dark undercar-riage. So we had 50 1k Mole Richardson nook lights placed under all the wheels to uplight them. There were three days until the show opened and we thought we were done. I kid you not; Jeff focused and refocused these damn nook lights for three full days. But clients love this attention to detail, and they love to hire Jeff.
I learned from stuff like that. Over the years I’ve learned why certain people are really good at this stuff. Last month I did my yearly fashion show. But this time they were using parts of it on a television show. Designing a regular show for a live audience is dramatically different than lighting it for the camera. The human eye is forgiving and doesn’t always catch bad lighting. I needed some professional help. Lo and behold, Jeff Ravitz called to let me know he is doing the TV lighting. This was great for me. We have worked enough over the years to have a mutual respect for what we do. Jeff lights major rock tours as well, but I think his greatest attribute is his knowledge of television lighting. He brings so much to the plate that I knew he would make my show look good.
Since the event was being televised, we couldn’t use my usual approach with multiple spotlights to illuminate the models. It was Jeff’s gig to figure out how to get an even wash for the cameras while keeping the sexy looks. We went through every scenic look on every camera angle. He pointed out black holes in the ceiling that needed a splash of blue to fill the camera shot. He found shiny objects on camera shots that needed to be dimmed. Stuff that I wouldn’t have seen with the naked eye, he pointed out in my camera monitor. I ad-justed levels accordingly.
Working with guys like Jeff is great because they have a positive mental attitude (PMA). I like working with Bob Peterson for the same reason. He knows exactly what he’s doing all the time. He’s another designer who lights rock stars but whose forte is TV lighting. He has an uncanny ability to walk into an empty stage and start putting lights up in strategic locations. He finds out what the camera angles will be for this particular day, sets up lights accordingly, and then leaves me alone for a few hours to do my thing. Then he critiques my looks while fixing every little dark spot in every camera shot.
Bob is more hands-on in every look than most designers. He will change a color scheme instantly if he sees a costume change that differs from the script. He balances all the light levels on a set in comparison to how much light is on any individual, depending on where they are standing at a particular time in the shoot. Then he coordinates which colors to use for some band’s live performance, depending on the video content being played in the background. Or he’ll just tell you to shit-can the video content and roll something fresh. That is a lot for one man to pay attention to, without blowing up.
While I’m focusing movers to create a nice look, Bob or the other LDs are tweaking focus and patching tons of conventional fixtures with the studio hands. For hours on end they focus. If you are nice to the permanent working guys in the studio, they will go the extra yard for you. They will find those cyc lights you thought you could really use, or re-hang a certain drape in record speed. Because you’re a nice guy with a good attitude, they like showing off their competence and ability. I equate a good attitude with mutual respect. I re-spect what these guys can do in a short amount of time; they respect that their TV show will look nice.
On the other hand, I’ve been in the same studios with the same guys when a different LD is brought in for a shoot. The local guys will start warning me that it will be a slow day, yada, yada… That’s because this particular LD likes to bark at people. He is a sourpuss who obviously would rather be golfing. And he is downright rude on the head set while barking out orders. Why does anyone have to harsh my mellow like this? He’s not even yelling at me; I’m just listening to him talk about everyone from the actors to the spot operators. His attitude is what miffs me, but I do a great job and it’s off to the after-show pizza wrap.
Now Mr. Sourpuss is giving me the old back slap while asking for my card. I decline and act like I don’t have any cards left. Life’s too short to work with bad attitudes. I imagine that if I worked with this guy all the time it would rub off on me like a cancer. I would have a short temper, come in late, bearing demands instead of donuts. People might start associat-ing me with this guy and that would be like a big black smirk across my resume. Nah, I think I’m better off working with guys like Jeff and Bob.
