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. A Variety of Specialties
That made me think of just how many different types of lighting there really are in this world…and how unqualified I am for most of it. Entertainment lighting is my forté. And when it comes down to it, I only dabble in a small portion of that. I can light a concert or a televised event, I can light a musical or a fashion show, but if somebody asked me to light an opera or a ballet, I'm not qualified. Cinematography? Out of my league.
I wish I had time to view some of these events so I could clue myself in on how to properly light one. But to be honest, I know few people in these sides of the biz, so chances are that I will never be involved in one of these productions. The best education I could hope for would be if someone from these fields hired me to program the lighting desk so I could earn while I learn and become more diversified.
John gets some spectacular gigs. He recently lit the unveiling of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, the spaceship that's offering rides to anyone with tons of expendable cash. That has got to be one of those once-in-a-lifetime gigs. How do you even begin to know how to properly light a project of this magnitude? I imagine being versed in all kinds of special events over your career certainly helps; combining everything he has witnessed with everything he has done in previous shows would be a good start. Of course you would still need a lot of hours of imaginative thinking.
Architectural Lighting
I wish I had time to get into architectural lighting. That is such a specialized profession, but where do you start? I dabbled in an architectural project a few years ago and was amazed at the process and how many hours of time it really takes to do it. I remember my friend Abbey Rosen Holmes telling me how much she enjoyed researching all the cool lighting fixtures you could use in a permanent installation. I also remember her telling me that the whole project she had worked on took over two years and countless meetings to complete.
I asked John for his advice in how his company approaches the lighting of, say, an entire hotel. He explained to me that it could take months to research all the latest architectural fixtures. His firm employs a guy named Avi Mor, who actually keeps tabs on all this stuff by reading all the latest trade mags and getting on the mailing list of all the manufacturers. Then when a project comes up, he and his Lightswitch partners consult with Avi to get an education on the latest stuff out there. Then he also has people who know how to draw the proper schedules and diagrams to make it work. The more I think about it, the more I think it's a whole field of lighting in itself, best left to those who specialize in it.
Three-ring Lighting
Lighting a circus must be quite a challenge. I have several friends who have gone from lighting concerts to lighting these huge events. My friend Alex Reardon designs for one of these giant productions. He was kind enough to show me some of his visions through renderings he has made, and it's amazing. He has ideas that incorporate moving video walls in between the audience and the performers. He has to preset the lighting for one of the rings while running the show that is being performed in another.
The amount of unforeseen obstacles in these performances is staggering. How do you keep from blinding the trapeze artists while illuminating them with modern technology? At the same time, one probably has to light a path for the stallions and elephants to get ready for their set without drawing attention to them. Then how do you know which colors or gobo patterns won't impede their performance? God forbid you frighten a huge cat while some guy places his head in their jaws.
Ice Rinks and Theatre
Ice shows seem to be another art all to themselves. Lighting a reflective surface is certainly a challenge. Sure, you can use a ton of followspots to keep the skaters illuminated, but there is a certain art to keeping these events lit with sexy lighting. The lighting has to saturate a giant surface with a lot of firepower from a high trim. Does anyone actually teach classes in how to properly light ice?
One might think that the lighting of a theatrical play would be easy – until you go see how the pros do it. There are so many tricks you could learn from every performance that it's no wonder people need years of professional schooling to fine-tune this art form. Every time I see a different play, whether it's a drama, comedy or musical, it's lit differently. Each person lighting these performances seems to have their own personal way of doing it. In reality, the lighting must dramatize the individual event. Sometimes it's necessary to wow the audiences, but at other times, a few key lights can make it more intimate and look just as dazzling.
Lights, Camera…
Lighting for film and video is an art form I wish I knew more about. The tone of an entire movie can be set by the way it's lit. When you think about it, these cats are trying to make something that is two dimensional look three dimensional. There are so many facets of key light, fill light and back light to play with, and you can achieve a myriad of effects. To top it all off, these guys have to simulate the lighting for all times of the day, including various weather conditions. I couldn't begin to simulate what the lighting would have to be to show a scene being shot in a drizzling mist at twilight and make it look precise on celluloid.
Who designs streetlights? Better yet, who decides where they should put up light poles and what roads should remain dark? Do we elect a county commissioner of lighting, or is it designed by committee? I've noticed that different states use different fixtures. I know an electrician who's on a three-year-long job. He's rewiring all the highway lighting in Chicago with LED fixtures. Some are on timers, others are turned on by photometric cells that can tell when the sun is setting. That's cool, but I hear the state of California has already decided to start using plasma lamps instead of LEDs on their poles. Does this mean that my friends' next gig will be to replace the LED fixtures once he's done installing them?
I'm thinking I need to diversify. Obama has been coming up with so many different czars in his new regime; perhaps he can create a gig for me as the country's lighting designer.
