Features

When you watch a performance of Video Games Live, the touring orchestral show of music from video games, now in its third season, you get a bit of a history lesson. “They start out with the real classics, like Donkey Kong and Tetris, some of which had only two or three colors in the entire game,” says Heath Marrinan, LD for Video Games Live. “As it goes through the night, the lighting begins to blend more with the video. We choose color schemes that reflect those of the games themselves, and the cues follow the dynamics of the music and the action on the screen. It can be sweepy and soft as you watch a guy cruising in an airplane on screen; then he jumps out and starts shooting a machine gun. I’ve never lit a symphony orchestra shredding on Halo 3 before.”

Lighting and stage designers have the tools at their disposal to create shows that a previous generation of LDs could only dream about. But the complexity of today’s sets and shows often requires repeat visits to the electronic drawing board, with an occasional reality check from someone eyeing the budget and logistics.

Dec. 1, 2007 was World Aids Day, a day set aside by the World Health Organization to raise awareness of the global AIDS epidemic, and Gearhouse South Africa was busy supplying design, full technical production and crew for the 46664 Concert staged in Johannesburg’s Ellis Park Stadium.

Shock rocker with a big heart and a lofty goal teams with former pastor to help kids at risk

Just as he’s done thousands of times before, Alice Cooper was onstage preparing to rock the house with his unique brand of heavy metal. But this time, instead of the usual opening acts, there’s a twist. Alice and his wife Sheryl are starting the evening’s event, a charity fundraiser, with an open-ing prayer. It’s a seemingly odd juxtaposition of the persona of the shock rocker, who gained notoriety in the late ‘60s by reportedly biting the head off of a live chicken, and the prayerful Christian about to launch into an evening of merriment for a good cause.

At first blush, it seemed like a really good idea — get all the busiest lighting designers of 2007 to contribute a quote or two about their recent work. What were we thinking?

Toasting the Best of the Live Event Industry

The Peabody Hotel in Orlando, Fla., was the site of the 2007 Parnelli Awards, but inside the ceremony ballroom it looked like Hawaii. Large portions of the crowd arrived decked out in their finest Hawaiian shirts, a sartorial tribute to the fashion sense of this year’s Lifetime Achievement winner, Gerry Stickells. The hundreds in attendance constituted a Who’s Who of players in the live event industry, and whether they were wearing flower prints or not, they all rose to their feet in honor of Lifetime Achievement award-winner Gerry Stickells and Audio Innovator award-winner Bob Heil.

Big, Bold, Beautiful

Was LDI 2007 the biggest one ever? It’s hard to say. Even after three days of cruising the show floor, I never saw the end. It’s hard to say if it had any more square footage or more exhibitors than previous years, but it felt like a big show.

Physical size of the show floor notwithstanding, there were many big things about LDI this year. With the ab-sence of Martin and High End Systems, several other companies stepped up with big displays. The American DJ group of companies, including Elation and Global Truss, were at the front of the hall, along with Rosco and ACT Lighting; Robe and Chauvet were at the back. In between were ETC, MDG, Tomcat and Barco, all with sizeable stands.

For fifteen years, Lighting Designer Fenton Williams has been working with the same band. In the early days, the audience was smaller than the entourage that currently travels with this group. Now, Williams enjoys a steady gig with a popular band; so popular in fact, that he almost has to fight his way to the console to start the shows.

The band, of course, is the Dave Matthews Band, and Williams lights them with the help of his partners at Filament Productions. Williams recently came off the road and graciously agreed to talk about what it takes to create a production involving so many visual elements. 

A wild and crazy show that gets bigger and bolder each year.

 A live televised award show is pressure enough, but when star power, budgets, ratings and expectations continue to build higher and higher, what do you do?

Staging Solutions uses moving video to turn corporate theatre on its head.

The blessing of corporate work is that it’s predictable, right? Contracts for the larger shows are drawn up a year in advance, design work is pored over and sent around to corporate committees for approvals months before the gig happens, and even if something comes up right before the show goes out, it’s a minor problem — just a run-of-the-mill production snag to keep things interesting. And then, sometimes you’re asked to do the spectacular in no time flat, like Dave Lawson of Staging Solutions, executive producer for the HP Technology Forum.

Many accomplishments highlight effectiveness of industry organization

In 1987, Homer Simpson made his debut appearance on The Tracy Ullman Show, the Bangles were walking like Egyptians and 25 theatrical sup-ply companies decided it was time they banded together to promote and protect their interests. Simpson ended up with his own show, the Bangles walked right into obscurity and the organization that began as the Theatrical Dealers Association that year in Las Vegas is now the Entertainment Services and Technology Association, better known as ESTA.

If change is in the air, then it must be the political season. The last time there was a looming presidential election was the last time there was so much attention focused on one issue. Back then, outsourcing was the hot button issue. This time around it’s the environment. And politicians eve-rywhere have decided that “banning the bulb” is the way to environmental salvation.