If you could sum it up in three thoughts, LDI 2009 might be remembered for smaller booths, crowded aisles and lots of interesting new products. The recovering economy zapped the show with a shrink ray this year, and many of the normally-gargantuan spaces were reduced to countertops and backdrops.
E/T/C UK's Ross Ashton designed a projection project for Durham Cathedral as part of the four-day Lumière, A Festival of Light event, curated and coordinated by Artichoke Productions.
Rock fans savored two nights at New York's Madison Square Garden in late October when Crosby, Stills & Nash, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Metallica, Sting, Jeff Beck, U2, Mick Jagger and other top artists helped mark the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th year.
In part one (PLSN, Oct. 2009), we took a trip down memory lane, with a refresher course on digital cinema and the evolution of 3D projection. From its beginnings in the 1890s through its “golden age” in the 1950s, 3D stereoscopic projection expanded and matured.
Automated lighting fixtures are very complex little robots that dutifully follow the commands given to them by savvy automated lighting programmers. Some people refer them as "intelligent lights," however the fixtures contain little intelligence and usually rely on the programmer to send them instructions. Without us they would just sit there and do nothing!
I was fortunate enough to look in on the tech rehearsals for a major Broadway show recently. I was blown away by the technology on parade, not so much on stage as in the house. In what looked like a scene from a science fiction movie, almost every seat in the orchestra section was covered with sheets of plywood, each of which served as a table top for a couple of computer work stations.
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.
In the 1950s, George Izenour designed an electronically-controlled line shaft system for the theatre at Hofstra University. It was a very flexible system in which the sheaves and blocks could be moved around using a matrix of bolt holes on a series of beams in the fly loft.
Chauvet’s Iluminarc subsidiary may be less than a year old, but it’s scored a landmark coup of sorts: more than 400 Ilumipod 48 IP RGBW wash lights are being used for an LED light show on the Eiffel Tower as part of the structure’s 120-year anniversary celebration.
PRG supplied both the lighting package and the screen automation for the recently presented 61st Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre. Production designer Steve Bass and lighting designer Bob Dickinson worked on a smoke-free design that reflected key elements of the television industry.
When Los Angeles’ mega-club Playhouse held its soft opening, the crowd converged on Hollywood Blvd. was large enough to warrant intervention from the LA Police Department — one measure of the buzz surrounding the new $6 million venue.
For MTV’s Video Music Awards (VMAs), staged live at Radio City Music Hall, LD Tom Kenny deployed a package of Coemar Infinity Wash XLs, Infinity ACLs and ParLite LEDs provided by Scharff Weisberg Lighting.