A lighting tech and an audio tech were standing in a venue, looking up in the air and pointing to a section of truss that was flown with two chain hoists. A rigger walks up and says, “What’s going on?” The lighting tech said, “We’re wondering how high that wire rope ladder is that’s attached to that truss.”
Michael Jackson’s untimely death in June shocked the world. It also shocked accountants at more than a few companies. Jackson died less than three weeks before he was to kick off a series of 50 concerts at London’s 20,000-seat O2 stadium on July 13.
Sometimes automated lighting programmers are asked to do more than just program lights. Many productions involve video elements, special effects, audio triggers or other unique components that are triggered from a lighting console. Recently I have been involved with several productions that utilized methods of combining presentation software (PowerPoint or Keynote) and lighting to save money, reduce staffing, or simply to be creative.
Sometimes I think I’m too old to learn new tricks. But that’s just an excuse for being set in my old ways. What I really need to do is practice what I preach now, and start making lists. I’m thinking that if everybody made little lists we would probably save on a lot of things besides aggravation. Things like gasoline, overtime and shipping bills.
Did you see Fortune’s list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For in 2009?” Don’t kill yourself looking for your company on the list because it’s not there. Not a single company from the live event production industry made the list. Who are they kidding?
Simon Sidi is a well-respected lighting designer, but he’s made a mess of his latest tour — on purpose. After handling the design of the American Idols Live tour for a long time, he went away to pursue other projects. But now he’s back as the production designer and he brought with him some fresh ideas.
Steven Cohen Productions, in conjunction with Epic Production Technologies and Syncrolite are supporting the reunion of piano men Elton John and Billy Joel for their Face2Face tour with a lighting rig that includes gear from Martin Professional.
A 7.8-meter-high mechanical elephant, which was used to transport band members to their places on the stage during the opening of Take That’s Circus Live Tour, was only part of the high-wire technological feat performed for Take That’s 20 Circus-themed stadium shows, which were attended by over 1 million fans in the U.K.
A.C. Special Projects Ltd. recently implemented Patrick Woodroffe’s architectural lighting design for Somerset House. Somerset House’s director, Gwyn Miles, commissioned the project.
If you aren’t aware of the seismic shift towards LED sources in the entertainment lighting industry, welcome back to Planet Earth. Even if you have been hanging out in the International Space Station since the first crew occupied it in 2000, you’ve probably heard or read about the advantages of LEDs — low power consumption, high efficacy in lumens per watt, low heat, long life and more.
Even though they were introduced to the market in the 1980s, you can blame the World Series of Poker and ESPN’s Trick Shot Magic for their exponential rise in popularity. The subject at hand is the versatile lipstick camera, also known in the surveillance and security biz as micro cameras and spy cameras.
When I was a very young child, my mother used to ball up a piece of red thread, moisten it and stick on my forehead to cure my hiccups. Oddly enough, it worked every time. But it had to be red thread; blue, black, yellow, or green just wouldn’t do. Why? Because that’s the way it has always been done.