Production Nightmare

   So I was talking to a psychic the other day. She told me that dead people are bored a lot of time and are looking for a job they can do to help out people here on earth.

So below is my sketch (sorry I was having trouble importing my 3ds max version) of Dream Theater’s lighting rig for their summer tour. If you’ve seen it in person you’d know it looks bad ass.

For the past few days, I've been spending a lot of my time watching tech. rehearsals, doing small, odd jobs and helping in whatever way l can, but it's given me the opportunity ask lots of obnoxious questions and a lot about lighting design.

The more time I spend here, the more I seem to discover the enormous scope of a lighting technician's job. Yesterday, for example, I helped log the RSC's recent purchases on to a spread sheet and even though it might sound strange, I actually had a lot of fun discovering everything that the RSC had to buy for their recent shows, Richard II and Henry IV parts I and II.

For a long time I've been wondering why most Lighting designers stay away from the color green. They certainly like it on their currency, but they rarely use it on stage. 

And it's not fair. Green is my second favorite color and I use it all the time. It goes so well with blue or magenta. It turns into a great rock color when joined by amber. At Christmas time is the only time I will use it with red, but that's because you can get away with it then. But mix some hard edge lights in green with a congo or lav stage wash and you have instant sexy colors. Pale green is fantastic to use in any stop cues in a music based show. So why are people afraid of it?

As I write to you, oh ardent citizens of Technopolis, movers surround me, putting most of my worldly possessions in the back of a truck.

It reminds me, surprisingly not, of a load-out.

For the next week, these brown cardboard boxes will travel roughly eight hundred miles, en route from the Windy City to the Big Apple.  (Those of you in NYC, don't hesitate to drop me a line, as I will soon be your newest neighbor.)

So, since things are a little busy in the Gilbert household, I thought I'd shower you with a few random thoughts and a little link-love.

Today I’m going to start filling you all in on exactly what I’ve been writing lately in my notebook. There are three main topics: A couple cue ideas, and Casino Arizona lights. For starters I wrote a new trick I like to use when there is a dynamic arrangement in the song.

I have to start out by apologizing that it has taken me so long to start posting, but now that I'm comfortably over here in Stratford, I'm fully ready to tell you about (and I hope not bore you with) all of the details of my job at the RSC. At the moment I'm working at The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford, with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and I've been learning so much and having a great time. The people I work with are so patient and hugely accepting of me. I really appreciate their willingness to explain anything and everything I don't understand and I couldn't be happier to be working with such wonderful people. (And I promise that I'm not just saying that in case some here reads my blog; I really do mean that.)

This morning I helped kick off the week of in-house training at Creative Stage Lighting in North Creek, NY. They are brining in a series of manufacturers and manufacturers reps to help get their staff up to speed on the latest technology and industry trends.

Everyone, it seems, has LEDs on the brain – and rightly so. They already figure prominently in our industry and we haven't even scratch the proverbial surface. Don't believe me? Check out the current Genesis tour when it comes to North America in September. They have over 15,000 Barco O-Lite LED panels – yes, that's right, there are three zeros after the 15. There are nine million pixels in total.

What up everyone!? So I’m back and last time I ended with dance moves at the console. Almost every lighting director I’ve seen has some sort of movement while they’re running their show. Last time I said I do the hips left to right with a head-bob. I consider it a combination of Phish bassist Mike Gordon and my boy Colin the LD from Galactic. How do you like to dance at your console? I’m excited to get anyone’s input. If you don’t have any moves I suggest you get into the music more and invent your own. It goes a long way and people love the fact that you’re into it! I can honestly say the FOH engineer I work with gets down too. By the way it’s his birthday so…Happy Birthday Erik!

It's hard to believe, but sometimes I think I have better luck with lighting gear I get in Brazil, then what I get in some places in America.

So in the previous blog written I spoke about Les Claypool’s show here in Arizona. Les impresses me every time when I see his shows. Seeing the show brought to mind the following subject matter: House LDs vs. Touring LDs. I go to shows not only to enjoy the artist on stage, but the production itself. Isn't it hard for an LD to go to a show and not be critical?