Production Nightmare

I get a break from designing this week. Instead I have been hired by LD Alex Reardon to help out on the programming of the American Idol Tour.

Hey everyone! Well I just got to see a kick ass Les Claypool show and I'll try to write a little bit about it for next week in the mean time here's some more gear from the warehouse at Clearwing and I'll wrap it up with some live pics of the Look Solutions fogger I am reviewing. Keep an eye out for the review I believe it will be in the magazine soon! After doing this writing thing for awhile I've decided I want to teach in college once I settle down towards the end of this crazy ride. Enough babbling here's the gear…

Break outs- Used to bridge soco power connection with either stage pin, Edison, or L6-20 power. Both male and female connectors are used.

Often a band will go on a worldwide "promotional" tour. This happens when they have released a new album and they wish to get some publicity generated before they embark on an actual headlining tour.

So for the last month I have been lighting a young girl named Rihanna. She has appeared on countless TV shows from Good Morning America to the Late Show with Letterman. In between TV gigs, we are doing some corporate shows as the guest entertainment, DVD shoots for Sprint phones, Radio shows in scattered cities etc.

I like the heading of this particular blog. I say this because for me demoing products is like Christmas for me! I’ll know what I’m getting one time and then I won’t the next. Well let’s start with what I know I have gotten and that is five- Color Block DB4’s from A.C. Lighting and the Viper NT fogger from Look Solutions. I had the privilege to establish these two contacts at the USITT in Phoenix this year. Everyone was really cool and helpful talking to me about their products. They also were kind enough to extend their hand out further to let me demo them! So here we go…

Sometimes I really wonder what certain artists are saying when they sing.

Rigging

Steel Spansets are wired cable used to secure indoor rigs when flying truss and lighting. There are Nylon spansets used also but are meant for outdoor use to safely hold flown truss in place. Other appliances are shackles that connect to the spansets to hold them in place, motor cables to power your truss motors to help lift your truss from the ground, locking carabineers are used for lock points in a safety kit, life lines are used to tie onto the truss with a sling so the truss doesn’t fall and potentially injure of kill someone, 'O' and 'D' ring are extenders to put rope through the rigging points of truss and motor to connect. For your truss points I learned that you need to chalk out the particular points to mark as drop points so the guy suspended above knows where to drop safety cables to the stage.

Clearwing – Where it all begins…

"Back To School" Super Prepping for concerts and corporate is very organized at Clearwing Productions. Everything is labeled properly for who, what, when, where, why, how much aspects of the packing and shipment for the clients. A very dedicated and knowledgeable staff has helped me learn so much in the past few weeks. So here’s what I came up with from all the note and picture taking I’ve done.

I just spent a couple days lighting some scenes for an upcoming action movie. I forgot how boring it is to work on these things. Everyone works at a frantic running pace for 15 minutes to set up a scene, then sit on your ass for 2 – 3 hours while they film it.

      I am the self proclaimed king of Daylight Lighting. Every year I get a call for my expertise in lighting outdoor concerts while the sun is still up. I realize you are either laughing or shaking your head in wonder, but I am serious.