It is 4am and I just got home from the theatre. We had a long work call today to hang the rest of the light plot, but we still were a bit behind schedule due to a variety of factors. Changes were made in the plot because one of my booms partially blocked an egress. Scenic fell behind schedule a little which will affect my focus call at 9am tomorrow…errr today. We probably will not get any dark time until noon. So I decided to stayed in the theatre all night/early morning because I wanted to get as much done as possible before focus. I spent some quality time with my plot. Sound was in the space late tonight as well, so at least I had some company. In the end though, nothing is more rewarding than hanging a good portion of your own plot, plus when you do, things often get done correctly the first time, and if not you know who to blame. More updates soon. There is a sitzprobe tomorrow, which lighting has been asked not to participate in, so I get a few hours of relaxation, or homework time.
The Opera is loading in this week in the MOD (CalArt’s flexible black box theatre), and things have been incredibly busy for the entire production team. Scenic is about 50% load in and things are looking good on there part. There is a lot of rigging involved in this show for these giant red kites that can fly and collapse in the air. Sound loads in their gear tomorrow. Paints starts their treatment and touch ups on Friday. And Lighting is a little more than 50% hung, but not focused yet. I have an 8 hour call on Thursday to bust the rest of the plot out.
Overall, our production team is working well together and we are all helping each other. I have found it very important to be in the space as much as possible. I get a lot of lighting work done, but I find it surprising how useful it can be in other regards. Right as I was leaving for the day, I saw one of the red kites which we are using as a projection surface for our super titles being loaded in. There was a little miscommunication about where a wood panel, to prevent light from washing out the projection, was supposed to be placed. One panel was in the correct location, the other was unnecessary. My first reaction was that it was going to change the way my lighting would illuminate the kites. After thinking about it more, I realized the panel would be in the sightline of the audience if we did not remove it before we rigged it to fly.
In lighting land things have been on a roller coaster ride this week. I found out these very specific architectural footlights that I ordered are delayed because 8 of the 9 units are in stock and the company is waiting for the remaining one to arrive before they ship. I was basically forced to expedite my shipping so they would arrive in time for tech and the show.
I also have run into an electrical problem with getting power to the 2.5kw HMI unit I am renting. At first glance it looked like we could power the unit fine, but after a closer look, we decided we would need to tie into one of our circuit breakers to power the unit. It was a busy day of phone calls and meetings with the school electrician and PRG. I had to add a good 100’ of feeder cable to my order to get from the breaker box to the HMI ballast. I do want to give a big thanks to PRG for being so helpful today. I am still hoping everything will work out alright when we install the unit, as I am still a little nervous.
I’ll have some pictures of the space/set up soon, but I left my camera in the theatre.
And on a final note, I can’t wait to fly back East and attend BLMC. I got a phone call this morning confirming my registration which got me psyched. And as yet another reminder, make sure to register for any of the Master Classes before May 1 to get the $100 discount. See everyone there!
It is really nice to be in an academic setting at times, and have a light lab at your disposal. I have been finding myself locked away more and more this week in our lab, not for our weekly light lab homework assignments, but doing tests to make sure all of the individual ideas I have for the Opera will actually work. One of the big moments that I wanted to really hit on the mark was this rainbow that appears at the end of Act 1. We have a 20′x8′ vinyl wall that will turn into this abstract graffiti covered rainbow. I had picked some preliminary colors for the rainbow from multiple swatch books, but nothing beats seeing it for yourself. I spent a few hours in there swapping colors, changing my mind, going back to my original choices. In the end I am pretty satisfied with my take on how the colors will blend with each other. I am still a little unease about the green. The current choice in the photo below is R95, by my original choice was R93, slightly more blue, but I think it will fit better. Finding the right green has been the biggest challenge in this test. There is also a lot of water effects in the show. I met with the director and set designer to show them the type of effect we’ll get by shooting an instrument into a plastic container with water. We discussed a bunch of ways to keep the water rippling: fans, battery powered bath toys, pumps etc… Ultimately though we went with the most economic solution, that I am interested in exploring. I was very fascinated with how a single drop into a still container of water would make it shimmer. Our idea is to suspend a bag of ice above the containers with a few small pinholes in the bottom. As the ice melts over the course of the show it’ll keep the water moving and shimmering. The backup plan is small fans. So that is what I’ve been doing with most of my free time, along with running around picking up a lot of small accessories I need. Light rig for the show is tomorrow, but it is being double hung with a music festival concert that opens this weekend.
Also if anyone knows where I could order about 7 or 8 of these, I would greatly appreciate it:
Just a quick update about how Platee is going. Tuesday is when we have our weekly scheduled production meeting. We meet for about an hour to update other departments on our progress and to set up meetings for the next week. Today was fairly productive. We covered a lot of ground and are really preparing for the final push, as the show opens in less than a month. I also got the approval stamp on my final plot for the show from Don in class on Monday. What normally happens for each production is that we have a preliminary plot due a week before our final plot is due. This time is used to discuss concepts and concerns with the ALD and ME on the show, and get some input from Don. The next week is then spent furiously making minor alterations to the plot to be presented the next week. I think my plot is in pretty good shape. I have a lot of very specific ideas that are very solid and idea based for each Act. The only minor concern I have is insuring there is enough systems to light the show as a whole. The giant red box kites that are hanging in the air have put limitations on many of the standard hang positions. I am confident that this problem will be resolved as we start to see rehearsals on stage, and I can add in the last remaining lights I will probably need.
Now for a little treat. If you click the image below it should download a quicktime video that lets you interact with the set. You will be placed in the audience and have the ability to take in a 360 degree panorama of the set and zoom in and out.
Use your mouse to navigate left and right and shift and control will allow you to zoom.
Platee Virtual Panorama
While our forum is still in its infancy, I can’t help but comment on a recent post by jenniferdroberts (check it: http://forum.livedesignonline.com/forum/2008/03/25/ldi-through-the-years/). Don’t ask me why I’m commenting here and not there…you guys should go there and comment. It’s your forum; that’s the point.
Anyway, Ms. Roberts (if that’s her real name and doesn’t really matter if it is) raises an interesting point about the value of face-to-face interaction. Aren’t we all guilty of the occasional mental holiday, relaxing a little too much and forgetting that our professional lives should still be an ongoing educational process? How about that, no matter how many IMs our PC and Mac screens produce, there’s value in live interaction and not all can be achieved via email (that said, while I tell you all to read our forum. Coincidence? I think not).
My point? Stop reading this blog and go out and visit a museum, walk in the park, check out the clouds, see a show, talk to your fellow designers, programmers, and technicians in person. Then, come back, register for our forum and talk amongst yourselves. Gotta love the irony.
