Comments on: Focus Stage Lighting – Turn Your Back On It!

By: Mari

Mari — Tue, 17 May 2011 09:53:36 +0000

Hi Rob,
I have produced a number of amateur shows with VERY limited lighting. I’d like to enhance by using special effects lighting like ‘rock lighting’ if I’ve understood it correctly.
Does the back curtain and ceiling need to be black?
The hall seats 450 people cinema style and has a white high nine panel circular ceiling. The stage is open, about 25m across and only 8m deep. The backcurtain is maroon with a wooden panel across the top and 2 masks and name attached to it.
The present lighting: 8 coloured Parcans from the front and 4 white Parcans above middle stage reflects and lights up the whole area with no chance of variation. What do I do? Please help!

By: Rob Sayer

Rob Sayer — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:18:54 +0000

@Ian – Yes, that’s the simple answer – ovelap the pools in the on/off (theatre speak for a line that runs across the stage) plane as well as the up/down (more theatre speak for front to back) joins. In theory, the falloff at the edges of the pools should join nicely with minimal shift in intensity at the point where the two sources fall on the subject.

In practice, it can be a bit more hit and miss but the main thing to avoid is gaping holes (AKA as blackspots) in the coverage.

By: doctorstar

doctorstar — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 21:28:37 +0000

Hi Rob,

Thanks for all the pieces, great to read! On the subject of focussing, you state that pools of light should “join seemlessly” and the reason is pretty obvious. However, and this is the novice in me, with each pool being roughly circular how do you achieve an even coverage when circles don’t tesselate? Is it simply a case of making the pool from light two overlap the pool from light one and so on across the stage?

Many thanks and apologies for such a mundane question,

Ian

By: Rob Sayer

Rob Sayer — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 18:54:00 +0000

@Saravanan – Well, light travel long distances but I don’t find PARS are that useful ~ >15 metres from fixture to stage.

By: Saravanan

Saravanan — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 12:14:01 +0000

Hi Rob. What must be the maximum distance of the FOH scaffolding from the stage. I use philips and osram bulbs. And also i prefer only CP 61 Pars for FOH and generally for all the sides. Cos’ flood bulbs does’nt throw light much when hanged from higher rigs. What do you say?

By: Bam Dixon

Bam Dixon — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 02:01:32 +0000

Great stuff for a musician / audio guy to get a grip on the increasingly compl,ex systems used in clucbs & on arena lighting…Great Stuff, BD PEACE