New Photos on GreenLightDesigns.us

I've updated my website to include show photos from Jesus Christ Superstar at Moorhead High Theatre and Red at Theatre B.  Click on the images below for more!

Photos by Robby Njos

Photos by Perry Rust

Arena Rock (In a High School Auditorium)

When the design concept started to center around arena rock there were a few things ideas that immediately popped into mind.  I wanted tight beams of light, haze, and the intense white light that the HMI fixtures typical of rock tours put out.  The photo above (taken by Robby Njos for our billboard advertisement) shows all of this in one shot.

To accomplish this we use four sets of ACLs (short for Air Craft Landing lights), and 24 moving lights with the color set to 5200 Kelvin, four HMI followspots, and conventional sidelight gelled with color correction gel to mimic that color.

The ACLs use sealed beam lamps which produce a 5 degree beam angle.  They are in sets of four near the top of the photo.  The Robe Robbin 100 LED Beam is a close second when it comes to narrow beams.  Its 7 degree beam angle looks to be almost parallel in haze (see photo below, also from Robby Njos).

P.S. Get your tickets now at www.MoorheadTheatre.com

Robe ROBIN 100 LED Beam

For Moorhead High School's production of Jesus Christ Superstar the production team has come up with a concept of Grunge Rock meets Corporate Rock.  To this end, I wanted to create some of the dynamic moving light effects which are popular in modern arena rock shows.  To do this we are going to use, among other lights, 20 Robe ROBIN 100 LED Beam moving heads.  The promotional video below should be a good indication as to why they were chosen:

They are fast, bright, and have the narrow beam that looks great in haze.

A Chorus Line Video Rendering

A Chorus Line

Minnesota State University, Mankato's production of A Chorus Line

Periaktoi

Light Box Periaktoi for A Chorus Line

For Minnesota State University, Mankato's production of A Chorus Line, the scene designer and I collaborated to put some extra pop into the periaktoi by incorporating light boxes into them.  There a 5 periaktoi with 6 segments each, for a total of 30 segments, all of which are individually controlled.  The fixtures used are ETC Vivid-R 11" fixtures with V40 and H40 lenses.  The effects possible with this arrangement are nearly limitless, and range from a solid wall of light to dynamic effects which a reminiscent of disco, except that the effect can change multiple times during a song.  While the technology is new, the effect does not seem out of place in the 1975 musical.

Wiring the periaktoi provided a unique challenge, as the units needed more than 360 degrees of rotation ability.  To facilitate this, data is distributed via a optical splitter on the batten above to allow each unit to be fed data without needing a return.  Each periaktoi was also fed with its own dedicated 20 amp circuit.  The cables were dropped through a hole in the top of each unit and gravity kept the cables taught enough to not be a distraction while still allowing the unit to rotate freely.  At the end of each rehearsal and performance, the crew rotates the periaktoi to remove any twists in the cable.

Programming the effects was simple with the ETC Eos, even though the lights used 240 channels of DMX.  Step based effects, color effects, and linear effects are all used throughout the show, sometimes cross-fading directly between two different effects seamlessly.

'Spring Awakening' Promo

Spring Awakening on Vimeo.

End of Academic Year/Start of the Summer

Yesterday I defended my Major Project Paper on True West, and received a lot of positive feedback on the project.  After the project defense I finished up my last hour of assistantship labor by putting away a bunch of light trees and picking up tieline, and thus ends my second year of graduate school at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Waiting for me in my e-mail inbox when I came home was preliminary scenic design conceptual renderings for How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which I will be designing lights for this summer for Gooseberry Park Players.  The renderings have a lot of very fun aspects which I look forward to working with.  And thus begins my fourth summer working with Gooseberry Park Players.  Once I move back to Fargo/Moorhead on Wednesday, I will be meeting with the director, Jim Cermak and will start designing the show, and will hopefully have a design ready to hang at the beginning of June.

True West

Photography

This photo was featured featured today on "Minnesota Pictures: Minnesota Photos that define the northstar state," which showcases photos from around the state of Minnesota.  I've been really inspired by some of the sunsets over the Minnesota River Valley that I can see from my apartment, and sometimes its very difficult to not grab my camera.

This photo, taken earlier in the year was featured on Minnesota Public Radio's Statewide Blog and their Minnesota Scenes project.  As you can see, the sunsets I have the pleasure of witnessing have amazing variety.

Certificate of Merit for Wait Until Dark

During the opening night gathering, I was awarded a Certificate of Merit at the Region 5 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) for my lighting design for Wait Until Dark.  This certificate is awarded by the respondent to the show.

Streetlight

As I'm preparing for the Technology and Design Expo at Region V of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, I cropped a show photo to display next to my research photo of the mercury-vapor yard light to show how where I came up with the color.  Not only is it accurate to the period, but it adds to the 'eeriness' of the show as well:

Show Photo:
   

Research Image:

'RENT' among top 11 of 2011 according to Fargo Forum

"...the Broadway Lights summer program and its troupe of teens transformed the Stage at Island Park into the tenement setting for the contemporary bohemian musical, Rent. The result was a moving production with a message that still left you humming a few tunes."
– John Lamb

Read the rest of the article here

I am so blessed that I was able to work with the talented production team and actors on this production, among many others in the Fargo/Moorhead community.  Fargo/Moorhead is an amazing oasis of art in the upper mid-west, and every show I've had the privilege to work on; RENT, A Dzsungle Könyve, Chicago, Pinafore Pirates, and Cinderella: The World's Favorite Fairytale; all serve to prove that.

Photo Credit: Robby Njos, Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved

Fargo Forum artical about Jim Cermak

IN-FORUM: A final bow: After 40 years, Concordia drama teacher stepping down

I've worked with Jim as a designer on four shows at Concorida and Gooseberry Park Players now. From 122 to designing for Jim on a world premier production Jim has influenced my life in so many ways starting with convincing my parents that being a theatre major was 'acceptable' when I was still deciding which school to go to.  Concordia will sorely miss you Jim.

WYSIWYG vs Reality

Photo of Wait Until Dark taken during photo call:

WYSIWYG rendering made before the set was up or any lights hung.

Using WYSIWYG to render what a show will look like ahead of time really cuts down on time adding or re-focusing or changing gels in lights.  Of course virtual will never quite be able to predict everything that shows up in reality, but its pretty close.  For Wait Until Dark WYSIWYG allowed me to experiment before I ever got into the space with how shadows would work on stage, as well as show the scenic designer what his wallpaper design might look like with different lighting and contrasts.  It also allowed me to communicate ideas with the director that other photos and/or verbal descriptions just wouldn't have worked for.

This rendering was done in WYSIWYG R26 using the shaded view and not the actual rendering wizard, which seemed to not be different enough to warrant the extra time it takes to complete.  Some shows this won't work on though, such as sets with shiny surfaces, transparent surfaces, mirrors, etc..  With Cinderella: The World's Favorite Fairytale, which I designed this summer, there were mirrors on stage which necessitated using the render wizard (see example here).

RENT Photo featured on JimOnLight's Blog

A photo of RENT at The Stage at Island Park (formerly Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre) was featured on JimOnLight's most recent Sunday Flickr Post.

Light Plot for Wait Until Dark

Click here to view larger.

Newer Rendering for Wait Until Dark

Here's a teaser of what the lighting design for Wait Until Dark will look like.  I've seen it in rehearsal a few times now, and can tell you that this rendering is really close to what it actually looks like.  Once I'm out of tech I'll post this alongside a photo from the same angle.

Mercury-Vapor Lamp

For Wait Until Dark, I want to have the effect of mercury-vapor streetlights outside the window, and not the  phosphor coated versions which are more white.  These versions of the lamps are hard to come by today, but they were really prevalent in the 60s. 

Mercury-Vapor Lamp on the side of a machinery shed near Bathgate, ND.

My grandparents farm still has one of these lamps in working condition, and fortunately I took a photo of it a while back.  From the photo I was able to come up with a gel combination that would re-create that light.  Combining R364 and R93 produces a very similar color with slight exaggeration of the green.

Rough Rendering for Wait Until Dark

This is an initial rough rendering for Wait Until Dark.  The rendering is done in WYSIWYG and the furniture for the most part is from Google SketchUp's 3D Warehouse (you will notice the fridge from yesterday's post).  I still have work to do on it, but I like the quality of light so far.  I'm looking forward to seeing it realized.