Conventional Fixtures - Best arrangement of front lights including gels?

[MKeck]

On our setup, we have seven ellipsoidal units for the front lights. They are attached to the front of the balcony, three to the stage right side and four to the stage left side. I've been reading up on color combinations of warm and cool, and I'm wondering what would be a good pattern to fill these seven lights? Currently they have R114 in them, so no color at all.

[Les]

Unless you have enough fixtures to have them overlap each other, I'd stick with all neutrals (warm would probably be best), and all the same color. Otherwise, you will have different tints depending on where you are on stage.

R02 (light bastard amber) is popular, but possibly a little too orange without a cool to balance it out. You might explore no-color pink, etc.

[scotteckers]

It would probably depend on how large your stage is and what lenses are in your ellipsoidals. If the stage is relatively small (<30 feet) and you have the usual 6x9s, you may want to consider making three areas (left, center, and right -- each about 8 to 10 feet wide). Use three lights from the left side with a warm gel (i.e. R02) and three lights from the right side with a cool gel (i.e. R60 or L201). Overlap the areas a bit if possible. Perhaps use that R114 in addition to the color gels. Use the last light as a center special or for whatever else you need.

If you decide to use seven lights from the front, try a neutral color such as R33 (which is a very light pink), R54 (which is a very light lavender).

Another option may be to use five lights for front fills with a warmer or neutral color (see above) and two lights for side washes of a cooler shade (i.e. R65).

Just some thoughts... totally depends on your room, the instruments, and the mood you need to achieve.

Scott

[wiscolighting]

Keep it consistent all in one color, unless you have more fixtures to hang although you could depending on the degree of the lens and the size of the area being lit use a wider shuttering with half of your lights in one gel color and the other half doubling the first half's focus in another color. Again it all depends on the size of the area that you want to light, the degree of the lenses that you are using as well as the distance the light has to travel and much more. A good amber like R02 as all ready mentioned works well. Also you can work with a lavender for example Lee 194 or Lee 701. Unless you are looking for a certain effect these colors will soften the light giving it a much more pleasant appearance as a front light. This is a situation where scrollers or intelligent lights with RGB color mixing can come in handy. They can reduce plots that have been double, triple or even quadruple hung drastically. But hey we work with what we have, hope I was helpful.

[StNic54]

You should check out a copy of Richard Pilbrow's "Stage Lighting Design" - he's a solid read for these sorts of things. You have to consider your wash as the shows go, whether or not there is video involved, and what effects the director has in mind. Everyone is going to have their own opinion, but my advice is to make sure all of your lights have even beams hitting the stage (no crazy dark spots in the beam), that you can see faces on stage from any angle in the house, and that when actors happen to cast shadows on the other actors, that you can still see the other actors Some shows - less is more. Others, more is more. Find what works for your situations, and feel free to hit the books. Also, you can peruse lighting plots from broadway shows through different outlets - livedesign magazine, light and sound america, and just keep searching out show plots - it'll give you an idea what works for different size stages and different styles of shows.

My frost choices for FOH are R114 and R119, and I get into Lee frosts for closer range tv studio needs. Color is the real trick

[gafftaper]

Unless you have some other fixtures that you haven't mentioned, or your stage is really small, I agree with those who say that you don't have enough fixtures to do color mixing. Spread them out evenly and go with all Rosco 51 Surprise Pink/Apollo 3200 Submissive Lavender gel. It's a good neutral color that pretty much works well with everything. Depending on how that looks you might want to add some light frost as well to even things out.

[Cooperhodges]

If you're looking for colors, get a Roscoe swatchbook from your local dealer. I've found it extremely useful in determining gel colors for shows.

[Kelite]

Welcome to the ControlBooth MKeck!

As mentioned, the Pilbrow book will certainly bring to mind a variety of fill/color considerations. Also, there are several Apollo dealers near you if you'd like a gel swatch book. I'll happily send one from Apollo if you have trouble finding one locally-

Once again, welcome to the ControlBooth!

[hobbsies]

I'm a huge fan of no color pink.