hiphop lighting

[Pie4Weebl]

In about two weeks I will be ld'ing a hip hop recital. I am a bit nervious about this as it is the largest thing I have done, and my usual td won't be there. There is also the probleme that I have never really ever seen any lighting for hiphop dance. So does anyone have any suggestions? The only advice my td told me was to use chases and keep it kind of dark.

My current rig is 3 main electrics 3 color wash, sources 4's center and on and the third markes on each electric. The sides of the electrics have 3 fixtures on each and the first has an additional 3 on each side. There is a 4th electric with only cyc lights on it. Also there is a 1.5 electric with a mirror ball on it and two source 4s.

My current plan right now is to have a red, blue and amber wash in the electrics with a magenta and green systems in the side lights. With remaning side s4's I will have gobos split between the stage and the cyc. The middle source 4's in the first and second electrics will be left as pools and on the 3rs used for cyc gobos.

Does this sound like a fairly flexible plot or is there anything I should change around. I am kind of considering putting something other than amber in the 3rd wash and am open to suggestions.

Thanks!

[drawstuf99]

I have never lit hiphop dance before, but I have a few ideas that may help or may not.

Do you have any shins or side booms in the space? You do have side lighting in your overhead electrics, but I always say it's a good idea to have something on the floor to get a nice even side light on them from either side. As hiphop seems a bit more "harsh" and not as flowy as ballet does, I think one can be a bit more harsh with the sides, depending on the situation. It, of course, depends on your group and their songs.

Also, please do not misjudge this as a racist remark, lol, but oftentimes african americans are in hiphop dance. Depending on if this is the case or not for you, I would watch what sorts of pinks/reds you use on them. Pink looks terrible on african american people and makes them look dead. Amber is a good color for them. I think it might be the darker skin tone that makes the pinks and red seem more vibrant than it does on white people because it doesn't blend as much to make a peachy skin tone. In their case, it just looks red; however, amber is much more pleasing. This is a matter of opinion, but I know several designers who would agree with me and their pro so - take it for what its worth.

Also, as lame as it sounds, watch some of MTV (ew...) and see what their music videos look like as far as color/lack of color and stuff - just for inspiration. Any place you can pull concepts or ideas from is good, I'd say.

I hope these are of some value to you.

[Pie4Weebl]

Well the s4s on the electrics aren't true side lights, but they are in a position where they act more as side then toplight. I would use booms but I don't have the cable to make those runs, and I belive safty was the reason we stoped using those to begin with.

Also this is a suburban group so a big majority of the dancers are white (making me a bit hesatent on using green).

I probably will watch mtv or bet some to get an idea on it.

[drawstuf99]

If safety is the reason with the booms, why not some shin busters (as they have nowhere to actually fall...), though you said you didn't have a lot of cable. You do need some side lights, in my opinion. It will look quite stark with a bunch of top light and hardly any from the sides. Just my two cents.

I'd like to see some pics once this is done! Sounds neat.

[Chaos is Born]

silohetting with just cyc light will also give a good effect, this gets a little dampend if you don't have a scrim in front of the cyc lights though.

I wouldn't use any front light, if you have floor pockets on the stage it is a great place to just put a boom and put some side light on them.

Also if you want to make some cool effects with shadows on the cyc, place a Fresnel or whatever type light you want at the down stage corners of your apron and shoot them at diagonals at the cyc. Great foot light and can also be used as semi side light.

[jonhirsh]

Green plus affrican american skin tones = horrible dont do it.
i always find green unless it is made to be the warm colour in the wash and its possible, to be really horrible.
JH

[lightbyfire]

If you can do side light do it, you will really not regret it. If your stuck with high sides, thatll be fine, but i would say stick mostly to sides and direct down light (you might even try only down light as a look) front light is only necessary if there are intricate moves involving facial expression.

Also i happen to think that green is an ok color to use if it is on a chase that is not held on for very long. it makes a nice touch if it is back or side light (front would be a bad idea) green also mixes with amber in an interesting way if you use amber fronts and green backs. I would say dont rule it out but be careful how you use it. green doesnt really look good on anybody.

Good luck, and make sure to post pictures.

[Pie4Weebl]

drawstuff: The saftey issue is more dancers smacking into them than anything, this studio like to have wide sapces in the legs, and yeah the cable is the prohibitive issue in the end. I will try to snap some pics during the 4 days of it.

chaos: I plan to bust out a silohette or two per show, and upstage by the cyc I have 3 med pars on floor stands on each side that will form x's across the screen. (right now in magenta, green and yellow, I may change out the yellow though) Also the front light will be minimal. I still need some as its a recital and parents/friends wanna see their kid. I think the video company might have a fit with me too if I didn't use any.

jon: the green is my big risk in the plot, I am using a brighter version and its a high side light, so we won't have zombies on stage. Also there are almost no non-whites in this company

lightbyfire: side light is probably not going to happen in a traditional sense, and I will be fairly dependent on top light, as that is what the rep plot consists of. And that plot is what the theatre always uses so I don't think it would be looked kindly upon for me to break the converntion of it all while the main td is gone.

Though after reading these posts I am considering canabalizing some foh pars in the plot for the cabling and adding in some booms. I will mill it over some.

[drawstuf99]

Well, I understand the concern of slamming into the booms.

You could put your head-highs a bit higher and then focus them down slightly so they're out of reach of the dancers. I mean, then you'll have just the boom there and from how you say it, they're already located there anyway so the dancers must be used to it.

Side lights will save you in dance. If the TD comes back and is amazed with your work, that can't be a bad thing really, can it?

[Chaos is Born]

Originally Posted by drawstuf99

You could put your head-highs a bit higher and then focus them down slightly so they're out of reach of the dancers.

In my experiance Head Highs are usually placed 7 feet off the ground to begin with so that you can catch all the jumps and lifts. That should be plenty high to keep them out of reach of the Dancers smacking into them.