Wicked

[raeraeiam]

So Concert Choir decided to do Wicked for their Pops Concert this year.
Sounds great and all, but I've got to figure out to get all those cool effects with the lights. Just a few questions, to start out.
I've lit the cyc before, but usually just one solid color, and generally I was never able to produce a very even wash. Any suggestions? We use Altman Sky Cycs (4 cells), four each across the front of the cyc, about 8 ft away, usually each color has one cell, and if its possible i'll put a few cyc lights on the floor to even out the wash.
I'd really like to get a solid wash for this, and also i'd like to try something like this:

another thing is, we're planning on constructing a huge clock like the one in the background here:

we're going to put it behind the cyc, and im wondering whats the best way to light it from behind? should i use a cyc light? i assume it should be near the center of the clock so it doesnt get too distorted?
if anyone has any help for me, i would greatly appreciate it!! also, if you have any cool ideas i'd love to hear them!!
Thanks!!!

[Eboy87]

I don't want to sound like "that guy," but I was talking with the crew for Wicked in Chicago, and most of those effects were done with projections. Sorry, I'm more of a sound guy and havn't done any lighting for quite a few years, so I wouldn't know how to go around creating those. I see you're in Illinois, take a day trip to Chicago. Wicked is at the Oriental theater, and there's a drawing to get front-row tickets for $25. Go see the show, see firsthand how they do it, and talk with the crew, I'm sure you'll get more ideas from them than I can give you.

[Footer]

Push your fixtures out further downstage to get an even wash, if you can that is. How much space do you have US of your cyc, because the farther back the better if you want to back light it. When you hang that piece, make sure it rides right up against your cyc otherwise the image that it produces will look very odd (forced prospectiveish). The best thing to do would be to light it with a single source that fills the cyc evenly. You might want to look into doing some sort of projection to get the same effect.

[raeraeiam]

of course im going to see it! i've been searching youtube for clips and im going to see it with the choir feb 25 and with the drama club sometime in march. im not so sure a projection would work because some genius decided to put our projecter in an odd place so it doesnt really cover the whole cyc. oh well.. do you think the background with the two colors is a projection?? (im also not necessarily looking to do what Wicked did, but try to imitate the look as best as i can)

[Footer]

Split cycs are usually done with a ground row and an electric of cyc type fixtures.

[Foxinabox10]

How tall is your cyc? I was able to light a 20' tall cyc evenly only from above from about 5 or 6 feet away using the same Altman Sky Cycs. I used 4-5 across the 40' width.

[Van]

The cyc effect isn't really that hard the split would be accomplished with some alternative addressing. As opposed to 1234,1234,1234,1234 for 4 strips it would be 1234,1234,5678,5678, to get control of both sides of the stage < I hope I'm not stating the obvious here. If I am please forgive me. > Got a nifty trick for evening out the color and getting a lot more depth from a cyc from Gordon Pearlman on our current show. He dropped a scrim in front of the cyc. it adds a ton of depth to the "picture" presented by the cyc. the strips are in between the scrim and the cyc. I have a ton of Ideas for you for the clock effects but is does depend on the answers to some of the previously posted questions.
A. how big is your Cyc.
B. How big do you want your clock.
C. How much room do you have behind your cyc.
D. How much are you willing to spend.
E. How many projectors do you own

Hmm answer those and I might have a couple of ideas to throw your way.

[KaR356i]

I'm pretty sure, though not positive, that that pic of the two color cyc is achieved by only using the groundrow. There's nothing comming from the top in that particular shot, that's why you see the dark 'V' shape in the middle, and the brightest color is at the bottom... it fades to darkness the higher it gets. Now, they probably have some kind of cyc light on an electric as well, to get an entire wash of the cyc when they want it, but maybe not if they're using a lot of projections.

To get the two color cyc, just split up your channels. SL blue, SR blue, etc. If you don't have enough dimmers on your electric or wherever you are plugging in the groundrow, just pay attention to how you two-fer and try to get it divided into SL and SR if you can.

It takes more channels to do it that way, and it may be a pain to run up two channels instead of one channel to get one solid color. But if you split it up into SL and SR, you're gonna get to play with it A LOT more! You'll get a lot more color combinations that way, especially if you can do a ground row in addition to your regular cyclights on the electric.

also, it's kinda fun to put gobos in some sort of elipsoidal (ETC s4, whatever you have). You can hang those on the electric like highsides, or put them on the ground near the corners of the cyc and shoot them up at an angle on the cyc. The distortion of the gobos can look pretty interesting depending on the mood you're looking for.

Have fun!

[v75vette]

Van,

I'd like to hear a little more about the Scrim in front of the cyc to add depth to the image. Such as distances from the scrim to the cyc, what color scrim and any pictures if you have them.

Thanks

Sorry for the hijac.

[raeraeiam]

Originally Posted by Van

A. how big is your Cyc.
B. How big do you want your clock.
C. How much room do you have behind your cyc.
D. How much are you willing to spend.
E. How many projectors do you own
Hmm answer those and I might have a couple of ideas to throw your way.

err.. I'll try, but a lot of that is decided by the musical director, and seeing as this is pretty early he might not even know. I don't know how big the cyc is and I have no idea how big the clock would be, we're having the technical director for the drama club build it (apparently he said it would be easy, even though it seems like it would be difficult..?), so money would really be more of his concern. We only have one projector, and it's not placed in the best spot, I cannot imagine getting it large enough without it shining on the people on stage. As far as the room behind the cyc, I can answer that! Currently there's about 5-6 ft, but it can always be moved and may need to be, in either direction (preferably downstage, though). Sorry I don't have many answers, but as I said, I'm not sure my director would even know.
Rae