Odd Gel Names...

elite1trek

Active Member
Alright, I heard somewhere that there is a gel from some manufacturer that is named "Lesbian Pink." I searched all my swatchbooks (naturally, I checked Apollo first, because of their creative names) but found nothing.

I don't know how up to date all my books are, but I checked the swatches for the following lines:

Roscolux
Roscolene (very old book)
Supergel (rosco)
Gam
Lee (designer series, I don't know if there is any other)
Apollo

I played with Lee's Swatchball, which is actually a really cool tool, but helped me none.

It was suggested to me that "Lesbian Pink" might actually be a purple of some sort.

Has anybody ever heard of this color? If so, can I get a number and manufacturer for it?

By the way...searching for "Lesbian Pink" on Google brings up relatively inappropriate results, so don't do it at school/work.
 
Probably another slang term LD's have. I doubt any company uses that as a "real" name.
 
Probably another slang term LD's have. I doubt any company uses that as a "real" name.

That was my first thought, but the person that was telling me this wasnt really much for slang terms, and the context wouldn't really fit.

I guess I am willing to accept that if there are no other explanations.
 
When I was a freshman in high school, I first learned about bastard amber, our tech director understood the humor and laughed (might I add where the student director called us immature). He then proceeded to call others **** red and bitchin blue.
 
This may not be the same filter, but I just started working in my theatre, and some of the existing students have a filter they like to use that they refer to as "stripper Pink"

It is Lee 193 (comparable to Rosco 32). Its a very heavily saturated Pink gel, actually quite nice for some of the events we have done.

This may not be "lesbian pink" but if nothing else, it adds another color to your library that is actually very fun and useful.

Bret
 
When I was a freshman in high school, I first learned about bastard amber, our tech director understood the humor and laughed (might I add where the student director called us immature). He then proceeded to call others **** red and bitchin blue.


In my searches...I found an Apollo color called "Fatherless Amber." (AP7050) I figured this was a bit of a wink at the Rosco color "Bastard Amber." (R02)
 
I think someone is pulling your leg. There is a slang term for Rosco#34 that comes close <in a way> to what you are reffering but it ain't "Lesbian Pink". It would be closer to "Kitty Cat Pink"
 
elite1trek, no color has ever been officially named by the manufacturer as Lesbian Pink, including obsolete lines such as Roscogel, Brigham Color, GPC, Cinemoid, Gelatran, and Dura.

For extra credit, who wants to give the derivation of Bastard Amber and Surprise Pink?
 
A buddy of mine uses the terms Pretend Pink and Why Bother Blue for the no-color colors, and I've heard the similar use of .. um .. sed s/K/T/"Kitty Pink", but in my mind it was for something more saturated like R344.
 
For a good time just read the Apollo gel catalog. They have a great sense of humor over there.

Alexander the Grape
Bluetylicious
Cherry Lewis
Cowboys & Indigo
Hotwings
King Kongo Blue
...and much much more!
 
I know around here Rosco 39 is referred to as titty bar pink.
An insult to the memory of Mr. Thomas Skelton, possibly the greatest designer of dance lighting of the last century.

gafftaper, how could you forget AP7100?:evil: As well as Spanked Pink, Scandalous Scarlet, Pink Pong, Blurple, and Kablueie.:)

While Apollo's names are certainly humorous, one wonders if "traditional" names such as Flesh Pink, Special Lavender, and Daylight Blue might make ApolloGel be taken more seriously among lighting designers. Perhaps it's an age thing--those raised on Lux and Lee (and later GAM) aren't likely to switch, except for that rare color not available in one of the other three.

Looking at swatchbooks is one thing, funny names or not, but one doesn't get "comfortable" with a color until one has actually used it in a production and "experienced" it on stage.

Still waiting on the orgins of "Illegitimate Amber."
 
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An insult to the memory of Mr. Thomas Skelton, possibly the greatest designer of dance lighting of the last century...
While Apollo's names are certainly humorous, one wonders if "traditional" names such as Flesh Pink, Special Lavender, and Daylight Blue might make ApolloGel be taken more seriously among lighting designers. Perhaps it's an age thing--those raised on Lux and Lee (and later GAM) aren't likely to switch, except for that rare color not available in one of the other three.

You've got it big D but you missed the point. Apollo's gel names perfectly reflect the company's overall strategy. Think about what they do: the "Standing O Award", readily available excellent educational materials, the infamous sample kits, and of course the gum. Apollo knows it's going to be very hard to convert designers raised on Lux and Lee so they are working hard to try to steal the next generation of designers. Designers who may not connect "Skelton Exotic Sangria" with that guy their prof talked about in class, but think that "Bluetylicious" is a good pun from a company that is in touch with pop culture.
 
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elite1trek, no color has ever been officially named by the manufacturer as Lesbian Pink, including obsolete lines such as Roscogel, Brigham Color, GPC, Cinemoid, Gelatran, and Dura.

For extra credit, who wants to give the derivation of Bastard Amber and Surprise Pink?

Well, I know the origin of bastard amber. They were mixing a gel and it totally turned out way off from what it was meant to be. They showed it to the director and he loved it and it was kept. They screwed up somewhere in the process and since it was bastardized (in the english is a bastardized language sense), its called bastard amber. As for surprise pink, I figured that its because the gel looks purple but is actully pink.
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Correct on both, renegadeblack. I cannot recall the source, but I've read it was Louis Hartmann, David Belasco's Master Electrician, who found the "odd amber." I don't know if it was Rosco, Brigham, or some long-obscure color company who made the original "mistake."

As to Surprise Pink, it also has to do with the fact that it can appear warm or cool, depending on the color it's paired with.

EDIT (for posterity):
from http://www.rosco.com/spectrum/index.php/2012/01/spectrum-wavelengths-designer-series-louis-hartmann/ :
Since [David] Belasco always had a show running on Broadway, [Louis] Hartmann was a regular visitor to Rosco’s gelatine plant on the hunt for new colors that would help enhance the actors, costumes and set pieces on stage. One day he noticed a stack of odd sheets in a corner. He was told that they had been discarded because the amber had been contaminated with some red dye. Hartmann was intrigued and took a sheet for testing. He discovered that the color was actually very flattering on skin tones and on his next visit to Rosco attempted to order some sheets of this interesting new color, which Hartmann referred to as that bastard amber you had. By then the stack of sheets had been thrown away so Rosco had the challenge of recreating the “accident” for Hartmann and tweaking it to his specifications.

The accidental color we created for Louis Hartmann would later become Roscogel 02, Bastard Amber and it lives on 90 years later by the same name in the Roscolux and Supergel ranges.
 
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Can you explain?

Think about the effects of using two different systems, one with R33 and R51, and the other with R60 and R51. In each system, which color is the cool, and which is the warm?

Derek, I think you have teased me with the story of Bastard Amber, but never actually told me. I do somehow know, or at least have heard, that the story of it being a "mistake batch" is untrue.
 
Think about the effects of using two different systems, one with R33 and R51, and the other with R60 and R51. In each system, which color is the cool, and which is the warm?

Interesting. I've never thought about it that way before.
 
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