Zombie Prom

[lighttechie5948]

Hey guys,
Next month I am designing lights for a production of Zombie Prom at a local community theater. The space is really great. Express 250 console. Some color scrollers, and some moving lights- 3 good, 10 not so good.

Any ideas for Zombie Prom?

Thanks,
Joe

 

[LDTom]

Fog is a must, or multiple hazers to give it that eerie feel. Some strobes would be nice. Not sure what your budget is if there is one. I like Martin Atomic strobes but that is just me.

Let us know if you have a budget so we know more about the constraints of your event. That way we can recommend things that would be suitable for your event.

 

[ruinexplorer]

Well, what kind of vision does the director have? In reading a brief synopsis off wikipedia, I envision the show looking like a comic book. So I would use heavy primaries for sets and basic wash for acties. But, since it's a musical, I would prepare for many cues heavy in mood lighting, specials, etc. Sounds like you definintely need at least two follow spots. Are you using a standard gel string in your scrollers? That might help list members give you color suggestions.

 

[lighttechie5948]

Budget is next to nothing. It is a teen-mainstage show, so I'm not really allowed rentals. If I beg and annoy I can push for a small gel/template budget.

We do have one strobe, a 750w one from chauvet.

The color scrollers are Chroma Q Broadways, we have 4 of them attached to S4 Pars. They have the standard gel string. The choreographer envisions alot of green.

My vision for the show is a mix of grease and then special f/x for the muation stuff, which I'll do with the MLs and sub f/x.

I like the comic book idea stated above, I'd like to research more into that. How can that be achieved?

In my opinion the show is comical and not everything in the show has to look real.

I deffinetly agree I need two follow spots plus the MLs.


Any other Suggestions?


~Joe

 

[icewolf08]

As with all designs, it really has to be your own. What ideas do you have? While we can offer you suggestions, it really has to be your show. Think about how you want to make the audience feel, and what kind of mood want to set, and go from there.

 

[ruinexplorer]

The comic book imagery will need to come from the set as well. If you want to see a really good job of this, check out the movie 300. Obviously a different color scheme than you will be using. Also check out the movie Dick Tracy. There they were using a limited color scheme for everything replicating the original newspaper comic strip.

 

[LDTom]

As with all designs, it really has to be your own. What ideas do you have? While we can offer you suggestions, it really has to be your show. Think about how you want to make the audience feel, and what kind of mood want to set, and go from there.

This is the truth. I will use a Dance concert that I just did the lighting for. Most dance shows, are based around the ideals of the lighting creating shape and not showing the face of the dancer, and concentrating on the body.

My show was anything but the usual dance show, the emphasis was on seeing all the dancers faces, and adding on from that.

One thing you need to find out from the director or whomever is in charge of the production, what they envisioned. This will be your first clue on what they will let you get away with lighting wise. Don't assume.

Darker colors, and the use of highlight and contrast from the rest of the group would be my idea. But I have no idea what was envisioned by the director. Envision a old i Pod/iTunes commercial with the silhouette and then pick out the primaries with another light so that they stand out, and then melt back in to the group.

Definitely 2 spots.

Share with us some of your ideas, we might be able to give you ideas that will clarify your vision. But ultimately it is your vision, and your design.

 

[lighttechie5948]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for All Your Help.

The show closed last Sunday, I have pics at Zombie Prom

Love to hear your comments.

My favorite cue is this

. I got tons of compliments on it every night.

~Joe

 

[wfor]

Hey Joseph,

I looked at your photos, they are awesome. I am designing for a high school production of Zombie Prom in January.

Do you have a plot available? I'm curious to see how you achieved some effects the show requires, especially that awesome shot of Jonny coming out of the lockers. How much (wattage/fixtures) did it take to get that look?

Also, what sort of effects did you run with your movers? We don't have anything more intelligent than dual gobo rotators and a single gobo rotator.

Anyways, any ideas you guys have to contribute would be great.

Thanks!

 

[lighttechie5948]

Hey Joseph,

I looked at your photos, they are awesome. I am designing for a high school production of Zombie Prom in January.

Do you have a plot available? I'm curious to see how you achieved some effects the show requires, especially that awesome shot of Jonny coming out of the lockers. How much (wattage/fixtures) did it take to get that look?

Also, what sort of effects did you run with your movers? We don't have anything more intelligent than dual gobo rotators and a single gobo rotator.

Anyways, any ideas you guys have to contribute would be great.

Thanks!

Thanks for the compliments. I'm looking around on my computer for the plot. Do you have an email where I can email the plot to you when I find it?

For the show I had 2 Elation Power Spot 250 Movers. I used a lot of mover effects, my favorite being the nuclear gobo that rotated during the preset. I also had 4 color scrollers.

The plot was basically 5 area high sides warm from one side and cool from the other. The warm high side color was GAM 135 and cool was Lee 201.

Warm Frontlight was No Color, and Cool Frontlight was Lee 201. Downlight was No Color.

For "Blast From the Past" I cued the locker breakthrough very tight.....the entire sequence was like 10 cues all linked together. I used a backlight strobe with green gel on it, then for the picture above I just through a 6" fresnel (500 watts) on a boom behind the door. Anything more than 500 watts would blind the audience for the rest of the number.

Fixture List for LI Premiere of ZOMBIE PROM:
2 Elation Power Spot 250s
13 ETC Source Four 26degs
1 ETC Source Four 50degs
5 ETC Source Four Pars
4 Chroma Q Broadway Scrollers
38 Altman 6x9s
8 Altman 6" Fresnels
8 Altman Par 64s
4 Altman Border Strips

Ummm....the show had around 250 cues....

If you have any specific questions about specific scenes I'd be happy to answer them.

Let me know your email and I'll send you the plot.

~Joe

 

[wfor]

250 cues, wow. By the looks of my planning so far, our production will also be high in the cue count- hopefully? not that much.

I have some interesting ideas for preshow too- involving the spinners focused on the ceiling and walls. They'll come in handy near the end of the show too.

To replace moving effects, I'm going to do a bunch of chases, mainly with a pipe of eight (hopefully) S4 Pars with "nuclear" green gels. I also have two S4 Pars down on the floor on either side of the proscenium, tilted up, that I'm calling "audience blinders" to give it that rock show effect occasionally.

I'm glad you said you used only one instrument on the locker effect- I was going to throw whatever instrument I had left back there. Now I'll be using one S4 Par.

I also have high sides in mind, no color though. Did you switch between side and down for music/dialog often?

If you can find the plot- it would be awesome to be able to see [email protected] It will have to be in a pdf, jpg, etc. format though. (No fancy vectorworks here...)

Thank you so much for the time!

-Wesley


For anybody- suggestions on using chases in Express 48/96? Most of mine will have to be manual to go along with music- unless somehow I can make a sub that controls rate live...

 

[1kfresnel]

For anybody- suggestions on using chases in Express 48/96? Most of mine will have to be manual to go along with music- unless somehow I can make a sub that controls rate live...

I'm not sure of your actual application, but you can control the rate of an effects submaster by pressing (in stage mode) _{#, then [S7] More Soft Keys, until you see [S5] Rate as an option. You can then either enter a value or use the trackpad live. Pressing [ENTER] saves the value, FYI.}

 

[wfor]

Hmmm... Interesting. I don't know if I'll be able to do that fast and accurately enough, though. I shall experiment.

The Express has powerful (though cumbersome) effects capabilities, but wasn't set up for rock shows and discos. I have a small 24 channel board that has a chasing unit perfect for this application.

Could I plug the board in the DMX IN of the console, then patch it to the 8 channels I want to chase, then run chases on it while I'm running cues onthe Express?

 

[lighttechie5948]

Hmmm... Interesting. I don't know if I'll be able to do that fast and accurately enough, though. I shall experiment.

The Express has powerful (though cumbersome) effects capabilities, but wasn't set up for rock shows and discos. I have a small 24 channel board that has a chasing unit perfect for this application.

Could I plug the board in the DMX IN of the console, then patch it to the 8 channels I want to chase, then run chases on it while I'm running cues onthe Express?

I honestly do not know the answer, but I would recommend what I just sent in the email i sent you with the plot....

"As for the FX, my rule as a designer is to never do anything manually, if I were you I'd try to break that habit as soon as possible, because once you start doing more than high school shows, you won't be the only one running board for the performances. I've done shows as the designer where there are 4 different board ops, and all I expect them to do correctly is press the GO button when they're supposed to. Also, when a director sees an effect exactly the way he wants it, he will want it exactly like that for every performance. My Zombie Prom design is a good example, the director/choreographer was Patrick Grossman, who is a good friend of mine and we have worked on numerous productions since, he is directing the Long Island Premiere of High School Musical 2, which I will be designing in February. He is very particular on EVERYTHING. With lighting he wants every cue to be hit exactly and if a blackout is messed up he won't talk to me for a week. Lol. Back on topic: I would recommend doing all of your chases as Sub effects and timing them with the music, It requires patience, but a well timed out show adds alot to the design (During Tech for ZP I would sit at the light board for hours with my laptop playing the soundtrack over and over getting the cues right).

Once you get the sub FX right. Link cues to the FX to them using macros and make the macros (the macro will activate the sub's bump button, the macro would be: Page, #, Enter, Bump#) If you need help doing this let me know and I can walk you through it."