"1. Do you
shutter your shinss off the floor? Why or why not?"
Yes, pretty much always. We have dual shins in our pre-built towers. Shuttering allows these fixtures to create a side lighting of the dancers that makes them "float" with no visible lighting source, just being lit with no beams visible on the floor, as with any other side light angle. Pretty much every dance designer I've worked with does it this way. I focus the units hot at dancer at C/L, and top cut off the first
border the
unit creates a frontal light onto, which is generally 2 borders US of the
wing the
unit occupies, trying to get as much vertical coverage as possible. Ditto US side cut off the
masking leg 2 wings US, or off the US near
leg in that units
wing. DS open or cut in
smoke pocket and off
proscenium.
"2. What
fixture do you typically use (on a "standard" 40'-0" wide
stage)? I've seen 4.5x6.5, 6x9, and 6x12."
Stage is 39ft wide at PL, 32 ft or so deep, generally 4 wings.
Currently dance tower(s) have 4 each,
Altman 4.5" - 25/50 degree zooms as 2 shins, +9" and "1'6", then same at head hi's at +4 and +6'6", then flying ladders at any height, with side-by-side paired
Altman Shakespeare 30 and 40 degree,
two-fer'd units, 6 per
wing spaced @ 2ft vertical centers. Then
electric pipe end 2-der'd
Altman 15/35 zooms, 2 each per
electric, per side All dance tower units are generally used at 6x9/36 degree spread, and when budget allows, all 32 dance tower units, as well as all Shakespeares will go to S4 36 and 26 degree
ERS's. I will allow for extra 19, 26 and 50 degree
lens tubes as well and will buy and install S4 Pars at +3ft. slot in towers, with appropriate barn doors as needed.
"3. On the sidelight booms, do you ever use Fresnels or PARs, or is it always ERSs?"
Occasionally rented S4
Par or
ParNel in the space between the top shin and lower head-hi on the dance towers. LD's like the blast of light these create, but much care is needed to have correct lenses and barndoors available to help eliminate flair and
spill.