JerseyMatt
Member
Hey guys,
I will be doing lights and sound for our Community Theater's production of Ghost in the Meadow this October, and I will need some guidance. This is kind of a tech heavy show, and tech needs to be done well to sell the creepy/scary aspect. I asked to get involved from the start, watching rehearsals and working on the set (versus throwing it all together during tech week) so I can come up with ideas and have time to buy things and play around. So this is the first of probably many posts I will be asking for suggestions.
My first challenge is thunder and lightning. It is called for in several parts of the show (playwright even suggests using it during pre-show to set the mood), many times while other things are happening - so simply bumping channels is completely out. We currently have a Leprecon 612 and MX2400 for the main stage lighting, along with several SlimPAR64 RGBAs, a 4' RGB lightbar (forget the brand) and a couple ADJ 4 channel dimmer packs for practicals. I am going to get a dmxKing eDMX4 Pro DIN and use Martin M-PC to run this show (I'm very tech oriented, so 2 months should be plenty for me to learn its ropes). I figured the best approach would be to use the LEDs since they can strobe colors pretty effectively.
So for the lightning, how would you go about "randomizing" the lightning flashes in a "pre-programmed" manner so that it can be run as a one-touch cue? My first thought was setting up a chase, but I know on boards the chases usually just follow the BPM. Can that be randomized somehow in M-PC? Cue stacks also came to mind but that will be a hell of a lot of cues to program so it doesn't look the same every single time.
Also.. The lightning would obviously be occurring out a large window (think french door size), but what do you think of also putting LEDs on the truss and throughout the house pointing up (it's an old church, which has a white acoustic tile vaulted ceiling) to make the storm "feel" more real to the audience - especially during a "power failure" scene at the start of the show?
Edit: Let me also say that our playhouse is very intimate. It's about 110 seats with a semi-thrust stage and no curtain. The front row is only about 4 feet from the foot of the stage.
I will be doing lights and sound for our Community Theater's production of Ghost in the Meadow this October, and I will need some guidance. This is kind of a tech heavy show, and tech needs to be done well to sell the creepy/scary aspect. I asked to get involved from the start, watching rehearsals and working on the set (versus throwing it all together during tech week) so I can come up with ideas and have time to buy things and play around. So this is the first of probably many posts I will be asking for suggestions.
My first challenge is thunder and lightning. It is called for in several parts of the show (playwright even suggests using it during pre-show to set the mood), many times while other things are happening - so simply bumping channels is completely out. We currently have a Leprecon 612 and MX2400 for the main stage lighting, along with several SlimPAR64 RGBAs, a 4' RGB lightbar (forget the brand) and a couple ADJ 4 channel dimmer packs for practicals. I am going to get a dmxKing eDMX4 Pro DIN and use Martin M-PC to run this show (I'm very tech oriented, so 2 months should be plenty for me to learn its ropes). I figured the best approach would be to use the LEDs since they can strobe colors pretty effectively.
So for the lightning, how would you go about "randomizing" the lightning flashes in a "pre-programmed" manner so that it can be run as a one-touch cue? My first thought was setting up a chase, but I know on boards the chases usually just follow the BPM. Can that be randomized somehow in M-PC? Cue stacks also came to mind but that will be a hell of a lot of cues to program so it doesn't look the same every single time.
Also.. The lightning would obviously be occurring out a large window (think french door size), but what do you think of also putting LEDs on the truss and throughout the house pointing up (it's an old church, which has a white acoustic tile vaulted ceiling) to make the storm "feel" more real to the audience - especially during a "power failure" scene at the start of the show?
Edit: Let me also say that our playhouse is very intimate. It's about 110 seats with a semi-thrust stage and no curtain. The front row is only about 4 feet from the foot of the stage.
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