Recent content by SalvatoreDelorean

I'm an early-career LD in my 20s. I've been designing and assisting pretty regularly in the fringe and mid-size regional theatre worlds for a few years now, but I'm hoping to get my foot in the door in the corporate/events/production world. It's an industry I know comparatively little about, and...

What they want is what's commonly referred to as a plot; a top-down view of the theater with each lighting instrument drawn where it will be hung. This typically involves talking to your tech director/theater person/facilities manager/whatever and asking if they have a drafted plan of the space...

Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for. I'll definitely get in touch with my local fire department as well, to make sure we're not doing anything blatantly wrong, but it's great to get some practical advice to get started with

Hi everyone!I work in a student-run college theater that's historically done things rather sketchily, and I'm trying to implement some new standards to make sure things are done safely. There's not a ton of oversight from the department, and there aren't a ton of knowledgable people to...

Thanks for all your replies! That was a ton of really useful information. Fortunately the set designer was persuaded to edit his design to something much less ambitious and dangerous, but I appreciate all the input.

Thank you! That's really helpful. The materials would be utility grade 2x6 decked with 3/4" CDX. I'm not familiar with local building codes, but codes don't usually apply to temporary theatrical sets, do they?We can't fasten into the deck; this whole structure will mostly likely need to be...

Yup! They'll be dancing, too. And the orchestra will be sitting underneath it. You can see why this is raising some red flags.

I'm the TD in a college theater (I'm a student), and I have a set designer who wants to build a 4'x16' platform 8' in the air. The 16' sides need to be open so the audience can see through, so it's essentially a 16' bridge. He wants to accomplish this by putting a 4x4 post in each corner, and...

Hi everybody,I recently oversaw a pretty substantial gear purchase for my theater which included 20 brand new Source Fours. I meant to order 575s, but some way or another ended up with 750s. We've got our first show of the season coming up quickly, and I don't have time to get my hands on new...

It's important to note that what's in that video is pretty substantially different than the setup you're describing. For a setup like in that video, that requires controlling hundreds of rapidly changing parameters over dozens of automated fixtures, you'd need a concert-oriented board, like the...

Too dirty for your uses? What are your concerns? White costumes?I did a show a year ago that required dirt over a 35'x20' space, and we looked for every possible alternative, and nothing really worked. In a small theater, if it's not dirt, it won't look like dirt, especially if the actors have...

How exactly is that a load of crock? MLK stood for issues other than racial equality, and was a fierce advocate for organized labor. He gave hundreds of speeches in support of striking unions. For example: 'All Labor Has Dignity': Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Fight for Economic Justice - Joe...

My college just got its hands on a bunch of HMI fixtures (mainly ARRI Studio Fresnels and Selecon Pacifics), and I was thinking about using a bunch of them for an upcoming production of The 39 Steps I'm lighting in a few months. I don't know much about HMIs, but the director really wants to...

Pulling 240v from two 120v circuitsI'm lighting a small corporate event in an office building, and I have a few Mac 575s I was hoping to use. They run on 200-240v, but there aren't any accessible 240v circuits in the building. I was talking to the building electrician, however, and he told me...

Thanks for all the information! Can you clarify the difference between hanging from a pipe and hanging from a grid? We don't have a fly system, just an installed grid made of 2" steel pipe, 11' over the deck Most of the pipes are hanging by about a foot of chain from unistruts bolted into the...