lighting insights

Photo: Paul KolnikCan you convey a complex mood using only a single light source? This is the challenge that the Resident Lighting Designer of the New York City Ballet presents to first time students at the classes he teaches at Boston University, where he heads the lighting design program...

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure -- and a short time pre-building your rig the right way can save you countless hours of aggravation once you get to site. Mike Graham explains how planning your pre-builds makes setups faster, smoother and less stressful.

Like many in the entertainment lighting business, Tim Messina has watched the growth of pop up broadcast studios with interest. The owner of Events United, Messina has provided fixtures to network TV stations before, in addition to lighting festivals and concerts that featured recording stars...

Photo: National CathedralFrom tucking a small LED wash inside a scenic element on stage, to using battery powered uplights to bathe great columns in a rainbow of colors, designers have never had more options when it comes to choosing wash light fixtures, or devising ways to use them. Ford...

Fashion shows are stepping out beyond the runways of New York, Paris, and Milan. Once the province of the haute couture set, they have become popular fundraising events for charities everywhere, creating new opportunities for lighting designers who work far from chic style centers.Justin...

Photo: RTÉVisionary….the word that came up quite often when we told other lighting designers that we would be interviewing Peter Canning. The Prime Time Emmy Award winning Dublin-based designer has earned the widespread admiration of his peers for bravely pushing ahead into new technologies...

When Brandon Baruch first heard from a friend about Nick Wylie’s plans to produce the Bataré tour, he realized pretty quickly that this innovative show was something he would like to light. “I tend to gravitate towards projects that require an unconventional design approach,” he said. “So when...

Although they’ve won an Academy of Country Music Award and have seen three of their singles top the Billboard Country Charts, the Eli Young Band has remained true to their Red Dirt Country roots. The Denton, TX quartet still maintains a rough and ready touring schedule, bringing its snappy brand...

There is a sort of paradox built into metal music. On the one hand, it serves up this thick massive wall of sound that washes over the audience like some giant cloud blocking out the sun. On the other, it moves like a freight train with its accelerated tempo and non-stop hypersonic guitar riffs...

His massive and intricately detailed lighting designs are created with some of the most sophisticated software tools available. But when this Los Angeles-based LD sits down to begin a project, he starts as he always has for over 25 years – by putting his ideas to pencil and paper. Working this...

The Creative Production & Design team builds versatile looks for a multi-artist show. This was especially evident recently when the Austin, Texas based company created a lighting and video show for CRUSH Dallas 2017, part of a four city production from Insomniac. Their immersive, high octane rig...

In the five years since he’s become a lighting designer, this New Yorker has worked his share of one-offs for some name bands like the Beach Boys, The Doobie Brothers, and Billy & The Kids. More recently though, he’s focused in on a single group, becoming the fulltime LD for the much traveled...

Heard any good jokes lately? Zack Bunner has… plenty of them! The Maryland based LD at Showtime Sound has been on quite a roll lately when it comes to lighting comedy. Over the past two years, he’s been on blockbuster world tours by comedic heavyweights Louis CK, Amy Schumer and Kevin Hart...

Photo Credit: TOSS Film & Design Inc.When he isn’t displaying his well-known wry sense of humor, this Emmy winning Australian born designer can be a man of few words. This was very evident when we asked him how he would describe the look that runs through his designs. His answer was simply...

Round stages are on a roll. We’re seeing more of them at concerts and festivals, as well as at pop-up theatrical venues and dinner theatres. While they offer a greater sense of engagement and a unique viewing experience for audiences, these distinctive stages also present a complex set of...

In 2007, August Burns Red blazed a new path when they put a new twist on the metalcore sound. A decade later, the Grammy-nominated quintet marked this milestone by kicking off 2017 with a celebratory coast-to-coast “Messengers 10-Year Anniversary” tour. The group plays its bold upfront...

Moving fixtures have long been used in musicals to one degree or another, but lately they’ve been appearing in a wider variety of productions, including dramas. We aren’t just talking cameo roles either. A growing number of theatre LDs are turning to LED movers, particularly washes, to fill an...

Perspective plays a critical role in the approach that this Orlando-based lighting designer and director takes to his work. This is evident not only in the way he’s able to weave myriads of fixtures into balanced coordinated looks, but also in how he defines the role of lighting design. The...

One of the best parts of being a lighting designer is coming up with the awesome shapes we create through the haze -- we call these "aerial looks!" Have a quick talk with CHAUVET Professional's own Jim Hutchison as we discover some of the tips and tricks to creating powerful aerial looks!