Best Way To Light Back Wall

[jfremm]

Hello, we have a concert coming up at our high school and I would like to use a Cyc light on the back wall. Currently we have this kind of Cyc on the stage and I am wondering what the best way to use it is. I don't want other lights to flood it causing a color change. We also have this kind of Cyc too. Thank you! <====Cyc we also have <==== Cyc we have installed

 

[jglodeklights]

It won't matter much which fixture you use if the other lights are spilling all over the back wall, and that has nothing to do with which fixture you choose to light the back wall. It is all about where you light the rest of the stage from. The steeper the angle, the better the chance that the light will bury itself on the floor rather than on the back wall. Where the people on stage are also makes a big difference; the further from the wall the better. Also, choosing instruments with framing ability, such as ellipsoidals or Fresnels with barndoors, will allow you to cut off all or much of the back wall.

Once you figure that out, you can pick the fixtures to light the back wall, or how to do so. In reality, the fixtures are pretty much the same. The one you have installed is really just three of the one you have otherwise attached together. This allows you to hang one fixture and place three colors in it. You can get a wide range of colors by placing red, green, and blue gels in it as red and green make amber, red and blue make lavender, and blue and green make cyan, and the combination of all three makes a variety based on their individual intensities. You could use the single cell fixtures to have a very specific fourth color, or to intensify one of the red, green or blue cells.

You can also use some ellipsoidals to project templates on to the back wall to break it up and add a layer of dimension to it.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

Instead of just steeper off the horizon and dieing on the floor, which alone will result in dark shadows under chins and in the eyes - pretty unflattering unless it's all goth all the time - you can cross from left and right not far off the horizon and the spill is in the wings. It's probably a combination but that is the idea. Reflections can ruin the back as well - starting with the floor.

In the end distance is your best aid. I try to plan for at least five feet in front of backdrop that is unused by performers.