Concert Lighting in a Proscenium Theatre

Hunter.tech

Member
I'm the lighting designer for a high school "talent show" that is basically just one band on stage and the singers change for each set. There is little to no budget but the school does have a decent stock of Source 4 pars and Ellipsoidals as well as a couple LED Pars. I'm an ammature theatriacal lighting designer so I have an idea about basic concepts and choosing color, etc. But I have no experience with band or concert lighting.

I would like to know of any "tips or tricks" when it comes to creating a plot and/or programming a console for band or concert lighting on stage. Most of the videos I've been able to find have dealt with small performance spaces where a couple LED lights would do the trick. This is not the case for me as the theatre I'm working in is quite large. The Plaster line is about 45' across, The proscenium is about 20' tall, and the center line is about 30' deep.

If you have any suggestions about how to create some really cool looks, how to program them, or any links to helpful videos or articles, I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks in advance for your help!
 
I'm the lighting designer for a high school "talent show" that is basically just one band on stage and the singers change for each set. There is little to no budget but the school does have a decent stock of Source 4 pars and Ellipsoidals as well as a couple LED Pars. I'm an amateur theatrical lighting designer so I have an idea about basic concepts and choosing color, etc. But I have no experience with band or concert lighting.

I would like to know of any "tips or tricks" when it comes to creating a plot and/or programming a console for band or concert lighting on stage. Most of the videos I've been able to find have dealt with small performance spaces where a couple LED lights would do the trick. This is not the case for me as the theatre I'm working in is quite large. The Plaster line is about 45' across, The proscenium is about 20' tall, and the center line is about 30' deep.

If you have any suggestions about how to create some really cool looks, how to program them, or any links to helpful videos or articles, I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks in advance for your help!
@Hunter.tech Do your performers need to read sheet music during their performances? Is keeping adequate illumination on their music a consideration??
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
My space is just about the same as yours, except we have like 7 LED Pars so I make sure to use a lot of red, blue, purple, and amber gels on all my conventionals (red and blue on ellipsoidals, purple on PARs and ambers on fres.) after that I heavily depend on effects. What helps me is to listen to the music and study it; how fast or slow is the tempo, how long does it take for the beat to drop, what is the mood of the song, etc. And then I watch a couple of stage performances of not only the song itself but other songs that fit the mood or tempo and watch for the different effects used in the performance.

After that, I find some time to sit down in the theater and just start programming some effects. I work best with ques rather than busking mostly because I busk easier with a touch screen rather than a mouse also because I have the EOS Offline Software on my laptop, it helps give me more time to practice creating effects. I'm not sure what type of board you have but having a good set of palettes and effects ready on standby just in case a performer adds a guitar solo or something (which happens more than often) is a nice thing to keep in mind.

Not sure if any of that made any sense as I'm in the middle of teching a show (shhh, don't tell my stage manager I'm on my phone) but just have fun with it.

Good luck!
 
Just throwing some ideas out there. Assuming this is for a lot of rock, pop, hip hop, rap etc. type music you might consider creating an industrial or construction type look. Lower one or two of the electrics so the batten, lights, cables are exposed and then gel the S4's or PARs in groups of red, blue, green, magenta whatever you like to create
an old school kind of concert look. If you have any trees in the wings they could be brought into view from SL or SR. If there are any spare trees available you could set a couple of them up behind the band at ~8-10ft ish with PAR lights or good place for the LEDs. If you have Box booms you could use some creative gels (e.g. amber, indigo) to create some different
looks. Scoops or anything for that matter could be set up for flash/strobe effect. Maybe focus a few specials too spot or strobe the band (guitar solo, drum solo). Create some different speed motions with chases to run around or up/down or SL/SR. Long live the shoegazers...
 
With a rig like that, just have fun with it. You can do a lot with conventional's, look at videos of concerts from the 70's and 80's heavy gelled looks. Do you have enough gels to flood the stage in red? and also in blue? Great time to use any scrollers laying around.

Absolutely agree with @Jammer drop a couple of upstage electrics to about 15' and fan some lekos acrossed it, than you you could do a few looks with those, fast / slow intensity chase, and sort of a twinkle look for those slow times. Maybe even if you could get away with it, throw some gobo rototors if you have any.

The biggest thing with a rock concert in my opinion is the haze, with whatever budget you have rent a haser, if you can't see beams of light than it's hard to pull the rock look off. That being said if you can't get a haze machine, thats ok. Use what you have and just have fun with with it.
 
Another good look is having a couple of S4s with gobos upstage, especially if you have haze. Don't forget a few floor lights pointed up through the backline. Most of all have fun.
 
concert lighting from a theatrical rig is pretty much about visible fixtures that are more backlight than toplight.
So fly your electrics in about 6 feet and make your first electric into crossing gobos and harsh down/frontlight and make your most upstage electric all your flash and trash backlight.
Oh, and anticipate burning through lamps about 4x faster because of the chases you'll be programming.
 
Waaay back when I got my start in highschool and I was always excited to light the concerty stuff. I found this photo from a talent show I did in 2005:
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So quick things.
1. Get a hazer, the beams of light will give you that rock and roll feel.
1.5 Narrow beams of light look better in haze than wide ones, as do beams with Gobos
2. Set some light on the deck or as side lights, interesting positions and things on the floor always are a good look. The more controlled your front light is, the more dramatic everything else will look!
3. Stagger your electrics. Having your upstage electrics and bringing everything into view helps give your rig depth.
4. On your desk program faders of groups and colors you can mash on with the music. Concert lighting can be more about getting the hits in time with the music than slow fades.
5. Learn the music! If possible spending some time with the music before the show will help tighten your timing and make your show look better.


And to pair with that first pic, here is a shot from the last show I did:
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