Followspot aiming tips

[avkid]

On occasion I have been known to do it "old school" sighting down the hinge on Altman Comets.

 

[Charc]

In my experience the TelRad is hands-down the best device. No repositioning until it's right (like spot dot), doesn't fall off (shotgun sights, hangers, coke can tabs), doesn't interfere with the show (the laser pointer suggestion) and you don't have to take your eyes off the subject for a moment. Two double a batteies and you're golden. It works great when using a conventional as a spot for super short-throws too. Get the base so you don't have to change your positioning when replacing batteries.

I'm not sure if I understand your complaint about the Spot Dot. What do you mean no repositioning?

 

[derekleffew]

On occasion I have been known to do it "old school" sighting down the hinge on Altman Comets.

Nothing wrong whatsoever with old school! I don't even mind classic or retro.

(I did just about deck a "kid" who picked up a gray painted ETC C-clamp and said "wow, old school" however.)

However, Altman's specs say 51 FC @ 125' and I bet you weren't even shooting that. Longer ThrowDistance=Greater Chance for Error=Greater Need for Precision. Which is why I encourage my House SpotOps to use sights, but leave my TrussOps alone. That, plus I don't want TrussOps dropping a sight, or anything else, on the star. Personally, I think most climbers should wear nothing except their harnesses, but I don't want to give Van anymore ammunition.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

Just throwing in my 2 Cents:

For the production of She Loves Me I'm currently working on I am using a Bullseye Sight on a Lycian Midget HP.

Best. Thing. Ever.

Old school C-clamps? Those would be the old Kliegl brand c-clamps in the electrics shop that are no longer useful because the spacer and bolt are long gone.

Even more old school? 2 pin ungrounded composite stagepin connectors with seperate wire entries.

Or maybe some 2 prong twistlock? Would that be better?

All this is more currently wasting space in the electrics shop that has recently come under my supervision. People laugh when I say I'm cleaning and organizing it, they'll see.

Ok, hijack over, I love that Bullseye Sight.

 

[derekleffew]

Point taken, 18-year-old Gafftapegreenia. Sometimes there are things wrong with "old school." However, at the time, when the things you mentioned were "current school," they were as industry-standard state-of-the-art as the Source4 36° EDLT is today!

Please expound more on this "bullseye sight." I don't believe I've seen or heard of it.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

Point taken, 18-year-old Gafftapegreenia. Sometimes there are things wrong with "old school." However, at the time, when the things you mentioned were "current school," they were as industry-standard state-of-the-art as the Source4 36° EDLT is today!

Which is precisely why I find history so interesting. Of course, some of that old-school stuff is still very functional, I'll use those c-clamps if I find the parts. However, other stuff belongs on ship's "wall of shame". As I was typing that response I was thinking of what was "old school" at that time of the items I mentioned.

The bullseye spot was mentioned already.

http://www.balancedtech.com.au/bullseye/sights.htm

Mine is simply gaffed to the spot. I focuse it by putting the spot in a tight iris and using the small knobs on the sight to move the bullseye. Works like a charm every night.

 

[Charc]

Point taken, 18-year-old Gafftapegreenia. Sometimes there are things wrong with "old school." However, at the time, when the things you mentioned were "current school," they were as industry-standard state-of-the-art as the Source4 36° EDLT is today!
Please expound more on this "bullseye sight." I don't believe I've seen or heard of it.

Bullseye is a.k.a. Telrad.

Gafftapegreenia, please elaborate, as I was going to place a ToolsForStagecraft order tonight for the Spot Dot 2000, until I saw your post.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

Telrad! That's what that thing is called! The reason I like it is because you have a "field" with which to sight. This field makes it easier to place your pool of light on the stage. For example, say the LD wants a waist-high spot. Well, with a Telrad, you can actually "cover" the performer with your beam before you turn it on. Also, the central ring of the Telrad is actually the diameter of my spot with the iris all the way in. I'm not exactly sure how to word it, but the bullseye of the Telrad makes it easier to find your field of coverage.

However, the spotdot is a fine instrument as well, it just becomes a matter of preferance and "spot op ego".

 

[derekleffew]

Thanks, Charc for the clarification. I followed the link but as it says
Finally, Australian [italics mine] followspot operators have access to the sight that ensures your pick ups are always accurate,...

I'm not certain it would work for American Spotlight Operators. Wouldn't everything be upside down or something?

I must say I prefer a SpotDot vs. Telrad(Bullseye) thread to a PC vs. Mac thread, but "girls, you're both pretty."

I have used both, on the same fixture, but for different shows, and I prefer the SpotDot. YMMV.

 

[derekleffew]

For example, say the LD wants a waist-high spot.

If an LD over headset told me he wanted what you said, I would make a 3' circle from the floor to the performer's belt line. Which I would refer to as a "waist shot on the knees" which I've never heard of.

Did you mean to simply say "waist shot." meaning from the belt line to just above the head?

Now no one go and get all semantical on me and say that the belt line is not necessarily the waist, for example if we're doing My Fair Lady and Eliza is wearing an Empire-period gown at the ball. "Tight waist" and "loose waist" exist for just those sorts of possibilities.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

Ok, yes, that's what I meant. I should have gone and checked my terms before posting for surely I should have know you would come along and find the fault in my words. Then again, it's ok, because its very rare I'll make that mistake again.

Telrad, Spotdot, its all good.

 

[Redking]

I have been using a Telrad star finder sight for years now, after messing around with;
A) Bent coat hangers held with gaff tape (stone knife anyone?)
B) Laser sight dot (alarmed more than a few performers)
C) High powered rifle sight held in place on a home built mount strapped to the spot (alarmed a few security people and audience members when I was running from a plain-sight open platform)
D) Spot Dot (which I hated 8 minutes into it's brief two months of use)

The Telrad cost me $48.00 new. It uses a mirror and "hud" display on glass in the viewfinder to produce three concentric red rings. I attach it's mounting base to the spot front end with a small 8' long ratchet strap (OSH and Home Depot, $4.99, made by Keeper), mount the finder and slip it's lanyard (added by me) under the strap and ratchet it snugly. Then I set the smallest brightest spot I can make and aim at a point across the arena or at the extreme upstage corners of a stage. The three adjusters on the Telrad let me set the smallest inner ring so the spot fills it. I usually check on two more points, downstage and as close as the performers might get to me to verify and "fine tune" my sight. The whole process takes thee to four minutes. If there are audience about, I can do it under half intensity, but it takes longer.

I have been running Strong GladiatorII follow spots in both indoor arenas and outdoor amphitheatres, typically with 150' or more throws, and I can say that the only reason I ever missed a pickup was because I went to the wrong place to start(gr) "Spot one, pick up the guitar player.....Spot one, that's the bass player..." ooops.

I can bend my head a bit and look directly through the TelRad if I am working at low intensity, which can make it hard to track by watching your edge. I can even pre-set a pickup point in blackouts, as the red rings don't screw up my night vision.

While I was running spot recently for Ringling Brothers, it made the 65 cues easy even when tracking a thrown hat, a prop attached under a truss across the arena and behind video walls and other lighting truss, and a guy on a wire-mounted motorcycle who only wanted 50% intensity. And a running dog.... it even made it possible to make a completely blind pickup, with the help of a bit of black gaff tape (yay gaff tape!).

I had to make a tight pickup in a tight full body circle from 120 feet. Problem being I was aiming across the full-on beam of the follow spot 6 feet to my right, into an area in full blackout. That spot would go out, and I was supposed to immediately hit the Ringmaster, but there was no way my eyes could recover fast enough. After having to ghost and sweep to him opening night, for the next show I put a little tab of gaff on the safety cable in front of us, where the center ring of the Telrad hit. Bingo. Seven more shows, perfect pickup every time ( he always stood in exactly the same place, which I admit helped...thanks Richard Waggoner!).

Oh. So get a Telrad. I mean, if I wasn't clear on how much I like mine....

 

[stagehand354]

For several years now, most US traveling shows require absolutely precise pickups, oftentimes happening in complete blackouts or with minimal ambient stage lighting. Because of this, most LDs have little to no tolerance for botched pickups and, as a result, most of the IA guys I know (including myself) operate with the "Telrad" sight, which was originally designed as a telescope sighting device. If you aren't familiar with this great little tool, click here for more info.

One of the nicest features is the fact that the reticle can be "dimmed" with an integral control, which permits fine adjustments for various levels of stage lighting. I have also found that by adding a piece of Lee 198 filter to the glass on the stage side of the Telrad, it’s much easier to discern my spot on the stage when the ambient lighting is at its brightest.

I know some purists will argue that a spot sight is an unnecessary crutch but having now run follow spots for almost 50 years, there’s nothing wrong with making the show look better. As many of you know, no one will ever notice a decent follow spot op but everyone in the audience will take note if he or screws up even once! Now that the Telrad has become somewhat standard, most shows now travel with their own inventory and will require a spot op to use theirs if he or she doesn’t have one of their won.

 

[iLightTheStage]

I do lots of "one-offs" for different shows, and have a Telrad Sight for when I am a followspot operator. I highly recommend it!

Some people argue that a real spot op doesn't need it, but when all of a sudden the performers/band/talking-head wants to acknowledge someone in the crowd, you can INSTANTLY pick up a dead shot on that person.

And for shows where you can't see where your spot is landing because of the bright stage or the designer having written in a moving light position that is right at you, the sight is also a lifesaver.

And the Telrad only costs $40, so it isn't a bank-buster.

 

[PDSaccman]

At our theatre we use Source Fours as our followspots, so this is for anyone who uses that kind of light. I have found that if you keep the gel clip up you can use it as a sight.

 

[sfojuicer]

I've used spot dots, Telrads, wire rings, light leaks from an empty screwhole on the lamp housing, and even lasers mounted to the top of the spotlight (aimed at marks over the spot booth window of course.....never at the stage) and for my money the Telrad works best. The middle ring is exactly the right size to frame a full body shot at 150', and the small ring is about the same as the smallest usable iris. The only drawback is, since it was designed for telescopes and viewing night skies, it often isn't bright enough, particularly if you have a brightly lit red colored stage. I have devised a Telrad modification using a brighter, bi-color (red/green) LED and a color select switch to remedy this issue. I've also been installing coaxial power jacks (which leave the batteries working if no power supply is plugged into it) so that you can run it off of a 3vdc external power supply. Contact me "[email protected]" if you're interested in a diagram and instructions on how to do this modification, or even if you'd like to send your Telrad to me to have it modified.

 

[chausman]

Both Super Troupers I've used have had home-brew sights made specifically for it. I believe it is actually a coat hanger bent and taped to the unit. It works, until the tape gets too hot, but along with practice, it did really well. We all knew how to "offset" for the tape pulling up. Granted, we never had any head shots.

 

[DuckJordan]

Telrads, we've got two of them for our three super troopers they are really inexpensive and can be used on just about any spot.

 

[PeteEngel]

The Pro of the Telrad (the best of the electronic sighting instruments) and all of the other units of that type are that it is easy to make a pick up. No questions, it is the best way for someone to walk up to a light and use it.
What I've found to be the Cons of this type of system is...focusing too much on sighting after the pick up leaves an operator not easily capable of responding to actions of their target on stage in real time. Quick movements are filtered through the sighting device and an actor/singer/animal is out of the pool of light in an instant. A sighting device's (all of them) accuracy is dependent upon it not being banged or otherwised moved (it happens). A failure of an item during a show leaves an operator dangling. (sure it is always the rule that you check your batteries before using...) Taping any device to your fixture is bad juju. Heat can cause the adhesive in your tape to slip, knocking your device out of alignment. One word, Magnets. One phrase, safety your device.
Good followspot operation is a combination of hand/eye coordination and either a learned or inherent feel for movement of an acrobat (or skater), drunk actor or horse (drunk or not). Angles, flight characteristics and gravity, combined with the relative response capabilities of the followspot (whether it is 1 finger pan and tilt or you have to throw your back out to move the head an inch) and your actual throw distance all combine with other factors including fixture position, operator attentiveness, cue calling capabilities (we have all run into bad cue callers), cue speed and a whole list of other things to cold operate a followspot.
Please note, If you use a targeting device, once you have picked up your target, look up at the stage or you WILL lose your target. It is called Target Fixation and it affects your Situational Awareness.
I prefer a swizel stick from the local bar attached to the front of the light. They don't need batteries, come in a variety of shapes and sizes and you have a good time obtaining them (as long as you are 21). That said, if I had to choose a sighting device, the Telrad would be the preferred sight. It is easier to sight and still see the stage. The Spotdots I've used in the past are less forgiving with your head position and the operator is more prone to target fixation using that item.
Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[derekleffew]

Pete, I agree with everything you said. However, there are times (more and more lately) when looking through the sight is the only way to tell whether or not one is on one's target. Even a 3k Gladiator at 200' can't compete with VL3k washes at 25'. And there are 20 Sharpy floodlights pointing directly in my eyes. The camera can tell whether or not I'm on the star, but I sure as heck can't, not without continuously referencing the sight. When the performer is in motion, there's a good deal of hope and prayer and dumb luck involved.


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