Massive Overuse of Follow Spots

[porkchop]

We had a director who insisted on having four spots for his shows, but then ran them so low, it was almost impossible to see them. The constant quesiton on headset, "Can you see my light? I've lost it." It made our LD crazy.

That's kinda funny I'm always going "spot X are you sure your dowser is up all the way?" and bothering the house electricians to give me more intensity in their units. If your gonna have a spot you should be able to see it especially if your looking for it.

 

[zac850]

As has already been stated, a design choice of many followspot cues fits quite well with the show. Blinkley designed the show has he would. I saw it in previews, and while there were many things I would have done differently, I think he designed the show perfectly well.

The entire tone of this thread is botheirng me. Go see a show and enjoy it, think about how it was designed, and decide what you liked or didn't like, but do it in a way that does not belittle or insult the original design. Howell Blinkley is one of the big broadway designers, and I hear a very nice guy as well. Learn from him, look at the effects that he created and decide if they work for you or not. You seem far too negative and quick to dismiss the show.

It seems to me that this massive use of spot was a massive cop-out so they wouldn't have to make decent washes.

Yea, somehow I don't think that he used followspots so he didn't need to have stage washes. Just a guess, but something tells me that he could have made an even wash of the stage without any effort.


I'm sorry, I've been biting my tongue, and this is just getting a little absurd. Lets try and remember that this is art. I don't go to a art gallery and enjoy everything on the wall, but I do appreciate it and learn from it. Lets try and keep that same attitude.

 

[derekleffew]

...If you're gonna have a spot you should be able to see it especially if you're looking for it.

I've found this happening to me more and more as years pass. Run many shows looking through the Spot Dot almost all the time.

It's not necessarily the fixtures or operators. There's just no way a 2K Xenon source from 250' feet can compete with a stage full of 1200W MSRs at 30'. 2K Supers were fine when they were competing with 1K PARs, but today most arenas SHOULD be equipped with 3K/4K Gladiators or Lycian 1293/1294s. But at $11K-$15K per fixture, it's not going to happen quickly. By then, every mover will be at least 1800W, thus repeating the cycle.

Jean Rosenthal's dance plots often had one 500W Fresnel from each boom. That light probably wouldn't even be noticed in today's plots.

And Pork, don't let your current situation cloud your judgment, and forget the subtleties of theatre, as I have.

 

[JD]

I think being in the field, we all have a warped perspective of how things look. We know what a follow spot is, so we see it. The show concept is that lighting should blend so well with what is going on, that it does not stand out on its own. Sometimes, a blaring and obvious follow spot is so fitting for a theme, that's it's absence would be more noticeable! (Ex- The carnival barker scene in "Barnum.") The bottom line is that a follow spot is just another instrument and that a show needs to be judged based on how everything comes together. Of course, we will critique every element, just as a musician would critique every note of the musical score.

 

[derekleffew]

For those interested, Miss LuPone will be on The View, most likely performing "Rose's Turn", on Thursday, 06/05/08.