Moving lights in Theatre - Why they make sense

[JChenault]

Some say that for theatres, using DMX accessories makes more sense than using full blown moving lights. (See the Collaborative Article: Gafftaper Method.) My experience is that the flexibility a theatrical moving light gives you makes it far more useful and cost effective than just accessories.

How is a theatrical moving light different from other movers – simple. In addition to the standard moving light features (multi gobo, gobo rotation, pan/tilt, focus, zoom) It has a tungsten light source, and has shutters. This makes it easier to blend and use with your conventional lights. A moving light is no longer just for a splashy effects that calls attention to itself.

My primary venue is a community theatre in Tacoma Washington that does mostly musicals. We are severely constrained for dimmers (56 ). Our conventional rig consists of about 60 Lekos ( Altman and ETC S-4’s) 25 Fresnels, and miscellaneous scoops, Par cans, etc. Two years ago, we had an extra $10,000 to spend and decided to purchase two moving lights. We looked at the ETC Revolution, and the Varilite 1000 – both with shutters and incandescent lamps. We ended up with the Revolution (it was a close call). Since that time I have learned to use the moving lights as an important part of my designers took kit. I use them for a lot more than specials, and the audience us usually not aware that they move.

It is interesting to compare what I used the moving lights for in a recent production of The Producers - vs. - how many conventional units and accessories I would have needed.

I used the movers to:

• Provide additional color wash / area fill light with multiple colors: Shuttered as needed. Multiple colors during the show.
  • Down stage wash.
  • Color wash on drop.
  • Jail Cell
• Provide additional fill / area lights. Single color. Shuttered as needed.
  • Roof scene
  • Auditions
  • Court room
• Stationary Gobos Just put the gobo in a conventional unit ( Cheaper than a Gobo Changer accessory)
  • Leaf Wash / breakup for little old lady land.
  • Jail cell gobo.
• Specials needing shutters: Specials on an actor which needed shutters to dodge scenery, etc. Varying colors:
  • Accountants office ( two specials)
  • DC Special.
  • Square specials in Springtime for Hitler number ( two specials)
• Specials not needing shutters: A round beam is appropriate. But we do need to vary size, color , and sharpness of focus.
  • Eight to Twelve during the show.
• Effects where the light becomes part of the show: Audience sees the lights move
  • Swastika on proscenium. Later Rotates, Later does a bally-hoo.
  • Jail cell gobo on proscenium. Later Rotates. Later does a bally-hoo

Approximate cost using current list price:
2 ETC Revolutions with Shutter module, and Rotating wheel module. @ $7000
Total $14,000


How would I have done this with conventional fixtures and accessories?

• Color Washes. Hang a pair of ETC-S4’s for each wash. Put a scroller on each unit.
  • 6 S-4’s
  • 6 scrollers.
  • 3 dimmers
• Additional fill lights. Hang a pair of S4’s for each fill use.
  • 6 S-4’s
  • 3 dimmers
• Stationary Gobos Hang conventional units with appropriate gobo
  • 3 S-4’s
  • 2 dimmers
• Specials needing shutters. Just hang conventional units for each of the four specials.
  • 4 S-4’s
  • 4 dimmers
• Specials that do not need shutters. Use an AutoYoke with iris and focus control and shutter. Need two of these.
  • 2 S-4’s
  • 2 AutoYoke with Iris and Focus control
  • 2 Scrollers
  • 2 Dimmers
• Effects Use an ICue or AutoYoke on a S-4 with DMX gobo and rotator. Need two units for each effect.
  • 4 S-4’s
  • 4 ICues ( We will price with the cheaper alternative)
  • 4 DMX Rotators.
  • 2 Dimmers.

Adding it up – the two movers replaced ( Approximate list price ) ignoring issues like DMX cable, power supplies, opto-isolator splitters for the DMX.

25 ETC S4 fixtues @ $300 Total $7.500
8 Scrollers @ $500 Total $4,000
4 ICue @ $550 Total $2,200
4 AutoYoke with Iris, focus @ $3400 Total $13,600
16 dimmers $2500 $2,500

Grand Total: $29,800

Summary – I saved a lot of money buying two well equipped moving lights over a bunch of accessories and conventional fixtures for this show. Additionally I saved a lot of time by not having to hang an extra 25 units in the house.

Why did it work out this way. It turns out that there is a lot more flexibility in a single theatrical moving light than in any set of accessories. For example, a moving light has multiple gobos and they can rotate. I can purchase a gobo rotator – but it does not handle multiple gobos. I can purchase a GAM SX4 with multiple gobos – but I can’t rotate them. If I get the SX4 it will not fit in an Auto Yoke. There is no way to zoom the unit to make the gobo the size I want it to be. And so on.

I don’t want only movers--but once you have enough conventional units to provide your basic illumination plus a bit more--it makes sense (IMHO) to investigate adding some movers to your inventory. If someone dropped another $15K in my lap today, I would get some additional color control (Scrollers or SeaChangers), replace some of my Altman units with S4s, and get more dimmers. But if I had $20K I would look at an additional mover.

 

[rochem]

I was initially skeptical upon reading the title of this article, but as you've clearly laid out, buying the movers made more sense in your particular case. You knew your budget, and you knew what you wanted your technology to give you, and you then made the best purchasing decision for your case. But as you said, your choice of buying movers was based on the fact that you already had a solid base of conventional and simpler DMX devices. I believe The Gafftaper Method is more aimed at High Schools and Community Theatres who possibly aren't aware of the existence of color scrollers, gobo rotators, DMX irises, and other DMX devices, and instead assume that buying expensive moving lights is the only way to get the cool-looking effects they are after. Both theories/methods are equally as valid, yours just requires a strong knowledge base to be effective, which unfortunately cannot be found in many High Schools and Community Theatres.

 

[Footer]

My only comment is this... with 2 Revo's you can not replace what gear you had laid out. Two lights provides you with 2 pools of light somewhere on stage, all coming from one point. Saying 2 movers can take care of your specials just simply is not true. Specials are more then just a color and a template, where the light is coming from (or distribution) plays a big influence on the final outcome of the look.

I have found that having only a few movers can actually hurt a design because they are used to do the special thing. Now, give me 10 that I can hang on different pipes, thats another thing all together.

Just my 2 c's. Take it or leave it.

 

[JChenault]

My only comment is this... with 2 Revo's you can not replace what gear you had laid out. Two lights provides you with 2 pools of light somewhere on stage, all coming from one point. Saying 2 movers can take care of your specials just simply is not true. Specials are more then just a color and a template, where the light is coming from (or distribution) plays a big influence on the final outcome of the look.

I have found that having only a few movers can actually hurt a design because they are used to do the special thing. Now, give me 10 that I can hang on different pipes, thats another thing all together.

Just my 2 c's. Take it or leave it.

I did not intend to say that two movers could replace the conventionals listed, just that the conventionals would be needed to replicate what the movers did for this show. Given the choice between $14K of movers and $30K of conventionals (and the additional bucket of time it would take to deal with the extra units, and the hanging positions on the pipe) I would have rather chosen the 30K of conventionals. The show would have looked better for exactly the reasons you stated.

I did not intend to say that the movers could replace all specials. In this show there were 8 other specials that were done with conventionals. But I stilll had 8 to 12 that worked well from the FOH position where the movers were hung. Were they in the perfect ideal location- no. But were they better than trying to use an area light? In my opinion yes. And using the movers for the special freed up instruments and dimmers for other usages.

IMHO A lot of what we do as lighting designers is compromise. We are constantly trading off dimmers, pipe space, pipe location, the scenery in the way, number of units, time, etc. My thesis is that the flexibility and power of theatrical movers can reduce the compromises you have to make and give you more options - especially in smaller venues with not a lot of equipment.

And I've got to be honest - the usefulness of these fixtures has surprised me. Two years ago I was not the fan of moving lights that I am today - 12 shows later. I did not anticipate just how much and how often they would be a part of the look. They have changed the way I think about what I do.

 

[NevilleLighting]

JChenault,
I very much agree with both you and Footer. The usefulness of movers in almost any kind of theatre is hard to ignore. I'll even hang a could just to act as CMA (cover my ass) specials. Although, I have to very much agree with Footers comment about 10 movers being the number needed to replace washes. I would consider that the minimum.

Movers bring out much flexibility, not only in the circuit and dimmer issues you brought up, but in precious real estate on the pipes in the air. They take up more space and weigh a lot more than conventionals, but offer a lot in return. The fixtures you chose were wise, because they match the color temperature of your other equipment. However, I think that hotter arc lamps are the bomb. They don't match as far as color temp goes but I choose to use that to my advantage. I like to see movers as another system on top of the conventionals, with the ability to pull units out of the washes to use as blazing bright specials.

For theatrical use one of my favorite fixtures is the VL 3500. Nice, bright lamp, but it also has shutters, and good optics. I also like the Martin 2000 line and the High End xSpot.

All of your instincts about movers are absolutely correct in my book. I hope that you are able to aquire more and you will find that your choices expand exponentially as you do. The biggest trade off is programming hell. I found that when I first started using movers I went from focusing the show to focusing every cue. Since then I have found many shortcuts. The trick is to pre-program as many focus point or palettes as you can before the cast ever hits the stage. I'll even have multiple versions of the same wash, one hard focus that works for patterns and one soft focus that blends. It's worth the little bit of time it takes to set this up ahead of time.

 

[JChenault]

I totally agree with you re the real-estate issues. I'm currently designing a show for a space that does not have movers. I would like to jam 26 fixtures on 28 feet of pipe. Having a couple of movers up there would make things easier.

I want to explore one point you raised.

JChenault,
The biggest trade off is programming hell. I found that when I first started using movers I went from focusing the show to focusing every cue. Since then I have found many shortcuts. The trick is to pre-program as many focus point or palettes as you can before the cast ever hits the stage. I'll even have multiple versions of the same wash, one hard focus that works for patterns and one soft focus that blends. It's worth the little bit of time it takes to set this up ahead of time.

Now we are moving into the realm of how to control moving lights - something I have worked on quite a bit. ( disclosure - I helped develop a theatrical moving light console with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival that has become a commercial product. ).

"Focus points", "Palettes" "Preset Focus" Different words for the concept you are addressing. ( I prefer preset focus and will use it below)

There are four reasons to make a preset focus ( two of them valid).
1 - Focus on the chair. You want to focus a light on the chair. You do this 10 times during the show. It is likely the chair will change position - so you write a preset focus to the chair, refer to it in your cue. If you change the 'chair' focus then all of the cues using that preset focus will now point to the new chair position.
2 - Build cues you know you will need ahead of time. If you are certain you will need a front wash, build it ahead of time thus saving time during rehersal. You might even build a few looks you think you may need but aren't sure of.
3 - Allow you to control when the lights will move for a 'move in black" or "dark move". Some consoles require you to write a palette to control when the lights do a pre-move for the next cue.
4 - Make it easy to get close to the position where you want the light so you can more quickly position it where you want it to be. You set up a bunch of focus points on the stage and then fine tune the look to be where you want it.


Using preset focuses for #1 and #2 are entirely appropriate.

I argue that #3 and #4 mean you are not using the right console / software to control moving lights. Your software should be able to place the 'dark move' anyplace you want it to go without you having to write a palette. It should be easy enough to put the light where you want it to be that it is quicker to just do it than recall a focus point and adjust it.

There are software only solutions that have user interfaces needed to make #4 not needed. IE it is easier and quicker to just drive the light to where you want it than it is to bring up the focus point and adjust. The key is to use a mouse/trackball instead of encoders. If you want to look at such a console, send me a PM and I can send you a link to our product. ( I want to be sure that I am not violating the terms of use by making this a commercial post)

 

[gafftaper]

Hey John nice article. Although I am the originator of "the method" I agree with much that you have to say. I really don't see the two threads as exclusive. As Michael said above, my method is targeted at educational theater, churches, and small budget community theaters.

About halfway down you'll find this section:

1) Don't spend your money on DMX toys until you have enough conventional gear to properly light a show.
2) Don't buy movers until you have all the components and a proper light board to control them.
3) If you have covered 1 and 2... you can think about buying Moving Lights, but you still need to answer these last two questions:
a) Do you have the ongoing money source to pay for the upkeep (the lamps are very expensive!)?
b) Do you have the staff to maintain them correctly?

It's amazing how many people show up here with a lighting rig consisting of two dozen light fixtures, 24 dimmers, and a two scene preset console, thinking that what they need to make next year's talent show sparkle is a couple of MAC 2k's. What they need is more dimmers, more fixtures, a better light board, and maybe a couple of scrollers or something to do a few tricks.

If you have a full inventory of conventional gear, a modern light board to control the movers, a person on staff to maintain them and be an expert programmer, and the budget to pay for repairs and new lamps. Then everything you say is VERY true... and moving lights do make sense. Sadly what often happens in schools is someone gets the money to buy something cool and after a few years there is no money to buy a new lamp or repair it and no one with the time or knowledge to program it. Thus the "Gafftaper method" was born, keeping the equipment simpler means cheaper repairs and a higher likelihood that someone will know how to use it.

Somewhere in the middle there is a line where you decide it makes sense to go with movers or not. It's the line between your article and mine. That line is encountered by moderate sized community theaters, high schools with monstrous sized arts programs, and small colleges. This group of theaters has some money for staffing but not a lot. Some money for upkeep and repairs, but not a lot. I believe these people will benefit greatly from reading both articles and deciding which side of that line they fall on.