What Gobo to buy for my S4 Revolutions?

[gafftaper]

I have a set of four Source Four Revolutions at my theater. They have 3 rotating gobo slots and one slot is empty in each fixture. The majority of the time the Revos just get used as specials. But a few times a year I find a use for the rotators. I've decided it's time to fill up slot #3 and I'm curious what the rest of you would use.

I inherited the following two patterns in my Revos:
Gam 243: I'm not 100% stuck on keeping this one so I may change it. It's okay but the little stars don't read very well and the big ones seem to read a little too well. It also tends to come off feeling a bit cliche as either hyper patriotic or like we are trying to clone American Idol.

and
Gam 368: I like these blobs for static looks and they look great when i rotate them and then overlap with the same gobo in another Revo rotating in the opposite direction to create an undulating "swirly thing alert".

Would you keep the stars? What would you add for a third pattern?

 

[derekleffew]

You know my answer...

GAM 217 is always appropriate for any occasion.

Odd that I've never seen it in a moving light.

My favorite moving light gobo may be Alpha Rays:

Not sure it's legal or moral to put it in a Revolution, however.

I'd change the stars to a better pattern, but still stars. Every review show has that patriotic God Bless the USA number. Gobos is easier than a US flag kabuki drop.

 

[gafftaper]

You know my answer...
GAM 217 is always appropriate for any occasion.

Odd that I've never seen it in a moving light.

Jungle Leaf is of course a regular part of my normal kit but I hadn't thought of using it in the Revos. I'm not sure how that would look spinning. Does anyone out there spin jungle leaf?

 

[soundlight]

Rosco 77764 Amorphous is one of my favorite gobos for theatrical uses. It works great from many angles and can be used in a variety of settings. When I designed a lot of dance I used it as a high sidelight gobo and it worked really well.

 

[GreyWyvern]

*cough*

 

[ScottT]

What module do you have in the second slot?

 

[bdkdesigns]

*cough*

Well, one gobo I love putting into movers is: Apollo MS-1054 Grass Textured. It makes a nice still texture when softened, a more edgy pattern when hard edged, and looks good spinning too.

I'm also a big fan of MS-2219 Back Stabber.

 

[Lextech]

I don't have a favorite gobo, I mix them up. However, what I do like to have are a sharp pointy type of breakup and a soft paisley or leaf type of break up in my wheel. If I am able to use them I am also a big fan of the Rosco Prismatics. Used for dance they can help make simple movements pop. You doing a concert and have lots of fog, well Phish used them for a while to great effect, after I did I will note. If you want you can gel them and you have a whole new look. They are really fun when you have two gobo wheels.

 

[mikeydoesstuff]

I mean. This is my favorite rotating gobo. (Thanks Apollo!)

 

[mikeydoesstuff]

In all seriousness though, Are you looking for something that puts a nice pattern on the floor, the wall, the person, or the beam?

 

[Kelite]

I had the chance to speak with Spencer Lyons of ETC about the Revolution this past week while attending a dealer open house/tradeshow, and it's interesting the number of units in regular use in the UK as compared to the US. As a theatre with the Revolution available, does your space make use of haze or other atmospheric elements?
If so, this design seems to appeal to rotational movement as well as static breakups in and out of focus-
http://www.apollodesign.net/Products/View/3548.aspx

It's good to have diverse and versatile patterns within your fixtures, especially if they can provide some rotational movement on the stage. Is there a specific look you're hoping to achieve?

 

[gafftaper]

I have 2 Revos on my first electric and 2 in my box booms. No haze allowed in the theater. They are most often used as a blurry textured static gobo specials (thus I like my blobs and the idea of adding jungle leaf is a good one) . 2 or 3 times a year however, someone wants a good rotating look for a musical or dance group.

Most of the groups who come in have 1-2 hours to program and then perform so as @Kelite pointed out having variety ready to go is very important. I'm not opposed to going with three entirely different gobo if someone makes a good argument for it.

*cough*

I @gafftaper being of somewhat sound mind and body do hereby use my powers as CB Senior Team to temporarily suspend the no direct sales rule in this thread only for the next week only and invite any gobo manufacturers to spam me with their favorite and most popular size M gobo designs... Although I'm going to pass on rotating Jesus.

 

[GreyWyvern]

Sorry. I was getting uncomfortable with all the GAM and Rosco talk...

If you don't like the one @mikeydoesstuff suggested, you could use Christ on a donkey instead!

Funny story... The number of that one is 4322. There was a while recently when marketing discovered that one and got a bit of a kick out of it. If you heard them say 4322, you knew something was wrong. 4432 became something of a curse word for a while. Always made me laugh. I think they kind of forgot about it though.

 

[Ford]

My two cents...
Everybody has their own favorite gobos. For me, they fall into a few categories.
1. realistic, which tend to be limited in application, but look great when you really need them.
2. linear/abstract, which are nice when actors/dancers move through them, but may be odd, when they are projected on a surface that the audience views directly.
3. Foliage breakups (nuff said)
4. Star break-ups
5. Cheesy breakups (like Big stars, birthday cakes, etc). again, good for specific moments, but not an everyday go-to, for me.

I agree that your current gobo with Stars is a bit...gimmicky. This one would fall into my Cheesy category.
With no haze in the theatre, the type of effect you're after is more based on how a particular gobo will interact with your floor, Cyc, and on bodies.

You have a nice blobby breakup already...
I would consider replacing your Stars with either a smaller (more natural) Star pattern, or a less dense breakup, and then adding a geometric breakup like (since we have Dave and Keith here) Apollo MS2096 "Abstract City" or Ms-1322 Bamboo Small which gives you a little bit of linear effect with your breakup. This gives a nod to Derek's suggestion of Alpha Rays. The advantage of a gobo like this is that it is very flexible... the angle that it hits at has a big impact on how people look moving through it, and if it is rotating, it will appear to generate more action.

If you decide on smaller Stars, take a look at MS1057 Small Breakup Natural, or Floating Dots. For a less dense breakup (giving a lot of visual contrast) look at either Cobblestones, or Flecked Breakup.

 

[MikeJ]

I mean. This is my favorite rotating gobo. (Thanks Apollo!)

I didn't know Kenny Loggins had a gobo!

 

[gafftaper]

Well I finally have the budget and time to place my order and thought I would report back on my decsions.

I'm adding Gam 217 Jungle Leaf

Apollo MS 1322 Bamboo Small

And Apollo MS 1061 Star Breakup Light

I'll probably use the three new ones as my primary set of gobos in the fixtures. But my old blobs will not be far away.
In the future I think I will add: Apollo MS 2219 Backstabber and MS 2096 Abstract City.
Thanks for the ideas everyone.