Interesting, but for a lighting tech, that's even easier than a normal lights up / lights down gig.
Say... It would be unfortunate if the
bulb failed.
Ahh . . . but that's why you double hang it.
I had the following debate with a designer some years back.
There was a critical moment in the production where all of the lighting pulled in to one , single, extremely tightly focused special. The designer wanted it double hung but only the single
instrument illuminated. I was instructed to watch like a hawk and light the alternate lamp if suddenly required.
I counter proposed hanging a duplicate
fixture immediately above the special and running both lamps at a lower
intensity with a
submaster pre-loaded and at the ready to raise the
level of the remaining single lamp to equal the previous look of the two lamps at the original
level. We demo'd both approaches for the director and having both lamps lit won the 'toss'. The production was a Jamaican tour which had booked in for a multi-performance run. The the performer precisely hit his
spike and was lit in a very tight and crisply focused head shot. A jet black-skinned actor, clothed totally in matte black, in an intensely dramatic moment lit by
Strand 2112's; rarely seen instruments very close in
beam angle to an
Altman 6 x 22
360Q and with 'donuts' to make their focus even sharper. The angle was chosen such that all
spill was out of sight of the patrons and, with the gentleman's intensely dramatic
face hi-lit in near total isolation, the designer achieved the look she was seeking. Amazingly, the performer held his position flawlessly while delivering his soliloquy for some minutes. It was the dramatically intense and riveting end of their first act and their director was over joyed.
In all seriousness, the director wanted to take our lamps with him for the remainder of their tour but it would have been pointless as a lot of the look was dependent upon our
theatre having hanging points exactly where their designer needed them.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.
