Road Test: Strong Technobeam, page 40 - PLSN.com

FEATURE
PROJECTION LIGHTS & STAGING NEWS
So You Want To Run Lights In A Nightclub?
To get your message across, it’s best to keep it simple, and energetic. Club lighting is all about punch.
By MorganLandrum
You’re in a nightclub on a Saturday
night, you’ve had a drink or two,
the DJ is spinning wicked live, and
the most incredible guy/girl in the place
walks up, and stands at the bar next to
you. You (A) lean over and softly say, “Hey
babe, are you tired? You’ve been running
through my dreams all night.” (B) put on
your sexy voice dripping with suggestiveness
and ask if you can buy him/her
a drink, or (C) don’t notice because you’re
too busy watching the light show.
If you answered C, there’s no doubt you
wound up kicking yourself later when the
hottie left the bar, and you realize you missed
another hook up. The good news is you’ve
got what it takes to be a lighting jock.
Welcome to Exhilaration
So you want to run lights in a nightclub?
Welcome to one of the most exhilarating
jobs on the planet. If you are
inspired by music, lights, and the atmosphere
of a crowd in the mood to party,
running lights and video in a nightclub
can be as fun and addicting as any extreme
sport. This is a job where, if you’re
lucky, you’ll be getting paid good money
to listen to music and let your creative
side play. The hotties decked out in their
club garb are just an added bonus.
It’s Not About You
The most important thing about club
lighting is, it’s not your show. It’s the DJ’s
show. It’s their name on the marquee. If
the evening goes badly and drink sales are
crappy, it’s the DJ’s job on the line, not yours.
With the stakes high, DJs are understandably
concerned that the performance goes
in the direction they intend. Most of the DJs
are glad to have a tech add their own creativity
to the show. They are a remarkably
gracious group of people who understand
that your job requires an equal amount of
talent, energy and creativity as their own,
and they are happy to let you have your
way with it. When a DJ does have request,
however, you should do everything in your
power to make it happen. Often those requests
are about the amount of lighting on
the DJ. Some DJs like to be the star of the
show while others are more comfortable
being heard and not seen. You should plan
for both types, and always have a dedicated
DJ light available on a dimmer. Beyond
that, it’s nice to have some extra, unobtrusive
work lights handy (like gooseneck LED
Littlites) and a couple of open power strips
on a circuit that isn’t already overloaded.
Your knowledge and help during set up will
build a good working relationship for the
show later on. Be friendly, be helpful, and
Beams work better for club lighting than break ups, which are generally too busy to register.
The most important thing about club lighting
is, it’s not your show… Once your DJ is happy,
you’re ready to move on to lighting the music.
If you’ve been running lights for theatre
or concert acts, you’ll immediately
discover some fundamental differences
with nightclub lighting. In theatre the
rule is often, “the better the lighting, the
less you notice it.” In concert lighting, at
least everyone is facing the stage. Nightclub
lighting is exactly the opposite. Far
from the captive audience just waiting to
be dazzled, the nightclub audience is free
roaming and far more interested in each
other than your show. Your canvas is not
a set on stage but an entire environment,
all 360º of club space. The energy of the
music needs be felt no matter which way
the audience is facing. To make it even
trickier, you’re working live, on the fly.
There is no script and no set list. You have
to make your rowdy audience respond
and you’re not going to do that with subtle
color washes and slow fades. To get
their attention you’re going to have to
slap, poke, and smack those people and
then, at exactly the right moment, turn all
the lights out on them.
For all their lack of attention, your audience
will subconsciously know if you get
it right or wrong. Dull, uninspired lights, or
an operator that spends more time at the
bar than in the booth, can ruin a potentially
great evening. A good light tech should
be a lightning rod, helping the DJ direct
all the pent up energy in the universe into
one mighty party.
be open to suggestions. Once your DJ is
happy, you’re ready to move on to lighting
the music.
What makes club lighting work? Energy!
The visuals in the room should match the
energy of the music. It’s your job to express
sound as light and sometimes as visual
images. It may seem simple, but there are
plenty of light techs who just can’t seem to
grasp the concept. Match your visuals to
your music. There is a great deal of talent
and creativity involved. It is subjective, and
while there’s no single way to do it right,
there are lots of ways to do it wrong. For
example, a big, steady, bass beat lit with
twinkling egg strobes and visuals of sparrows
in flight is just wrong. What you use
will, of course, depend on what you have
in your rig. If you are fortunate enough to
have hundreds of expensive lights of different
types, consider yourself lucky. But even
simple rigs have plenty of options if you are
aware of the capabilities of each type of fixture
you have. Here are a few suggestions
for using some of the most common attributes
found in most moving lights.
Shutters are Your Friend
A wash fixture with a shutter chase is
usually a great way to keep the beat of a
song. Most fixtures have several preset shutter
speeds including a hyper setting that you
can access on the shutter attribute channel.
The downside is that you don’t have fine
The general rule is simple: match the visuals to the music.
A heavy color bounce works well to keep the beat.
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PLSN MARCH 2008