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LD-AT-LARGE
PROJECTION LIGHTS & STAGING NEWS
Being a Guest LD
By NookSchoenfeld
Anyone who has ever looked after
lighting a musical artist will eventually
find themselves having
to work in strange surroundings, with
a light rig and set they did not design.
Whether it’s a TV show, an awards presentation
or a radio station-hosted arena
bash, there is an unwritten etiquette that
would be wise to follow.
Of course, there are different rules for
each of these types of shows, and it would
be proper to address them separately.
First I’m going to start with television
talk shows. Each night, these shows have
a musical guest. And of course the musical
guest will bring his personal lighting
director along because they need to feel
confident that it will run perfectly. But
to be honest, there is rarely a reason for
any act to bring their guy to the venue.
When I’m there, it’s to offer some color
suggestions and to insure one particular
blackout cue happens on time.
Lighting for the Camera plsn
These shows have permanent lighting
directors who excel in television
lighting. The normal band LD does not.
What the human eye sees is not what the
camera sees, so a scene you may think
looks great might look like ass to millions
of viewers. And you know your artist
is going to watch himself that night.
If he looks bad, your job could well be in
jeopardy.
Hint #1: Let the folks at the TV studio
do their job. Feel free to offer hints
such as “In this song, the artist likes to be
amber,” or “Please hit the strobes on this
breakdown.” The programmers often
appreciate those kinds of comments because
they usually don’t know the music.
Let them run the console.
Hint # 2: Don’t touch the spotlights.
Every show has either key lights or spotlights
trained on one specific person on
stage. The house director has balanced
and color corrected them to perfection
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Things That Go
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Special effects and how
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haze generators.
If you are lucky, there will be a good programmer
already there at the festival who
has a buttload of looks pre-programmed
in the console.
for the camera. Again, you may think
that your artist is going to hate this light
in his eyes (he will), but he will hate you
more if he appears too dark on the stage
when his mug shows up on that flat
screen around 11 p.m.
Of course, there are occasional exceptions.
Ten years ago I was lighting
Kid Rock when he performed on some
televised awards show. He had a hit song
called “Devil” that started with a monologue.
I sat with LD Alan Branton and
had to insist that he put a red gel in the
spotlight for the opening monologue
of this number. It was important to the
artist that he looks evil. Alan whined,
but finally got over it once I assured him
that the red would go away after the first
20-second intro.
A Corporate CYA Strategy
plsn
As musical acts age, they no longer
have hit records, and they become novelty
acts, performing at corporate parties.
The upside is that these bands can demand
more money than they did when
they packed arenas. The downside is that
they have to play in front of a bunch of
drunks dancing with their wives on a parquet
floor. But it’s all about the money.
Face it, these bands are happy that anybody
still wants to pay them and dance
to their tunes.
At half of these shows, the acts will
demand that the client rent their specified
lighting package. Then it’s an easy
day for the LD. But at a lot of these corporate
events, the band LD will have to
make do with whatever gear is provided.
At these times, I find it wise to set up
about 30 faders with various punt cues.
One fader may bally the lights, one may
chase intensities, and so on.
Hint #3: The important thing is that
you adopt a CYA strategy, lighting-wise,
for the few essential cues that each artist
demands in their performance, like
blackouts and strobes at specific times.
All the rest will be fine.
Punting at Festival Shows
plsn
Festival shows (often put on by local
radio stations) are a big part of a lot of
new acts’ itineraries. This gives a young
band a chance to perform (albeit for little
money) in front of a large crowd. This
Hint #5: Trust your local programmer;
chances are he’s good.
is a good way to build a following.
Organizers of these festivals will often
hire me to design a lighting rig that
each band’s LD can use. If you are lucky,
there will be a good programmer already
there who has a buttload of looks preprogrammed
in the console. Otherwise,
I build my Ultimate Punt Page in an hour
and I am set to go.
Hint #4: It’s my personal belief that
the stupidest thing any band LD can do
is come in on the day of show and try and
recreate their entire show, cue by cue. It
takes forever, keeps other LDs from getting
time to familiarize themselves with
the light rig and makes you unpopular
with the local lighting vendor. It really
tends to look better when you just punt.
What NOT to Do
plsn
A few years ago, I had a big-name
act coming to play one of my radio festivals.
The LD is a great guy and his touring
show looks fantastic. As a favor, he
asked me to bring him down a portable
WYSIWYG visualizer system so he could
clone his entire 45 minute set from his
show disk to the lights I had on the rig
that day. I was not going to argue; heck,
he’s my friend.
So for eight hours, this guy sat alone
backstage behind his grandMA, typing
away. The other LDs and I ran all the other
bands off the punt page and the show
looked great. When it came time for the
big name artist, we loaded in his show
disk and prepared for the best.
Unfortunately, the whole plan backfired.
The focus positions for the moving
lights were not precise and the colors
didn’t match. But the worst part of it all
was that the stage was extremely dark.
He had lights sweeping around the arena,
strobes going off at the right time,
but he overlooked the one basic rule of
concert illumination. No matter what,
you always have to “light the money.” All
the cool cues in the world will be worthless
if you cannot see the artist on stage.
A Handwritten Sheet
plsn
Hint #5: Trust your local programmer;
chances are he’s good. I can program almost
any console faster than most. But
as soon as I get to a gig I didn’t design, I
look for the programmer and we have a
few words. If I am confident in his ability,
I simply hand him a handwritten sheet
with the lighting cues I need and where
on the console to place them.
Today, I find myself on the set of the
Jimmy Kimmel show. I know the talented
house LD is working the room. Pete Radice
is behind the Virtuoso console here. I
am clueless on this beast, but I have faith
in Pete. I have given him a list of cues to
be placed in front of me, and I have full
confidence in his programming ability.
While he works, I spend the afternoon
reminiscing with Christian Hibbard
and Kylie. The stage is outside and the
sunlight is blinding, yet I have no fear.
Pete does this for a living and deals with
guest LDs every day. I have no doubt that
tonight’s show will be the best one ever.
Nook is a freelance lighting designer and
he can be reached at nook@plsn.com.