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LD-AT-LARGE
P R O J E C T I O N L I G H T S & S TA G I N G N E W S
By NookSchoenfeld
The Hack Designer
Every once in a while, we take on
a gig where it becomes evident
that we are dealing with someone
who cannot handle his or her job competently.
We witness some questionable
decisions being made by someone
in charge. It’s politically correct to grin
and bear it, as we work long hours to
make the best of an errant design. In
short, part of our job description is not
to laugh, but just deal with the amateurism
of what I call “the hack designer.”
The Right Way
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I have worked side-by-side with
some amazing designers. I have spent
years honing my craft by watching others
and learning how to do things the
right way. This is why I like to teach
people the proper way to design a visual
production. I’d like to take some time
to point out mistakes that I witnessed
this year and how up-and-coming designers
could avoid becoming a hack
themselves.
A designer should put some
thought into which fixtures are necessary
for a particular gig. Before you design
a lighting rig, you need to look at
the big picture. Figure out where all the
set elements will be placed. Pick which
fixture types work best to light the subjects
and work them in with various
video and set elements on that show.
The Wrong Way
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Last year I worked with some people
on a tour that had a lot of video
elements. The lighting designer had
spec’d a bunch of moving light fixtures
that weren’t bright enough to compete
with the wall of video on stage. Upon
seeing the plot, I wrote the LD and suggested
they switch to a more powerful
instrument that may cut through and
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Once they realized their mistake, the LD
came up to me and requested that I exchange
all the hard-edged lights for fewer
fixtures that were brighter but more
expensive.
actually light the band from a 35-foot
trim height. I was told that they had
carefully calculated what would work,
and they would like to use what they
spec’d on the plot. So I did as told. Once
they saw their first show, they realized
they had made a mistake and needed
to swap out all the hard edges fixtures
for another type.
On another project, I had an LD
place a lot of lights on a truss obstructed
by video panels. The physical
design was not well thought out in
advance. Had this designer spec’d the
proper fixtures and placement, they
could have actually shot beams of light
through the low-res walls and gotten
some dramatic effects. Once they realized
their mistake, the LD came up to
me and requested that I exchange all
the hard-edged lights for fewer fixtures
that were brighter but more expensive.
This was not a problem, as you can do
anything if you throw enough money
at it. Of course, when the management
got the bill from the lighting company
for the overnight trucking of all the new
fixtures, they were not thrilled. Neither
were the techs who had to rewire, patch
and re-address everything.
The Ghetto Way
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Last year, I was sent a lighting plot to
build for a touring act. The plot had all
kinds of views of how precisely placed
they wanted every truss and light. They
even included a front view with a scale
rule on the side so the lighting vendor
could hang all the lights at heights
specified. I got one of the best lighting
crew chiefs in the world to construct
this exactly as drawn, with clamps and
pipes that were cut to order. One day
before the guy was to put everything in
the truck, the LD questioned, “Why are
they using pipes and clamps to build
this structure? They should make it out
of some wire rope and small pipes to
my spec.” The plot specifically showed a
grid of pipes. The poor tech ended up
working all night to change what was
drawn and put the new hardware in
the truck. When the LD saw the design
hanging at rehearsals, he went up to
this tech to inform them that it was all
“ghetto” and he had hung it all wrong.
The tech got out the plot and pointed
out that he had built it perfectly to the
dimensions drawn. The designer simply
shrugged and said that we shouldn’t
pay attention to details and it was their
prerogative to change everything on
site. That defines a hack LD in my book.
I learned a long time ago that whenever
you give someone a drawing of your set
or light rig, they would duplicate it. If
you didn’t want what you submitted,
why draw it that way?
The Blame Game
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I once worked with a band that had
a full week of rehearsals with a lighting
rig hanging in a building. It took a full
day for us to iron out the rigging and
make the whole light rig work. Then
for three days we sat around twiddling
thumbs while the LD tinkered around
and didn’t program a single song. Finally,
the band showed up and wanted
to see some looks. “Uh oh,” we thought.
The designer brought up a few looks
and played some video back while the
band played on the sound stage. As
we sat off to the side and watched the
band tell the LD they “just weren’t feeling
it,” we realized we were in trouble.
We had seen this picture before. When
a hack designer is in hot water, they
try to deflect the blame. They chose
to say that they had no programming
time because the lighting gear kept
breaking and the crew couldn’t make
it work long enough to program anything.
Sure, moving lights sometimes
break and need to be roped down
and replaced after being fixed, but
that never stops any design team from
doing their gig. All I could do was sit
there and feel the tire tracks as I was
thrown under the bus so someone
could protect their job. This designer
lost all respect from the crew.
I was bummed at myself this month.
I designed a touring lighting rig when I
realized that I had four fixtures mounted
in some truss that were useless, as they
were being blocked by scenic elements.
I noticed this while in rehearsals, so lowering
the truss and moving the fixtures
took about an hour. My techs laughed
when I apologized for not seeing this
ahead of time. They said this was nothing.
They had worked with hacks that
moved lights around the rig for weeks
before they were content. I was respected
by these techs, and they just thanked
me for doing this now as opposed to
when the tour started.
So to avoid becoming a hack designer,
there are some simple unwritten
rules. Think before you design a light
rig, and design it within your budget
constraints. Choose the fixtures you
really need to augment the other elements
in your show. When you draw
something on a plot, it will be constructed
precisely to your specification,
so know what you want before you ask
for it. Take advantage of every programming
minute you have so you’re not
embarrassed when the client walks into
the gig. And most of all, treat your crew
with respect and they will bend over
backwards for you. Blame them for your
own inadequacies, and you are nothing
but a hack in their eyes.
You don’t have to hack into Nook
Schoenfeld’s computer to reach him.
Just send an e-mail to nschoenfeld@
plsn.com.