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By Nick Van Houten
Howl for the Moon
A design team moves the moon for
Bat Boy: The Musical.
While working as the lighting designer for the Spring production
of Bat Boy: The Musical at Cal State University,
Fullerton, Scenic Designer Brad Shelton approached
me with the idea of incorporating an automated, flying moon
as a key story-telling device throughout the show’s many settings.
It soon became obvious to the both of us that if we were
going to take the effort to include a light on the automated rig
to illuminate the moon, a digital projector would also do the job
just as well, in addition to providing more artistic options. It also
created an entirely new set of challenges.
With my new compound title (projection and lighting
designer) I began to design the video control system. I chose to
drive the video using Figure 53’s QLab software. The final show
file included several sub-cuelists and the software allowed the
operator to use a simple, primary interface, while the software
ran many complex fades and transitions between both still and
video content throughout the show. The signal was carried from
the control booth to the traveling projector via VGA-over-Cat5
extenders, piggybacking on the
house audio and lighting networking
infrastructure. Content came
from a variety of sources including
Corbis, Pond5, as well as some
that we created in-house, such as a
silhouette of the actor portraying
Edgar (Bat Boy).
In terms of the automation,
Technical Director Dan Geesing
devised a flying support system
based off a traditional performer
flying rig. Supported from a central
40-foot stick of box truss, the system
consisted of a primary “gantry”
which rode on two tracks on the
upstage and downstage sides of
the truss. The gantry rode on skateboard
wheels for near-silent operation
as it created the “X coordinate”
of the moon position. For lift (the
“Y coordinate”), two cables looped
down from the upstage and downstage
side of the gantry, supporting the large moon as well as
the projector cradle (nicknamed the cockpit for its shape). These
two lines went back to a central termination at a second winch.
To deal with cable management on the rig itself, a festoon system
was used for the travel that then terminated at two separate
retractors on the gantry (one for video, another for power) to
automatically page the cable for the moon. The moon’s winches
The moon hangs in the background during this moment from the Cal State, Fullerton production
of Bat Boy: The Musical.
A schematic of the gantry rig developed to support the moon and video projector.
were controlled via the show’s scenery automation system
(Creative Conners’ SpikeMark). Automation Programmer David
Corigliano was able to create moving sweeps, time of day
changes, as well as dramatic moon-phase moves with accompanying
video content.
While it took a lot of work, the final product was truly stunning
and created a phenomenal new design element that we
were all proud of.
Edwin Lockwood
76 October 2010 • www.stage-directions.com