Lighting Designer, Rigger, Programmer and Operator - Full Production Gallery At The Bottom

Monday 23rd January till Wednesday 8th February 2024

Encounters (Dance Production)

Encounters was the firsts time I had lit a dance performance within an unusual performance building, such as a church. This venue placed lot's of challenges such as no rigging points, lack of power and suitable performance flooring which were all obstacles that us designers on the production faced and wanted to tackle. I found that working in this obscure venue helped me broaden my design abilities and physical skills as a technician. I also had a very enjoyable time working with the choreographers and dancers to produce a heart felt and dramatic story line for the production where I had to produce a design and then rig each fixture, whilst they all had a purpose and attribute that would enhance my design on the limited rigging structures.

I started the Lightings Production process by sitting with the set designers to understand and see their drawn plans for the performance. They had previously worked in this venue so they had an idea of the space, photos from that production and the rooms arrangement which all supported my initial ideas. They also informed me about a special part of the set which was a symbolic tree which would grow, return to the floor and grow again throughout one of the dance pieces. I then began to use the measurements of the stage, platform and seating layout to place lighting stands, work off the tree's rigging booms and use extensions from the platform (climbing wall) to rig lights off. I rigged lights on the trees lifting structure and place T-Stands in the Front Of House position and made my virtual 3D lighting design which helped me produce a lighting concept to show the set designers, director and the LX Team so everyone understood the first version of my lighting plan. I designed my lighting rig to have Wash Fixtures for performers light, Moving Head Spots for the effects (Gobo's, Prisms, Strobe) and specifically designed up and down lights to highlight particular areas or scenery such as the tree and climbing wall. Throughout the pieces I wanted to support the story lines by using colour theory to tell the audience the symbolic characters emotions and atmosphere by using clear colours to represent the corresponding thoughts and feelings of the characters.

Josh Hutchby's Performance - Refuges

This was the key element for my Up and Down Lights as I wanted the four high and low corners all the add a different vibrant woodland colour onto the tree which resulted into this unique throw of Greens, Yellows and Ambers which were also picked out by the dancers as they circled around the tree. I also added a bright warm white wash onto the stage so the dancers weren't washed out by the up/down lights and I used to spots to highlight the roots of the tree which had the refugees suite cases surrounding it which could link to the idea that the contents of their suitcase and the roots of the tree are the roots/background that has developed the child (where everything started from)

At this point in the performance the characters were in great danger so the idea that red would be the most suitable colour contrasting to the previous vibrant state (left photo) created a whole different atmosphere in the venue. Rather that placing all my lights into a deep red and washing out all the performers I wanted to use a variety of red and amber tones over the stage. The up and down lights were now not only providing different colour gradients onto the tree but casting light onto a few of the dancer who happened to be in its output however I feel this helped to brake up the single tone over the stage as the hints of amber made them dancers stand out and other dancers be more like a shadow in the dark red.

While most of the dancers were ascending up the climbing wall I still needed them to be seen so I used a dim Purple/Blue colour to wash them while drawing most of the attention to the main characters who were saying goodbye to their child. I specifically picked them out with the four spots around the stage so I could narrow down the highlighted area. This created an interesting look as when they performed the lift the dancer look as they were floating in the air. Overall I was really impressed with the outcome of this short lighting state.

Lindon Barr's Performance - Hip Hop

I was given the brief to produce a club/party style look to work with the music and would compliment the performers. I created a look which completely transformed the whole rooms atmosphere and uplifted everyone in the venue. I carefully selected my use of colours for each fixture depending where they were positioned and how they would light a dancer on stage, weather it was a Wash Light, Up/Down light where a dancer might cross through the output or a moving head spot which was performing a moving effect throughout this piece.

At this point in the performance it was a finishing beat in the music where the dancers froze and posed in place. I then designed a "Bump" cue which would aim the spots to hit this position and light the cue in the music for the finishing note. It was a designed which would focus all the attention on the frozen in statue moment for the performance.

For this part of the story line the mood became solemn as the characters slowly moved around the space in a contempory style. I wanted to pick out the two colours which would be connected with two opposing feelings such as danger being red and sad/worried being blue. I also added the gobo effects to create depth into my design and brake up the colours. Overall I feel this lighting state supported the on stage atmosphere accurately and provided further subconscious knowledge by referring the colours to feelings.

This was the final cue for Lindon Barr's piece where the dancers gathered in the centre and stood looing outwards in a circle. I wanted to remove the red from the last cue as the danger had pasted so by using the calm blue to give the stage colour and still providing the spotty gobo effect it resulted in a clean finish look for the piece.

Kayleigh Price's Performance - Wolf Pack

For the begining part part of the piece I was asked to provide a subtle stage wash where when a lead dancer stood up to perform solos or duets they could be picked out and focused on. To do this I washed the stage in a deep blue and added my moving head spots dimly with a spotty gobo as this may present itself as leaves or an uneven ground as this dance was set in the woods. By using the up lights I could pick out the dancers in a pick colour which still includes blue but by adding red creates a pick/magenta light.

At this moment in the piece theirs an additional group of dancers who are a threat to the current group on stage where the music drastically changes to a fight style scene so as the enemies enter I created a build up of strobe lighting and switched to a deep red and an opposing colour of white to pick out dancers as they cross a particular points on stage. This resulted in being a key moment for the show which many people said they could understand the story line because of the significant change in lighting without it being an overload of strobes and lights in peoples eyes.

After the entrance of the opposing group (Pack Of Wolves) they begin to get along and perform duets and lifts together showing their trust in each other. I wanted to make this subtle fade back to a calm lighting state with the input of the gobos through the air back lit and the spotty gobos on the floor as the dancer move around at the floor level.

On show night's I operated the room such as FOH (Audience), Backstage (Cast) and the Technical Team to oversee the timings so everything was on time and ready for opening the show. Once I was satisfied that most of the audience was seated I would call for the cast and crew to be on standby and then give the director the go ahead to make his opening announcements. Throughout the show I would show call the sound and video cues so it was in sync with lighting and for the final performance (Josh's Piece) I would coordinate the crew to rig the tree and I would check it's carabiners, belays and ropes. Once the show was over I would see out the audience and power down the LX and Sound system and turn off the Power Distro and Generator.

Watch The Show Here!

Behind The Scenes

I planned a site visit to the venue so I could accurately measure the stage placement, distance between the booms and cable runs. This was also a good opportunity to see the power outputs, where we can secure the booms and the audience placements. Overall it was helpful to see the space and accurately work out how my 3D designs and how my measurements would size up to the venue itself.

Once I had my initial plan I could start to enquire into different lighting fixtures as I could determine minimum and maximum beam angles, light output and gobo's. I approached different contacts to see what fixtures they had to offer because I could give them the brief about how many moving head Spots and Washes, and stationary Pars and Washes to achieve my LX Plan. Once I had feedback I confirmed lighting fixtures and requested for quotes. Also, because the venue had limited power I needed to enquire into hiring a Generator and Power Distribution for the LX and Sound equipment. Now I produced the quotes to the Production Manager and once all was agreed we paid the invoices and planned our pickup and drop off dates.

In preparation to the Get In, Tech and Shows I spent multiple days working on my show file ready to transfer it to the Element and gathering the lights, cable and sound system that we were using from personal hire stocks so it was ready to be loaded onto the van on the first day of the get in. I also briefed the team on the order everything needed to be assembled in so we could have the system ready in enough time so if their was any issues we had time to solve them. Within my briefing I also handed out a number of documents which had the Grid Plan, Fixture information (Channel mode and DMX Address) and the Magic Sheet.

At the beginning of the get in period I managed a team of five to build the rigging structure and support me with the fixture prep so I could place each fixture exacly where I wanted it to be. I organized my LX team to work in a production line so one person had the fixture settings sheet and would tell a prep technician what fixture I would need next so they could add the clamp and safety chain, the fixture was then handed to the next person who would input the DMX Address and Channel Mode and then pass it to me as I rigged one of the booms. This method of the production line worked really well so the rigging prosses didn't take very long. Then I solely worked on the DMX paths, power for the fixtures and sound system.

The day before my technical rehearsal I attended a full run of the production so I could begin to note lot's of key moments, ideas and the choreographers visions for sections or story lines for their pieces giving me lot's of design concepts for each piece. Then following into the technical rehearsal day I could eagerly begin to programme most cues and then block each one with the cast cue to cue. In a matter of three hours I had completed programming and we were ready to do a dress rehearsal.

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