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Post by jaggedlittlepie on Nov 17, 2024 21:10:17 GMT
Spotlights are very common, there are automated ones which use sensors. These are typically little boxes that are pinned into someone's wig, or slotted inside a puppet or hat. In a lot of theatres spotlights are manually operated by lighting crew members. They are usually positioned at the back of the auditorium, but can be near the side of stage depending on the space. The most common types of spots are a full body - where the size of the spot is expanded to light the whole actor, and a half-body, where the technician is aiming to light the actors face + upper torso. Obviously with manually operated spots, especially in shows that have just opened, there can be teething errors where a spot op will find it hard to pick up an actor, or get used to their rhythm of moving on stage.
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Post by fclou on Nov 17, 2024 22:57:51 GMT
Like all things answering a question opens a can of worms. So curious with lighting, is spotlights used now as often? I have never seen one used at the Menier, as I guess it wouldn’t be possible? I have noticed a kind of robotic automated spotlight hung on the lighting rack above in the fly area. If this is the case how does an automated light follow a person, does the artist where a sensor for the light to follow? yes they do! sometimes when you are in a circle seat looking down on the stage that uses this type os spot, you can see the light a a little behind the actor as they move around the stage following the sensor. It is quite obvious at Cabaret as the spot follows Emcee around in If You Could See Her |
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Post by SuperTrooper on Nov 17, 2024 23:06:09 GMT
Like all things answering a question opens a can of worms. So curious with lighting, is spotlights used now as often? I have never seen one used at the Menier, as I guess it wouldn’t be possible? I have noticed a kind of robotic automated spotlight hung on the lighting rack above in the fly area. If this is the case how does a automated light follow a person, does the artist where a sensor for the light to follow? Veteran West End Spot Op here! People operating a physical Followspot do exist on many shows. Remote Followspots also exist, I've recently learnt one system. They are not as easy to use as there is a delay from the console to the lamp you are operating. Trackers are also used, the Actors wear sensors that are "tracked" by the lights. The delay on these is, (in my opinion) dreadful! In my long career I have often had to add extra cues to cover the moving lights if they mess up and have to be taken "out of service" on shows but the movers have yet to be able cover my cues if my Followspot breaks down. Personally, I think they should be used together. Remote Spots mean the operator doesn't need to climb a truss to the top of the Proscenium Arch, as they had to on WWRY! The lamp can be in the position needed and the Operator is safe elsewhere. The lights you noticed at Menier could be Trackers or just generic moving lights that are preprogrammed. Hope that helps |
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Post by Phantom of London on Nov 17, 2024 23:14:21 GMT
I remember Love Never Dies used a spotlight with someone sitting in the fly above the proscenium.
So what musicals use a human operated spots? Do plays use spotlights? Thinking something like Harry Potter does? But other plays don’t? I take it the spotlights are operated from the circle as this will give a 45 degree angle and won’t shine in across eyes.
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Post by SuperTrooper on Nov 17, 2024 23:30:23 GMT
I remember Love Never Dies used a spotlight with someone sitting in the fly above the proscenium. So what musicals use a human operated spots? Do plays use spotlights? Thinking something like Harry Potter does? But other plays don’t? I take it the spotlights are operated from the circle as this will give a 45 degree angle and won’t shine in across eyes. At least half a dozen (or more) musicals, that I can think of use people. Some shows use both. Some just remote spots. Harry Potter has people operating spots, they're needed because of the size of the venue. Plays do have spots sometimes. I once did a play, it was dull because there were so few cues! Remote Spots are the new thing and not really much cheaper than hiring the kit and a human to operate it! Some venues have Spot Boxes, Playhouses tend to have spots in the auditorium boxes or back of the Grand/Upper depending on the size of the Theatre and sight lines. |
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Post by fclou on Nov 17, 2024 23:34:11 GMT
Veteran West End Spot Op here! People operating a physical Followspot do exist on many shows. Remote Followspots also exist, I've recently learnt one system. They are not as easy to use as there is a delay from the console to the lamp you are operating. Trackers are also used, the Actors wear sensors that are "tracked" by the lights. The delay on these is, (in my opinion) dreadful! In my long career I have often had to add extra cues to cover the moving lights if they mess up and have to be taken "out of service" on shows but the movers have yet to be able cover my cues if my Followspot breaks down. Personally, I think they should be used together. Remote Spots mean the operator doesn't need to climb a truss to the top of the Proscenium Arch, as they had to on WWRY! The lamp can be in the position needed and the Operator is safe elsewhere. The lights you noticed at Menier could be Trackers or just generic moving lights that are preprogrammed. Hope that helps as with so many things in life - the human version more skilled and better than the modern tech version It was a lighting person who pointed out the lights at Cabaret to me and once I'd seen it I started to spot it other places. |
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Post by Jon on Nov 18, 2024 0:48:31 GMT
I remember seeing The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales and the spotlights looked they were remote spotlights..
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Post by SuperTrooper on Nov 18, 2024 2:44:27 GMT
I remember seeing The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales and the spotlights looked they were remote spotlights.. When? I can assure you they are not remote, but tucked away in the best Spot Box in the West End! 😁 |
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Post by Jon on Nov 18, 2024 2:47:23 GMT
I remember seeing The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales and the spotlights looked they were remote spotlights.. When? I can assure you they are not remote, but tucked away in the best Spot Box in the West End! 😁 It was back in 2013 but TBH my memory might be confusing it with another show. |
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Post by SuperTrooper on Nov 18, 2024 3:00:21 GMT
When? I can assure you they are not remote, but tucked away in the best Spot Box in the West End! 😁 It was back in 2013 but TBH my memory might be confusing it with another show. Definitely people! I was there, maybe not that day though! The remote technology has only really come through in the past few years (post pandemic) in Theatre, it was used more for gigs and arenas before then. |
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Post by Phantom of London on Nov 18, 2024 18:24:24 GMT
So if Menier use remote spot, as I guess for no other reason the venue is too small to use human operated spot, a space issue I guess. So using that as an example if a production did transfer to the West End does the lighting get redesigned, then may incorporate a human operated spot?
Another question the jig that hangs from the ceiling above the audience, sometime also incorporates speakers, or sometimes just lighting. I take it this is on a pulley and lowers down so that the lighting can be hung, I wouldn’t think that someone would go on a big stepladder or on a kind of abseil as sounds all dangerous. So if these are set up at ground level how are these aimed precisely at the stage?
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Post by properjob on Nov 19, 2024 18:38:44 GMT
So if Menier use remote spot, as I guess for no other reason the venue is too small to use human operated spot, a space issue I guess. So using that as an example if a production did transfer to the West End does the lighting get redesigned, then may incorporate a human operated spot? Another question the jig that hangs from the ceiling above the audience, sometime also incorporates speakers, or sometimes just lighting. I take it this is on a pulley and lowers down so that the lighting can be hung, I wouldn’t think that someone would go on a big stepladder or on a kind of abseil as sounds all dangerous. So if these are set up at ground level how are these aimed precisely at the stage? If a show moves venue then the lighting will be slightly tweaked to adjust for the new space. For a tour there is a person called a "relighter" who will adapt the design for each venues hanging positions and for a small tour that isn't touring its own lights they will need to adapt it for the host venues in house equipment. They will aim to reproduce the orginal lighting design as faithfully as they can. They will direct the focus (where the lights are pointed) and transfer and tweak the pre programed lighting cues into the control desk. To point the lights at the stage (apart from the moving lights) someone has to get up to them. This is true for both the lights above the auditorium and above the stage and yes it is a scary height. |
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Post by Phantom of London on Dec 1, 2024 0:45:49 GMT
Thanks not good at heights myself!
So I guess the lighting in the fly area can be accessed by a scaffold tower?
So the lighting above the auditorium, how does the lighting get up to these? It seems too precarious to use a stepladder, if the only way to access the lighting gantry then there has to be some sort of safety harness connected to the lighting rig? I say it wouldn’t be possible to use a tower here, as the auditorium is raked, so would be dangerous?
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Post by properjob on Dec 1, 2024 12:15:59 GMT
Thanks not good at heights myself! So I guess the lighting in the fly area can be accessed by a scaffold tower? So the lighting above the auditorium, how does the lighting get up to these? It seems too precarious to use a stepladder, if the only way to access the lighting gantry then there has to be some sort of safety harness connected to the lighting rig? I say it wouldn’t be possible to use a tower here, as the auditorium is raked, so would be dangerous? I've been out of the pro side of the business for some time and things were changing as I was leaving. In the auditorium where lights are coming through slots in the ceiling then there is generally catwalks behind to get to them. In studio theatres over the stage it is done with ladders as shown towards the end of this time-lapse What was mostly used on stages is a thing called a tallescope which is a vertical ladder with a bucket on the top on wheels. There was a problem as in theatre they are wheeled around with someone at the top of them and the manufacture did not like this when they found out. www.artshub.co.uk/news/news/theatre-industry-agrees-new-rules-on-tallescopes-184775-1218927/The industry has been trying to move to cherry pickers of scissor lifts but they are generally too big or heavy to use on stage. |
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