Simple rig for a school drama studio

[Johnno]

Our drama teacher has asked me to equip her studio with a lighting rig on a budget of around £600. The stage is about 14x7ft. About 2ft in front of it there is some sort of roof beam which with its supporting walls forms a proscenium arch with an opening 20ft wide and 8ft high.

 

I'm thinking that a 6m pole could be attached to the vertical surface of the beam by boom arms spaced across the width, as there isn't room for stand-off brackets. Would that be an inadvisible way of proceeding?

 

The pole would hang a few inches below the beam making access easy (8ft above the floor) so any pupil interested in lights could be allowed to rig it after some safety instruction.

 

Four or five par 56s would probably be enough to light the stage. Would it be worth getting a few par 38s or par 16s as well? I've no experience of anything smaller than a 56 so don't know how much light they put out, but the stage is not very big and the lights would be close to it so I wonder if this might give interested pupils more to play with?

 

The Terralec catalogue lists a basic 8-channel DMX deck and 4-channel dimmer packs. These would come to £300 so I've about £200 to spend on lanterns. 56s are £25, 38s £15, and 16s £10, inc lamps.

 

For the past two years the stage has been lit by the room's fluorescent lights so the Drama Queen has done well to get money for an upgrade.

 

Any thoughts appreciated.

[johnhuson]

To be honest a budget of £600 really is tight. My suggestion with that sort of budget would be you get a reputable installer to fit an internally wired bar into the studio, terminated at either Socapex connectors or a patch bay at floor level. Then hire in lanterns, dimmers and controls as and when required. If at a later date you have more budget then invest in dimmer, control and lanterns as you can.

 

If this is planned to be a teaching tool then having just PAR's isn't the way to go, you will also need Frenels & Profiles to be able to demonstrate the basic's of theatrical lighting.

 

Budget equipment as your suggesting is fine, and has it's place, I'm not knocking it. However expect to get what you pay for, budget equipment is built at minimal cost and because of this you will not get the quality of more expensive equipment. Generally it doesn't take well to heavy wear and tear (important in an educational enviornment) so expect the lifespan of budget equipment to be significantly shorter than that of 'professional' equipment.

 

You also need to consider what size power supply is readily available. Finally make sure you get professional structural advice before installing a bar.

 

Just my thoughts, anyway which ever way you go I hope it all works out for you.

[Ynot]

OK - bit by bit:

 

Our drama teacher has asked me to equip her studio with a lighting rig on a budget of around £600. The stage is about 14x7ft. About 2ft in front of it there is some sort of roof beam which with its supporting walls forms a proscenium arch with an opening 20ft wide and 8ft high.

Only 8 ft high? That's gonna get warm!!

I'm thinking that a 6m pole could be attached to the vertical surface of the beam by boom arms spaced across the width, as there isn't room for stand-off brackets. Would that be an inadvisible way of proceeding?

First thing to realise is that it's unlikely that, due to school H & S restrictions, you will not be able to hang ANYTHING off the walls/ceilings yourself - the school will likely have to bring in an outside contractor (covered by all the usual insurance guff etc). Now, whether this could be done outside of your budget is down to the relationship with the head/governrs...

The pole would hang a few inches below the beam making access easy (8ft above the floor) so any pupil interested in lights could be allowed to rig it after some safety instruction.

Again, even 8 ft off the deck MAY cause problems with the school's H & S policies. However, as you work there, that'll be a relatively easy question to answer, but will need checking, obviously.

Four or five par 56s would probably be enough to light the stage. Would it be worth getting a few par 38s or par 16s as well? I've no experience of anything smaller than a 56 so don't know how much light they put out, but the stage is not very big and the lights would be close to it so I wonder if this might give interested pupils more to play with?

With only a small number of lanterns to play with, you may be better getting a handfull of the Multi-pars. Used Lighting have some Studio Beams and multi-pars in at around £50-60 each (bubble may be extra). These are as bright as a 1kW Par 64 and only use a 575W bubble. They also have the advantage of the 4 lenses allowing a quick change of beam angle.

The Terralec catalogue lists a basic 8-channel DMX deck and 4-channel dimmer packs. These would come to £300 so I've about £200 to spend on lanterns. 56s are £25, 38s £15, and 16s £10, inc lamps. I don't know Terralec stuff, but looking at their web site, it is probably good emnough for a small school studio.

 

What you've missed, unless you already HAVE them, is cables. Assuming for the moment that you're going to run loose cables, then you still need to buy at least a half-dozen cables (one for each of the 6 Multi-pars...) with either IEC plug one end and (preferably) a 15A socket t'other, or 15A both ends, and some IEC-15A converters. That won't come in as cheap as you might think.

 

Next thing to clarify - power feed...

What are you plugging these dimmers into? And where are they going?

Do you plan to hard-wire them in one place or have them portable? If the latter, remember that they WILL deteriorate quicker than if sited in a single place.

Do you have sufficient capacity on the mains feeds to cope with an extra 16Amps each (max) - you may well load them up with kit from elsewhere at times...

And don't forget that unless the feed you use is supplying NOTHING else then EVERYTHING else on that r1ng must be considered.

 

Some of this may sound a little basic, but rather than give half a story....

(And you did ask...! :))

[DavidLee]

Our drama teacher has asked me to equip her studio with a lighting rig on a budget of around £600.

Sorry but this budget is too small. For a drama studio Par cans really aren't suitable. You need to be looking at a basic rig of eight fresnels with barn doors to give you basic control. Rock bottom quality (not recommended) would be DTS 300/500 (ie Teatros) which would come in at about £75 each complete with lamp and hardware. The cheapest desk with decent control is the Behringer LC2412 at about £145, but this has problems driving cheap dimmer packs - although there are workarounds and Behringer at last appear to be interested in solving the problems. Showtec MultiDim 4-way dimmer packs come in at about £60 each. You should be able to pick up a second hand aluminium scaff bar for £25 to £30 if you're prepared to scrub and polish it. Add cables and your looking at a minimum of about £800 (Looking at Thomann prices). Upgrade that to some decent lanterns and you're looking at say £1600 to £1800 minimum - if you can find a decent deal on the fresnels/PCs. AC lighting still have ADB 500W PCs at £75 each (for Lantern only plus colour frame), which are a licenced clone of Minuettes (although latest versions have front plate pop-riveted rather than screwed, which makes maintenance more difficult). If you go with ADBs then DON'T buy ADB barndoors - they're identical to Minuettes but much more expensive - so specify Minuette BDs.

 

Two feet is not far enough away from the stage for an FOH bar.

 

David

[James]

I've done a little work at a local school.

 

Generaly I bring a whole rig into their qym and light a show from scratch.

 

Last summer the drama department asked me to light a show in their studio, they have lovely IWBs 24ch of DMX dimming with a perfectly adequate mains supply,

 

Unfortunatly their lanterns were not in a good state, there were only 4 gell holders between 24 lanterns, no barn doors, no shutters, some lanterns were missing lenses others had blown bulbs.

 

Aparently it is easy to get a one off grant to buy equipment, but very hard to get money to maintain it.

 

Please, only buy lanterns with some of your £600 if there is guaranteed funds ringfenced for the maintanence of the equipment.

 

It was depressing to have to bring in a whole set of lanterns when with a little money their rig would have been perfectly usable.

 

Just my 2p.

 

 

James

[pritch]

Aparently it is easy to get a one off grant to buy equipment, but very hard to get money to maintain it.

 

Remember... lanterns are for life, not just for Christmas.

[paulears]

It is very difficult to get a grant to buy equipment. There are however, funds available if a school has xyz status - so an arts status school should have some proper money for lighting. £600 to me, indicates the teacher is trying to do it through the BSME account - small stuff intended! Big money is always allocated in the previous school year, with purchase usually during the summer break, so the practical financial year goes sept-sept. As this is an unofficial installation, then it may well be possible to just buy a few bits of kit, and get the technician to install them.

 

The idea for a low lighting bar, despite the problems, is actually one way schools can get the rigging elements of things like the first diplomas out of the way. Students have to rig and focus to pass - so something that is reachable from ground level (from rostra, maybe?) is perfect. The fact that it is too low for good angles doesn't really matter.

 

If you cut the quantity down to 4, buy some cheap chinese Fresnels and a 4 way dimmer, a few brackets and hardware - a reel of cable and a few plugs - this hould come in under £600. It's not great, but better than nothing, and isn't wasted when proper funds become available.

[DavidLee]

Just thinking a bit more sideways...

 

To get starting quickly and cheaply with a very basic rig you could start with a couple of stands with T-bars, four or six DTS 300/500Watt fresnels, a couple of 4-way DMX dimmer packs and a cheap 6-way plus master DMX controller - the dimmer packs can be mounted on the stands and only need a 13A outlet so you won't need any extension cabling - just DMX cable. In a drama studio the kit will always be useful even when you have raised the money to upgrade to a lighting bar and decent desk & dimmers.

 

Have a look at the kit on offer from Thomann - www.thomann.de/gb/lighting_and_stage.html.

 

David

[Johnno]

Thanks for your observations.

 

The "drama studio" is a plain vanilla classroom that has been pressed into use for the drama department. Previously it was a storeroom used only for exams. I can do nothing about its geometry or the layout of the stage. There is no money for such work. It's a long thin room with a suspended ceiling and a stage has been built at one end. That's it.

 

The Drama Queen first asked me to get "one of those lighting things that have three-or-four lights on branches", or words to that effect. I didn't fancy that as it would be free standing and that's not a good idea with children milling around.

 

I don't know where the money is coming from but it's unlikely that any serious money will be spent on the room. If it ever is then we will get a proper job done. Until then it's £600 for the lot! Quality (=reliability) is not a huge issue as usage is likely to be quite low and anything has to be better than using room fluorescents.

 

I had allowed for cabling etc., and it will all run off one 13A socket - hence the low powers of the lights.

 

A further possibility has occurred to me since posting yesterday. Instead of a horizontal pole I could put a vertical one at each side of the "proscenium". There would be room for a few physically small lights on each. If a central light was needed as well then a lantern or two could be individually fixed to the wall, centre stage. Such fixtures wouldn't offer horizontal travel but with such a small stage that probably wouldn't matter. I'm warming to this idea as nothing would need hanging above anyone's head and the walls will probably be easier to drill than whatever forms the arch.

 

I can borrow lights from the school hall's collection if need be. We've a few small fresnels and profiles that I could spare, and plenty of Strand 137s. Although that sounds like overkill to me, since if the drama teacher actually wants "proper" lighting she can use the hall stage at anytime for her lessons or rehearsals. Plus there would be electric supply problems with more powerful lamps.

 

All H&S matters will be addressed. For those that did not realise I'm school staff, not a student, although I know I sometimes sound like the latter :)

 

This is a "bog-standard" state school: one does what one can with the resources available, and they are few and widely scattered. The Drama Queen has done good things in the two years she's been here. There wasn't a drama department before she came. There is no school theatre technician (I'm the science technician but luckily (for the school) I have excellent skills for AV work). We are at the bottom of the UK's educational theatrical heap and looking up. In ten years time I may laugh at the naivete of my approach today. Until then improvements to our equipment or knowlege will be very incremental.

[back_ache]

I would suggest looking at a secondhand dealer such as http://www.usedlighting.co.uk, bettter old gold then new tat! the exception for the that would be the dimmers I would suggest bar mounted 4 way dimmer packs(though used lighting sell them from new as well.

[Bean]

I general 2nd lanterns are perfectly fine. We have 40 odd lanterns of all ages, all going strong.

 

El-Cheapo stuff is get better and more reliable, just be aware that some things don't have to be new, some dimmers will last for a good 30 years.

 

So shop around, and its probably a good idea to consult us when buying specific lamps (some are real devils)

[David A]

Now I do small drama studio's all the time and with the budget you've got your original idea was spot on.Try and get the horizontal bar though, I would use 48mm 1.6 wall steel tube as you don' need any great heavy bar to hold 8 or 9 cans.It may be worth seeing if any of the kids parents is a rigger/engineer to help rig it.Because your so close a light frost in the lights may be usefull

[Stegga]

Our drama teacher managed to get a new rig (25 strand Fresnel's, 10 par 64s, profiles, codas etc) by threatening to leave!!! this is how she gets most things - the head loves her

it might be worth talking to the governors or the PTA to see if they could raise some money etc?