correct colour

[garsty]

Hi all

I have a show coming up soon where I have to light a female African American singer aged around her 40's. The tour manager has asked that I use source fours to highlight the singer. Thing is I'm not sure what would be the best gell or color correction to use. Antone got any Ideas?

All advice appreciated

 

Thanks :)

[woody74]

Short answer: Whatever fits the show.

 

Long answer: There is no such thing as "correct". If she has a tour manager, she should have a rider that should detail lighting requirements. If the tour manager is leaving it up to you, you can either decide on your own (after you know what color her skin is), or you can ask what previous venues have used. They have asked you to "highlight" the singer: my take is that you need to separate her from whatever else is happening on-stage. Neutral colors and backlight are your friend.

 

HTH,

-w

 

edit: spell check...

[Ynot]

I'm with Woody.

I'm also bemused that a (verbal?) rider should just specify the type of lantern he/she wants to be used...

And I'm well aware that many riders can be odd and often wild in what they demand/request, but to spec a Source 4 lantern but NOT give any advance idea of preferred colour seems ridiculous...

 

Oh, and simply saying that the talent is 'African American in her 40's' is going to get nowhere!

No disrespect intended at all but just as there are differing shades of 'white' there are many shades of dark skin....

 

You can NOT be expected to second guess. Insist that if they HAVE a specific preference they make it clear.

[tokm]

I'm also bemused that a (verbal?) rider should just specify the type of lantern he/she wants to be used...

Chances are this tour manager just interchanged the word profile with s4.. I've seen/heard it a few times in the past, its just becoming an alternative word due to popularity/common-ness, similar to how the yanks call profiles Leko's & certain people calling all forms/types of ML's.. Vari*lites.

 

In terms of a colours for this job.. I'd stick with peoples suggestions of something neutral and close to O/W. A steel blue, L117, L202, maybe even 201. Or a nice straw L021 or L103 would be my suggestions.

 

Just depends on if you prefer warm or cold, what the rest of the rig has in it & making a judgement call on how dark the skin colour is.

 

Just my views...

 

Tom

[niclights]

You might scare a TM by asking for more details! I wonder if perhaps the TM is also the op & might well have not mentioned gel because they don't want any. I agree with Tokm that it is just like using 'Mac' to refer to any moving light.

 

Personally I would go warm either by open with low intensity or use chocolate/CTO - 156/207?

[tokm]

Personally I would go warm either by open with low intensity or use chocolate/CTO - 156/207?

Doh', forgot about that colour, must be the tiredness!

 

it is just like using 'Mac' to refer to any moving light

Doh'.... Bloody tiredness again.

 

..wonder if perhaps the TM is also the op & might well have not mentioned gel because they don't want any.

I'd agree with that. There could be a good chance that if they've not told you anything then either as Nic suggested, they don't want any at all or they're happy with whatever they get (within the realms of being reasonably suitable).

 

Best bet would be for you to ring up the TM, ask what colour he wants, if any. Just say 'oh, it wasn't mentioned before so thought I'd check' (makes you look like your paying attention!) Then if they say 'just pick something you things alright', then let us know and we'll all post our views and leave it up to you to make a judgement call based on your feelings/views and how many 'votes' people have put down for what colours :)

 

HTH,

 

Tom

[garsty]

Thanks all for your help guys. The reason he asked for S4's is that he was sent our tech spec and asked for 2 S4's on the front truss to highlight the singer. Her tour manager is a sound engineer and I quote " doesn't really care about lighting". :)

[daemon]

If you are only using 2 profiles to light the singer then I'd suggest splitting the colours side to side as you might for a play. Depending on the type of music maybe O/W and L162 or O/W and L201. Then you can use them by themselves as a single side highlight with backlight or together. A colour that I have found to work very well on dark skin is L776 but it is a bit dark for this application I would think.

 

I'd stay away from anything greeny like L117, imho doesn't do nice things to dark skin!

 

Just my 2c.

[Just Some Bloke]

My personal opinions, for what they're worth (very little!)

 

Not sure why you'd want cold colours for a singer? Play, yes, but singer probably not (depending on the music).

o/w - OK. Probably what they'll expect if they haven't specified a colour.

021 - Much too ambery for a highlight, I'd say.

103 - Fine

156 - Chocolate will look nice as a fill colour but not so good for key lighting

162 - Just too caucasian for me! Steer clear of colours with some pink in them

201 - OK if you specifically want it to look cold, but otherwise probably not

776 - Will look very nice, but is not particularly naturalistic. If that's Ok then give it a go!

117 - Much more blue than green, but again probably not right for a singer

 

My choice? Something yellowy but not overly so from one side (159? 763? 103?) and something like 156 or 776 from the other.

 

If I were you I'd ignore everyone and have a play on the day!

[garsty]

A colleague of mine has recomended L109 and L137

 

Any opinions on these

[Roderick]

Hard one to answer with little detail!

 

My impression is that the singer wants to be highlighted against the band behind her.

So use some deep colours to wash the stage (ambers, blues, purples, etc.) and light colours for the singer.

I'd suggest a L201 and a L103 backlight (gives you the possibility to chance the warmth) and o/w and L136 (L+R) from the front.

It would also be good to know if she just stands CS behind the mic or tends to walk around :)

[Just Some Bloke]

A colleague of mine has recomended L109 and L137

 

Any opinions on these

 

Very nice for a white girl.

[Jivemaster]

Often in pictures it's the backlights -regardless of colour- that really separate dark tones from the background. Depends on the hair though.

[J Pearce]

What else is in the rig?

 

201/202 in a source four will be cold against Parcans etc, but will be fairly neutral against MAC600s and the like.

[Ken Coker]

Antone got any Ideas?

 

Hi. Antone here.

 

The pic below, from an Othello of mine, shows some of the issues of lighting non-white performers.(And I speak as someone who comes fresh from a night of Nigerian comedy and rap music at the Brixton Academy). As the picture shows, I didn't deal with it terribly well.

 

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f184/kclx1/Othello.jpg

 

I think the two major issues are:

 

1. Producing a natural skin colour

2. Contrast (A very major issue if one is filming.)

 

Point one is addressed by applying the "usual" rules. Pale tints are probably the order of the day as many have pointed out. My personal view is that the heavy blue CT filters drain colour from the performer; nothing heavier than 218 I would advise. As others point out, put in the heavy colour washes from the back.

 

Point two can be addressed by not having elements that are seemingly "brighter" and that thus draw away the eye - white girl, white duvet is obviously an issue in the Othello pic. This contrast issue was a real problem in the Brixton gig - white banner behind performer - but we solved it by using saturated colours on the white hangings. Thus I would advise a nice white cyc behind the performer/band but always with a deep colour on it. It also gives a handy place to do gobos and things.

 

Hope that helps.

 

KC

 

(Might I take this occasion to thank my two spot ops from Brixton; it's never easy lighting three rappers with two spots!!)