Big Jay Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 As we all know, many lighting designers have very different approaches to how they do their design, I am just interested to know, what do you do with your design, how do you approach things, what things to you take into consideration, how self critical are you and is this healthy? All persanol opions welcome. EDIT: missed something out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveP Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 how do you approach things By asking the director / touring company what they want. what things to you take into consideration Always have a plan 'b' and 'c' when your relying upon the actions or dialogue of peeps on stage for your lighting cues how self critical are you Very very very is this healthy? No .. it makes me go to the pub and drink beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 EDIT: missed something out.Yup.Some better info in the title would help...!:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody74 Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 what do you do with your designHang it.how do you approach thingsWith a large grain of salt.what things to you take into considerationBudget, time, equipment, crew, salary, available power, available control, script, director, and of course the show itself.how self critical are you and is this healthy?Only as critical as the situation warrants; if the show looks horrible but I had 2 fixtures from 1948, 2 hours to install, and a no control over lighting levels, I'm not going to beat myself up too much...All persanol opions welcome.Personally, I'd right-click the words underlined in red and fix the spelling... -w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBoomal Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 I make the design the best I can for the budget I'm given. Got to be honest and say this is a very silly pointless empty limitless question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Q.what do you do with your designGo over it as many times as possible on paper then transfer the plan of the space/bar/club/stage to msd or showcad and check beam angles and coverageQ.how do you approach thingswith the eyes of a punter,owner and professional (everyone can always do a better job apparently!!!)Q.what things to you take into considerationCost,reliability,impact and service-abilityQ.how self critical are you and is this healthy?got to be self critical otherwise you stop been creative, it's not healthy when other people critisize and you wont concede that they may have a point/different idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottmcleod Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 I think he's wondering how you tend to figgure out your systems? Do you do your general washes first and specials last, or vice versa? Do you make lists of "the show would be perfect if we had", then AXE, or "the show needs these essentials", and add on? Personally, I tend to break the stage down into the acting areas, and then figgure out my main washes, then work my specials on a seperate list as I dream them up. Unfortunately, I tend to not have very much "free time" or "free labour" to help me, so I often stick to my house plot, and re-shutter/focus lights as I see fit. Just the other day I noticed one of my backlights is a metric assmonkey out of focus, and I realise that it was because I used it as a special on a set from 2 months ago. unfortunately, my shoulder is injured, so I can't fix it until my shoulder's fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamtastic3 Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Hehe Woody74, you have some great, witty humour... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedd Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 We're in the slightly bizarre position that our director does pretty much all the lighting design, including positioning of fixtures on bars, and a lot of programming. It's not that nobody else can do it, but he does do a very good job! He'll sit at the back with his laptop playing back tracks from the show (musical theatre) and moving his arms about pretending to be moving heads. Looks rather bizarre but he produces some very good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frazer Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 1. Read the script once straight through2. Organise the script into an a4 folder with a blank page between each page of text3. Read the script again, this time paying particular attention to direction notes - jot down any ideas.4. Attend production meetings as necessary5. Attend a cueing meeting (or decide where the cues are yourself)5. Draw the lighting design plan6. Watch rehearsals to make sure it all works7. Re-draw bits as necessary8. Organise any hires/purchases of additional equipment/gels/gobos etc9. Plot, tech, dress.10. Collect fee. :) Wikipedia - Lighting Designer Frazer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadyn.williams Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 I know a few designers that will read a script and have a discussion with the creative team and then go away and choose an image to use as a pallette for their design. Can be very effective! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryson Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Actually, I'm just designing a show right now. My (hugely inefficent) method is: Read Script.Randomly doodle plan.Destroy doodle because it's rubbish.Randomly doodle another plan.Destroy doodle because it's perfectly acceptable, but amazingly boring.Ignore it for ages.Watch rehearsals.Doodle plan.Watch more rehersals.Destroy doodle because the blocking is completely different.Spend 3 days attempting to get CAD programme to work.Freak out because US-style scales scare me.Draw plan in CADDelete everything except the ground plan because the plan drawn was rubbish and boring.Redraw plan.Delete everything because although interesting, it won't actually light anything.Redraw plan.Hang.Move almost everything.Plot.Replot.Repeat.Watch preview.Replot.Give in.Collect fee. All art is never finished, merely abandoned.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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