Lighting an 'arena' on a budget

[Simon MFR]

Hi all.

 

Lovely to be back, its been some time since my last post, or indeed visit, heaven knows why. I was talking to a colleague about musical screw-drivers one blows through to get a note just last week and I guess he spurred me on to rekindle this old blue flame. To business...

 

I'm doing a show mid-December for a choral group, the only problem being is that they want me to do the lighting too. I know the difference between a parcan and a minuet, but thats about it. The budget is £200. Are things looking bleak?

 

The chorus has around sixty singers and a wind/string band (the band don't need to be seen on this occasion), the room is pretty vast; approximately 100x240 ft, the stage area will be around 10x6 m. Through research, I was looking at getting 8 x PAR64 1000W Medium Floods on two t-bars either side of the stage area. That pretty much fits the financial budget with a little left over. The only thing the MD has stated, is that there must be no shadow on the stage and that the singers must be lit well enough to a) be seen, and b) to see their papers. Operating the lights shouldnt be a problem, ideally I would like to hve someone with me as I will be doing sound.

 

Thoughts?

[Russ83]

Are things looking bleak?

Not sure about bleak but maybe a little dim :D .

 

You could be struggling to avoid shadows if you are only using 8 lights but if that is the budget available that is what the director gets. Are there any other lights in the venue that can be used?

[Simon MFR]

Not sure about bleak but maybe a little dim :D

 

B'dum Chssh... :D

 

There are ceiling lights, but its a vast sports hall. A curtain separates the two 'rooms' for tennis/squash/things I dont do etc. The general idea is to have the lights from the stage and that would be about it. I was going to put them on the t-bars (stage L&R) but quite high as to spread the light. Is this a realistic idea?

[Russ83]

Not sure about bleak but maybe a little dim :D

B'dum Chssh... :D

Sorry I couldn't resist!

 

For choirs and concert bands I try and light from directly above and slightly in front so you can see their faces, get minimal shadows and light on their music. You should be able to achieve something similar to this from the T-bars at the side but they may require some tweaking once the choir is in place.

 

Couple of points to think about:

Do you have enough power/dimmers available and something to control them with?

Will the T-bars go high enough whilst remaining safe to give you the coverage you need?

Although they have said the band does not need to be seen they will need to see their music somehow.

[gareth]

60 singers take up a lot of room. A band/orch take up even more - and even if they don't need to be seen, they need enough light to read their parts.

 

How much height have you got? Any chance of hanging some kit from the roof? Putting stuff on stands is far from ideal for music reading, and if shadows are undesirable you're going to have problems ...

 

We do a regular job every spring that's quite similar to how yours sounds, if perhaps a touch larger ... our local LEA's music tuition service having their 'showcase' in a large sports hall. The last couple of years, they've moved it into a smaller (but still big!) hall, with less audience space, and spread it over two nights - which helped because it feels a bit less cavernous and hangar-like, and is a little better acoustically, too. The performing area split into three - orchestra to one side, wind band to the other side, and a space in the middle for choirs, ensembles, etc. Anything up to 150 kids on stage at one time. The way we approach it is to sling 6-way IWBs from the roof girders, and load them with open-white lanterns - either parcans with wide heads in, or some of our 2k fresnels. The last couple of years we've favoured the fresnel route, mainly because we need fewer lanterns to get the level we need (we did it with 22 of them, split roughly half and half between front light and backlight, plus a dozen small fresnels for houselights), but also because they're pole-op which makes on-the-fly adjustments easier when the tutors decide to move people around (we had to make a super-long pole especially for the job, and it was still a bit of a stretch, but it just about works!).

 

Anyway, the gist of it is that that solution worked for that situation, and was really the bare minimum that we could get away with for what was required. A dozen parcans on stands would've been woefully inadequate ...

[maeterlinck]

For £200 I'd suggest you're looking at cheap 500W floods, and as many of those as you can face wiring up. They are about £5 a unit, plus £4 for cable and connector.

I'd also think you'd need a lot more hight. For a 10m wide stage you're going to need at least 5m up to light from the side - think 45deg angle to performers as a standard sort of angle to light person without bad shadows.

[AndyJones]

Don't forget about access! You will need a decent set of ladders or a tower to get into the roof beams!

[indyld]

The only thing the MD has stated, is that there must be no shadow on the stage and that the singers must be lit well enough to a) be seen, and b) to see their papers.

 

1 light + 1 singer = 1 shadow; 2 lights + 1 singer = 2 shadows; lots of lighting + lots of singers + lots of shadows. I suspect that we all know what your MD means but it's important to establish that it is impossible to do light without shadow. The thing we can do is avoid putting the shadows in undesirable places such as scores etc.

 

I wouldn't use 500w floods, even though they will cover a wide area. They are completely uncontrollable, lighting things you don't want them to such as walls, fire exits, audience members - while the actual light on stage can be dingy. Fresnels/PCs with barndoors are more punchy and allow you to 'door off edges that otherwise get in someones eyes. Horseshoe orchestra arrangements mean that someone alwasy gets someone elses light in the face.

 

Height can be your friend if you can get it but is possible to light this set up well from "wind up stand height". This is just harder and requires a more intuitive understanding of angles and shadows. It mostly comes down to careful stand placement - a bit like speakers, I suppose. The aim is to get light to come "in" to the choirs books from the highest side positions you can get, making sure that nothing (like another singer) comes between the lantern and the book.

 

For a horseshoe setup, a normal frontlight position becomes sidelight for the most downstage muso's music, with crosslighting covering the upstage ones.

 

Don't forget the most important thing - lighting the conductor for the ensemble. This can be done from a normal back/top light position or a DS side/crosslight, providing it doesn't go straight into the eyes of the front row. If the conductor is well lit, the sat down musos are less likely to complain about a bit of front fill coming their way.

 

Anyway, I've just realised that this ramble is only so good without diagrams. I can feel another On Stage Lighting guide coming on......

 

Cheers

[paulears]

He wants light so the audience can see the performers, so the T-bar and PAR budget might be ok - he also wants the music lit, this means light from above - not for faces, but for what faces are pointing at - which means the front ones will be useless - unless they lay the music out flat and stand back from the person in front. The usual place for the music will be in shadow.

 

Probably also worth checking there is enough power - sports halls are notorious for having a tiny amount of 13A sockest dotted around. One big one I know has two at one end, two at the other - so everything electrical is supplied from there and long cables and much trip popping happens as people arrive and plug stuff into any handy 4 way they see.

[Trunker]

I don't think the director means shadows!!! I think he means black spots or 'holes'. Whatever lights you use make sure that you have got an even wash over the performance area.

 

As for the orchestra needing lights I am assuming they will be using rat stands!?

[Andrew C]

I don't think the director means shadows!!!

As for the orchestra needing lights I am assuming they will be using rat stands!?

I'll bet he means shadows, especially on the scores. I'd not assume ANYTHING about classical musos. I'd be fairly surprised if they did have illuminated stands.

 

Lots of overhead light in white, garden floods if you can't run to Codas or equivalent. Any front light from as high as you can and keep them away from the direct line from the front desks eyes and stick-waggler.

 

If you have to go for the garden floods, get some black-wrap to control the light as best you can.

 

The difference between a musician and a terrorist? You can negotiate with a terrorist.

[Simon MFR]

I don't think the director means shadows!!!

As for the orchestra needing lights I am assuming they will be using rat stands!?

I'll bet he means shadows, especially on the scores. I'd not assume ANYTHING about classical musos. I'd be fairly surprised if they did have illuminated stands.

 

Lots of overhead light in white, garden floods if you can't run to Codas or equivalent. Any front light from as high as you can and keep them away from the direct line from the front desks eyes and stick-waggler.

 

If you have to go for the garden floods, get some black-wrap to control the light as best you can.

 

Ive got the eight par64's and a local school have offered me another six of the same which presumably should be OK. The hall has apparently got lots of domestic 240 sockets dotted around which is fine, however, due to the replies (all of them extremely positive, thankyou) I will be suspending them from the ceiling. I think all I need now is someone who knows about climbing/hanging/whatever to come along for the ride.

 

I have also had 107 & 103 gels recommended for the lights themselves which, it seems, are in plentiful supply.

 

Worried? Never!

[paulears]

double check with te venue electrician (if there is one) that all these sockets are not on te same ring main - if they are, that's also very annoying.

[adam2]

double check with the venue electrician (if there is one) that all these sockets are not on the same ring main - if they are, that's also very annoying.

 

Indeed, check the power supply.

In a sports hall it is quite normal for single ring main to cover an improbable area, the reason being that ample sockets are needed for vaccum cleaners, floor polishers, power tools for repairs etc, but the total load would be very low.

You may need some long leads from elswhere in that case.

[LXbydesign]

If you can go for Source 4 Pars. You will get the same O/P as a CP62 from one of those at nearly half the power

 

The only drawback in hanging from the roof, is that you need to have someone there whos knows what ther're doing - and things start to get a bit "meatyer" when dealing with runs of socca or a load of TRS triped togther. Etc - and then thats not including the plethora of slings , steels , IWB's / truss, shackles ... and so on . .

 

When and where is it excatly ?