maxjones2000 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Hi, I wasn't sure if this was the right place, so Mods, please feel free to move it http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif Anyway, I'm lighting a Public Speaking Contest at school on Monday (I've done lighting for it for the last three years, but this time I have a slight dilemma), and basically there is a lectern centre stage with the person speaking stood behind it (surprisingly!). So, I was making a basic lighting state today in my free, and have gone for a general dim-blue wash with some 152 just lighting their faces (from a couple of Fresnel's 'FOH' and from the side to give a bit of depth). However, I had noticed (and the teacher who is in charge said about it) that there's some pretty nasty shadows on the speaker's face under the eyebrows and nose, presumably because of a lot of it is lit from a 60-70deg angle above/in-front as this is the only place we have lanterns suitably focussed (and we don't have the opportunity to refocus). So, I was thinking that to overcome this, I could use two PAR56 floor-cans placed at a 45 deg angle either side of the lectern, pointing at the lectern to light the speaker's face (as I've seen this sort of thing done on TV before!). However, here's the issue: We have no dimmer channels/outlets on the floor, and no cables we can run down from one of the lighting bars to plug the P56's in to. As an alternative, I have decided that it would probably be best to simply power these two P56's from a standard (hard) 13A outlet (we have loads of those on the floor!), and just leave them on for the whole evening (i.e. even for the preset). The only downside to this is that no-doubt (and in fairness, quite rightly as they are 500w each) some of the speakers will complain about the two floorcans blinding them while they're stood at the lectern, and they'll probably have a bit of a hissy fit at me... So, is there any way of softening the light from these floorcans so that they won't 'blind' them as much? Obviously, If I had the chance to dim them, I would simply put them at 60% ish and that would probably do the trick, however that is not a possibility. Ideally, I would use diffusion or some if that silky stuff (can't think what it is called!) as that would soften it nicely, but I don't have any of that available, and probably cannot get any by Monday (and there's no budget, and I'm not too keen about paying for something for school again!). Is there any alternatives/home-brew versions of these that'll cope with the heat? The only other thing that I can think to do would be to use my two birdies, but a) I don't really know if the 50w lamps will be quite bright enough to pick up the faces well enough (i.e. it might be a bit of a failed attempt), and b) I'm planning on using those to up-light two poster things that are also on stage, but I can get rid of those if needs be. Sorry to ask such a stupid question(!), and I feel a bit like I need to make something out of nothing!Cheers,Max J http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvenprince Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 As you're only trying to lose the shadows under the eyebrows, you might find that the birdies actually work quite nicely, and the floor cans work quite well up-lighting the posters you have. If you end up using the floorcans to uplight the lecturn, try using Neutral Density gels? Those were my two thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Would suggest birdies over your P56 floorcans TBH. Maybe put a cut of L202 in them if they are mains GU10 lamps to whiten them up a bit? Sometimes GU10s can be very yellow... Also, are you sure your P56's are 500w? I was under the impression that they only came up to 300w, and it was 64's that were available in 500w or 1kw. Though this might be a UK/NZ thing. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxjones2000 Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 Hi,Thanks very much for the helpful replies http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif Jamie, I hadn't thought of neutral density gel, that might work really well actually, but again we don't have any! http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif David, you're right, they are 300w. For some reason I thought they were 500w... http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif I've got some L202, so looks like that'll be the answer and then use the P56's to up-light as Jamie suggests! That'll work really well actually, as the birdies didn't quite seem to light the 'posters' up well enough last year as far as I can remember, so swapping them round is getting the best of both worlds! Cheers,Max J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 You don't say what's behind the speaker, but watch out for weird and distracting "giant" shadows behind them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LXbydesign Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Yup - the birdies will be grand just to lift under the nose/chin/eyes and reduce the shadow and then use the Pars for the posters. All of the above can be powered on 13 amp and simply left on for the duration :-) Job done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxjones2000 Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 Hi all, Thanks very much for the help http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gifI ended up using my two birdies with L366 (I didn't have any L202) on the floor lighting the faces, and then one P56 (in L115) back-lighting (from the floor) a vase of flowers and a trophy on a table, and another P56 (again in L115) lighting a table with glasses and jugs of water on behind the lectern (random I know, but it gave so much depth!). And they didn't use the posters!! http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/blink.gif Thanks very much, I have a few rubbish photos of it on my phone, but it looks stupidly bright because of the crappy camera http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif No doubt they'll go on Flickr at some point anyway! Thanks,Max J Oh, and all birdies and P56 were powered off two separate 13A sockets and then left on for the whole thing, as someone has nicked our extension lead going to one of the dimmer channels http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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