Dj Kwadwo Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Hello all. I am new to this website so bare with me. I was hired to provide light and sound for a fashion show, but I am having trouble with the catwalk lighting. I wanted to use traditional rgb led par cans but those dont give you a true white. So my question is what is the best and cheapest way to light up this stage http://imageshack.us...6/1503/bsvg.jpg without using a trussing system. I thought about using a couple of tota lights mainly used for photography. I don't know if its a good solution to cover a large area with less lights. any ideas or help will be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinntec Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I don't know if it is any help, this is the Blueroom Topic I had before I did one earlier this year:Basically o/w from four sides as far as possible - only colour was on the compère and the glitter curtain at the back. Some photos of the result can be seen here. If you want to see the lighting plot to make sense of what I did, then just PM me with an email address. To do it properly needs a lot of light - the audience want to be able to see the costumes clearly from whatever side of the catwalk they are - but at the same time don't want to be dazzled by the lighting from the other side. In many cases, but not in my case, the end of the runway needs to be especially bright for press photos. The job of the lighting is basically to be unnoticed by anyone as they are admiring the costumes, which is what they came to see. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Allen Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 You need to do a scale front elevation drawing to check the sitelines of the people sitting in the upper alcoves. You might get away with only lighting from the front, but truss will be the easiest way of positioning your lighting. Led's have very narrow spectrums so there will be some very annoyed fashion designers unless you test light every costume with your led lighting. If you want to keep your truss lightweight consider using Par16's or lightweight floods or cyc lights as you have no audience on the rear side of the catwalk. You will have to light the ends as you have tables at the ends and slightly around the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dj Kwadwo Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 You need to do a scale front elevation drawing to check the sitelines of the people sitting in the upper alcoves. You might get away with only lighting from the front, but truss will be the easiest way of positioning your lighting. Led's have very narrow spectrums so there will be some very annoyed fashion designers unless you test light every costume with your led lighting. If you want to keep your truss lightweight consider using Par16's or lightweight floods or cyc lights as you have no audience on the rear side of the catwalk. You will have to light the ends as you have tables at the ends and slightly around the back. Thank you for the reply This is the only drawing are providing me with, but the the stage will rise a couple of feet of the ground. I wish I could use truss but the spacing for the event is very tight, I was thinking of using two light stands on each side of center stage and angle the lights across the stage. I thought about using Par 16's but thought I would need a lot of them to cover the entire stage. Which flood light would be better? http://www.torchstar.biz/detail.php?id=519 or http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=32267&Q=&is=REG&A=details ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Allen Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Something like these Budget halogen flood would do as they are lightweight, full spectrum. If you are going to use floor stands to the sides, look at four lightweight fresnels on each stand so you can use a narrow controlled beam of light with soft edges. You won't achieve great lighting, look at the linked post to see how much work is involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinntec Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I was wondering if you have seen the venue or have checked for any photos of it on the internet? If it is in a building, then it is possible that lighting positions already exist and/or there are people on the BlueRoom who have lit at the same venue in the past who could give you some tips, but they can't help if they don't know where it is. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junior8 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I'd like to see an elevation of the room really, plus the height of the catwalk, but it seems to me that if you can't work from above you have to start from basics and that is what is in the room at the moment and what you are able to add to improve on that. As it is you'd seem to be dealing with throws of around 15m min and that depends on where you could position any stands around the periphery. Personally I really can't see where you are going to postion any floor standing equipment in a room with so many tables and if you can you're going to need quite a lot for even coverage and without dazzling the opposite tables you will need some height. Floor mounted pars to reinforcing the ambient lighting might be a solution if the catwalk isn't that high - but apart from that you need to do some straight talking with the client about the art of the possible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Hi Kwadwo, welcome to BR. These are just random thoughts and may be way off the beam but it seems to me that the space looks like a hotel or conference based venue. If so it is a decent sized space and I would have thought that they had at least some facilities in-house, had done a wide range of events in the past and would have most, if not all, of the information required to make good decisions. The client may just have hired the room and not understand the details but most venues like this have a technical spec.Most have at least one person who liaises with incoming technical staff if not staff of their own. Get in touch with the venue directly and ask for help in the first instance, you may be spending time and effort when they already have everything in place. I don't think that the space will be that "tight", you may be able to rearrange table layout to help you and the upper tier might be your best shot at stand lighting angles. I think you need a site visit if at all possible and at least a phone call to find out what you are working with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 That's a big room and you have 48' of catwalk to light. Or, to be more accurate, you've got two lots of catwalk and a stage to light. Just off the top of my head I think you're looking at a minimum of 6 lighting positions, You really need to get and have a proper look at the space or, at the very least, get an accurate set of plans and elevations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maeterlinck Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 What Brian said! Big old space, long throws. Is the event being photoed professionally? Fashion photographers like high shutter speeds which means that the lux at stage needs to be high, full spectrum and flicker free. It also needs to be even. RGB/A/W LEDs aren't really good enough for high speed photos as the different colour LEDs can be on or off at different times so you can get coloured shadows, even if it looks fine to your eye, at 1/600sec it might not. Truss over the catwalk is your best bet I would think. Either flown or a cantilevel from behind. As said site visit and a detailed section is the first port of call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dj Kwadwo Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 I was wondering if you have seen the venue or have checked for any photos of it on the internet? If it is in a building, then it is possible that lighting positions already exist and/or there are people on the BlueRoom who have lit at the same venue in the past who could give you some tips, but they can't help if they don't know where it is. Peter I've seen the place and the layout of the place is very odd. The venue is a the hotel Zaza in Houston TX. Hi Kwadwo, welcome to BR. These are just random thoughts and may be way off the beam but it seems to me that the space looks like a hotel or conference based venue. If so it is a decent sized space and I would have thought that they had at least some facilities in-house, had done a wide range of events in the past and would have most, if not all, of the information required to make good decisions. The client may just have hired the room and not understand the details but most venues like this have a technical spec.Most have at least one person who liaises with incoming technical staff if not staff of their own. Get in touch with the venue directly and ask for help in the first instance, you may be spending time and effort when they already have everything in place. I don't think that the space will be that "tight", you may be able to rearrange table layout to help you and the upper tier might be your best shot at stand lighting angles. I think you need a site visit if at all possible and at least a phone call to find out what you are working with. It is a hotel conference room, and the ceiling is too low to hang a trussing system. The way the tables are is the way its going to be there is no changing it. The event is a gala, the fashion show is only a small part of the show. I was hired by the designer/ fashion coordinator just for the fashion show but now I'm providing service the entire event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImagineerTom Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Perhaps now is the time to be saying to the client that you're unable to do this job and withdrawing completely or conversely sub-contracting the job to someone with the relevant skills and experience; proceeding as you are is only going to lead to headaches for you and the very real risk that the service you provide isn't up to the standard the client is expecting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Is this the space? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dj Kwadwo Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 Is this the space? Yes it is, there are going to be more tables Perhaps now is the time to be saying to the client that you're unable to do this job and withdrawing completely or conversely sub-contracting the job to someone with the relevant skills and experience; proceeding as you are is only going to lead to headaches for you and the very real risk that the service you provide isn't up to the standard the client is expecting? Yes I am thinking of doing that. I will just handle the sound and music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinntec Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Had a search on google to see if anyone admits lighting in this ballroom - the best I could find was this wedding but the reception was lit (photos at the bottom) by a company called AD Lighting LLC but I can't find them on the internet. However the photos might give a few clues but looks like stands used for face lighting with lots of LED tubes all over the place. But nowhere near as cluttered as your layout. It looks like a truss around the stage (put in by a rigger) is the only place you can safely put any lighting for your fashion show. On your drawing, what is the black box just in front of the alcove meant to signify and what is the red line (a support for a backdrop/glitter curtain?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.