Tips on frontligt for boxing event

[Torbenc]

t my work, we are starting to host some sporting events, eg. boxing, MMA etc.

 

I usually make light for concerts and theater.

 

 

 

Do you have suggestions for colorfilters and other things to think of, when making sport events?

 

I will rig a square over the ring, with 8-12 1000w fresnells in a 45° angel

 

I thought about putting in a LEE 201 filter, to make the frontlight more "cold".

[J Pearce]

The classic boxing rig is 2 6way par bars on each side of the ring, pretty much level with the edge of the ring and flown nice and high.

Bigger events often add extra par bars for top light. Fresnels will obviously give you a smoother wash if you have them available though.

I'd stick with open white personally, but I'm not a fan of L201.

[Torbenc]

The classic boxing rig is 2 6way par bars on each side of the ring, pretty much level with the edge of the ring and flown nice and high.

Bigger events often add extra par bars for top light. Fresnels will obviously give you a smoother wash if you have them available though.

I'd stick with open white personally, but I'm not a fan of L201.

 

Thank you.

 

I have 32 Fresnell's available, would never use PAR cans as frontlight :)

 

Only reason I wan't to put in a L201, is to prevent a to warm frontlight.

[David Lee]

+1 for sticking with O/W.

[Young Johnstone]

Keep it open white.. keep the rig flown fairly high like J Pearce says. No specific focus, just evenly flood the entire ring.

The boxing is the main focus, after that you could add some extra fancy stuff for the players entrance etc!

Have a quick look on YouTube at boxing events.

 

I've been on a fair few of the Sky Sports boxing broadcasts around the UK in the last year or so, that'll be online somewhere.

[Pete McCrea]

I'd agree wit the above.

 

We provide screens to a regular MMA event held In various arenas, and the bulk of the lighting is par64 in open white. There's then a few truss toners and 15-20 moving heads for entrances etc. think there's usually a couple of profiles for the presenter positions for interviews too, but its nothing complex.

[paulears]

Me too - high, and open white everywhere. Indeed when we did a bit of wrestling, the same applied. Colour only for effect and out of the ring. There will be lots of photography, so any mixed colour temperatures make them annoyed. If you have Fresnels, that's fine, but PAR64s have the punch at the extended distances - hence why they are standard. A few events are lit with huge soft boxes to remove hard shadows, but these are not as common by far. It's absolutely not theatrical. Hard, cold and crude is the rule. Forget subtlety and tints.

[gareth]

I agree with other replies - plenty of light, no colour, fairly steep to keep it out of people's eyes. No-one comes to a boxing match to admire the beautiful lighting, they come to see a couple of idiots knocking seven shades of sh!te out of each other.

 

would never use PAR cans as frontlight

"Never"? Why not? It works perfectly well in some situations. The production in the studio space at my venue at the moment has 44 parcans doing a nice punchy bright 'sunlight' key-light from the front, and it looks great.

[Jivemaster]

the boxers' entrances can be lit fancily wrestlers expect to make an entrance. However the fight must be lit according the the sporting association guidelines so that the matches can be judged, refereed and scored to the correct rules.

 

Plenty of light of one colour temperature will make it easy for sports photographers if your events get news worthy.

[bigclive]

Here's how NOT to do it unless it's a local pub fight. :unsure:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF8PM8x0c7M

[Young Johnstone]

And here's how you can to it properly at the O2 Arena!

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvLA2NLJCwc

[Torbenc]

I agree with other replies - plenty of light, no colour, fairly steep to keep it out of people's eyes. No-one comes to a boxing match to admire the beautiful lighting, they come to see a couple of idiots knocking seven shades of sh!te out of each other.

 

would never use PAR cans as frontlight

"Never"? Why not? It works perfectly well in some situations. The production in the studio space at my venue at the moment has 44 parcans doing a nice punchy bright 'sunlight' key-light from the front, and it looks great.

 

Because I have plenty of fresnells, and PAR cans are not made for front light, and are useless as frontlight IMO.

[paulears]

Torbenc - a few people have gently explained about front light. PAR cans were first grabbed by the entertainment industry for this very reason. Double stacked HUGE trusses full of PAR 64s - over the audience's head. In fact, I personally quite like Fresnels as front of house light, but I'm outnumbered by people who never do this. To state they are 'useless' is totally crazy, and as people have explained - completely wrong.

 

There seems little point coming onto a forum, asking for advice, then ignoring it because you don't like it. As we've said, Fresnels are fine to use if you have plenty, but most of us, if doing a paid for lighting design for these events would use PAR64s. Our reason is simple. On a lumens per Watt per cost basis, they win every time. A row of PAR64s knocks spots of a few Fresnels. If you have Fresnels available, we completely understand why you wish to use them. If, however, your store room was empty and you had to hire in - it would be PAR64s all the time.

 

If you don't like them for front light, that's fine - but I've got 12 PAR64s out front, and 17 profiles. The PARs are used far more.

[gareth]

PAR cans are not made for front light, and are useless as frontlight IMO.

What a load of rubbish. Parcans weren't originally made for theatre at all, full stop - they were developed for the rock'n'roll touring side of the lighting industry, but theatre embraced them in the 70s and they're now an essential part of evey venue's kit list. There are some circumstances in which parcans are useless for frontlight, yes - but there are also circumstances for which they're useless for other things too, and in different circumstances they're very useful for an awful lot of things.

 

Here, here, here and here are some of the reviews for my theatre's latest production. The pictures look just fine, don't they? The show was lit by a lighting designer with many, many years' experience, and the main frontlight coverage was done using .... well, can you guess?!

[jonathanhill]

I recall a Clwyd tour of "Rosencrantz' that used around 40 PAR cans as FoH that looked simply stunning.