alexforey Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 My school is hoping to transfer one of our studio shows to Edinburgh this summer. As an LD I'm fully aware of the need to adapt to a standard rig, but given that the lighting is "the set" in this play, I have some questions about what is feasible. We're considering C Venues and The Zoo Southside Studio. There are two core lighting concepts that I'm keen to try to preserve are: a set of 4 hung florescent practicals (think office lights) - each are 30cm wide and about 1m long, and we would hang them with the long sides next to each other. The other is a "light cage" provided by 4 battens of 12 pinspots (the batten has its own integrated dimmers). Given that I know many of the members of BR have worked these venues, I thought this could be a good place to ask: is C Venues likely to let us have either of these things? If we were required to take the flurries down in the get in/get out for each performance, given that they'd have to sit in the centre of the grid, I had thought that we could integrate them into a system that can be flown from 4 pulleys which we could supply. Similarly, the battens could also be flown on pulleys. We need to apply to a venue by the end of this week, so any other information you could give would be really helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beware Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 My (10 year old) eecollection would be that it's a no go for that sort of thing. Shameless plug for a friend, but try greenside. They now have at least two studio spaces. Darren and Tara are very friendly and accomodating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callum64 Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Hey, Weird how things work out, but I am currently Greenside's Technical Manager, it is certainly worth while having a chat to see if its possible to make your ideas work if you are interested in having a chat drop my an email: callum@greensidevenue.co.uk Cheers Callum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImagineerTom Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 It depends entirely on the specific space you're in (many venues have absolutely nothing above the "stage" you could possibly hang anything from and only the most basic lighting on tripods at the corners of the room) and the shows you are sharing the space with - there would have to be many complicated 5 way discussions with the appropriate technical manager/supervisor to work out if your kit could fit around everyone else's kit in the specific space and timeslot you have booked. I would also have concerns about the practicality of what you're describing - you typically have just 15 mins to get the last show out and your show in; you will have to design a system that gets your lighting fixtures in, tested and working in that time whilst everyone else is getting in/out all other aspects of the show; if there's a technical problem you will have no time at all to fault find and would have to present the show without those pieces for that performance (and possibly several other performances since there's usually only one tech breather gap every couple of days) which if they are as integral as you describe would massively compromise the show. The rule in edinburgh (unless you're a headliner) is that if you can't walk it on to the stage yourself, if it isn't completely self contained, if you can't carry it bag to your digs overnight to fix/maintan it then it shouldn't be in the show because it will fail / delay / compromise your show on a regular basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Had to laugh at iTom's description, it so matches the one and only time we ever sent a show up there. The sole technician was handed four, snub-nosed parcans, four cables, a leatherman and a sandwich. As he got on the train with his rucksack and the kit he asked;"Where am I staying up there?""Oh, don't worry about it. You'll let us know when you have found somewhere." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jevans Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 I think that's a slightly negative perspective; I've seen fringe shows do very similar things and much more: on the other hand my perspective as a venue tech is biased as I was in a venue with a flytower and powered flying last Edinburgh, which isn't that common! However as one example a show that we had tour to Buxton in a much less well equipped space had a slightly frightening list of onstage practicals, lighting fixtures and various widgets such as LED tape and dimming florries that needed to be set up pre show. The fixing points were for all these things were mostly integrated into the set, so as the flats went up the LD walked around with a box placing all these items, then they had a single custom cable loom they had made (no custom cables or connectors, they just had the right lengths taped together in exactly the way they needed) which started on one side and looped through all of these items, providing DMX, hardpower and dimmer ways as required. Took them a couple of minutes at most and it all then just plugged up to our patch panel on one side of the stage. Very simple, but they'd clearly thought about it beforehand, practiced, and as I recall it worked perfectly. Similar levels of thinking and preplanning are required for anything being placed on stage - we had plenty of hardpower and dimmer ways spare but you will want to ensure this is the case. As for the flying you may well be out of luck if your venue does not have a suitable overhead rig - even if there is lighting suspended overhead often it's just bars between points going through a suspended ceiling with little room for anything else, rather than a full grid. Ground supported or flown truss grids tend to only be found in the large venues. The one sure thing is that C/Zoo themselves will know more than we do about the capabilities of their space - get in touch and ask, can't hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beware Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Weird how things work out, but I am currently Greenside's Technical Manager, I was the first... ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 Hello You seem to have come to the right place! I'm the head of production at C venues, depending which space you end up in what you suggest doesn't sound too unrealistic - the general rules we have are: - You can bring your own electrical equipment as long as it's PAT tested (and even if it is we reserve the right to ask for a re-test or refuse its use if we have reason to believe it may be unsafe). Note that many venues don't allow you to bring your own kit but insist that you hire through them which can make things very expensive so worth checking before signing a contract - I have been able to negotiate on this before but only before the contract is signed! - You can leave extra equipment in the rig if it doesn't obstruct anything else in the rig, fits within our loadings and is agreed in advance - at times we may make a charge (agreed in advance) for additional structure for the rigs if anything is particularly heavy - You can rig/de-rig equipment in your turnaround as long as you can do it (safely) in the time available without damaging the rest of the rig We have a good generic static rig in each space - most of this can't be re-focussed or re-coloured but there are usually a few re-focussable specials. Last year's plans are on the website at www.cvenues.com Hope this is helpful - feel free to drop me an email if you have specific questions (richard@cvenues.com) or email the wider production department (production@cvenues.com) Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexforey Posted March 4, 2016 Author Share Posted March 4, 2016 Hello You seem to have come to the right place! I'm the head of production at C venues, depending which space you end up in what you suggest doesn't sound too unrealistic - the general rules we have are: - You can bring your own electrical equipment as long as it's PAT tested (and even if it is we reserve the right to ask for a re-test or refuse its use if we have reason to believe it may be unsafe). Note that many venues don't allow you to bring your own kit but insist that you hire through them which can make things very expensive so worth checking before signing a contract - I have been able to negotiate on this before but only before the contract is signed! - You can leave extra equipment in the rig if it doesn't obstruct anything else in the rig, fits within our loadings and is agreed in advance - at times we may make a charge (agreed in advance) for additional structure for the rigs if anything is particularly heavy - You can rig/de-rig equipment in your turnaround as long as you can do it (safely) in the time available without damaging the rest of the rig We have a good generic static rig in each space - most of this can't be re-focussed or re-coloured but there are usually a few re-focussable specials. Last year's plans are on the website at www.cvenues.com Hope this is helpful - feel free to drop me an email if you have specific questions (richard@cvenues.com) or email the wider production department (production@cvenues.com) Good luck! Fantastic, thanks for the information Richard. I'll definitely be in touch with plans once we've got our application through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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