Last minute addition

It was a couple of weeks ago when the boss corners me.

“They don’t have a sound operator down the road [this is at our venue in town] – are you free tonight?”

“Well, I’m available. I dunno about free …”

“Good, the call is at five [about 2 hours]. I’ll tell them you’re coming.”

This was how I ended up mixing a show on opening night that I hadn’t seen before in a venue I hadn’t mixed in before from the booth at the back at the top of a three week run

The show is a greatest hits collection from an existing company that present physical pieces, often using spectacular props (a giant teardrop, three helium balloons, two pairs of ski’s, and a large spinning bowl are just some of the props used on the current show).

Most of the show is visually stunning, though one or two of the pieces drag it a little. And the music is appropriate (and has had several punters walking out bopping to themselves) again for the most part. There’s a little too much reliance on the spectacle and a little trimming would give the show a little more punch. Of course it is a selection of pieces from 25 years of performances so there is always going to be a little bit of things not quite gelling together.

Me, My Apple and i

This is a public service announcement:

I am not on the new iPhone advert. I do not know anyone at Apple, O2, or which ever media consultant they used.

I did not receive a fee, royalties or a free iPhone for that advert as I had nothing to do with that advert (more’s the pity).

My name is not trademarked (though I’m considering it now).

Sorry.

We now return you to your irregular musings.

The Art of The Spot

Ever since I posted up my Art of Pastry, people have been asking for the same guide for other departments. It’s been a while but I present the next in the series:

Insomniacs Uplifting Primer to Follow-spotting

Good morrow to you, young sire. What follows will be a short discourse unto the true discipline of mastery amongst the theatrical canon. I, of course, speak of nothing less than the marvellous, the sublime Art of Follow-spotting.

Follow-spotting. Say what now?

It is apparent to all persons that theatrical events are the highest form of art. And whilst some credit will no doubt go to the mere scenic painters and more to the performers whom toil upon the boards, there can be no question that the true artist within the entire theatrical edifice are those persons of note who preside over the whole.

You look up to see whom I am referring to and, of course, you are unable to fully place your eyes to their person. Part of their art is to to enable your gaze to be diverted to the spectacle upon the stage whereupon the performer, with all their human frailties, relies upon – indeed requires – the warming and soothing caress of the light from the follow-spot.

It is this marvel that envelopes the performer in glorious light where ever upon the stage they may present themselves, and only upon the stage, for we do not wish the mere scenery to be lit as if it were performing. No, follow-spotting requires the dedication and commitment to guide the performer (and sometimes yes, performers) about the stage as they ply their trade.

Okay. But what is it?

Laypersons will tell you that the noble art of follow-spotting is merely to keep a light on a performer, to physically move a luminaire as to keep a visible spot of light on that performer. To say thusly is to perpetrate a grave injustice upon the skills and prowess of the operator of the follow-spot.

The boorish thug from the streets may place his ill-informed hands upon a spot and be able to just light a person upon the stage. But such a person would not have the grace to turn such an action from merely lighting a person to becoming an integral part of the performance; to becoming the central structure around which the performance rotates and generates its’ magic upon the viewing audience.

Right. And how do you do that?

Every performing venue has it’s quirks and the instruments used in the noble art are, alas, no exception. A given luminaire may be beautifully simple in it’s design; crafting a pleasing beam of near parallel light with none of the modern trickery’s visible. A tool with the pleasingly simple name of beam-light is one such example. And yet, to create the magic, oft we must add more complexity to the construct with accoutrements including the iris, the colour changer and the dimmer. With these provisions, a gifted follow-spot operator may work their allurement upon the viewing public.

But surely it’s still just pointing a light at the stage and waggling it?

I am shocked to the core by such a crude accusation. No true operator of the spot would stoop to such measures.

Listen closely, my inquisitive one, and open your mind as I reveal just a few of the wonders from the world overhead.

Imagine if you will … the bustle from seats as the audience assemble … the musicians in the pit tuning their instruments to accompany the spectacle about to unfold before all … imagine the lanterns within the house dimming down … the orchestra warming the audience up with the overture.

Imagine that moment of stillness with the overture complete … the houselights dark … every person poised.

Deftly, the follow-spot operators ply their trade … fading up their luminaire in a breath-taking instant … and as the orchestra commence as a musical backdrop … the follow-spots engage in the majestic arcs and sublime turns of the bally-hoo.

One could watch such a marvel as this for endless hours. Yet the follow-spot operator seeks to better themselves and thus the house curtain is raised and truly the wonder begins as the follow-spots bring their ineffable shine to the stage.

Such a transcendental feeling could only be bettered by witnessing the single pin-spot fade. A lone performer … bathed in darkest blue … is radiantly lit by a single spot from the heavens … as she reaches a crescendo in communion with the celestial … that single spot gracefully shrinks and dims to leave only her face lit as if by an angel … as the orchestra’s final note fades away, thus too does the spot … in a moment akin to being one with the Divine.

But surely with theatre being a collaborative art-form you need everyone else who’s part of the show?

We do indeed require the other members of the theatrical disciplines to undertake our work. Whom else would provide the scenery for the spotter to perform against? And whom would light such things? I have heard tell that sound operators see themselves too as performers. We are not like such as them – we do not leave crumbs – and it should be apparent to all that it is the operator of the spot that is the consummate artist. When the hosts of Heaven descend in a glorious fanfare, it is the hosts that require attention, not the fanfare.

I think you may be a little harsh on the sound department

Really? And what pray tell would the lowly sound department have to say upon this matter? What could they say? It is self-evident whom the true theatrical artists are.

Yes but they’ve got the carrot cake and dancing girls.

Those cads! Well, I must therefore rush to protect the biscuits before all is lost to their all consuming appetites!

Fare ye well ….

Dances with visuals

So, I’m off the crutches and I’m finally starting to escape Excel Hell and being allowed back on shows.

The production that’s just closed seemed to receive most of it’s press from the main performer and deviser being the grand-son of a well-known silent movie star (no, not that one, the one with the funny walk – yes him!)

It was a little bit circus, a little bit physical theatre and a lot of fun with some incredible visuals. The opening for example has the main tabs fly out to reveal someone under this huge mass of 6m long ropes dangling from a large hook and unravelling as it descended to the floor. These ropes were raised and lowered throughout the piece becoming mounds, veils, a solid tree, a visual opera voice, a tightrope. The lead used one to walk along the front edge of the stage – at 90 degrees to the floor. He later danced with a rocking chair. The floor was ripped up to reveal a mirrored pond; hooks dangled from the flies; tents spontaneously formed.

There was something of a story but it was mostly about the visuals. And this was the catch. Some of the visuals were breath-taking but between them, I felt like I was waiting for the next feat. For a show that was less than 90mins with no interval, it was enjoyable but dragged – a problem that we’ve noticed on other visual heavy shows (Projectors for days)

[Shop Talk]

I’m putting the shop talk at the end so if you have no interest in the set-up, you can stop reading now.

For the two of you who are interested, the show was controlled from an O1V96 with playback from three different MD machines and a laptop running a playback software that I hadn’t seen before (and uselessly can’t remember the name of – it wasn’t one of the normal theatre suspects). Excepting the MOTU soundcard, there was no other outboard and processing and speakers was our normal MediaMatrix/EAW set-up.

We did add some upstage PA: two Meyer UPJs either side next to a HP700. The sound engineer was interested to try out a powered solution to this and seemed to be mostly happy – though it did seem like one of the sub units wasn’t liking a deep heart beat sound.

A pair of Tannoy V8s were also flown out to 15m as onstage effects speakers and a pair of our T12s were added as foldback downstage.

Mentioning the height, there were none of the usual legs or borders – the only soft goods were the ones that were used in the piece and a truss was motored also to 15m (over sightline height) to act as a mothergrid for the aerial work. Other motors were used as spot points as well for the other hooks.

Lighting was a high focus (only LX1 could be reached from the Upright) and this meant a lot of a bounce focus (thank god for powered flying :-}). Lighting was all conventionals with only a few wash lights and spots doing a fairly minimal cover – no less effective for that though.

I’m going to add a little extra at the end. While we ended up using three different Sony Minidisc models for playback, we originally started with three Denon MD1050R.

One thing I have noticed in the past is that the Denons sometimes do not like Sony discs. Whether this is something in the media or something in the authoring process (I’ve never seen a Sony disc that hadn’t been used on a Sony machine) but there is something that can, randomly, cause the Denons not to read the MD properly.

There is also no real way to stop this – it is possible to get the machine to accept it by playing around with ejecting and inserting the same or different discs and swopping back, or by trying hard resets, or just generally trying to get the machine to do something to the disc. And sometimes, it just won’t play no matter what.

I’ve only noticed it on Sony MD in Denon machines – but haven’t really used a Tascam or other model. The best way around it is not to use them (!) (something that is easier with the increase in computer playback) – if anyone knows a guaranteed way to get them to play nicely with each other, shout out.

[/shop talk]