Aslan, it's the oldest practical joke in theatre.

The reason the media that color stage lights are called "gel" is because originally that's exactly what it was -- it was made from animal gelatin and, as such, was water-soluble. Many a neophyte has been sent to the slop sink with instructions to "scrub it very hard with Comet or Ajax", only to return with an amorphous blob of gel and colored ie running down his or her arms.

. . .Not that I would ever do such a thing. . . .

<small>[ 21 March 2005, 02:01 PM: Message edited by: salzberg ]</small>

Oh, I get it. So, BabsLights was being mean to me...

Well, it's not like you can take someone on a snipe hunt back stage....you gotta have something! <P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>To quote BeeBee:<BR><B> if you keep the various uses of light in mind as you picture the dancers on stage, you will richly rewarded. Your dances will be enhanced. Offer your audience a magical production by letting light and movement work together. <P></B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>I would add to this, that if the dancers also are able to share in the understanding of working with the light (and vice versa) then you achieve an even more magical collaboration.<P>Although we joke about that dancers not being in the light, when you take that extra moment to show/explain to the dancer the effect you are trying to achieve and they become a partenr with you in the over all look, then they usually will not only find it, but also work with it.<P>I became a little misty eyed one day when a dancer stopped what he was doing, and shouted out to me, "Hey, something's wrong! I need a minute" And you know what was wrong? Due to the complexities of working with someone else's rep plot at a theatre, the light was not only at a slightly different angle, but was also a completely different kind of light. (It was a fresnel, instead of an ellipsoidal ie. soft light versus hard edge with destinctive path)<P><BR><p>[This message has been edited by BabsLights (edited August 19, 2000).]

I saw a new ballet this past week.<BR>I saw a new lighting design this past week.<P>There were spectacular lighting images in this ballet. I mean, vivid, show-stopper images.<P>But there were cues every 10 seconds or so at times! <P>Do you think that we are creating a generation of designers that need to make MTV-like splashes?<P>

Babs- this might very well be a trend. I am sure everyone has noticed that if you turn off the sound of the television and just focus on the picture - it changes every 2-3 seconds.<P>There was a time of about five years (when we were first married) that we didn't have a television. Then when we got one and this was back in the early 1970's we noticed even at that time, how much more quickly the camera angles/shots changed. And, how much more so today.<P>Do you think it is part of the short attention span of the population? - and which came first - the demand or the response?

Couple weeks ago I saw another premiere by the same choroegraphy/lighting team. Same thing, a LOT of lighting cues, like one for each new measure of music. I fould myself exhausted from trying to look at a cue every couple minutes and looking at dance that seemed to have every single note of music have choreography. But, I will say, there were some absolutely stunning images!

There is a line from "Amadeus" in which Mozart is accused of writing "too many notes". An interesting concept. I think you can have the same problem with visual images. If you change the lights so often, I as the viewer don't have a chance to register the image before it changes and I in turn become exhausted trying to keep up. I have seen this trend in SF, too. It leaves me with a raging headache and very little memory of what I just saw.

Lighting and video comments
By Flyman from The Stage


It is not often that a radio chat show provides any kind of insight into backstage work in the theatre. And the information which such a broadcast provided last week was interesting and completely wrong in equal measure.

Those of you who are of a certain age will remember the sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach when projections were mentioned. Hand-masked glass slides and a Patt 252 if you were lucky or 35mm transparencies, a carousel and some dim lighting if you weren’t.

The interesting bit of the radio programme was about the latest developments in what I suppose we must call video scenery. Designer Bill Dudley has been developing the skills and technology to produce projected images, which are not just static but which can also integrate with real doorways and other scenic elements. The latest of these designs is at the Palace Theatre in London for The Woman in White.

click for more

Michael Hulls' lighting for for the Guillem/Maliphant programme at Sadler's Wells draws praise of the highest order from our reviewer, Alex:

http://www.ballet-dance.com/forum/viewt ... 119#168119