Concerts At A Crossroads
When it comes to lighting, set, and projection design for concerts, there are a lot of technological firsts that happen on the road in our industry. While using hundreds of PARs for concerts used to be the latest and greatest in concert design, we've come a long way, from the introduction of moving-mirrors, to moving yoke lights, to the integration of video via media servers and LEDs.
Age of Architainment
As long as people have been living and working in buildings, they have been lighting them. Imagine cavemen burning sticks outside the walls of their caves 2,000 years ago to scare off beasts and conjure spirits.
Redrawing The Blueprint
When Theatre Crafts was launched in 1967, the word "venue" had one meaning: theatre. Forty years later, "venue" encompasses retail centers, themed entertainment projects, houses of worship — pretty much anything with a touch of the theatrical.
Keeping Up With The Sweet Sixteens
Ten or 15 years ago, if you had some moving lights and some fog at a corporate event, that was awesome. "Nowadays clients are looking for something more," says Brendan Gray, cofounder of New York-based Number Nine lighting and design consulting firm. "Lighting rigs and scenery have trickled down to weddings and bar mitzvahs, so you have to come to the table with a high-end environment..."
Projecting The Future
Projection — if there is one word that sums up the future of theatrical design, it has to be "projection." It's a brave new world where projections are moving off the screen to add a new layer of interest on the entire stage, and images of actors are being projected from remote locations, mixing live performers with their digital counterparts or replacing live actors altogether.
Notes From The Back Row : An Industry's Milestones
It's a big year for milestone anniversaries. ESTA is celebrating its 20th year. Pook, Diemont & Ohl is celebrating its 25th. Barbizon is celebrating its 60th. Oddly enough, it's even the 30th anniversary of Elvis' death. Congrats to them all, except Elvis, I guess.
On Wendall's Pond
Sitting near a pond in the middle of Cape Cod, it's difficult to muster useful thoughts about the future of projections. Then I realize it was that career in projections that brought me to this tranquil place, and I am grateful, energized, and aware of a never-to-be-repaid debt.
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