News content from Live Design Magazine: A major campaign to save the tungsten bulb for theatrical use has been launched internationally, with a long list of distinguished lighting designers supporting the cause: Richard Pilbrow, Patrick Woodroffe, Durham Marenghi, Paule Constable, Rick Fisher, Neil Austin, Andrew Bridge, Mark Henderson, Johanna Town, Mark Jonathan, David Hersey, Jennifer Tipton, David Finn, Ken Posner, Don Holder, Ken Billington, Brian MacDevitt, Howell Binkley, Steve Shelley, ML Geiger, Aaron Copp, Seth Jackson, Kevin Adams, Jules Fisher, Christina Giannelli, Mark Stanley and many others, including those in Canada, France, and Australia.
9 comments:
This is an interesting issue but not one I see them winning in any sort of useful way. Tungsten is dying for good reason and even if theater is a big enough industry to keep it alive I think the implication is that they are big enough for it to matter that they don't. I don't know much about lighting design but when it becomes unavailable I'm sure lighting designers will find a way around the problem, they will have too. But also if they manage to keep Tungsten alive solely for theatrical use I imagine obtaining it will be quite expensive.
I find it hard to pick a side in the argument about Tungsten v. LED. Well I understand that lighting designers don't want Tungsten to go out of use, I can't help thinking that it is simply a desire to cling to the past. That's not to say that the past isn't good. People still use old fashioned camera's in their photograph and develop the film in homemade dark rooms. But those who do that are doing it simply for arts sake. This lighting issue is quite similar. Designer's are asking for the continued production of Tungsten bulbs simply for arts sake, and well I will always be a proponent of the arts I don't not think that is a strong enough argument for keeping an industry alive. Time's change and we should change with it. There's a reason most theaters don't hand sew their costumes and use sand bag hemp rigging systems these days. We don't just switch to newer technology because it's new; we switch because it's better.
I find it rather funny that we just got a new shipment of Source 4 LEDs and now there is an article posted about saving the tungsten bulbs. I absolutely understand where the lighting designers who want to save tungsten are coming from; it's hard to replace a theater-full of fixtures both budget-wise and practicality-wise. Also, these bulbs have served the theatre world well for so long and audiences are used to the feel they give; it will be so different to go to a show that is lit only with LEDs after so many years of tungsten usage. There is a character to tungsten that LEDs will never quite achieve.
From what I know about LED fixtures they have reached a point in their development that they can match the throw and quality of traditional stage lights. However I have heard from more than one lighting designer (usually older ones) that they swear by classic tungsten bulbs and that LEDs will never reach the same light quality of a tungsten bulb. I suppose its a matter of opinion but its looking like the tungsten bulb doesn't have much time left.
First off ive been staring at this picture trying to figure out weather or not this guy is ricky martin.
second. YESSSS i think this idea is absolutly brilliant and im wonderning why it wasnt implemented sooner.I agree with the article in saying that its totally not against LEDs which i also think are super cool, i just feel like he useae of tungstan lights will give a more real atmosphere because its something that were used to.ANd i just realized that im not talking baout what i thought i was and that the tungsten bulb is the classic bulb. Not a normal like household light. oops.
First off ive been staring at this picture trying to figure out weather or not this guy is ricky martin.
second. YESSSS i think this idea is absolutly brilliant and im wonderning why it wasnt implemented sooner.I agree with the article in saying that its totally not against LEDs which i also think are super cool, i just feel like he useae of tungstan lights will give a more real atmosphere because its something that were used to.ANd i just realized that im not talking baout what i thought i was and that the tungsten bulb is the classic bulb. Not a normal like household light. oops.
It really all comes down to money. LEDs are cheaper and are therefore running Tungsten out. But this is a world that is unfortunately based on capitalism. If there is someone out there who has enough money to buy Tungsten lamps, there is no one that can come between them and the product. The rest of us will just have to suffer.
and alex grace, that picture is from Evita, so yes it IS ricky martin. in all his glory
I do have to wonder if, even if the entire theatrical industry were to unite on this issue, the theatrical industry is even large enough to convince any large lamp manufacturer to continue to produce tungsten bulbs. I believe the only way for this to have any effect would be to instead petition a company which specifically produces bulbs for theatre. While I understand that tungsten lights and LEDs probably look different, I don't know if there is enough non-theatrical demand for tungsten bulbs to continue their production in useful amounts.
Post a Comment