Live Design: Here is another “webisode” from PRG, this one on the design and technical components of Don Holder’s lighting. Note that the clips of Holder were filmed during the designer’s session on Spider-Man at this year’s Broadway Lighting Master Classes.
4 comments:
Though of course I knew this show was a giant technologically, I had not previously heard much about the technical evolution of the show. It was enjoyable to see Don talk out some of the more practical challenges he encountered while created the design for this show. Certainly this video underscores one thing: it was a lot of work. I suppose I thought most of that work was with the text, score, and direction. I didn't realize there was a large period of time where the technical elements themselves were in flux. And tracking the flight patterns with movers... sounds like a headache!
I think it's great to see some videos and coverage of the more technical aspects of shows behind the scenes which really highlights the fact that the people who work to set the stage are creatives in their own right, inventing new techniques, and finding ways to produce just the right effect to enhance whatever the tone is of a particular scene.
Lighting has such a huge impact on the success of a the visual elements of both theater productions and in film and animation but it often overlooked when considering the impact of a scene. I have huge respect for people who can actually light scenes and know how to create all kinds of different atmospheric effects by adjusting angles, gels, and diffusion effects and a whole bunch of other stuff I don't even know enough about to name properly. I'd love to see more clips like this going forward.
This was overly impressive! So much emphasis was placed on the technology in this show that now I get a better understanding of where some of the $70 plus million went. The set is just amazing and the designers and technicians really used innovative methods to solve the many challenges thrown at them. Tracking the moving lights to the characters flight patterns must have taken some time, but it looks fantastic! It must have been a challenge and a dream to be able to design this show.
Great video, very informative! What I'm coming to realize about Spiderman the Musical (of course, this is just my opinion) is that the strength of this production is NOT the plot or the characters, but the integration of different technologies across tech disciplines. In particular, media, lighting and set design have been created to work in tandem with one another brilliantly!
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