Lighting&Sound America Online - News: You might be excused for thinking that there are few challenges to lighting an orchestra. You would be wrong, according to veteran lighting designer Chris Shick. "Orchestral musicians are extremely sensitive -- you have to strike the right balance so they can read their music, see the conductor, and not be blinded by front light." When it was time for his long-time client the Cleveland Orchestra to update their lighting he reached for ETC thanks to their balance of power and artistry.
3 comments:
There were several things in this article that I took note of. First, I found it interesting to learn about the process of changing a space with very picky users from incandescent to LED, in a way that does not cause complaint. One thing I found consuming as part of that process was reducing illumination from 300 to 80 footcandles for film. I don’t know a ton about this, but I was generally under the impression that cameras want as much light as they can possibly get, and am confused as to why they want less light for film. I am also somewhat surprised that the orchestra did not select the daylight array for their fixtures, given that most of their work is just white.
The second reason I found this article interesting is because I am going to be working at ETC this summer helping to draft systems like this. I am really excited to see the various decisions that get made when speccing out venues, and how different venues can use the wide variety of products that ETC makes.
I had no clue that this much thought goes into lighting and orchestra, which tends to be pretty static and lighting isn't something that is noticed all too much. I did really like how they were very considerate of all factors in the process of changing lights - previously built systems, the musicians, cost, efficiency, etc. I had also never heard of the term foot candle (fc) before, so it was very interesting researching that. I would think that such a drastic drop from 300 fc to 80 fc would cause issues, but it is very possible that this is not as large of a drop as the numbers imply it to be. I, like Samuel, am also curious why they needed so much less light to film, as I feel like this would cause things to become shadowy and less detailed. I really don't know too much about filming though, so I would love to learn.
Like most high school theatre technicians, I was in charge of putting a wash on stage for the orchestra every winter and spring concert, however, I really didn’t know the specificity needed in orchestral lighting. As designers we are often focused on the spectacle of the lighting, however, orchestra lighting design must be rooted in function. To put it bluntly, musicians need to be able to see their music and the audience needs to be able to see the musicians. I never considered how important the rig is in this. I can imagine that they don’t bring in a new designer for every concert and instead have a pre-programmed fader of some sort that the stage manager runs. This more consultant side of lighting design is one I never considered, but it makes sense. Lighting designers need to be able to consult on the function side of lighting instead of just designing cues. I love how multi-faceted, yet so specific, I get to be in this industry.
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