Moving Towards Intelligent Lighting

After viewing the touring production of Wicked at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood last Tuesday evening with my family, I was inspired by how warmly we as technicians and designers embrace technology. Particularly, the show made ample use of digital video projectors to enhance the lighting and scenic effects required by the show. It was an inspired and wonderful example of how we continue to push the envelope, creatively and technically.

But there seems to be an assumption that we who practice this ancient craft in some way shun technology: that we're all Luddites. Perhaps this bias is assumed because outsiders sense our aversion towards television and cinema, that somehow these "lower" forms of entertainment have eroded our audience base and are therefore "evil" in our eyes. After all, aren't television and cinema simply recorded and photographed theatre? The answer is of course, no.

One of the the greatest joys I've shared in recent years was the purchase of approximately six, low-end intelligent lighting instruments. These units were designed for the DJ industry, making them more affordable than "theatrical" intelligent lights. But along with this decreased price came a few limitations:

• The units use moving mirror technology to redirect the light. The stepper motors in these units are not calibrated well, so it is typical that the mirrors will be one or two "ticks" off of where they are supposed to be. This causes problems when you expect the beam to be displayed in one place, and it's three feet to the left.
• Since the units use moving mirrors, focusing is less effective. Add to that the fact that these units were all manual focus, and you begin to see the limitations.
• The units have dichroic glass gels in them, but the consistency of color between the units leaves a lot to be desired. The color palette of 16 or so standard colors actually works fine, but when the deep blue from one unit is two shades lighter than the deep blue from another identical model, you run into problems.
• The units do not dim. The lamp is either ON or OFF. Power to the unit feeds the lamp, the mechanics, and the circuit boards, so putting it on a dimmer is BAD.
  
• The units are noisy. The 2.5" muffin fans used to cool the housing are noisy.

So, with so many issues, why even bother with these types of units in theatre? Primarily because they're neat and relatively inexpensive. That, and once you get used to their quirks, you'll grow to love them, and they'll prime you for moving onto and appreciating more expensive and sophisticated units. Here are some of the benefits:

• Price. Price. Price. I have four of the American DJ PocketScan units. They go for around $250 each on ebay.
• Most units have a laser in them. Who cares? Well, if you have a laser that points DIRECTLY at the middle of your light beam, then you can use the laser to position the lights rather than the beam itself. I often use small tabs of masking tape to mark where the "zero point" of the light is. If it is not where it's supposed to be at boot-up, I reset the unit and try it again. If it's still off, I adjust the mirror by hand when the unit is turned on. That, and I can think of at least two shows where little red dots of light could be useful (Peter Pan and Dracula).
  
• It's a robot, essentially. Using an inexpensive DMX light board to control it, you can set the unit and do most of the tweaking from the tech booth, not on a ladder. The stepper motors are extremely accurate for throws of 10' to 20', and pretty good for throws up to 50'. After that, the 200W lamp makes it impractical.
• There are built in gobos, and you can make or add more. Okay, I should say you can have them made for you. Several companies exist that will laser cut custom gobo patterns in this size for a reasonable fee. I find that I use the frilly, flower gobos more than I thought I would, and the "window" gobo I use frequently. On two of my units, (DJScan+R by American DJ) four of the gobos are actually rotating. I used this effect with the "pinwheel" gobo during the sewer scene of Guys & Dolls, and it was one of the most visually dramatic scenes of the production.
• They are quick and easy "wow" effects. If you have a production where there is not much scenery, and you need to quickly and easily get something neat to supplement the scene, these units do wonders. For Godspell, we performed in the "cafetorium" of an elementary school, so there was very little we could bring in scenery-wise. These six units allowed me to bring out the "flower child" aspect of the show without having to resort to excessive amounts of additional props or flats to be built. Also, it's a neat way to have a spotlight (or searchlight) effect on stage without having to man one yourself.
• DMX rules! Yeah, the DMX standard is showing it's age and doesn't scale well, but it's a standard. The ability to control dimmers and lights by using standard microphone cords and 15 amp house circuits is a wonder that I could not have imagined in the early 1980's when I was doing theatre in high school. Who thought that that giant room of dimmers, miles of control cable, and gigantic steel light panel could have been purchased for around $600 and fit in a standard suitcase? Wonderous!

What I urge you to do is get one or two of these low-end unit to play with. They're inexpensive, and they are also great for dances or Halloween parties. If you don't like them, you can probably sell them back on ebay for about the same price you bought them for. Then, once you get more experienced, save your money up for a more sophisticated used unit on ebay. And keep upgrading it as your knowledge increases.

As we embrace this technology, we reverse the old addage: if you come, they will build it. The more of us in community and regional theatre who embrace these great new technologies, the more companies will offer smarter and more affordable units for us "everymen". While I'd love to have the money to go out and pick up a $5000+ VariLite, I can't, and I have to make due. If it's what you want, I urge you to write (not email) these companies and tell them you're interested in this lower-end market.

Just as personal computers and their components are now commodity items, so can be the tools of our trade.


- Sean

Building Modern Theatrical Flats

The basic component of theatrical set design will always be the flat.

Since we as humans live and work in places with walls, our creative interpretation of those spaces will also need to represent those walls. Theatre, film, television, and other forms of entertainment each have their own way of creating walls that look real but ware practical enough for the environment in which they are used. For instance, film flats are often constructed nearly identically to real walls: vertical 2x4 studs with drywall. Television flats are closer to typical theatre flats: 1x2 or 2x2 frames, screwed or nailed together in the corners, with lauan skins. Both of these are called "hollywood" flats due to their thicker edges which apparently look better on camera. Classic theatrical flats will typically use 1x4 frames, connected with 1/4" plywood in the corners and keystones, with either muslin or lauan skins.

Living in a suburban environment that has a HEAVY film and television influence, I've noticed a merging of styles. I've seen flats made with 2x4 frames, screwed together at the corners and drywalled: VERY HEAVY, but solid. I've seen 1x2 stock turned sideways and screwed to 1/4" plywood: VERY EXPENSIVE and VERY HEAVY, and not even all that solid. But what I've found is that there is a medium between cost-effectiveness and stability, and that medium ground is where most of my standard inventory is built.

To build a standard 4x8 flat, I use lower grade 1x4 spruce stock. Both Home Depot and Lowe's have it available for about $2 for an eight foot length. For a 4x8 flat, you will need about 27 linear feet, so that makes 4 @ 1x4x8. Look for straight boards, and preferably ones without excessive knotting or splitting. You will cut five boards:

• 2 @ 1x4x8 - Uncut.
• 3 @ 1x4 x 3' 5" - If your 1x4 stock is not exactly 3 1/2" wide, you might have to adjust this a bit to get a total width of 4'.
  

Instead of cutting 1/4" plywood triangles for the corners, I use Simpson Strong-Tie MP24 mending plates. These are usually about $0.70 each, and you will need 12 of them. Using a framing/carpenter's square you will lay out the flat frame as shown below:

Using a hammer (sledge is best) and keeping the framing/carpenter's square on the corners, drive in the prongs of the MP24 mending plates so that the tops are flush with the surface of the wood. Once you've driven in the first six on one side of the flat, flip it over and drive in the remaining six on the other side.

For the skin, I use 4x8 1/8" lauan. Lowe's has this size lauan in stock more consistently than my Home Depot does. For some reason, my Home Depot carries the 3x7 stock. I run a ribbon of carpenter's glue on the face of the frame, then set the lauan on top. Using 9/16" heavy duty staples, I tack the lauan to the frame every 6", keeping the staples perpendicular to the grain. On the top and bottom edges, I staple about 1/4" in, and on the sides, I center the staple on about 3/4". Depending on the density of the wood, you will likely need to use a hammer to tap some of the staples flush with the surface of the lauan.

After the glue has dried for at least an hour, you can then use the flat. I usually go a few steps further at this point to prolong the life of the flat:

• On the sides of the back of the flat, I "butter" the edges of the wood with a random orbital sander. Buttering involves taking the edges to a rounded or 45 degree angle. Additionally, I sand the bottoms, edges, and top to ensure that there are no splinters of wood that might get caught and cause a split during storage or transit.
• When a very nice finish is required, I will additionally skin the flat in muslin. This will require 3 yards of 60" wide muslin, and additional stapling on the back side. Once the muslin is stapled in place, you will take some watered-down latex paint and coat the whole surface of the flat and let it "size" itself to the frame and surface of the lauan. Alternately, you can skin the flat with ONLY muslin if you are trying to cut weight and total cost of the flat.
• If I know that a particular short edge will be the bottom of the flat, I will tap in two metal or plastic glides into the edges of the vertical pieces of the flats, about 2" in from the edges.
  
• If I know that I will be hanging the flat, I will get two 1 1/4" eye screws and use a drill to pre-tap the holes for those eye screws into the top horizontal piece of the flat, about 6" in from the edges.

Beyond this, you have many alternatives in size and even shape, but the basic method will be the same. Flats constructed using this method will give you components you can add to your theatrical scenic inventory for use many years to come.


- Sean

Top Ten Tech Theatre Gadgets - 2005

I've been reimmersed into technical theatre again for five solid years now, having managed the technical aspects of over twenty five productions in that timeframe. I have by necessity had to find different ways to solve technical problems, and in doing so I have come across a palette of tools that make things easier. Some are big and expensive, but he majority are items that cost less than $10 each (if that). Each has a particular set of benefits and drawbacks, but all are active members of my arsenal.

1. Simpson Strong-Tie Mending Plates - Simpson is a company that makes zinc-plated steel hardware for connecting wood to wood. You will almost never see their products, because they are used as essential parts of the basic structure of jobs: most of the time their products are under houses, or in attics, or behind walls, or holding floor beams in place. Their MP24 product is now a key component of my flat construction, replacing the old 45 degree piece of 1/4" plywood to hold flats together. I square up the corners of the flat frame, butt the pieces together, and set the 2" x 4" mending plate across the seam. The plate has an array of extruded spikes of metal sticking out about a quarter inch on the back. With about ten solid taps of a sledge hammer to drive the spikes into the surface of the wood, I have now created a corner joint that is about four times stronger than a plywood-reinforced corner. I use the mending plates on both the front and back of the joint for stability. A single MP24 is around $0.65 each, but I recommend you buy a sealed box of 100 as it's easier to manage, you're sure to get EXACTLY 100 units, and you don't have to fumble through a box of sharp metal with your bare hands.
   
2. D.A.L.E.S Corporation POURit Reusable Paint Can Covers - Latex house paint is my medium of choice: it's easy to clean up, predictable in it's properies, and you can get a custom color mixed for about $10 a gallon (not to mention Oops paint, below). Metal paint cans are designed to store and deliver paint, but they are miserable to deal with when USING paint. The POURit Reusable Paint Can Cover solves this by giving you quick access to your paint. Simply snap a POURit onto the top of a one gallon metal paint bucket, and you're good to go. A built-in screw top gives you ready access to your paint, and when the paint is used up, you can clean up the POURit and use it on another can. A POURit goes for around $2.50 at most home improvement centers, although the larger chains don't always carry them.
3. ROSCO Gaffer's Tape - Ahhhh, there's nothing more satisfying than a GOOD roll of gaffer's tape. I've tried to cut corners and use black duct tape, but it's simply not the same thing. I have spent hours with a rag and a can of GooGone trying to remove the tape scum left over from bad tape, and the difference in price between a good roll of tape like ROSCO's Gaffer's Tape versus a cheap roll of duct tape is worth it. At about $15 a 55 yard roll (that's around 10 cents a foot), you get a consistently good level of adhesion with 100% removal of the product when done. Yeah, it's not as cheap as a $5 roll of duct tape (only about 3 cents a foot), but it makes your job easier in the long run.
4. Rose Brand Cable Path - If Gaffer's tape is an indulgence then Cable Path is an extravagance. It is twice as expensive as gaffer's tape, but you will make up the cost in convenience and waste. Available in either 4" or 6" widths, Cable Path has adhesive only at the edges of the tape, making it perfect for cable runs. It is available in black, yellow, or black and yellow striped. Although the rolls are only 30 yards, it is a great product. The 4" wide tape is around $23 a roll, and the 6" wide tape is around $35 a roll.
   
5. Behringer's LC2412 DMX Lighting Control Console - Thank goodness for the success of the DJ industry, as it has made technical theatre lighting infinitely more affordable than it would have been otherwise. Behringer is a great company out of Germany that understands what musicians and DJ's want: a great product at a great price. The LC2412 is a compact, rack-mountable DMX light board that goes for around $160 on eBay, significantly more from retailers. With 24 channels, sophisticated memory storage options, midi, analog, and other goodies, there's no reason why every technical theatre manager shouldn't have at least one of these hanging around, even with a more expensive installed system, the LC2412 is great for troubleshooting and isolating problems in specific DMX loops. I have used it in situations where a stage manager needed to control a set of onstage practical lamps and lights independent of the master lighting board, and this board did the trick. The only hitch is that you will need to pick up a 5 to 3 pin converter, as most low-end DMX dimmer packs use the 3 pin couplers with standard microphone cables. The LC2412 has only a 5 pin port.
6. DMX four channel 15 Amp Dimmer Pack - I don't mention any specific brands on this item, because they are essentially commodity components, but American DJ, Chauvet, and DTech all have similar offerings. Most of these items are about 5 lbs, and are about the size of a large shoebox. The unit has either dip switches or a digital display for setting the base DMX address and number of channels, and the front side has four banks of two Edison-style plugs. Also included are two 3-pin (DMX IN and DMX OUT) jacks for use with standard microphone cables. Again, technical directors of small theatres have benefitted in the success of the DJ industry, having the ability to buy solid DMX equipment at a reasonable price. The best prices I've seen on these items are on eBay, with average price going for around $70 with about $8 for UPS ground shipping. As with the LC2412, every technical director should have a few of these hanging around to troubleshoot and for ad hoc lighting gigs in support of a larger, installed system.
7. Oops Paint - When paint manufacturers embraced the advances made in latex paint in the mid 1970's they created a safer environment for us all. Today, you can get a one gallon bucket of latex paint with better colorfastness, durability, and cleanup than even the best non-latex (oil, casein, etc.) paints from the pre-latex era. All of the major home improvement chains offer custom color mixing of latex, in a range of quality/price of paints. With all of this creative freedom comes the inevitable goof-up. A customer picks a paint chip, has it mixed, and then realizes it's much brighter/louder on the wall than they intended. So they bring the paint back to the store and get another. The store then tosses that "bad" paint bucket over onto a bargain rack, usually selling for $3 to $5 each (depending on the base cost of the original paint). I will routinely scour this rack for colors that I can use for sets, and I often make color design choices from these offerings. You'll usually find a lot of browns and pinks there, but an occasional blue, green, or yellow will pop up. The more affluent the community, and the larger the store, the more selection you will find. Mondays, and particularly Mondays after three-day weekends are best for new additions. Make sure you get the type of paint you need. There will be an occasional concrete or wood stain thrown in, or a heavy gloss lacquer, and sometimes a non-latex bucket, so choose carefully.
8. 50% off Coupon at Joann's Fabric - I usually build hard flats, but for backdrops I use muslin. Also, whenever I want a better "finish" to a hard flat, I will skin it with muslin as well. My brand of choice (availability, actually) is RocLon, and I buy muslin by the bolt (25 yards, usually) in the 120" wide variety. Ripped in half vertically, it's the perfect width for covering 4' wide flats. I avoid the high thread count versions, as they don't offer me anything special (except added price). And the thing I always do when buying this is to wait until Joann's Fabric has their 50% off on any single item coupon in the local paper. This coupon is also sent out to you via mail if you sign up for their mailing list, but if you don't use it after 3 months, they stop sending it to you and you have to sign back up. On a 25 yard, 120" wide, full retail price is $6.99 a yard for a total of $174.75. With the coupon, it's just $92.85 with CA state and City of Los Angeles sales tax. Those 25 yards will cover about 16 @ 4'x8' flats with enough left over for dutchman (if you use muslin for dutchman anymore) or small projects.
9. Masking Tape - There are three main uses I have for masking tape: dutchman, spiking/taping the stage floor, and masking during painting. Dutchman is the semi-derrogatory term for the strip of fabric or tape used to smooth the edges (and gap) between two flats. Traditional muslin dutchman is a wet process, so you have to use either latex paint or watered down glue as an adhesive: the paint is not the best adhesive, and the glue rejects paint to a certain degree. So, I buy the large 6 roll contractor's pack of 2" wide plain tan masking tape for my dutchman work. Since it has its own adhesive, it's a quick, dry process. I also use small "tabs" of this tape to patch screw holes or other imperfections prior to final painting. it's flexible enough to even round out gaps in corners of crown or baseboard moulding. On most sets, I will go through two full 60 yard rolls of it. Surprisingly, the surface holds latex paint VERY well without peeling or cracking of the surface paint, and it is fairly easy to remove during strike without damaging the flats. For spiking or taping the floorplan, I use the green 1" wide masking tape as it's adhesive makes it much easier to remove, even after a month and a half of heavy foot trafic on the stage floor. The bright green makes it easy to see under most stage lights, and it's generally pretty "fun" to work with. Finally, I use masking tape for what it was intended: to mask areas from paint that need to be kept clean. I use this particularly when painting moulding and trim, or if I need to have a straight line somewhere. In this situation, or when I'm masking paint that is fairly new, I will use the blue masking tape, as it seems to be more forgiving in that instance. 3M Brand 2" masking tape in a 6-pack is around $12. The 3M Brand green and blue 1" masking tape is about $3 a roll, less in a multipack.
10. Ryobi Quick Change Countersink Bits - In set construction, I often have to deal with lumber that is less than ideal. Particularly when connecting 1x stock, I have to pre-tap the holes to prevent splitting the wood. The Ryobi Quick Change Countersink Bit set comes in several of their packaged bit kits, but usually goes for around $12 by itself. The "Quick Change" part of it is that the countersink bit is on one side of the shank, and the other side is a bit for Phillips or slotted driving. That way, you can quickly tap and then drive with the same tool and without changing out the bits. Simply slide the brass collar back and forth to lock and unlock the shank, and you're set. My only complaint is that the smaller drill bits break off far too easily. On a typical project, I will go through three or four of them if I'm not careful, so buy a few spares and keep them close. If you only show about 1/4" of drill bit, the chances of breaking it off are less, but when I start moving quickly, it's easy to pull it out at a slight angle and break off the bit. Fortunately, I can usually just slide the existing bit down two or three times to extend the life, but the broken tip can make the bit skitter across the surface away from it's intended target. Regardless, I get better results with the often dry, brittle spruce I use with this tool.

So that's it for this year. I've tried to include links wherever possible, but some are just not available. I hope these will offer you the same degree of increased productivity that I have enjoyed. When you're the only one working at 2:00 AM in the morning, you need all the assistance you can get, even if it's only from a tool that works well.


- Sean