Official Production Site
| Hunter Lights |
| Having
taken place in Hunters' black box theater, there was a readily
available, previously installed power system. Tasks involved taking
certain lights down, as well as putting others up in what is commonly
referred to as the "re-hang", which was followed by the focus. Patching
the
circuits into the channels took place in a "dimmer room", which was
located in a small, closet sized room next to the Loewe. This task is
known as the "hard patch", in which the electricians would have to
physically plug the lights into the corresponding power source. The
"soft patch" came after, and would occur on the light board screen. Official Production Site |
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As
you can see above, certain moments called for the lighting of all the
characters on the stage, but in a matter in which they were isolated
from one another. Use of lanterns located throughout the perimeter of
the stage provided an alternate type of subtle, grim look. The
fresnels, which can be seen casting the blue light (above) from upstage
were effective in setting the mood, which in this particular moment,
was that of a certain level of hysteria. Also, two strip light units
were mounted above the upstage skrim (above) and below the upstage
platform (left). It was common to mix effects like these, combined with
the isolating "special" fixtures that would cast a spotlight effect
from straight above certain commonly used spots on the stage. These
specials provided effects which resulted in shadows cast down on the
faces of those located under them. |
| The Roots |
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| Many
Drawbacks presented
themselves with having the concert take place in the Assembly Hall. The
most notable one was the availability of a variety of different angles
to light the seven member group. Having not been built for elaborate
shows, the designers made use with what they had. They built a
scaffolding above the stage to enable the installment of a special type
of lighting fixture seen above. |
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Moving
Lights, a.k.a. Intelligent Fixtures have been becoming more and more
common in the production industry. Although still extremely expensive
and more commonly seen in the concert industry, the prices have been
going down, and can now be found in all broadway shows. Unfortunately,
Hunter does not own any of these. Moving lights can be programmed to
move to a specific, pre-determined spot on the stage within seconds of
it fading on a different spot. They can also adjust the "zoom", or
width of the beam is, change color, as well as alternate the patterns.
The rotation speed and direction of these patterns is left to the
discretion of the lighting designer. It is likely that the moving light
effects were already predetermined before the designer arrived. His
only task was to focus them on the particular spots that would
correspond to the light cues.
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| With the moving lights providing most
of the light source, all that was needed were two spotlights to pick up
the main singers, which were usually Black Thought and Rahzel. Two
lighting trees were present on each side of the stage, equipped with
"Source 4" fresnels shooting sideways. All seven moving lights were
focused on the groups' drummer, ?uestlove(above, right), as he
performed a solo. One can observe the difference in the effects when
the colors on each of the lights were different (right). They provided
a different mood to enhance the music. The Roots Homepage |
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