Student: Rory GiddingsBTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Production ArtsUnit 65 – Stage Technical Operations Assessor Name: Andy Hancock

Assignment - Lighting and Sound for ‘Student Christmas Concert 2015’

Task 1:

Profile Spotlight:Functionality and Operation:

A profile spotlight casts a narrow beam of light, usually no wider than 45 degrees. This beam is more concentrated and easier to point and control. Profile spotlights can be used for any job, but their main function is to illuminate a specific area. They use shutters in order to achieve a higher level of accuracy/control. The size and sharpness of the beam is adjustable, which is why the spotlight is best used to light a certain area or shape. The average wattage of a profile spotlight is 650W. Larger types of profile spotlights are operated by a follow-spot technician, so the light can follow the performers moving around on the stage.

Hook Clamp

Gobo – Allows for pattern projection

Sharp edge so that the edge of light beam can be controlled

Focus Control Knob – controls beam angle

Shutters – These can be used to square off each edge of the beam. This means we can use the shutters during the show, so that certain parts of the stage can be framed/filled with light.

Student: Rory GiddingsBTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Production ArtsUnit 65 – Stage Technical Operations Assessor Name: Andy Hancock

Fresnel:Functionality and Operation:

Fresnel’s are the most common light used for stage productions. A Fresnel lantern uses a Fresnel lens to display light over an area of the stage. The beam of light that a Fresnel uses is wide and soft-edged, which means it is capable of creating soft shadows so it is normally used for back lighting, top lighting, and side lighting. Because the edge of the light is soft, it is not sharp and so it will blend easily with the edges of other Fresnel’s to give soft and wide stage coverage. The average wattage of a Fresnel lantern is 650W.

Hook Clamp/Yoke

Barn Doors - to eliminate any unwanted light spillage

Focus Control knob – only controls the angle of beam

Student: Rory GiddingsBTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Production ArtsUnit 65 – Stage Technical Operations Assessor Name: Andy Hancock

Flood light:Functionality and Operation:

A flood light simplest type of lantern, consisting of a lamp and a reflector in a box, with no lens. The reflector concentrates the light towards the opening in the box. There is no control over the focussing of a flood, other than the direction that it is pointed in, so this means that there is a wide light coverage. Floodlights are broad-beamed, high-intensity lights. There are some types of flood lights that are more focused, but these would only be used as a stage lighting installation in live performances, such as theatre productions or music concerts. A standard floodlight can have a beam spread of up to 120 degrees. When illuminating larger areas of the stage, front of house, or any other area that needs wide light coverage, floodlights would be required. The average wattage of a flood light is 500W.

Colour frame

Single Yoke/Hook Clamp

The reflector in the box concentrates the light towards the opening in the box. The lack of control over the focussing of the flood means there is a wide light coverage. This was very useful to us during the show as it meant we could illuminating multiple performers on stage at once.

Student: Rory GiddingsBTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Production ArtsUnit 65 – Stage Technical Operations Assessor Name: Andy Hancock

Parcan/PAR 64:Functionality and Operation:

PAR 64 is a type of lamp that is used when a large amount of flat lighting is needed on stage. The sealed beam lamp produces an intense pool of light with unfocused edges. The only focus adjustment that a PAR 64 has is a knob that allows the lamp/lens to be rotated within its casing, which then changes the orientation of the light pool. PAR lights are mainly used in theatrical productions and/or live music shows. They can also be used to create different colours by fitting them with coloured sheets (gels). However, because of the lack of control over the beam diameter/shape/sharpness, PAR 64’s are not normally used as front of house lights, other than for front washes. The average wattage of the PAR 64 is 1000W.

Tilt Control

Hook Clamp/Yoke

Long Nose/Short Nose

Different types of lamps can be installed for a wider variety of different beam angles.

Colour frame uses gels to change the colour of the light. We can use different gels during the show to alter the colour of the performance. For example, low, calm colours such as light blue could be used during an acoustic performance, to help create a calm atmosphere.

Soft edge beam – useful for stage washes. (E.g. Front of House)

Student: Rory GiddingsBTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Production ArtsUnit 65 – Stage Technical Operations Assessor Name: Andy Hancock

Dimming Equipment:Functionality and Operation:

Dimmers are devices that are used to lower the brightness of a light. By changing the amount of voltage applied to the lamp, the intensity of the light output is lowered. This means the higher the voltage is, the brighter the light output will be. Dimmers are also removable devices that can range from 20-ampere, 2.4-kilowatt to 100-ampere units. The term ‘dimmer’ is given to equipment that is built to control the light output from different types of lights such as halogen, compact fluorescent lights, etc.

Dimmers can differ in size as they can range from small units to much higher powered units that would be required for large theatre productions or architectural lighting installations. The smaller types of dimmers are normally directly controlled. Professional dimmers are normally controlled by a digital control system such as DMX or DALI. For example, for the Student Christmas Concert, we used the Zero 88 Betapack 2 as our main piece of dimming equipment. The XLR and DMX address on the dimmers was set to various channels and inputs on the control/mixing desk (Allen & Heath GL2000-424).

Lighting Control/Mixing Equipment:

We used 3pin XLR Cables to go from the outputs of the desk into the inputs of the dimmers. This meant that we could use dimmers on any of the lights we needed for the concert.

We also used 3pin/5pin DMX cables to go from the outputs of the desk into the inputs of the dimmers.

Student: Rory GiddingsBTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Production ArtsUnit 65 – Stage Technical Operations Assessor Name: Andy Hancock

Functionality and Operation:

A lighting control desk is a device that controls and mixes multiple system inputs and outputs for lighting. The purpose of a lighting control desk is to provide the necessary amount of light, where and when it is needed. The lighting control/mixing desk that we used for the ‘Student Christmas Concert 2015’ was the ChamSys MagicQ PC Wing Compact - a small desk that enables advanced show programming and playback through lighting faders, buttons and encoder wheels.

The desk also has two fully-patchable direct DMX outputs on the rear panel, which allowed us to attach the desk to our dimming equipment, meaning we could control each and every light for the show and its varying types of performances, as many performers required different types of lights and settings.

The ChamSys MaqicQ desk was an essential piece of equipment for the show, as it provided easy access to moving light parameters through the features on the desk, such as rotary encoders, live show control via the playback faders, and cue stack control buttons.

Student: Rory GiddingsBTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Production ArtsUnit 65 – Stage Technical Operations Assessor Name: Andy Hancock

The MagicQ desk was also used alongside its PC counterpart, ChamSys. This computer software enabled us to control multiple (pre-programmed) lighting installations through the use of various channels and units on the software. For example, we could record individual cue stacks, fade certain lights, brighten the intensity of a light, etc. I have attached a couple of ChamSys screenshots to illustrate the technical aspects of the programme.

Pre-programmed lighting installations/settings – allows the user to manually control the lights from the software programme.

The ‘Visualizer’ tool allowed us to visualise how the stage lights would appear during an actual show/performance. This was very useful to us when we carried out the technical rehearsals for the ‘Student Christmas Concert’.

The software enabled us to create cue stacks for certain lights and control them entirely from the computer.

Student: Rory GiddingsBTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Production ArtsUnit 65 – Stage Technical Operations Assessor Name: Andy Hancock

Sound Control/Mixing Equipment:Functionality and Operation:

Our main piece of sound control equipment was the Allen & Heath GL2000-424 sound desk. It was essential to the running of the show as it meant that we could combine multiple channels of sound and manually adjust the amount of volume, bass, frequency, etc. This was very useful during the show as it meant that we could change the dynamics of the audio signals that the speakers were picking up; these included signals from the microphones on stage, signals from electric instruments, etc. It also meant that we could control the amount of feedback the sound equipment received, such as mics, amplifiers, etc. An example of this would be CJ’s performance as he required a reverb to emphasise the bass and intonations in his beatboxing act. The desk also has a Group / Aux switching mode, which enabled us to use the desk for a variety of tasks, such as front-of-house, monitoring and combined roles.

Task 2:

Formats: 12, 16, 24, 32 mono channels. All include 2 stereo mic/line channels and 2 stereo returns

The desk also has an internal linear power supply

4 band EQ with HPF. Separate controls for sweep and cut / boost on mid bands

Student: Rory GiddingsBTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Production ArtsUnit 65 – Stage Technical Operations Assessor Name: Andy Hancock

Speakers/Amplifiers:Speakers/Amplifiers are devices that increase the power of a signal. Decibels are the unit in which the loudness of a speaker is measured. A watt (W) is a measure of electrical power, which also measures the loudness/output of a speaker. All speakers have a maximum number of watts that they can handle. During the concert, we ensured that the amplifiers did not put out more power than they could handle, as this could damage them.

The active PA speakers that we used already had an amplifier pre-built into the speaker cabinet, so all we had to do was plug line-level signals straight from the mixer into the back of the speaker.

During the concert, the amplifiers we relied on the most were active PA speakers. We were able to both maximise and balance the level of sound on the control/mixing desk, which allowed us to control any possible sound distortion and/or speaker feedback.

Student: Rory GiddingsBTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Production ArtsUnit 65 – Stage Technical Operations Assessor Name: Andy Hancock

Microphones:Microphones convert sound into an electrical signal from the differences in air pressure. Microphones usually need to be connected to a preamplifier before the signal can be amplified. The microphones that we used during the ‘Student Christmas Concert’ were:

Dynamic microphones – these types of microphones are durable, affordable and resistant to moisture. They also have a fairly high gain before feedback, which makes them ideal for on-stage use. For the ‘Student Christmas Concert’, we used the Shure SM57 dynamic mic.

Condenser microphones – these mics have a high frequency response and are sensitive to loud sounds. Condenser mics are normally much more expensive than dynamic microphones. Because of this, they are normally used in professional recording studios. For the concert, we used C2 condenser mics. However, these required an extra source of power, and so we used XLR cable splitters to attach the mic to an external power source. We used Phantom power, which is an electrical power source transmitted through mic cables. This allowed us to successfully operate the condenser mics.

The SM57 was mainly used in the concert by the musicians who needed to mic up their amplified or acoustic instruments, such as guitar amps, bass amps, drums/percussion, etc.

Student: Rory GiddingsBTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Production ArtsUnit 65 – Stage Technical Operations Assessor Name: Andy Hancock

Task 3: