Concert Lighting, 3rd Edition

Concert Lighting, 3rd Edition

by James Moody, Paul Dexter
Released May 2013
Publisher(s): Focal Press
ISBN: 9781136082696

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Book description

Concert Lighting is a comprehensive book on lighting design for concerts. Placing special emphasis on rock-and-roll concert lighting equipment and techniques, the book takes its reader on tour, covering every aspect of that experience for the touring professional lighting technician and designer. It also provides several chapters to cross-media use of concert lighting techniques. Discussions of applications in film, video, the theatre, and the corporate world demonstrate the ways in which today's lighting designers cross over into other design areas.

Covering computer-aided drafting, moving lights, hi-bred consoles, concert techniques in television production, and featuring designs by some of the top concert designers in the industry, Concert Lighting is designed to assist students and professionals in understanding the unique fixtures, structures, special effects and design elements used in concert lighting today.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Full Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Foreword to the Third Edition
  6. Foreword to the Second Edition
  7. Foreword to the First Edition
  8. Preface: Are We Legit Yet?
  9. Author's Page
  10. SECTION I BACKGROUND AND ORGANIZATION
    1. 1. The Birth of Rock and the Rise of the Concert Lighting Field
      1. Concert Lighting Begins in the United States
      2. The San Francisco Light Show
      3. Other Cities and Venues
      4. Fill more East
      5. Fledgling Lighting in England
      6. Moving to Larger Venues
      7. The End of Bill Graham's Fillmores
      8. Melding Forms
      9. Lighting Becomes Big Business
      10. Mergers and Buyouts
      11. Casinos
      12. Purpose Built Concert Amphitheatres
      13. LED Revolution
      14. Expansion Beyond the Concert Format
      15. The Concert Lighting Designer/Director
    2. 2. Tour Personnel and Unions
      1. Road Crew Duties
    3. 3. Business
      1. Freelance
      2. Company Employee
      3. Direct Contact
      4. Pay
      5. Per Diem
      6. Equipment Costs
      7. Contracts
      8. Authorized Representative
      9. Contracting the Crew
      10. The Contract Rider
      11. Rider Items
      12. The Importance of the Rider
      13. Follow-up
      14. The Promoter's View
      15. Small Production-Low Budget
      16. The Yellow Card
    4. 4. PreProduction
      1. Type of Halls
      2. Budget
      3. Artist's Requirements
      4. Stage Limitations
      5. Crewing
      6. Opening Acts
      7. Prep Time
      8. Rehearsal Time
      9. Timing
      10. Variety of Venues and Artistic Styles
    5. 5. The Design Stage
      1. The Workhorse of Concert Lighting
      2. Air Light
      3. Moving Lights (Luminaires)
      4. Other Luminaire Choices
      5. Placement of Luminaires
      6. Color
      7. Circuiting and Dimming
      8. Layering
      9. Layout and Symbols
      10. Hanging
      11. Sample Light Plot
      12. Color Changers, Moving Luminaire, and Effects
      13. Variables
      14. More Complex Designs
    6. 6. Cueing the Music
      1. Cues, Song Punctuation
      2. Picking the Console to Match the Cues
      3. Find Your Looks
      4. Cue Placement
      5. The Cue Book
      6. The Cue Card
      7. Verbal Communications
      8. Cueing Follow Spots
      9. Summary
    7. 7. Road Life
      1. Power Service
      2. Follow Spots
      3. Stages and Ceiling Height
      4. Special Effects
      5. Road Lifestyle
      6. Transportation
      7. An Established Field
    8. 8. Working Outside the United States
      1. Carnets
      2. Touring in the European Union
      3. Touring in South America
      4. Touring in Japan and Asia
      5. Respect for Other Cultures
    9. 9. Risk Assessment and Safety
      1. Specific Areas for Safety Concern
      2. Fall Protection Systems
      3. Failure of Structures
      4. Seismic Concerns
      5. Luminaires
      6. Focusing
      7. Power Hookup
      8. Pyrotechnics
      9. Smoke
      10. Murphy's Law
      11. Safety Problems: Corrections and Solutions
    10. 10. Finding Solutions
      1. Problem Solving, Stress Management, and Interpersonal Communication
      2. Decision Making
      3. Design, Crew, and Equipment Failure
      4. Dimmer Problems
      5. Computer Problems
      6. Being Prepared
  11. SECTION II EQUIPMENT DESIGNED TO TRAVEL
    1. 11. Lighting Consoles
      1. Hands-on Consoles
      2. Consoles Dedicated to Moving Luminaires
      3. Theatre Consoles
      4. Hybrid Consoles
      5. Specialized Consoles
      6. Summary
    2. 12. Portable Dimming and Distribution Systems
      1. Power Distribution Racks
      2. Other Power Distribution
      3. Multi Cable
      4. Company Switch
      5. Transformers
      6. Portable Generators
      7. Cable Reels
      8. Cable Crossovers
    3. 13. Lighting Trusses
      1. Truss Design
      2. The First Trusses
      3. Triangle Truss
      4. Square or Box Truss
      5. Modern Truss Design
      6. Engineering and Construction
      7. Spans
      8. Integration of Electrical Connections
      9. Lighting Grids
      10. Advantages of Portable Trusses
      11. Building a Grid
    4. 14. Lifts, Hoists, and Roofs
      1. Air and Cable Crank-up Lifts
      2. Ram Lifts
      3. Scissor Lifts
      4. Truss Tower Lifts
      5. Hoists and Rigging
      6. Chain Hoists
      7. Digital Remote Control
      8. Load Cells
      9. Safety First
      10. Roofs
    5. 15. Moving Luminaires
      1. The History of Moving Luminaires
      2. Vari*Lite History
      3. Current Developments
      4. Cost and Availability
      5. Morpheus Lights
      6. Martin Professional
      7. High End Systems
      8. Robe Lighting
      9. Production Resource Group (PRG)
      10. Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC)
      11. ADB Lighting Technologies
      12. The Future of Moving Luminaires
    6. 16. LED Units
      1. LED Technology
      2. Efficiency
      3. Colors and RGB
      4. Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs)
      5. Quantum Dot LEDs
      6. High-Power LEDs (HPLED)
      7. Power Sources
      8. Advantages of LEDs
      9. Disadvantages of LEDs
      10. New Sources
      11. Entertainment Applications of LED Technology
      12. The LED PAR
      13. Wash Luminaires
      14. Moving Luminaires
      15. LED Walls
    7. 17. Digital Lighting and Media Servers
      1. Adding the Control of Visual Media to Lighting
      2. Digital Light Developments
      3. Media Servers
      4. Media Server Capabilities
      5. Content
    8. 18. Conventional Lighting and Accessories
      1. The PAR Family
      2. Fresnel
      3. Ellipsoidal Reflector Spotlight
      4. Cyclight and Farcyc
      5. The New Beam Projectors
      6. Audience Blinders
      7. Follow Spot
      8. DMX Iris
      9. Shutter
      10. Fat Lights
      11. Color Scrollers and Changers
      12. Strobes
      13. Moving Yoke
      14. Projectors
      15. Blacklights
      16. Flame Effects
      17. Color Media
      18. Gobos and Accessories
      19. Man Lift
      20. Personal Accessories
    9. 19. Smoke and Pyrotechnic Effects
      1. Smoke
      2. Haze
      3. Fog
      4. Fans
      5. Pyrotechnics
    10. 20. Protocol, Control, and Ancillary Enablers
      1. Protocol
      2. Ancillary Enablers
      3. Interfaces
    11. 21. The Designer's Workbox
      1. Software Programs
      2. The Visualization Process
      3. Visualization Programs
      4. Visualization Studios
      5. Other Tools in the ToolBox
    12. 22. Festivals, Fairs, Racetracks, Amphitheatres, Casinos, and Local Lighting Equipment
      1. Festivals
      2. Fairs and Racetracks
      3. Amphitheatres
      4. Casinos
      5. Local Production Equipment
      6. The Advantage of Local Lighting Vendors
  12. SECTION III DESIGNING WITH TOURING EQUIPMENT
    1. 23. Master Designers
      1. Paul Dexter: The Heaven and Hell Tour
      2. Questions
      3. Richard Pilbrow: "A Tale of Two Cities", A Broadway Musical
      4. Questions
      5. Andi Watson: Radiohead In Rainbows Tour
      6. Questions
      7. Jeff Ravitz: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band MAGIC TOUR (2007-2008)
      8. About Jeff Ravitz
      9. Questions
    2. 24. Designers Perspective: Art vs. Business
      1. Answers From Four Designers
    3. 25. Artist's Perspective
      1. What to Expect
      2. Engaging the Artist
      3. Establishing a Relationship
      4. Handling Rejection
      5. The Artist's Perspective
      6. Kevin Cronin, Lead Singer, REO Speedwagon
      7. Establishing Ideas
      8. Ronnie James Dio, Lead Singer, Heaven and Hell and Dio
      9. Establishing Ideas
      10. Gil Moore, Vocalist/Drummer for Triumph
      11. Establishing Ideas
    4. 26. Music Video, Film, DVDs, and Long-Form Production
      1. Film versus High Definition Video
      2. Film
      3. Video
      4. The Debatable "Look"
      5. Lighting Considerations
      6. What the Camera Sees
      7. The Cutaway
      8. Monitors
      9. Balancing Foreground with Background
      10. Key Light
      11. The Close-up
      12. Creating Background
      13. Audience Lighting
      14. Accommodation
      15. Long-Form Concert Videos
      16. Live Video
  13. SECTION IV THE AFTER-WORD
    1. 27. Postscript: Looking Back
      1. Where is Concert Lighting Technology Headed?
  14. Glossary
  15. Bibliography
  16. Index

Product information

  • Title: Concert Lighting, 3rd Edition
  • Author(s): James Moody, Paul Dexter
  • Release date: May 2013
  • Publisher(s): Focal Press
  • ISBN: 9781136082696