In the August issue of Lighting and Sound America Louise Strickland wrote a great article on a production of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, Nabucco, put on at the foot of Masada Mountain in Israel by the Israeli State Opera. After reading it, I couldn’t resist writing an article about what I thought were its most exciting parts. The whole production was truly amazing and was a definite challenge, but the lighting, in particular, was ground breaking for outdoor theatre lighting. The Israeli Opera’s production of Nabucco was staged on the edge of the Dead Sea, at the lowest point in the world. This remote desert location provided lighting designers with the initial problem of transporting equipment there. Once camels had been deemed the partial solution, design of the show commenced. Lighting designers turned to a whole gamut lighting fixtures. Nabucco was illuminated by 84 moving head spots, 24 moving head washes, 300 PAR cans, and more than 200 ellipsoidals. All of the fixtures that directly illuminated the stage from the trussing had to be particularly powerful and able to throw light a considerable distance because of the height of the trusses from the stage.
The show was dramatically backgrounded by 60 5,000w and 7,000w xenon lamp search lights, to add to the desert ambiance. These search lights were connected to the controllers by either wireless DMX relays or extremely long cables. The show was brought together by a complicated controlling system that involved writing the show on two controllers but only using one to actually perform the cues, etc. This created a safety net in case one of the controllers broke down during the show, there would be another to take its place. This is just a synopsis of the show’s setup, so if you want a more complete breakdown of the show see Strickland’s article.
Though most lighting designer will never put up a light system on the scale that this performance of Nabucco was, on and most certainly not in the Israeli desert, there are some lessons to be learned, especially for the amateur lighting designer. The first is that always remember truss height when choosing fixtures. Secondly, the only way to get a really balanced lighting effect that has excellent coverage is with a mix of different types of fixtures. So, always remain open minded and don’t get too loyal to one technology over another.
As usual, always check out BulbAmerica for its outstanding stage lighting products and prices. Leave your comments or contact us for any questions or concerns you have as well.
In the summer issue of Worship AVL: Asia, Mark Johnson wrote a nice article on moving headsand house of worship lighting which got me thinking about the topic as well. There are certainly a lot of moving heads to choose today, and if you are designing the lighting for HOW lighting, you’ve got to wonder how these luminaires fit into this specific lighting situation. Moving heads generally provide...
A while ago I wrote an article on Platinum’s fantastic new MR16 LED color changing bulbs. In this article I am going to introduce you to another of Platinum’s RGB LED color changing bulb. Platinum’s Globe RGB LED E27 bulbis an exciting offering. This 9w bulb is rated at 30,000hrs and is guaranteed to effortlessly add color to any room. Just screw the bulb’s standard base into any socket that...
Gobos are an integral part of any lighting effect system. Without gobos one would be limited to color and light shows, but with gobos a lighting designer can sculpt the available color and light into patterns and shapes that can capture the ambiance and mood of whatever the situation. As gobos become more common in not only scanners and DJ lighting effects but moving head units and outdoor projectors, the gobo itself has become that much more important. Apollo's outstanding steel and glass gobos are the best in the business and will make your show an unforgettable one.
Apollo offers low resolution and extremely high resolution glass and steel gobos. Apollo’s glass gobos are made from the finest quality borosilicate glass. Glass gobos are capable of producing much higher resolution and detailed images than steel gobos because they do not require bridging, a technique used to connect the separate lines of a design and thus maintain the integrity of the gobo image. Colored designs are also available with glass gobos, thus contributing an additional degree of excitement to your lighting that is not possible with steel gobos. Steel gobos, however are still highly valuable. Apollo’s steel gobos are made from 8mm stainless steel with high nickel and chromium content to ensure durability.Though Apollo glass gobos are able to withstand high temperatures, steel gobos are generally more durable than glass gobos and are better suited for use in fixtures that generate large quantities of heat such as ellipsoidals and followspots.
Apollo has some very special gobos, in particular their super resolution gobos and multi-color gobos. Apollo’s super resolution gobos depict images in vivid detail, allowing each facet of the image or pattern to be prominent and lively. Multi-colored gobos, which are made from multiple glass dichroic filters fused upon one another, are also an outstanding gobo. Apollo’s multi-colored gobos come in combinations of nearly every design imaginable while still maintaining the integrity of the image being presented.
I could go on and list the possible colors and patterns available but it would simply take too long. Suffice it to say that BulbAmerica stocks 1,758 different gobo patterns and images, so we probably have exactly the gobo you need plus much, much more. Check out what we have to offer, you won’t be disappointed!
Pinspots are a common luminaire used in lighting systems big and small. Pinspots can be used for many things, including serving as a spot light and illuminating a disco ball. There is often a bit of latitude in what people call a pinspot, but it is most often associated with a PAR36 can with a 4515lamp that features a very tightly focused beam, usually with a 6˚ to 12˚ beam angle. With the...
Griven’s outdoor lighting has been used in outdoor applications all across the world. From lighting up the Eiffel Tower to providing fixtures for India’s largest light and water show (see the article on our blog for the full story), Griven has been there and done it all. Recently in Mexico, Griven added one more outdoor lighting notch to their belt by providing outdoor color changers for a motocro...
Finding durable outdoor lighting with fantastic performance has always been a problem. Luckily, as LEDs are further integrated into PAR cans it seems that there has been a steady flow of weather-resistant LED PARcans with impressive brightness and RGB color changing abilities. In this article I will review three outdoor LED PARs that I think deserve special attention for their outstanding...
It’s not always so easy to think up inexpensive and attractive ways to decorate your home or business for a party. To add to your problem, if you are throwing one party it is likely that you will throw another, so if possible, you want choose something that is reusable. If you are pondering over some of these things, then perhaps blacklight and colored light bulbs would interest you. The focus of my article here will be general party lighting ideas that are inexpensive and reusable. Fluorescent blacklights come available with many different bases to fit various sockets. One particularly useful blacklight bulb for parties at your home or any smaller location is the mini-twist compact fluorescent with an E26 medium screwbase that will fit virtually any place where you can screw in a bulb. With blacklight mini-twists you can create a great blacklight lighting effect by simply using a table lamp or a sconce. Another less expensive option is incandescent blacklight bulbs. These bulbs come in A19 and T10 shapes and and are inexpensive lighting options for your party or event. If you are planning on reusing your blacklight bulbs or using them for a longer period of time, you may want to consider the CFL blacklight over the incandescent because of CFLs’ superior life hour rating.
For colored light bulbs, you have many options including CFLs, incandescent bulbs, and LEDs. If you are aiming for durability and the ability to use your colored bulbs more than once, LED light bulbs are for you. Osram offers a fantastic line of LED A15 shape, B10 shape, and G30 shape bulbs with a medium screw base that will fit into any screw-in fixture. These bulbs are available in every color of the rainbow and also feature a color changing option. Of course CFL and incandescent colored bulbs do a great job, however they cannot match Osram’s colored bulbs’ energy draw of 1w to 2w. Sunlite also offers a wide range of colored LED bulbs from JDR MR16s to PAR30 and PAR38 floods. Most LED products are extremely durable and will last anywhere from 25,000hrs to 100,000hrs. There are plenty color LED bulbs to choose from and other colored bulbs to choose from, so make sure to check them all out before you make a decision.
BulbAmerica has all of your blacklight and colored light bulb needs. We also realize that if you are planning for a party you will need more than one bulb, so we sell our blacklights and colored bulbs in packages to save you money and give you the light coverage you need. Check us out today!
ETC has long been a game changer in theatrical lighting. ETC’s Source Four technology, introduced in 1992, ushered in the ellipsoidal luminaire and the HPL lamp, both of which are popular choices in many stage lighting applications. ETC is once more making waves, this time by adapting their Source Four technology to the PAR can. ETC’s Source Four PAR Enhanced Aluminum Reflector (EA) is powerful, aesthetically appealing, and versatile. The Source Four PAR EA is among the brightest PAR cans available, it is rated for 750w HPL lamps which make it comparable to a PAR64 can with a 1,000w lamp (For more info on HPL lamps, see the article on them posted on our blog). This means that the PAR EA will save you energy over PAR 64s. This fact sets the Source Four EA apart from other PAR cans, but one only needs to see the Source Four’s die-cast aluminum housing to know that this PAR can is different. The Source Four EA’s narrow sculpted can and its attractive black or white finishes make it an attractive option for architectural lighting in addition to stage lighting.
The Source Four PAR EA, like many of ETC’s products, is distinguished by its versatility and usability. The Source Four PAR features interchangeable lenses that run the gamut of beam types from very narrow spot (VNSP) to extra wide flood (XWFL) (optional lens) for broad even washes at shorter distances. The Source Four PAR features unrivaled usability and excellent design with its system of snap-in rings that hold the lenses in place, allowing you to avoid the potentially hazardous task of reach into a hot PAR can. ETC has also addressed one of the PAR can’s most serious short comings, its generation of heat. The Source Four PAR Metal Cold Mirror (MCM) has all of the features of the EA, but features a special reflector coating that prevents heat from leaving the fixture.
ETC’s Source Four PAR EA and PAR MCM represent the latest in PAR can technology. As with all of their products, ETC’s PARs feature amazing versatility and performance and attractive design. If you are looking to ramp-up your PAR can arsenal with increased versatility at less wattage then look no further than ETC’s PAR cans. BulbAmerica stocks all of them and other ETC products at amazing prices, so be sure to check us out!
No matter what season it is, power outages are always possibility. In the summer a lightning bolt can strike a power line and winter ice can wreak havoc on any power system. Though you can’t predict when the power will go out, you don’t have to be left in the dark when it does. Battery operated flashlights and touch lights are useful, however consistently changing batteries is not only a hassle...
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