CIAA time and the madness is in. Eye Dialogue was invited to light the biggest party this weekend at the Grinnell Building hosted by Vintage Productions (www.vintageproduction.net) and Calvin Richardson. The party consisted of two main areas: a large tent for General Admission (40’ x 100’) and a foyer for the VIP. Each area had its own entrance creating four lighting zones: VIP, VIP Entrance, GA, and GA Entrance.

The Philosophy:
Creating an orientation in a space makes a room make sense. The easiest way to orient a room is to frame the entertainment and the bar: the two most valued gathering points at every party. Placing light fixtures or large décor on each side of the focal point establishes purpose much like road signs. The destinations in a room should be obvious or some people will miss it and wait in the wrong place. The frustration can drive some to leave early because they couldn’t find the bar or they were too far away from the entertainment because the stage was misrepresented. Keeping the stage more interesting than the bar keeps drinkers from staring at the bar and keeps the flow of the room, sending patrons back to the entertainment.

For the VIP entrance, we used four American DJ H2O 250s to light the brick wall. The fixtures were set to red to create a lava ripple to accent the brick. In the VIP’s foyer, six moving lights were placed at 3’, 5’, and 7’ in staggering steps on each side of the DJ. 4 fabric triangles were stretched across the room. Two fabric stretches were placed above the DJ booth indirectly reflecting light onto the DJ. Four more water effects lit the four gray stone walls in the foyer with a watery Blue light. Opposite the entrance, a BenQ projector displayed a logo for Vintage Productions onto a square fabric stretch. The video projection provided a professional finish to the feel of the room.

For the General Admission entrance, two American DJ MR RGB E27 lit the stair case. These amazing LED medium base fixtures work by remote control; a great asset to areas that cannot be scene by a lighting operator. For the front of the tent, 4 H20’s cast a yellow ripple across the canvas. The yellow light contrasted with the inner light show exploding from the glass doors. Inside the tent, 10 American DJ Par64 LED fixtures lit the 3 bars. In front of the doors, fabric stretched across a triangular truss lit with 4 Color Kinetics Colorcast 14. Twelve Colorcast 14 were lined across the top to light the top of the tent. The rich hues of light at the entrance and bar provided plenty of light for the staff to work effectively and made an impression on everyone there to party. The truss splitting the room also directed the flow towards both the three bars and the DJ. The circular motion forced by the room break up encourages mingling and interaction between customers, key to every social event.

For the DJ booth, triangular truss supported 4 AmDJ Accu Scans, 8 Octopod 80s, and an Elation Proton Star. The Octopod LEDs faced the dance floor running sweeping color patterns and intensity chases. Two of the scanners were inverted to create vertical beam crosses. At the far end of the tent, the aggressive direct light reaching from the DJ booth complimented the indirect light at the Bar and entrance area.