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Light Jockey
How to Bring the Party
to the Parking Deck |
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8 Chauvet Colorado 1 |
4 Altman Base Plates Elation Wireless DMX Martin Light Jockey |
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Being young is not all it is cracked up to be. In a world where age is interchangeable with your reliability rating, a company of ambitious overachievers has to work twice as hard to prove worthiness. Luckily, knowledge and talent have helped us to overcome the age prejudice. Eye Dialogue has become known for specializing in digital technology such as LEDs, movers, and sound. As a result, Charlotte has come to recognize Eye Dialogue as the creative lighting and sound company. When Janet Woodson of La Tee Da’s asked her friends for artsy lighting design, they sent her to us. One of Charlotte’s Premiere Caterers, Janet has been behind many of the most creative menus in Charlotte’s event scene. It is no surprise that the Arts and Science Counsel asked her to host their event overlooking the Queen City sky line from the parking deck of the first large shopping center in Uptown. There was little time to plan designs due to several construction delays, and the top of a deserted parking deck was definitely a design challenge. We needed to create a festive look worthy of the Arts and Science Counsel facing obstacles such as no rigging points, no walls, no interesting objects to light, and a backdrop of cold, hard cement; |
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The Arts and Science logo is made up of swirls of greens, blues, reds, and ambers. In continuance of the logo’s theme, I used color changers shifting between those colors. Two sets of four color-changing fixtures up lit twelve inch box truss of varying heights suggesting a city sky line. Decreasing in height, the truss staggered away from the stage into the crowd. The truss lines seemed to embrace the speaker, suggesting an intimacy with the audience. Behind the speaker the accomplishments of the Counsel were presented on a three-panel, folding screen. Four source-four Lekos were placed on the top level of the parking deck cutting tightly onto the screen and the speaker. The setting reached its pinnacle as the sun slowly set on the Charlotte skyline, the truss began to glow with vibrant colors, the city lights began to sparkle, and the lighting on the speaker continued to emphasize both the screen and the message. |
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We wanted to add interest that would cause viewers to engage the design by breaking up the space. So, we called on an old friend; the string light. Overused and underappreciated, the string light has been abused, but when tastefully applied can continue to turn heads. We attached the string lights to the pipe and base supporting the Lekos on the deck above using multi-color G40 bulb combinations suggestive of the logo colors. Descending onto each of the four tallest truss towers, the string lights created the three-dimensional design we needed, and the soft glow from the canopy of lights created a natural gathering place for guests to mingle. In a large space without control of outside influences, conviction must drive design, and by defining the space with clear lighting cues, we created a stage and a social area. Horns honking, street lights blaring, and beautiful skylines gleaming can add to the interest of an event, but can also overwhelm its purpose. Here, the lighting design brought additional focus and definition to the event by restating the color themes of the logo. The event sensory team, through the clarity of the sound, the tasty displays, and the elegance of speech, impacted every guest amidst the glory of a wide-open, Charlottean space. |
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