 Paul
has been working with me as a light board operator since the beginning
of 2006. Coming to work for me full time this year, he has taken
on a production sales position during the day. One of the main deficiencies
in the company has been sales. If I am not selling, then we go out
of business. Paul is well connected, creative, knowledgeable, likeable,
agreeable, and charismatic about lighting; all the ingredients for
a great sales person.
Paul’s first significant solo gig was the
Pink Party for the Beautiful Club at Herst Tower. One of the most
exciting projects we will do this year, the party puts Eye Dialogue’s
lighting talents in the center of downtown. After scoping out the
space, we came up with the lighting design.
For the DJ, we surrounded him with 6 pieces of
5’ square box truss. Each truss was uplit with Opti 30’s
gelled with a medium pink by Rosco. Creating a triangle surrounding
the DJ, each truss had a moving fixture on top. Two moving head
wash fixtures, Robe Color Wash 250XT’s, were used to light
the DJ and entertainment. Without a definitive plan for the evening,
we wanted to be able to follow any entertainer any time. Four 575w
scanners, Elation Vision Scan 575, provided fun gobo effect lights
scanning both the courtyard and nearly 10 stories up the Herst Tower.
We were very impressed with the throw which made the party extend
beyond to the courtyard into the air. Much like sky trackers, the
colored gobos scanning the tower attracted party seekers from all
over the 4th ward.
Expanding
the visuals around the crowd, 16 LED color changing fixtures uplit
key columns around the courtyard. With 360° of eye candy, the
LED’s fluxed between purples and pinks as the movers scanned
the buildings throughout the courtyard. We used DMX recorders for
the LED’s to prevent cable from crossing high traffic areas.
By changing the color of the space, we completely changed the feel.
And, the feeling was pink.
The event was sponsored by the Beautiful Club,
the Sunset Club, Elevate Magazine, and City Tavern. The amount of
money or favors to rent the Herst Tower Courtyard had to be significant.
To spend that amount of money, we wanted to make sure that the proper
people received the credit. Suggesting custom gobos for branding
the event was an easy sell. Well, I take that back as soon as they
realized what a gobo and Leko were, it was an easy sell. Paul set
up a Leko with one of our other client’s gobos to show them
before the event. All the sponsors ordered at least one gobo. For
the event, we lined four ETC Source 4 Lekos on one side of the wall.
Each Leko was fit with 10° lens focused on four architectural
elements above the shops on the other. Coincidentally there were
4 sponsors for 4 rectangles. What are the chances?
Paul and I can’t take all the credit. The
courtyard is architecturally interesting without excessive color;
and it is easy to light 3 dimensional monochromatic art whose form
is interesting. Corners, extensions, dips, and textures give me
the tools to fracture and mix colored light in interesting ways.
We had some difficulty finding enough power the only show power
we could find was a 50 amp twist lock. So we ended up losing two
of the 6 Lekos but the event didn’t miss a beat from the 2
American Audio Tri Packs, an inexpensive powered speaker system
that has held up well for our small DJ gigs. The event coordinators
created multiple lounges with tents, couches, bars, and decor. Beautifully
lit, the Pink Party became a paradise of pink perfecting the purpose
of pink.
|