Lighting a Dream Theme
The 2007 Forum New Year’s Party
Design Dialogue by Jack Kelly
December 31 2007 | Forum | Charlotte NC

I have been working with the Forum for two and a half years. They have allowed me the creative freedom to explore different and sometimes crazy ideas. For this, I reserve some of my most creative concepts for their events. This New Year’s Eve they picked a Dream theme, the vaguest yet most open theme for interpretation yet. With little direction, I nearly beat my head into a wall to come up with concepts that express the concept and essence of Dream. Floating like a strung out hippie at Lollapalooza, the easy ideas were completely lame and ravy. I am still trying to forget I came up with some them. I am about to share with you three lighting and video concepts that you are welcome to steal as long as you journey to the desert and chant the mantra “Jack Kelly is a genius” dancing around a fire in the moonlight. . . I will also mention the three other elements which are not quite as exciting but short winded which I know will be much appreciated for the impatient.

First, the cloud was something I had wanted to do for a long time. A simple combination of buffalo snow and LEDs can make a magical effect. We built a cross with 4x4’s, 12 feet by 10 feet. 6 Colorcast 14s were attached to the 10 foot beam, 8 more fixtures were attached to 2 additional boards tacked onto the 12 foot beam. Those boards were positioned 4 feet from either end of the 12' 4x4. The wireless receiver and the power supply for the Colorcast 14’s were pre-wired for an easy onsite installation. At the venue, metal strips were wrapped around the cross to build a warped circle. Chicken wire was attached to the strips forming a half sphere. The wire hung about 4 feet down from the cross. 35 bags of Buffalo Snow were then pushed into the circular chicken wire holes until the entire half sphere was covered in cotton. We hoisted the cloud with pulleys up into the ceiling. Through creative programming, we could make the cloud simulate lightning with white flicks over a solid blue hue. In line with the theme, we also explored fantastic color combinations throughout the night. My favorite was the hot pink with flashes of yellow. Below the cloud, two Antari snow machines sprayed snow up into the air. The winter element made the entire picture believable. Patrons lifted their hands to catch the snow, pointing and waving into the air much like children in the playground. I am not sure if one effect would have survived without the other, but together the effect on the crowd was extraordinary.

Effect numero dos was also something I had been plotting for years. I just needed the right application. For the patio/ entrance outside, I presented the theme both literally and figuratively. I made a gobo of each of the letters D-R-E-A-M and put them in 5 Chauvet Q-Spot 300s. Ironically, I stole the font design from a new age dream book. Three moving heads were place on the top of 2 different size trusses that lined the patio. Two more fixtures were hung from the I-beams extending over the patio. I programmed the fixtures to form the word “dream” on the huge parking lot canvas across the alley. Spanning over 60 feet, each letter was given a color and positioned. After only a few seconds, one letter fell from the formation spinning into the air. Then another letter spun off towards the ground. One by one, all five letters spun off exploring the surrounding area. After chaotically flying around for about 20 seconds, all five letters slowly reformed the word “dream” back onto the parking deck. This pattern was repeated throughout the night. As an added bonus, I added color changers to the brick face of the building. But this particular story is about effects so I will leave the rambling about solid design techniques aka framing for my next article.

My favorite effect which is something I had been mulling over for years but had yet to find the right application. I wanted to make a video screen that seemed to peer into another room. When I was younger, I was told a story of a designer who used projectors on the back windows of a studio stage to give the appearance that is was snowing outside. I don’t remember who told me nor who the designer was, but thanks. We used 4 old style windows which I had ripped out of one of my housing projects. We combined two of them to get a standard format 3:4 ratio. However that was not our first attempt to design video windows. First we tried to pull out the panes and replacing them with cloth, which failed. Then we built a window around a Lycra scrim, which also looked terrible. Next we bought a window treatment film, which didn’t look right either. Finally I discovered a spray can of frosted window paint at Home Depot. It was too easy. The windows were cleaned up enough to be presentable but I wanted the antique look. After two applications of frosted paint on one side, each window was hung from the ceiling. The projector was positioned on the opposite side of the majority of viewers; since I wanted the image to be visible only on the windows and not on the wooden frame. If video is only on the window, the viewer will believe the illusion. Most people want to believe in magic; they want movies to be real; I work very hard not to wake them up to reality with carelessness. The video was visible on both sides of the window, but one side had the addition video projecting onto the window frame. The video consisted of a montage of abstract videos and surreal imagery as if looking into another world.

Now I would like to quickly ramble through the final ideas. For the garden upstairs we used 12 Chinese lanterns with color changing light bulbs. The color changing orbs over head have been well received over the years, a well seasoned lighting design in my repertoire. For Pravda the secondary bar, we used a room full of the new LED Dot Effect lights. No one in Charlotte had used the new LED gak fixtures, so I thought it would be a great place to showcase the lighting effect.

Personally, I loved the overall theme and design. Although a little incoherent, the party represented a very trippy experience. I don’t think Andy Warhol would have disapproved. But unfortunately most of the clientele didn’t get it. This was one of my Monk moments; every designer in the room applauded and the lay person just scratched their head wondering about the theme. Individually each effect was highly praised but the big picture just left everybody dazed and confused. Next year I think we will try something a little more direct. Or I will just pout in my room complaining to the press about being misunderstood.

By the way, if you ever used confetti cannons, don’t forget to tape the backpressure caps. We forgot and had nothing but complaints. A little gaff tape around the cap and the difference is astounding.