Lighting the Warehouse Party
Working with gak lights at Ken's Birthday Party
Design Dialogue by Jack Kelly
January 20, 2008 | Downtown Warehouse in Charlotte

Torch, owner of Single Cell Productions, has been working with Eye Dialogue since 2003, before my company was Eye Dialogue. One of his good friends was having a birthday party and he needed a cool budget system. Of course I hooked Torch up, but there was only a budget for an operator or the lights not both. I had to come up with a cool system that did not require an operator. I have to set up for church every Sunday at 6 am, which happens to be the time this particular crew usually stops their parties. I have pulled plenty of 36 hour days but not for a couple hundred dollars.

If you haven’t seen the Vue series by Chauvet, you are behind the times. Bringing in the new generation of gak lighting effects, I have used the LED dot concept fixtures at both high-end and penny saver events. The trick is haze. Both the Vue II and Vue III have 100+ beams each and a wide beam spread, quickly filling up any space. Both projecting hundreds of dots around the room, and hundreds of beam of light through the air; the Vue completely changes the atmosphere.

On the side note, when I design a lighting scheme I make two distinctions in lighting design: Environmental and Atmospheric changes. Environmental lighting is coloring the objects around a space. Adding lighting to walls, tables, etc, is another form of interior decorating. The displays throughout the room are lit to affect only the object being lit and nothing else. A properly lit environmental design brings everyone’s attention to the proper place; commonly used in retail, museums, and corporate events. Perception of the object is manipulated. Atmospheric lighting is coloring the air between objects. From lasers to gobo projection, visible beam effects create a fantastic-surreal dimension of space. Beam effects capture our imagination. The most noticeable Atmospheric change is when the room color changes; everyone feels on display. Perception of the air or space is manipulated, many times making people feel awkward. Colorful extravagant displays seldom make people uncomfortable. However, change the color temperature of the lamps in a building and someone will complain.

At parties and nightclubs people want to feel different, they want to get away from the usual. Atmospheric lighting schemes are most often used in these settings. The Vue in combination with the haze provided atmospheric changes. However, good party lighting usually has both elements. I needed an interesting backdrop to transform the dingy warehouse walls. Six H20 250s were programmed to red cross-washing the wall around the dance floor and DJ. Projecting from small wooden floor base plates, swirling red lava effects gave a warm feeling to the cold space.

If you need a simple no-maintenance design, try the LED moonflower and Water Effect combination. Inexpensive and easy to setup, all you now need is a little thought on placement. I have never been a huge fan of gak lights, but the new generation of LED gak fixtures can be really cool when set up creatively.