(Alan:) Today is another video in the stagehand 101 Series. This one features veteran
stagehand Tim Ramsey talking about follow spots. Here's Tim: Hey, today we're
going to discuss spotlights.
There's all kinds of different spotlights. they basically do the same
thing. if you notice on stage here, you've got your Iris and that
determines how big the circle is. for most performances
LDs want a top of the head to the bottom of
the feet or from the knees up. so you don't want to go too big.
this next one is what they call a clipper.
it's like a shutter but it closes down from the top and the bottom.
and this back one is your shutter. okay your shutter... it just shuts the
light off ...use those most the time for blackouts ... at the end of a song
your LD, depending on who it is, they'll want a one two three
count for your out at the end of the song. and it's just one two three (light off). there
you go. or you could do it quick sometimes. they want a quick black out. (Quick blackout)
there you go. now our next thing we're going to discuss is what's called a
boomerang. now Boomerang is this thing right here...
and it holds the gel so you can have different colors. you can go all white
or you can go different colors. a little bit lighter...
here's a purple... here's an orange...
and most the time when you throw one of the gels in like that. if you have to do
multiple gel changes, if you throw the next one up, it'll release the the
previous one.
okay now...
this Spotlight has a long throw adjustment and a short throw (Focus adjustment)
it's in adjustment right now but I'll take it out to show you the difference.
I like to have a nice hard Edge so,
start out with this one... see how fuzzy these the edges look? you just move it
back to where it starts to harden up so you got a nice sharp edge.
tighten it up (lock it down) and you're good to go.
(Alan:) I just want to interject here, the LD will normally assign numbers to the
spots like Spot 1 Spot 2 spot 3 and so on. this way there can be different cues
called for each spot op. also potentially the LD will assign a home position for
each Spotlight that's a quick way to call a cue for all spots back to a
predefined person or position. a cue could go like this:
standby all spots blackout stand by all spots home positions
all spots go blackout go home positions...
all right back to Tim: For most of the shows that we do we have
LDs, lighting directors, it's very important to pay attention to what your
lighting director tells you! what frame in the boomerang you want, are he or she
wants ...
and listen carefully! I've said it before,
running a spotlight is not rocket science. If I can do it anybody can do it.
Just pay attention keep the chatter down on your clear comms and you'll do fine.
We like to say bring your A game and wing it! (Alan:) Be sure to check out these other
videos and I will see you next time