Re: Don't buy Martin!

Duncan Wood wrote:

snip

> It'll be cheaper to buy enough lights to actually light the stage.  
> Followspotting with a moving head light is seriously tricky.

Good points, Duncan, and true, in many situations; but for the price of 
either renting a followspot or tricking out one of your own profiles 
'as' a followspot, your lighting designer can actually save on lighting 
(if manpower is not a cost issue).

By using a followspot(s), the LD can limit the use of other lighting 
instruments. In other words, don't light the entire stage if one or two 
followspots can keep the 'face' on your production. Judicious use of 
even one followspot can keep the contrast levels for area lighting way 
down. It also has the added advantage of keeping the audience attention 
exactly where you want it, even while pre-setting the next scene.

In a properly rehearsed lighting cue, one performer covered in one 
followspot can carry an entire scene without ANY other stage lighting, 
if it comes down to that. And you are not limited to acting area, color, 
intensity, beam size [coverage], or focus; any changes in these aspects 
are available at any time within the cue.

It involves a very 'theatrical' way of presentation; but hey, that's the 
business you are in. Go for it; followspots are the potential in stage 
lighting, not the limits.

Regards,
Bert