designing the air

a few days ago, kevin decided to change a moving light cue based on the picture that it was making in the air. the lighting on the actors wasn't really affected: he was interested in the visual effect of the beams through the air. i asked him about it last night, and we had a conversation about how designing lights can be as much about where the light is coming from visually as it is about what it's hitting and how. thinking back to his other designs that i have seen, this is very true. hair, american idiot, spring awakening--they all have a very designed air space.

i can certainly see the link to rock and roll in that respect. when there is haze in the air, i think we all tend to pay a lot more attention to how light moves through space. but next to normal has no haze--and it's still something that kevin pays attention to. it is amazing how much of a difference that little change he did ultimately made to the overall effect of the cue.

so last night, while i watched the show, i paid attention to how the moving lights were moving around and where they were coming from. it was very interesting to watch when they are really focusing the eye (symmetrical, clean, etc) and when they are creating what kevin called "anarchy" onstage (all colliding, messy, contrasting, etc).



and just for fun: here is my official badge!!