Evaluation of Rigging and Focusing.

During the winter showcase I was part of the team that were rigging and focusing the lights. Rigging is the process of putting the lights onto the rig and in the right position by following the lighting plan given to us by the lighting designer. Focusing is after rigging. Focusing is where we position the lights onto the right position on stage.

When we were asked to rig and focus we were given colour calls and a lighting plan from our lighting designer. A colour call is the exact number gel used in each light. If the gel isn’t right it won’t look right on stage. A lighting plan is a plan of the rig. It shows where each light is plugged in on the rig and where the stage is. The lighting plan is a top down view of the theatre.

We were asked to do several jobs over the nights. These varied from going up the talloscope, footing the talloscope, preparing the lights, preparing accessories (Barn doors, gels, gel frames etc.) and if lights are broken, troubleshoot them and then fix them.

What went well was that we was all delegated specific roles and we were all had jobs to do. This was good because we worked more efficiently as a team and we finished earlier than anticipated. Also this was good because we all knew what we were doing and there was no confusion of roles and no one was sat around waiting for a job. What we could have done better was that was some people were up the talloscope for a long time.

If we could improve the rigging and focusing session we could of switched the jobs around more frequently. This is because being up the tallescope for a long time can be challenging. Especially when pulling up heavy lights such as a 1K.