Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1982 - 12

equipment types I found a wide range of
differing opinions: one designer loved
the PAR HEAD. another said it was a
lousy substitute for the old beam projector. Most expressed the need for more
efficient equipment with less heat. and
better mechanical features. Some
thought that in terms of cleanness of the
light beam and mechanical trustworthiness the industry had gone in the wrong
direction in the interests of economy.
One mentioned the use of television fixtures such as softlights and "9-liters" for
theatrical production. One designer suggested that with one really controllable
laser and some fiber optic bundles capable of delivering high quantities of light.
he'd be happy to give up his ellipsoidal.
The general feeling I got from these
queries was that the present equipment
types were basically producing what
light the designers wanted and that on
esthetic grounds there was little pressure
for development of new equipment
types. They want their current equipment but made a lot better.
I make this point because the labor
and time economics of focusing, aiming,
relamping, and regeling stage fixtures, as
well as their present energy demands,
make it clear to me that producers and
business managers may be willing to pay
for sophisticated Iuminaire systems on
economic grounds that lighting designers presently do not justify
esthetically.
Remote-controlled, "automated"
luminaires have been postulated for
years, and various systems have in fact
been marketed from time to time. There
are currently additional attempts using small low voltage motors - to
control most of the obvious movement,
field shaping and color change requirements. I think that long before twenty
years have passed such systems will not

only be available but will be economically justified in many circumstances.
Here are the current challenges in
our industry:
- control technology will improve In
sophistication with 100% advances in
devices roughly every five years. Quality
of equipment, and durability, must not
suffer. Operational ability must not
suffer.
- instrumentation will tend to develop
more slowly unless time/labor economics force more rapid development. More
efficient sources are avai lable but at a
substantial penalty in price and auxiliary
apparatus.
- it is going to be a fight for the "pure"
theatrical lighting designer to continue
to remain unobtrusive; too many influences in "light peddling" are going on
in other media. The popularity of
"flash" techniques will exert pressure
on "establishment" esthetics.
- "overpopulation" in the industry exists with both manufacturers, and
craftspeople/artists/designers. We must
all work collectively to find places and
ways to place our product.
- we must as an industry keep selling
the magic of "live performance" so that
"simulcast" or home-box-office doesn't
usurp live audiences.
Finally, lest we grow to feel that the
"establishment" artists are entering a
war with the new designers, we should
all broaden our opinions of what acceptable use of light is. A common feeling is that our ability to produce new
technologies has outstripped our ability
to use them. I do not believe that this has
to be the case, but we need more comment on the esthetic possibilities of the
new technologies. Let's find a way to
educate reviewers and critics, as well as
each other, to a new vocabulary, a more
incisive way of seeing, so that we can

build upon each other's work, understand it better, and share the nuance and
beauty of our creations.

3 In television lighting in the US. and Great
Britain: Imero Fiorentino. Bill Klages. Red
McKinnon. Phil Hymes. Danny Franks. Bill
Greenfield. Bill Schilling. Ken Pal ius.
Johnny Summers. Howard King. Dave
Sydenham. John Treays. Chris BartlettJudd. In rock concert lighting: Steve
Cohen. Marilyn Lowey. Marc Brickman.
Dave Freeman. Chip Monck. John
Broderick. In architectural lighting: David
Mintz. Bill Richardson. Howard Brandston.
Jim Nuckolls. Jules Horton. Paul Marantz.
Leslie Wheel. Leonard Auerbach. Don
Gersztoff. Abe Feder. In cinematography:
Bill Fraker. Gordon Willis. Bill Butler. Vilmos
Zsigmond. George Dibbie. and my current
favori e. the lighting cameraman on

"Brideshead Revisited." Ray Goode who
has done an extraordinarily sensitive and
beautiful job.

NOTES
Including but not limited to Jules Fisher.
John Gleason. Roger Morgan. Ron Bates.
David Hersey. Tom Skelton. Gilbert
Hemsley. Martin Aronstein. Gil Wechsler.
Jennifer Tipton. Nan Porcher. Ken
Billington. Pay Collins. Beverly Emmons.
Hans Sondheimer. Bob Ornbo. Richard
Pilbrow. David Segal. Marc Weiss. Ralph
Holmes. (and commonly acknowledged as
numero uno) Tharon Musser.
2 Including Leslie Spohn. Jeff Davis. Scott
Pinkney. Marcia Madeira. Dennis Parichy.
Duane Schuler. Dawn Chang. Rachel
Budin. Bob Jarad. Marilyn Renegal.
Candice Dunn. Natasha Katz. Clark
Thornton. to name just a few.
10

Theatre Design & Technology

4 Those 500-1000 kids a year (my guess) have
to have some place to work as they enter
our profession. USITT should challenge
itself to an immediate follow-up on the
"TOLD" Conference. The "TOLD"
document (TD&T, Summer 1981). which
Lee Watson of USITI has worked hard to
have widely disseminated. is still too
abstract. too anesthetized - we've got to
put it into real opportunity terms. 0

USITI Fall.

198~

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