Author: J3551CA

Light Shows Attract Millions of Visitors to Niagara Falls

Posted on by J3551CA

The world-famous waterfalls of Niagara are a sight to behold any time of the day or year.  But at night, they are simply magical as state-of-the-art illuminations give them an ethereal quality. On the Canadian-US border, the Bridal Veil Falls, the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls throw as much as 170 million gallons of water from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario.

During the day, visitors don ponchos and enjoy the legendary Maid of the Mist boat tours, but at night the falls glow three times brighter than ever before, thanks to innovative, color changing lighting that has been designed to make the water look absolutely breathtaking.

With over 20 million visitors a year, the Falls are one of the largest tourist attractions in the area, and if you are planning a trip to see them, you should definitely stay to take in the light show.

Lighting Up Niagara Falls

The falls are illuminated throughout the year, to mark holidays and significant occasions. They are also lit in a range of colors to mark specific dates for charitable causes.  Keeping the lights bright underneath such a huge amount of fast-flowing water has been a challenge for the designers at Niagara, but technological advances in lighting have meant that the illuminated falls are now more beautiful at night than ever before.

In 2016, almost 20 years since the last major investment in falls lighting, the existing Xenon lights were replaced.  Now using new, energy efficient LED lighting technology, the falls are easily illuminated with programmable lighting effects and an array of colors. Where once there were gaps in the lighting pattern, the new LED lighting has filled them to provide a stunning and thoroughly constant effect throughout.

All of the lamps are weatherproof and remain relatively cool, even when they are running at full brightness.  The designers behind the light shows, updated lighting programs, created a system that can rotate and adjust to seamlessly blend colors, as well as altering the intensity of the lights and colors as and when required.

Using a total of 12,600 individual LEDs, arranged in 1,400 three-by-three squares of color, and illuminating 120 areas across the American Falls and 230 across the Canadian Falls, there is the potential to produce up to 16,777,000 different color combinations. The finished effect gives the appearance of a video production that constantly changes, making every visit to the Niagara Falls illuminations completely different from the last.

Why Visitors Love the Lights at Niagara

Every evening at dusk, the Falls are transformed into an incredible, multi-colored masterpiece, fusing fast-flowing water with an amazing light display.  This daily occurrence alone is enough to keep visitors coming back for more, but the Niagara Festival of Light that runs from November through January see’s not just the falls, but the surrounding areas bathed in festive sounds and colors.

Light Up Your Event with Frank Gatto & Associates

With over 30 years’ experience in the lighting industry, Frank and his team are on hand to help with every kind of large-scale lighting requirement. Call us today at 561-368-0101 to find out more.

Frank Gatto & Associates, Inc. are specialists in lighting for television events of all kinds.  If you have an event that needs expert lighting, please call us today to see how we can help.

Phone: 561-368-0101

Email: frank@frankgattolighting.com 

We can be found on Social Media at the following links.

            

What Are LEDs and Why Do They Last So Long?

Posted on by J3551CA

Advances in modern technology have meant that you can now illuminate your home, venue or other area with low-energy, cost-effective, long-lasting light sources that offer the same amount of light as traditional light bulbs, without the heat and expense.

LED (Light Emitting Diodes) use very little energy and last a really long time.  Unlike energy saving light bulbs, they light up instantly and do not take time to reach the desired brightness, making them the perfect choice for venues or events looking for full illumination at a fraction of the cost.

These types of modern LEDs produce light in a totally different way to how old-fashioned incandescent bulbs do.  With incandescent light bulbs, the electricity is passed through a thin wire filament, With LED light bulbs, the light is produced with the use of a semiconductor that emits light energy when the electrical current is passed through it.

While it is true that LEDs can be more expensive to purchase initially, the low energy output and long shelf life make them an excellent investment for anyone looking to maximize their lighting abilities, either in the home or within a professional environment.

How Do LEDs Last So Long?

Because LEDs are as much as 90% more effective than incandescent light bulbs, they have a much longer lifespan. This is because they have no working parts that will burn out or break over time.

An average LED light is a very robust piece of kit.  They are solid-state devices with no glass to break, nothing to wear out and they are not made from fragile glass that is likely to break.  In turn, this means that they will last a whole lot longer than regular light bulbs.

For the technically minded, the way they produce light is a crucial element of their longevity.  Because they are made of substrate semiconductor materials and have two specific two doped regions, P – positive and N – negative. When current passes through the PN junction it causes electrons to jump to higher atomic energy states. When the electrons return to the ground state, light in the form of photons is emitted. This phenomenon is called electroluminescence and it consumes very little energy since very little heat is generated.

How Long Should an LED Light Bulb Last For?

Well, if it has no way of burning out or becoming damaged, technically it should last forever?  If you invest in LED lights for your home, it may well be the last time you have to purchase light bulbs for a very long time indeed.

LEDs are touted to have a 50,000-hour average life. This is a massive increase in lifespan when you consider that the average life of a halogen 50-watt bulb is only between 1,000 and 2,000 hours.

How the LED is fitted and how long it is used for will obviously affect the real-world efficiency of your light source.  For example, an office that is lit for 10 hours a day using an LED light source should only have to replace the LEDs every 8-9 years.  A homeowner with LED lights in the living room, where lights are only one for a few hours a day, may not need to replace them for almost 20 years!

Frank Gatto LED Stage Lighting Solutions

LED lighting has completely transformed the way in which are able to illuminate studio sets, outdoor broadcasts and large events and occasions.  Our state-of-the-art LED lighting solutions provide high output, flicker-free, single-source lighting that runs cool with low current draw, saving up to 90% in energy costs while still providing the best-looking lighting for every event.

Frank Gatto & Associates, Inc. are specialists in lighting for television events of all kinds.  If you have an event that needs expert lighting, please call us today to see how we can help.

Phone: 561-368-0101

Email: frank@frankgattolighting.com 

We can be found on Social Media at the following links.

            

How To Creating Effective Lighting For Live Television

Posted on by J3551CA

There are very few elements of live television that have as profound an effect as lighting does.  Get it right, and you are adding a whole new dimension to the action taking place in front of the camera, get it wrong and everything is ruined.

Great lighting enhances the mood, focuses the viewer’s attention, and enables the audience to clearly see what the director wants them to see. It also controls the quality, color temperature, and intensity of the broadcast image, making it one of the most powerful elements of any television broadcast.

To ensure that live television lighting is on point and ready to handle anything that happens on set, the lighting needs to be carefully planned and executed just so.

Here are some of the ways in which a highly skilled Lighting Director and his team ensure that live television lighting really works.

Finding The Right Type Of Lighting

Studio lighting is not actually much brighter than the lamps and pendants you would find in your own home.  It is, however,  light years apart when it comes to quality.  Quartz lamps, Fresnel lenses, and LED lights are the most common types of light found in a studio environment or on an outside broadcast.

Quartz lenses are the most traditional type of lighting used in production work, and while they produce perfect illumination, they can also get very hot and use a lot of electricity.  LED lights, however, are a more recent addition to every Lighting Directors powerful inventory, and work just as well, but without the high temperatures and extreme power usage

The Use Of Spotlights

Fresnel lenses are used to convert a small amount of bright light on to one particular area of the set.  They can be remotely controlled to alter the direction and the intensity of the beam.  Used to focus the attention of the viewer on one area of the picture, spotlights can lead the viewing experience away from other events happening in front of the camera.

Eliminating Shadows

Bright lights create shadows that can completely wipe out areas of the set.  The trick to creating effective lighting is to find a way to reduce these shadows.  Lighting Directors use a technique called “diffusion” to diminish light that may otherwise be too bright and overpowering on the set. Diffusion is created by shading the light with a translucent or opaque fabric, made from heat-resistant material that won’t melt or catch fire due to long exposure and close proximity to powerful studio lighting.

Reflecting The Light

A “scoop” is a tool that is used to reflect the light. Reflected lights create a soft glow that casts its light over a general area.  Often used for background and standard set lights, these concave pieces can also be used with colored lenses and filters to create more subtle and flattering lighting effects.

Measuring The Light

Lighting meters are used to ensure that all of those lights and accessories don’t overwhelm the camera equipment of the action taking place.  Light meters assess the light intensity in one particular area that is on-camera so that the light technicians can make changes were necessary.

When your subject is the focal point of your live broadcast, they need to ensure the foreground lights are brighter than the background lights.  Light metering tells the operators how the lights are affecting the overall appearance on camera.

Controlling The Light

 Using remote DMX consoles, highly skilled lighting technicians can change the mood and look of the action in front of the camera with just the click of a button.  On a film set, the lighting team will usually have a lighting plan to follow, in live TV, however, situations arise that cannot be pre-planned.

Frank Gatto & Associates provide lighting solutions for live television events for some of the biggest names in the industry, including HBO, ABC, ESPN, CBS, NBC, Fox, Showtime, Telemundo, and Univision.

If you would like to find out more about the services we provide, call us today at 561-368-0101.

Frank Gatto & Associates, Inc. are specialists in lighting for television events of all kinds.  If you have an event that needs expert lighting, please call us today to see how we can help.

Phone: 561-368-0101

Email: frank@frankgattolighting.com 

We can be found on Social Media at the following links.

            

The Evolution Of Broadcast Lighting

Posted on by J3551CA

From the earliest days of television, lighting has been used to enhance the way a picture looks on camera.  What started out as a simple transition from stage to studio, has become a multi-million dollar industry that offers a huge range of powerful tools and advances in lighting technology.

As far back as the 1900s at the birth of television, the best source of illumination was considered to be natural sunlight. As technology moved on, studio lighting became a standard fixture in studios the world over.  Large lighting rigs that involved lots of heavy fixtures, plenty of power to illuminate them all and a heap of air conditioning to keep them cool, became an intrinsic part of studio filming.

In recent years, however, the lighting industry has found ways to produce lighting tools that illuminate entire studios and sets perfectly, but in a far more efficient and cost-effective way.

From Traditional Tungsten to LED – An Innovation In Studio Lighting

Traditionally studios were lit using tungsten lighting instruments.  These heat inducing, power guzzling lights were famously hot and difficult to work with. They were also potentially hazardous in the wrong hands or in cramped environments.

Tungsten lights were also renowned for producing off-white lighting meaning that color correction was often necessary after filming.

Innovations in studio lighting meant that more efficient light sources such as LED lighting became more readily available, leading to a new generation of lighting tools for both indoor and outdoor usage.

Another major advancement in studio lighting was the ability to operate lights remotely.  DMX control panels offer technicians complete control over every element of set lighting without them having to interfere with the action in front of the camera.

While the original LED lighting was not infallible,  advancements have been made since their introduction into. These days lighting crews have access to some of the most advanced and efficient lighting tools ever seen.

These include:

Punch Lights

Punch lights are one of the most powerful, daylight- balanced LED white light solutions available on the market today. These high-intensity luminaire lights flood an area with light whose color temperature is approximately that of daylight, making them perfect for studio filming.

Space Lights

Space Lights are usually used in concert with multiple other space lights to provide an ambient, soft lighting source from above.   They help to create a base daylight ambiance or an overall soft base exposure.

Fresnel Lights

 These are very common in studio environments and use a special type of lens that is divided into concentric circles, resulting in a much thinner lens than a conventional lens of the same power that evens out the light.  Lighting technicians can then easy vary from floor to spot by changing the distance between the lamp/reflector unit and the lens.

Practical Lights

 A practical light is considered any light source that will appear in the scene such as a table lamp, a car headlight or even just a handheld flashlight. Existing bulbs can be swapped out for those of a different wattage or color temperature depending on the needed effect and desired contrast ratios required within the scene.

Fluorescent Lights

Fluorescent lighting is much more efficient than incandescent light and is capable of generating up to 100 lumens per watt, similar to the output of HMI. Fluorescent film lighting is most often used in fixtures containing banks of tubes, that are either tungsten or daylight balanced to produce a soft, even light that can be used in close proximity to the subject.

Frank Gatto & Associates – The Lighting Experts

Whatever your event or production, the team at Frank Gatto are all about harnessing innovations in lighting technology to ensure that we continue to offer the finest lighting direction in the business.

Call us today at (561) 368-0101 to find out more.

Frank Gatto & Associates, Inc. are specialists in lighting for television events of all kinds.  If you have an event that needs expert lighting, please call us today to see how we can help.

Phone: 561-368-0101

Email: frank@frankgattolighting.com 

We can be found on Social Media at the following links.

            

Why Hire A Lighting Director?

Posted on by J3551CA

If you’re planning on producing great looking live events for television broadcast, ensuring the lighting is just right is vital if you want your work to look and feel professional.

When it comes to lighting, as much time should be spent on planning the lighting as is spent on other areas of the production. With plenty of experience behind them and an intimate knowledge of every aspect of studio and event illumination, a professional Lighting Director will quickly become one of the most important people on your set.

What is the difference between a lighting technician and a lighting director?

Lighting technicians are also called ‘sparks’ and are responsible for setting up and operating equipment under the supervision of a Lighting Director.  Whilst they are very skilled in their own right, lighting techs are generally responsible for rigging up lighting equipment, carrying out lighting tests, positioning lights during shoots, and managing the inventory of bulbs and filters. It is the Lighting Director that makes the big creative decisions about how best to light the set, and they are hired to call upon all of their expert technical knowledge and creative flair. It is also the job of the Lighting Director to create detailed lighting plans that the “sparks” will follow when setting up.

How Does The Lighting Director Create A Lighting Plan?

To create an effective lighting plan, the Lighting Director will need to liaise with various other professionals involved in the production.  To get a good understanding of the design and feel of each piece, the Lighting Director will need to spend time with both the Director and the Designer of the production.

It’s not just how the lighting should look that is important, it is also knowing exactly when it should change in line with the action on stage or in front of the camera.  A Lighting Director will, therefore, need to get to know the script and storyline in order to compile a cue list to ensure that lighting effects are changed at the right time.

With all this information behind them, the Lighting Director can create a comprehensive plan that sets out exactly which kind of lighting should be used and when.

What Type Of Lighting Should Be Used On Set?

Again, this is where a Lighting Director comes into their own.  Anyone can add stage lighting and hope for the best, but an experienced Lighting Director will be able to choose lighting that not only looks amazing on camera but is also safe for the conditions on set.  Knowing exactly where lighting rigs should be positioned is also a skill that comes with plenty of experience. From lanterns to LED lights and everything in between, an experienced Lighting Director will know which lights work best for every scene.

Lighting Directors Are Artists In Their Own Rights

More and more successful producers understand the importance of hiring an experienced Lighting Director for their productions and events.  With a plethora of skills needed to create great lighting, including technical knowledge, an understanding of stagecraft and the ability to comprehend the overall design vision, Lighting Directors are creating truly amazing cinematic action, across a wide range of genres.

If you would like to find out more about our Lighting Director services, speak to us today at (561) 368-0101.

Frank Gatto & Associates, Inc. are specialists in lighting for television events of all kinds.  If you have an event that needs expert lighting, please call us today to see how we can help.

Phone: 561-368-0101

Email: frank@frankgattolighting.com 

We can be found on Social Media at the following links.

            

The Challenge Of Mixing Light And Sound

Posted on by J3551CA

Epic stage performances aren’t just about great sound, the lighting is just as important when it comes to creating awesome audience experiences.  The key to stage lighting is anticipating what the music or action on stage will do and programming the lighting to complement it. A good lighting technician will blend the sound and visuals seamlessly, and to make this happen, the whole lighting team, from the Lighting Director through to the sparks, needs to be highly skilled and have a really good knowledge of stagecraft.

A carefully crafted light show can add excitement, energy, and emotion to a performance. Finding a way to coordinate the lights to change in time with the music, turns a mediocre show into an epic performance. As the tempo of the music speeds up, the lights should become more exciting too, and are experienced lighting technician will know that changes should happen on the downbeats and when the music changes parts.

Effective stage lighting enhances the emotion of the performance on stage and brings the music to life.  This is why focusing not just on the sound, but also the lighting of your production is so important to make it a truly memorable one.

Which type of lights works best with music?

There is a wide range of lights and lighting tools that can be used to create awesome live performances: The most common types of lighting include:

LED Lights

These inexpensive, low energy lights can create a myriad of color combinations at the touch of a button.  Unlike traditional lights, they don’t produce much heat making them perfect for use on stage.

Fresnels

Fresnels was a soft light and are typically used close to the stage to produce color washes.  They are easy to set up and offer uncomplicated, easy to use washes light for almost every stage set up.

Spotlights

Spots create a tunnel of light on one area of the stage.  Used to draw the audience attention to just one part of the show, these big bright lights usually follow performers around the stage.

Moving Lights

These are super sophisticated bits of kit that are controlled by a joystick.  They also offer color changing capabilities, focus the controls and have motorized shutters.

Par Cans

The stage equivalent of a car headlight with a metal casing, Par cans are very common in stage lighting setups.  They can provide a good amount of light, but they can also get super hot.

How do the lights work in time with the music?

Lights can either be programmed in advance to precisely match the action on stage via a time code or can change using performance cues. Time-coded programs are very rigid and offer little or no flexibility, while cues-based lighting is based on a technician hitting the button as the music changes.  If the lighting technicians are familiar enough with the music, they can anticipate changes and creatively move between cues or even run things manually to smooth over unexpected transitions

How is the lighting controlled?

Using a DMX Controller, a single operator can control both the light and sound via one console. These digital communications networks allow the technicians to control stage lighting and effects, including color blending, the movement of the lights, stoves and fades to offer the audience an epic live experience.

Experience operators will program the lighting scenes before the show opens.  These preset order of lighting effects can be toggled and adjusted from song to song, and the technician will work with a cold wheel to create dramatic lighting to complement the action on stage.

If you are looking for a world-class lighting show to complement your live music, speak to Frank Gatto & Associates.  With over 30 years in the business, Frank and his team are on hand to help.  Call us today at 561-368-0101.

Frank Gatto & Associates, Inc. are specialists in lighting for television events of all kinds.  If you have an event that needs expert lighting, please call us today to see how we can help.

Phone: 561-368-0101

Email: frank@frankgattolighting.com 

We can be found on Social Media at the following links.

            

How To Understand Color Temperatures In Event Lighting

Posted on by J3551CA

To the regular audience member, stage lights are bright and colorful and are there to enhance the overall live experience of any event. But, did you know that while the lights on stage may just appear too bright white, there is actually an entire spectrum of colors that make lighting effects look as awesome as they do?

So, How Is Color Used In Lighting?

The way we experience the color of light depends upon the mix of light frequencies that reach our eyes and how they get there. The way in which we see the color of light also depends on the frequencies that the object absorbs, and the frequencies in the original light source. Using colors carefully in stage lighting can dramatically enhance the on-stage visuals, as well as completely changing the feel and atmosphere of the performance,

Experienced and highly skilled lighting experts are able to plan an entire light show using a variety of colors that blend so well the transitions are almost entirely seamless to the audience eye.

By using a mix of cool and warm lighting tones they can create awesome looking light shows that add ambiance and fill the stage with energy.

When planning the light sequences for any staged event, lighting directors use a number of different factors, including the use of:

  • Pale colors for acting-area lighting
  • Deep colors for side or back-lighting, or for special effects.
  • Yellows and oranges are “warm” colors for sunny days or happy times.
  • Pale blues are “cold” colors for less happy times.
  • Lavenders are “neutral” colors and can appear warm or cold depending on the other colors in use at the time.
  • Lanterns with no color gels can appear warm due to the high color temperature of the light source.

They will also carefully consider the use of some other colors and types of lighting which will produce certain very specific effects, including:

  • Avoiding the use of green colors for front light – unless these have been specifically chosen to light a witch or evil character
  • The use of contrasting warm and cool colors to add interest and make the lighting look more dimensional when they are using two light sources at once
  • The fact that not all skin tones are the same – for example, lavenders & pinks work better on dark skin than yellow colors.

Combinations of colors can also produce highly effective lighting results.  Using a warm rose, pink or yellow from one side, and a cold blue or lavender from the other side helps to create a wide variety of different moods.  Colors like lavender can also act as a neutral balance and can look either warm or cold depending on the other lighting on the stage at that time.

Lighting Your Studio Set

When it comes to television lighting, finding the correct grid and mix of colors can be a complicated business.  Experienced lighting technicians will be able to not only provide the right placement for studio lighting but also be able to successfully blend warm and cool colors to enhance the overall look and feel of the performance, without leaving it looking flat and washed out.

Here at Frank Gatto & Associates few provide first-class lighting services for network television lighting, corporate industrials, award ceremonies and sporting events. Speak to us today at (561) 368-0101 if you would like to find out more.

Frank Gatto & Associates, Inc. are specialists in lighting for television events of all kinds.  If you have an event that needs expert lighting, please call us today to see how we can help.

Phone: 561-368-0101

Email: frank@frankgattolighting.com 

We can be found on Social Media at the following links.

            

The Lighting Control Console

Posted on by J3551CA

Essential Event Lighting: The Lighting Control Console

To understand how best to control all of the many different lighting devices used a large event, you need to have a good idea of how a lighting control console works.  With most of the lighting effects being controlled from one central location, our specialist lighting technicians and desk operators are able to completely transform the look and feel or an event at the flick of a switch.

What Is a Lighting Control Console?

A lighting control console is an electronic device used in theatrical and event lighting design that enables the technicians to control multiple lights at once. They are used throughout the entertainment industry and are normally placed in a front of house position so that they have uninterrupted views of the stage, or in a separate control booth.

Even the most basic of control consoles usually have dimmers that control the intensity of the lights, while more advanced ones feature ways to control intelligent lighting that can move and change colors and patterns.  They can also control fog machines, hazers, and other special effects devices as well.

Because a great stage production is about much more than just great lighting, the technicians who use the control console usually have access to other electronic performance software too such as soundboards, projectors, and media servers.

Using an electronic control protocol, the lighting control console will be able to communicate directly with dimmers and other devices.  There are various kinds of control consoles available for concerts and events, but the most common one is:

Preset Boards

Using identical fader banks called “scenes”, the faders can be manually adjusted by an operator using a cue sheet.  Working from a diagram of the board with the faders in their positions, as previously determined by the lighting designer, the technician can change the lights to suit.  While preset boards can still be found in many smaller installations and older venues, they are slowly being superseded by digital memory boards.

Memory Boards

Memory-based consoles have become very popular in theaters because they allow the lighting designers to digitally record the lighting scenes. Many memory consoles also have a bank of faders that can be programmed to control a single channel or a group of channels, helping to save time and reduce the risk of human error, a well as the ability for programming scenes or live control.

 Moving Light Controllers

Moving Light Controllers are a step up from Memory Consoles as they provide extra features that allow the operator select the fixture or fixtures they want to control using a joystick to change the orientation, focus and even color of the light fixture. Unlike a fader that shows its value based on the position of a slider, a wheel is continuously variable and provides no visual feedback for the value of a particular control, meaning that operators of these types of lighting desks need to be highly experienced and be able to read the data displayed in the LCD panels to meet the requirements of the lighting plan.

Who Operates A Lighting Control Console?

The light desk is worked by a specially qualified programmer – a lighting control technician – who knows how to read the lighting plan and program the equipment accordingly. He or she will need to configure the console’s initial settings and will then work directly with the designer to talk through every scene of the show to set focus positions, color, gobo pattern, and rotation of each lighting instrument. These attributes are recorded, and the lighting desk operator will be in charge of overseeing the correct performance of the sequence during each and every performance.

Here at Frank Gatto & Associates, we have over 30 years’ experience of working with some of the very best lighting control consoles in the business.  If you would like to find out how we can help with your entertainment lighting, call us today at (561) 368-0101.

Frank Gatto & Associates, Inc. are specialists in lighting for television events of all kinds.  If you have an event that needs expert lighting, please call us today to see how we can help.

Phone: 561-368-0101

Email: frank@frankgattolighting.com 

We can be found on Social Media at the following links.

            

Rigging and Trusses

Posted on by J3551CA

Everyone knows just how important it is to have good stage lighting at any entertainment event or on a tv or film set.  But, behind the glamour of the spotlight, there are miles upon miles of infrastructure that makes the magic happen.  A complex system of aluminum supports and poles are carefully built to form a solid structure from which to hang all the lighting effects any live show or production could ever need.

This system of rigging and trusses is the unsung hero of the lighting world because without them production teams would be limited to simple floor and ceiling lights that wouldn’t look even half as effective.

What Is A Rig and Truss System?

First off, let’s look at the basics:

Rigging is created using a series of rope lines, pulleys, counterweights and other devices, that enables the stage crew to quickly and safely move lighting and other components around to the back and side of the stage.

Trusses are a series of sticks and poles that can be connected to create a structure that allows lighting fixtures and other staging equipment to be hung with ease.

Rigging and trusses are the behind to scenes saviors of the lighting world, and without them, the audience would have a very boring time watching live events.   Rigging and trusses can be found in theaters, concert venues, arenas and stadiums anywhere in the world.

Who Works on Rigs and Trusses?

Working with rigging involves climbing up high above the stage area, and members of the rigging teams definitely need to have no fear of heights!  Different members of the crew, have different jobs to do to ensure that every part of the rig is safe and that provides effective support for the lighting.

The Ground Rigger looks after the perimeter around the aerial work platform, while the Bucket Rigger needs to be able to operate the aerial work platform as well as undertake groundwork.  High Up Riggers and Rope Riggers will be responsible for the installation of equipment way up high and they are often suspended from the rigging itself by a harness, and they may also need to demonstrate exceptional rope skills.

Why Are Rigs and Trusses So Important for Great Lighting?

The very best way to illuminate a stage is to employ a three-point lighting technique.  In simple terms, that is the first point 45 degrees to the left and 45 degrees up, a second point 45 degrees to the right and 45 degrees up, and a third light 45 degrees up and straight behind the subject.

To facilitate that kind of angles, you need to be able to lift any lighting equipment up off the floor but still be able to suspend it lower down than usual ceiling lighting would allow.  Large venues and professional studio sets require carefully constructed rigs that can contain many individual lights and effects to enhance the performance in front of them, but the ideology is the same – better lighting comes from the ability to elevate your light source.

Here at Frank Gatto Lighting, we have many years’ experience of providing the very best rigging and truss systems for some of the biggest shows on earth, so we are pretty good when it comes to finding the perfect rigging solutions for every event.  If you would like to find out more, call us today at (561) 368-0101.

Frank Gatto & Associates, Inc. are specialists in lighting for television events of all kinds.  If you have an event that needs expert lighting, please call us today to see how we can help.

Phone: 561-368-0101

Email: frank@frankgattolighting.com 

We can be found on Social Media at the following links.

            

Behind the Scenes at A Concert

Posted on by J3551CA

Whether you are working with a brand-new band or an established rock legend, ensuring that a concert looks and sounds great is a time-consuming task.  Even before the audience turns up to enjoy the show, there will have been swathes of professionals working behind the scenes to make sure that every element of the performance is carefully planned to look, feels and sounds completely awesome.

  1. Lighting

Great lighting at events is a fundamental part of making a live show successful.  A full lighting plan will be designed by a highly skilled lighting director and his team, who will ensure that every flash of light or total blackout perfectly matches the music or action on stage.  Using huge lighting rigs and a wide variety of lamps and bulbs, the lighting design is every bit as much of a show as the action taking place on the stage itself.

  1. Staging and Equipment

If you are attending a concert that is taking place is a theatre or arena, the stage and much of the technical equipment will already be there.  But, if you are visiting an outdoor concert or one that is so epic that it will need more than is already in place, professionals will be needed to install additional staging, screens and much more.

Planning how to build up a stage is a long and complicated process.  Not only does it need to be as large as possible, it will also need to be solid enough to support the weight of the performers, instruments, lights and speakers. Special effects will need to be considered as well as access to and from the stage area, and backstage facilities for the crew and performers.

  1. Video Cameras and Screens

Many large venues use screens on either side of the stage to ensure that the audience doesn’t miss a thing, regardless of where they are seated.  The screens themselves need to be sourced and set up by professional AV teams, and the camera setup has to be controlled and edited, often in real time.

  1. Sound and Speakers

From earpieces, microphones and monitors to giant speaker stacks that push the sounds out across vast open spaces, every element of the sound system have to be carefully considered before the event.  A team of engineers work diligently throughout the concert to make sure that the sound is always perfectly reproduced without feedback or distortion, and the sound desk that they use will also need to be built and set up somewhere a safe distance from the stage itself.

  1. Controls

The sound, the lighting, and the visual feeds will all need to be closely monitored in real time throughout the event.  This means that control panels and desks will need to be installed both at the side of the stage and somewhere out front for experienced lighting, video and sound technicians to ensure that their individual responsibilities are fully taken care of and working exactly as they should at all times.

Putting on a world-class performance may be the job of the artists on stage but making sure that every single member of the audience can hear and see them is equally as important.

Here at Frank Gatto & Associates, we can ensure that your event lighting is perfect from the outset. Speak to us today at (561) 368-0101 if you would like to find out more.

Frank Gatto & Associates, Inc. are specialists in lighting for television events of all kinds.  If you have an event that needs expert lighting, please call us today to see how we can help.

Phone: 561-368-0101

Email: frank@frankgattolighting.com 

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