Stephen Royal @stephenroyal22sec-blog - Tumblr Blog

production session

so production session is coming to the end past couple of weeks have been long and hard iv been on a couple of shows some good some not so good but in all the production team have worked well together

on the week off 6th of June to the 10th of June I was apart of the production of hamlet my role this week was lx op at the begging of the week we come into an empty space as it wasn't used the week before so this helped us with the get in on the 1st day of the get in I was asked if I could help outside as there was an awards evening taking place on the Wednesday and they was short on crew so I went out to help rig the lx and sound for this week

the hamlet show lighting was really a natural look we used mac 600s to light the spirit what gave a really nice ghost look to the character

the week starting 20th of June I was put on a show called pornography written by Simon Stephens it was based on the 7/7 bombings that took place in London in 2005 the Monday I came in to have no idea off the show and no idea of what to expect from this performance I was told on the Monday that no crew was available to help me with this performance so I had to use as many as I could when I had them on the Monday but all was set up and ready to go for when the actors came for the tech run. I worked with the director Sarah mayhew to see if she had any ideas of what lighting she would want Sarah just told me to use my design skills with this as she doesn't do much lighting so I sat with Sarah and watched a rough run through of the performance and started the process of the design we programed half of the show on the 1st day so Tuesday we came in a finished programing and started a full tech run Wednesday the 22 of June it was show day and I come in early to edit some lighting cues to make the show more affective and give it the tension it needs

at the end of the evening show Sarah come up to me and said I worked at a professional level

So today we done our first and last performance of the krave over all it went really well here I have picked a couple of pictures of the lighting I used some was just a simple blue wash used by the Mac 101s pointed them up to the rig and this gave the atmosphere to the scene I also used simple but effective looks on the scene so it didn't looks the dramatic state we was creating for the audience

The Game and The crave

Production session

Past couple of weeks I have been work on a couple of shows doing lx The Game For the game I worked along side Luke Jackson who was the designer for this show we have worked together in previous shows (seagull) so we know how we both work for this production we used the Grand Ma the first week of the get in we was having trouble getting to grips with the desk with programming cues was proving a struggle at first but by the 2nd day we as getting better a programming by the time we had a full dress run we was able to edit cues and update then The following week was a hard week with the directors with the show as they was always running late and it was getting frustrating waiting for them we had no tech run as the directors are 5 hours late we was close to pulling the show This week I have been working with a group of actors on a really dramatic show on this I am the lighting designer and programmer again on the grand ma the week has been going well and the programming was quicker than we thought it would be the first performance is tomorrow it's a Matinee and a evening performance In the crave Iv been working with a shadow Scene what iv never done before I have asked my tutor on ways I could make it look and I have taken his advise but also improved them with my own ideas what look really effective for the performance Pictures to follow from (The game and the crave

This week I have been getting to know the Grand ma a bit more I am now comfortable in programming cues and and patching in fixtures and am now ready to use the ma for the show next week we over come some hick ups but we got them sorted over time

For the game lighting console

For the game I had a choice of what lighting console I would like to use I thought of using the etc ion but thought I would go out my comfort zone and use the grand ma

Last week at college

Monday Me and Luke Jackson was learning how to use the ma for the performance of the game On Tuesday We was catching up on our theory coursework and finding out what shows we was on On Thursday We went though a couple of rigging knots an safety with in the theatre industry and cleaned up the auditorium for a conference

Working in the grid

After the conference I helped jack homer derig the birdys that was in the grid when doing this I over come my fear of walking on the grid and being able to look over the grid but to get this job done I had to over come it and it felt good to come over that fear

Over Christmas I had the task of lighting an abandoned building this was harder than I thought I had to do risk assessments for this and to look what was around the building for me and everyone else's health this was a challenging task to light as there was no power into the building and I had a artiest coming in with some art work me and the rest of the team thought it would be big bits of art work that would be easy to light but instead it was small and random bits of art work we had to light so this was another challenge we have to over come how we are going to light it and how well we all come up with different idea but we went with what would work best to make the art work stand out more and after all these challenges we over come it worked and look amazing

Ion vs the grand ma

The past 4 months iv been pushing my self to learn new and different ways you can use them So far I have only programmed a full show on the ion as it's the one I was getting to know best with out stressing my self out or messing up on the programming I liked using the ion it is a easy desk to get along with you can do everything with ease on it and with out having to look for it I really the like the idea of when using a monitor you can split or screens and have what you need up at the same time but the best part about it is you can lock the desk when your not near it or using it so if you press a button you won't mess everything up. I also like the magic sheet program on this desk you can see your whole rig with out looking through sheets and sheets of paper The grand ma I have had a little play with this desk but not enough to program on it. It seams like a easy but hard desk to get to grip slowly but surely I will get to grips with it and hope with the next upcoming show I'm on lx for I will be programming on it

So the past couple of months I haven't been on here have been busy and fun filled with events and shows from the seagull were I was the lighting operator to the most recent dance show were I was stage crew they have all been eventful and fun On the seagull I was the lighting programmer were I worked well with Luke the designer I also work with the artist director when programming for the show I put loads of input in with the design as the designer was only using generics with no colour gel but I thought every now and then he should add in a splash of colour and different lighting effects even on the night of the show I was putting ideas in that turned out to work really well The next event I worked on was attempt off her life were I was the lighting designer and programer I worked along side with the artist director to give the look for the show I used some specials what we're on a tank trap to light from the side of the stage to give more impact to the show and create an atmosphere for the audience to get more into the performance my favourite part of the lighting and show was wear there was 3 actors sitting on the stage and a video playing in the back ground I used one junior source 4 to light from the left side of the actors face from the side this gave it a more defined look. I also helped rig for a conference at the Royal Oprah house for this event we split up into 3 groups sound,stage and lx. I was on the lx crew and worked with 4 other members of the crew this event was a busy but chilled event on the day of the event we was just general crew and was just needed to move some set and chairs but was still a day of learning new skills and new ways of doing conference We worked along side the Thurrocks next top boss I helped rig the lx inside the auditorium and also helped rig and finishing touches to the tunnel out side the entrance doors for the event I was front of house manager I made sure everyone front off house was running smoothly and had no problems The most recent and the one show that put me out of my comfort zone was last nights dance show were I was stage crew I haven't been on stage crew before so didn't know what to expect I helped bring all the set on stage for the dancers we had to also do a show stop half way though as a dancer cut her foot on the stage other than that the show was running really smoothly but by the end of the show and day I thought to my self I done a good job on stage and out my comfort zone that I sometimes hate to do but I over come the fear and worked really well with the team I had So that has been my past couple of months with events the next up coming weeks/months will be also fun filled with events and shows but not as busy as it has been so I hope to be posting more