Now that you're really good at putting fixtures on the grid, let's talk about how to plot special fixtures, such as fixtures on booms, on the floor, and Cyc lights.
Vertical Hanging Positions
There are a number of different types of vertical hanging positions that you might find in a venue, or that you can add into a design:
- Boom: A heavy base or flange set on the floor, into which is attached a vertical pipe
- Tower (or Dance Tower): Usually box-truss set on end and attached to the floor. From a design standpoint, these work pretty close to the same as traditional booms.
- Ladder: Essentially a 'pre-built' tail-down. It's called a ladder because that's what it looks like- it is a series of horizontal 'rungs' that are rigged from the grid or a lineset. This is kind of like a 'flying boom'- you're able to get much of the same benefit as a boom, while still allowing scenery and actors to go underneath. Sometimes ladders can be flown in and out for scene changes.
- Torm (or Pro Torm): Short for Proscenium Tormentor. Some theatres have a permanently installed vertical pipe or ladder in line with the proscenium (I've seen them downstage and upstage of the proscenium in different spaces).
- Box Boom: Vertical hanging position (a pipe or a ladder) attached to the side walls of the auditorium, or sometimes built into the side walls.
Dance Boom
The main thing to remember here is that when we are plotting a fixture from above, we're essentially looking at a 'slice' of the beam at 6-ish feet off the ground in the focus area. On the other hand, when we're plotting side lights, especially very low angle lights light this, we are 'using' more of the throw distance as usable light. A dancer or actor may be 10' from the fixture, or they may be 50' from the fixture. The 'slice' of the light at 10' is a lot narrower and a lot brighter than the 'slice' at 50'. So this is where we'll start in placing the fixture.
My purpose is to plot a light that can give me as much light as I can across the three downstage areas. Let's look at a couple different places that I could place the fixture.
My purpose is to plot a light that can give me as much light as I can across the three downstage areas. Let's look at a couple different places that I could place the fixture.
I can gain even a little more advantage by bumping the boom downstage some and focusing the light beam along the downstage edge of the focus area. This allows me to gain a little more coverage on stage, without worrying about getting the light spill into the audience. By doing this, I know that I will be catching more of the actor or dancer's face in these lights, and I'm OK with that.
The most important thing to remember with booms is that the designer has a large amount of control regarding its placement. Because it's on the floor, it gets in the way of more things, and the collaboration with the set designer, director, choreographer is important, as you'll need to negotiate for the real estate, but a boom is usually a custom hanging position, and in many cases you can put the light where the light needs to be, rather than compromising to a permanent hanging position.
Now that I have determined where the boom will be placed in the space, I will look at the beam angle in section to see what fixtures will do from different positions on the boom: