The Opera is loading in this week in the MOD (CalArt's flexible black box theatre), and things have been incredibly busy for the entire production team. Scenic is about 50% load in and things are looking good on there part. There is a lot of rigging involved in this show for these giant red kites that can fly and collapse in the air. Sound loads in their gear tomorrow. Paints starts their treatment and touch ups on Friday. And Lighting is a little more than 50% hung, but not focused yet. I have an 8 hour call on Thursday to bust the rest of the plot out.
Overall, our production team is working well together and we are all helping each other. I have found it very important to be in the space as much as possible. I get a lot of lighting work done, but I find it surprising how useful it can be in other regards. Right as I was leaving for the day, I saw one of the red kites which we are using as a projection surface for our super titles being loaded in. There was a little miscommunication about where a wood panel, to prevent light from washing out the projection, was supposed to be placed. One panel was in the correct location, the other was unnecessary. My first reaction was that it was going to change the way my lighting would illuminate the kites. After thinking about it more, I realized the panel would be in the sightline of the audience if we did not remove it before we rigged it to fly.
In lighting land things have been on a roller coaster ride this week. I found out these very specific architectural footlights that I ordered are delayed because 8 of the 9 units are in stock and the company is waiting for the remaining one to arrive before they ship. I was basically forced to expedite my shipping so they would arrive in time for tech and the show.
I also have run into an electrical problem with getting power to the 2.5kw HMI unit I am renting. At first glance it looked like we could power the unit fine, but after a closer look, we decided we would need to tie into one of our circuit breakers to power the unit. It was a busy day of phone calls and meetings with the school electrician and PRG. I had to add a good 100' of feeder cable to my order to get from the breaker box to the HMI ballast. I do want to give a big thanks to PRG for being so helpful today. I am still hoping everything will work out alright when we install the unit, as I am still a little nervous.
I'll have some pictures of the space/set up soon, but I left my camera in the theatre.
And on a final note, I can't wait to fly back East and attend BLMC. I got a phone call this morning confirming my registration which got me psyched. And as yet another reminder, make sure to register for any of the Master Classes before May 1 to get the $100 discount. See everyone there!