Then you start putting the pictures together in your head, from what you've talked to the director about and what the script is telling you.Ĭan you put what you do into five words or fewer? I read a script, talk to the director, and I see the set designer's model. I normally come in relatively late to a production. I think an outsider would be surprised by the whole process of how it's put together. What would most surprise people about what you do? It's fair enough that they focus on the actors and the set, but lighting could do with a bit more analysis – a sense that it isn't suddenly just there in front of you.
What do you most wish people knew about what you do?Ī lot of the time, lighting goes unnoticed. It would be nice for people to appreciate the amount of work that goes into it. They either instantly switch off or think, "What a glamorous little lifestyle you must have!" Which is not true. How do people react when you tell them what you do? I'm not sure I'd like to say, in case I have to go back! The three stages are very different spaces, and the personnel are great. I've done the majority of my work there, and the standards are always exceptionally high. We specialise in lighting for corporate events and using the latest technology, our experienced team will find the perfect solution for your event and stage lighting needs. "Kill the workers!" Which means "working lights down". Enjoy tailored lighting solutions operated by Encore’s experienced lighting technicians. I think it's probably personal – when you don't realise what you wanted, or are disappointed in yourself for not being able to solve a problem. There's not one disastrous production that I could cite, but you have a little bit of it during every production. My favourite and most hated time is the technical rehearsal, when it's all frantically put together – that's the most creative time, but also the most painful, because it's so pressurised. Either it all comes together or it completely falls apart.īlimey. I like the creative process, working with clever and talented people. Then I realised that design was probably actually quite a good thing to do. It was at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, a play called Lady from the Sea, and that was my first real, serious, piece of design. Probably one of the first ones that I did. I started as a technician in my home town in Nottinghamshire, and then I moved to Opera North, where I made the transition from technician to designer. The design part of it? As I went along – on the job. I started out as a lighting technician, was asked to do a little bit of design, and carried on from there. When did you decide to be a lighting designer?