I've just come to the end of a long stint lighting a TV programme at a studio in Kent. So I that I don’t forget who I am, here’s a picture of me at work; nothing beats narcissism if you want a good opinion of yourself, or for that matter, a poor one; I’m too exposed to iced buns and pastries in this job and the situation is not helped by Niki from the make-up department who makes sure our control room is fully furnished with these delights each morning.
They gave me a brand new lighting console to play with, apparently untried in television; unfortunately they didn’t leave a sledgehammer. I’ve never come across a piece of equipment that was so frustrating to operate. Fortunately my colleague Hugh forced it into submission through sheer will power, skill and bloody mindedness. We will not be defeated by a rude mechanical. Still it's very pretty and has an impressive number of switches, faders and chrome wheels.
The other image is of the results of my lighting design for this production. For once it looks almost the same in the studio as it did in my imagination. Oh joy of joys!
Talking of joy, Christmas is creeping up on us. I’m going to try the non-grumpy approach this year. This will be a novelty and probably nigh on impossible to achieve. Still it’s worth a try – bring on the tinsel.
7 comments:
Christmas is creeping up on you? How do you manage that - it's barreling down on the rest of us like a two-ton freight!
Glad to see you back. Your posts always give me a chuckle. I managed a rudimentary light board once for a school play - about 1/1116th of the dials you have and only four colors and I still managed to leave the lead in the dark half the time. I admire your skill.
Thank you, Pauline. It's probably because I've been hiding from it.
Putting the lead in the dark never goes away - I'm sure I managed it a few times last week, Of course I had the advantage of it being a recording so there was the chance of a retake.
I used to operate the board when I started out working in TV. Then when I started to fly that bit higher, I had people to do it for me so that I could take the grand overview and be bossy. I can still do that but as spending gets cut in the dash for profit, I find myself more and more doing my own operating and there's only myeslf to shout at.
i love this post, dave! so nice to catch a glimpse of your world and hear your thoughts. michelle at "la vie en rose... a sweet life" has a nice set of photos of a tinsel tree with colorful paper umbrella decorations. check it out. and thanks for this friendly post!
"Grand Master" is the name of a fader on most lighting desks. I'd say it's a term better suited to acknowledging your superb skills as Lighting Designer, Dave.
Here is probably a good place to admit (publically) that, when working one such desk for Dave's lighting direction, I set up a studio scene in a TV drama for night. It was a major cock-up, because the script, if I'd bothered to read it, quite clearly said "day". It completely buggered the subsequent editing.
Dave never ever shouted in the lighting gallery, but he was the undisputed king of silent, bulky seething. Scary!
Welcome back, old pastry mate.
In your defense, great mate, I must add that I also didn't notice that bit in the script. Anyway, the director was an obnoxious little squirt and he deserved some grief, although I felt sorry for the VT editor who tried (unsuccessfully) to resurrect it.
Looks like a nice toy to play with!
It is, Hannelie, but I can't take it home!
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