This was my very first experience with hands-on work during an active show. Nick, the lighting director at Athens Theatre, told me that they needed someone to fill in as a spotlight operator for one of the shows. Thankfully, I was able to do such and incorporate that as part of my internship experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Up until that point, I had never done anything with lights before, so this was very new for me. However, I had ample time to test things out and learn how to go about using the spotlights before the house opened up. I pretty much treated it like I was operating a video camera. Moving the light around and following the actors were the easy parts for me. The challenge came with turning the light on and off at the appropriate speed and making sure the light was off before the actors fully went offstage. There is a handle on the side of the spotlight that is used to turn it on and off. The handle turns towards the light to turn on and away to turn off. Turning it off is what was slightly more difficult to do in a timely manner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is also a knob that adjusts the size of the spotlight, labeled as full or bust\/half. There were a few times I had to change the size during the run. I kept confusing the direction I was supposed to turn to change the size, but I was able to figure it out for the show. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are also gels\/filters that affect the texture of the light. When Frank, the Artistic Director, came out to speak at the start of the show, there was no filter being used. During the show, however, the spots were to have a kind of hazy texture to it, so that you can’t clearly see the outer edge. There were six different gels applied to the spots, but we only used one. Multiple gels can be used at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although it wasn’t perfect and pretty last minute, this was probably the most fun I have had so far because I was actively doing something to help run the show. Now I can officially say on my resumes that I have experience with operating spotlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This was my very first experience with hands-on work during an active show. Nick, the lighting director at Athens Theatre, told me that they needed someone to fill in as a spotlight operator for one of the shows. Thankfully, I was able to do such and incorporate that as part of my internship experience. Up … Continue reading Athens Internship – Spotlight Operator<\/span>