02-12-2023, 02:23 AM
Interesting interviews here with Production and Lighting Designer Bryan Hartley, Director of Touring & Production Elliot Saltzman, and Image SFX president Doug Adams. They discuss in some detail creating a new design for each tour, the most challenging aspects of a TSO tour, and much more.
https://plsn.com/articles/production-des...roduction/
Elliot Saltzman: So, the biggest new challenge this time out—the shortage of labor. We’d come into a city, 30 stagehands shy. Our normal four-hour pre-rig now took nine hours. There’s only one reason for that—they had unqualified labor. So, how do you compensate for that, do you overbook stagehands in the next city? All the venues have the same problem.
We’re very particular for TSO, when we build a show, we know where every seat is sold and where our pyro zones are, but with new people, things get screwed up. And when things get screwed up, everything slows down.
Bryan Hartley: I enjoy lasers, but to me, I find that lasers are becoming just more lights now. Since everyone is using lasers these days, just like big video screens, you have to kind of dig deep to be a bit creative; to be different from everybody else.
Doug Adams: When they do the full dress rehearsals, I do a speech with Elliot, and we explain all the safety features and where all the effects are going to be. Then we bring the band up and put them in position and block it with them. That way they can actually feel the heat and feel where everything’s going to be and go off. That is important because we change up the effects each year and do new things. We don’t want to startle the artists, especially with the heat wave.
https://plsn.com/articles/production-des...roduction/
Elliot Saltzman: So, the biggest new challenge this time out—the shortage of labor. We’d come into a city, 30 stagehands shy. Our normal four-hour pre-rig now took nine hours. There’s only one reason for that—they had unqualified labor. So, how do you compensate for that, do you overbook stagehands in the next city? All the venues have the same problem.
We’re very particular for TSO, when we build a show, we know where every seat is sold and where our pyro zones are, but with new people, things get screwed up. And when things get screwed up, everything slows down.
Bryan Hartley: I enjoy lasers, but to me, I find that lasers are becoming just more lights now. Since everyone is using lasers these days, just like big video screens, you have to kind of dig deep to be a bit creative; to be different from everybody else.
Doug Adams: When they do the full dress rehearsals, I do a speech with Elliot, and we explain all the safety features and where all the effects are going to be. Then we bring the band up and put them in position and block it with them. That way they can actually feel the heat and feel where everything’s going to be and go off. That is important because we change up the effects each year and do new things. We don’t want to startle the artists, especially with the heat wave.