Cheap Moving Heads

[CharlieH]

But if our control surface is really that simple, just an on and off, what do we do for the main school production, and other events which require more complicated lighting? We have a basic strand desk (I can't remember which model) that controls all our conventional lights perfectly well. That's not a problem, the problem was how to control movers. Seeing as I'm now not going to get movers, it is no longer a problem.

 

Thanks anyway.

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

[billy bobinski]

Hi again Charlie,

 

If you have a good look around you should be able to find a hire company who specialise in hiring to schools and suchlike who will probably be able to give you good prices. There is one up this end of the country, (Northern Stage Services) who do just that. It may be worthwhile calling them to see if they know of anyone down your way who do provide such a service.

 

Good Luck with it.

[dosxuk]

If you're wanting more things to work with, look at making a case for buying some nice gobos, a bigger range of colours, a couple of new profiles and a couple of new fresnals. It won't break the bank (which is what your teachers will be looking at, and they might not have enough money to even buy that), but it will allow you to do new things. Get someone to make up some floor stands and put some lights at ground level, put a breakup gobo in to wash your stage, look at hiring a hazer - more things which don't require any real investment.

 

A good rig is not a rig will all the toys. A good rig is one which is flexible and can be used in many different combinations to get exactly what you want. Would your perfrmances actually be improved by adding a couple of disco lights? If not, what would improve them, and how can you do that for the least cost? Get out a notepad and start coming up with ideas! Even look back at your last show, and think about exactly what you would have done if you could do anything, and then work out how you could make the same effect for no money.

[CharlieH]

Brilliant, will do. I know of a good hire company just down the road from the school - we have used them in the past - and will see if they have any movers/hazers. I will also think about what to replenish our supplies with, some more fresnels and perhaps some par-cans. I have a lighting truss stand, with 2 T-bars and a cross bar so that's not a problem, we have used that before, and I will work out how much of each thing to buy.

 

Thanks very much for all of the advice,

Charie

[Just Some Bloke]

OK, I give up. Thanks for all your advice, it's not what I wanted to hear but I can see that it's the sensible thing to do.

{snip}

Thanks for all the advice guys, I really appreciate it

Charlie

 

Good man, Charlie! If only we could cut and paste your reply into every other thread where we give good advice and the OP ignores it cos it's not what they wanted to hear! :)

 

You'll go a long way in life with a good attitude and taking the advice of those with more experience than you shows a maturity that will allow you to go far.

 

Hire your toys for the week before the show as well as the week of the show and then stay as late as they'll let you to play with them and see what they can do. Make sure you've covered every eventuality so when they director says "can I have them over there in a greeny blue and bobbing about like they're water in a moving pond" you can do it. Think about what the show might need and learn how to do that: if the show doesn't need them hurtling round the auditorium doing gobo and colour chases through the haze then don't spend too long making them do that. Get it out of your system and start putting in ideas that might actually fit into empty cues (say 201 forwards) that you can then copy and paste later into the show.

 

You'll get plenty of time to enjoy what you're doing, even with hired kit.

 

Congratulations again on responding so well to advice.

[CharlieH]

Thanks, that means a lot. I'll show this thread to my HOD when the time comes, to show him that it's backed up by proffesionals, and that hiring them is sensible.

 

Thanks to you all, especially 'Just Some Bloke',

Charlie

:)

[Chris Beesley]

I have a lighting truss stand, with 2 T-bars and a cross bar

Are you referring to something like this...

 

http://images.maplin.co.uk/300/gt6217792cr.jpg

 

If so I would be very careful regarding weight loadings... they tend to have a number of plastic parts and are better suited to a few small moonflower effects and par cans than a hire companies moving heads :)

[CharlieH]

Yes, I am referring to something exactly like that! I have used it before, but only with 4 fresnels. I have done weight calculations each time I use it, as it is being used in the drama studio as opposed to the main stage I had to do power calculations to check that the mains circuit could cope, I did them at the same time.

 

If that is not particularly strong enough, what stand would you recommend?

[Trunker]

A Manfrotto Stand would be ideal. Ask your hire company when you go down there!

[CharlieH]

Brilliant, thanks. Is that just a T-Bar, or does it have trussing / cross bars or anything else?

[paulears]

Being honest. We tend to use T bar stands when nothing else is possible, but avoid them like the plague, because they are always a more risky support system than we'd like. The typical two lightweight stands and a bit of tin between them pretending to be truss is very 'stick it behind the dj' - ugly things designed to be looked at rather than used seriously.

 

If you wish to use heavy weight kit in this way, then really heavy duty stands with hand winches are the way forward, with proper, industry standard tubing - often 3 chord, but two chord is common, when necessary.

[CharlieH]

Yea, I've seen some of those at a concert I went to. How much would one set me back?

[LXbydesign]

Paul , what college/school has that kit lying in a storeroom??!! Do you think theyd be willing to hire it out for a modest price. Dont need the Avo - but the extra movers and scrollers would be very useful..

[intyra]

Speaking from experience, I can tell you that moving heads in a school is a bad idea.

 

Depending on how H&S orientated your school is, you're likely to run into a number of problems. First a foremost is the issue of actually rigging the damn things. Even the smallest of movers are heavy, and seeing as you're probably going to be banned from working at height you're going to be left with a small handful of teachers huffing and puffing over a MAC 250 Entour complaining about what a bad idea it was to hire one in the first place.

 

Secondly, there's the issue of cabling. If your school has no permanent technician, whoever's doing the rigging is unlikely to know the principles of DMX and you will have to guide him/her through addressing the fixtures from the ground, which is difficult, trust me. It's also worth bearing in mind that if you're using standard IWBs there's unlikely going to be power for movers up there, which is going to involve yet more cable running.

 

Then there's the issue of what happens if it all goes horribly wrong - when those MACs start lamping off randomly you're going to end up with a rather annoyed Head of Drama who's trying to put on his show.

 

If you don't have an adequate desk, it also becomes more hassle. A desk designed for conventionals just doesn't work with movers. It's life.

 

You've made the right decision by choosing to avoid movers; scrollers can be much more effective in a school environment, at a fraction of the cost.

[CharlieH]

Brilliant, thanks for your advice. I may hire in some movers just for a weekend to start with so I can familiarize myself with them, and see if me and my HOD like them. Then we can make all the mistakes we need as there will be no time constraints, and we can see if we like them.