After having spent the weekend in Helensborough with friends, and undertaking several outdoor excursions immersed in Scottish mist, as opposed to Scotch mist which is something else entirely (and of which more later), it was quite a shock to wake up to unexpected and blazing heat for the first day of Showlight 2001. However, this weather was certainly appropriate as, in a very literal sense, the sun seemingly bathed this fourth quadrennial colloquium on entertainment lighting, in a golden glow throughout.
Huge credit has to go to the committee for the success that Showlight was once again. Some of the members of this panel will be mentioned in this article, some will not, if only because their roles were more behind the scenes, as it were, but all deserve fulsome praise for their contribution to a thoroughly rewarding and convivial event. None more so than long-suffering chairperson, and fellow L&SI columnist, John Watt. For, Watty’s affable charm and wit was a thread that ran throughout. By the end, he was no doubt wishing that he had been born with a different surname, so that an alternative career might have presented itself. But then, I suppose the obvious option of heating engineer isn’t quite as glamorous either, despite the fact that John’s skills in the hot air department are second to none.
The first surprise, on entering the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh, was to discover that the exhibition had been set out on the stage (if only someone had told me that beforehand, it would have saved me a lot of grief, as it happens), but never mind, this novel idea had a lot going for it. Each booth, and in this case I do mean booth, not stand, was divided by a sail-like divider. The consequence was, that from the auditorium, the stage took on the appearance of a marina for small boats, all bobbing around together. Providing the lighting for this collection was ETC. It was quite a design achievement to cram some 40 exhibitors, together with catering facilities for coffee, tea and lunch, plus room for the delegates to meander between the stalls during refreshment breaks, all on a single stage - even one as large as the Festival’s. It made for a unique experience and, I am sure, was appreciated by all concerned.
As is well-known, the main attraction of Showlight has always been the facility it provides in relaxed surroundings, for an interchange of ideas among friends whose common denominator is this strange industry in which we all find ourselves. Aside from what goes on in the ‘corridors and tearooms’, and at the various social events, this is largely achieved through the platform speakers and the iterative sessions afterwards. So, three times daily the curtain closed on the Showlight exhibition, the delegates returned to their seats in the auditorium, and the serious matter of information exchange began.
For the first time at this conference, serious presentation technology was used so that a giant image of each speaker was displayed on a screen simultaneously with each paper. So, we finally caught up with the real world of commercial product launches and corporate ballyhoos, thanks in part to the loan of a DLP (Digital Light Projector) from DPL (Digital Projection Ltd) - steady on the acronyms! The AV and audio was run from the front of balcony through the stalwart work of Bernie Davis and Rick Dines and the team from Northern Light who had marshalled and installed all the gear.
This year we were treated to a wide range of topics from the Opera House, courtesy of Mark White, to lighting of temperamental orchestral players by Bernie Davis, to scenery projection by Rick Fisher; from Graham Festenstein’s lighting for technical exhibits for @Bristol, to Wim Dresen’s lighting for the Six Flags project in Mexico, to Robert Ornbo’s famous tussles with the armed forces in creating his outdoor extravaganzas; from Chris Watts’ gia
