hi There

First off some of the language you use in your lighting areitcle mean nothing to a
seasoned lighting tech AND A MUSICIAN should leave the lighting to an expert he
should concentrate on the best delivery that he/can and let lighting worry about lighting
example when a bulb blows what will you do as you are preforming
1. change the bulb
2. stop playing
3. let someone know
3. or just continue playing like nothing is wrong like a pro should.
you are kidding yourself if you think for a min. that your lighting crew is not on top of
things during a show, sort of like a musician hitting a soure note you would notice right.

in my view i would never focus a color as a front light i can do that all from behind
and not steal the show from the preformers they in my view are always the main focus not the
lighting.
look at lighting as a support unit to enhance what the preformers does on stage, an extention
of what is being preformed the eye of the audiance should be focused on the preformer
on stage when they look at the lights on the rig it tells me that the preformers are secondary
and the audiance is not listening but merely watching a cartoon.
good lighting comes at a price.

(Lighting crews aren't necessarily the best people to tell you
- the musician - everything you need to know about lighting. After all,
they've got their own vested interests to defend.)

you must understand that designers, lighting directors,
and lighting techs are as good as their last show,

The fact that someone can hump a few PAR cans into the back of a Transit doesn't automatically
turn them into a talented and imaginative lighting designer.
i cant beleive that someone humping told you they were a designer
in parts of your article it sounds like you had a bad experice or just could not afford
a real lighting crew.

painting with light is what we do, you and the stage is our canvas,
and my ears are your canvas, when the 2 get mixed you have other problems
here are is on that can destroy a show (EGO)

i cannot think of any color that looks good on human skin on a stage as front light
its tacky and most of all make the preformer look ugly.
when the performer is ugly to start with well there is cosmetic gel you can use
and for people of color it may be a good idea to use -green gel on camera

there is so much that can be done in lighting just as a musician can hear and imagine
a light tech see's you a blank peice of paper with colored pencils in his hand ready to
bring you to life

(unsigned email received 5 February 2004)