While leaves and trees and clouds are great when working on naturalistic shows, that is far from everything we are called on to do as lighting designers. Be they large multi-set musicals, corporate events, parties, or live music, the world of abstract patterns are a powerful way to create a dynamic and varied lighting design.
Abstract gobos can be particularly good for delineating location in large musicals. While a full scenic shift is great, augmenting that with a total transformation in the lighting environment can truly make the difference in a production. Linear patterns that drape over scenery or scrape across walls create quite a different effect than geometric shards of lights cast across the floor. Abstract breakups like R77764, focused very soft, lightly highlighting scenery or perhaps a framed photograph or poster, can really bring that element to life.
The risk with abstract gobos is allowing the template to dominate the composition and thus draw focus away from the performance. While a farce might call for a very obvious use of templates, a drama probably would not. Another thing to consider, before utilizing an abstract gobo in a dramatic piece, is if the same effect could be achieved without use of the template. If you want broken light it is far more interesting to shine a PAR or floodlight through scenery than it is to point a gobo across stage. That said, when the right choice is a template it can make quite a strong impact.
Abstract templates are fantastic for providing a sense of architecture and place to a scene, party, or music show. A simple change in gobo, from leaves to a geometric template for example, can tell us quickly that the action has moved from outside to inside. A pattern projected on walls and ceilings can fast give light a direct connection to a theme party or event. Whatever your situation, the use of abstract templates are very powerful.
Like Spiderman is often reminded, with great power comes great responsibility. Choosing your templates carefully by considering both the shape or style of the design, as well as how open or dense it is, and how sharp or soft it is focused, will make the difference between a clever and unique lighting idea and something pulled from a catalog. Just because you use a stock gobo does not justify having a stock generic composition.
One instance where abstract templates are very useful is live music. Specifically backlight templates with haze and coming out of a moving light. Music as a medium is very abstract. Even when there is narrative storytelling, it tends to occur in a non-literal manner. Far more frequently we are dealing with a wholly abstract artistic environment. In these cases light too is given the freedom to work in an abstract manner. Templates, like color, move and change in an emotional response to the music. Perhaps the templates dance in rhythm to the song. Or they might provide a counterpoint, doing a slow wash from behind the musicians and then up and over the audience while the music bangs away at 180 BPM.
With a live act, the kind of template used can be guided by the style of music being played. A techno band might want more linear shapes, perhaps circuit board patterns or something to that effect. A psychedelic jam band on the other hand may call for more swirly organic shapes. Intuition and feel are your best guides when working with music.
What shape does the music sound like?
Abstract shapes are also particularly conducive to rotation and movement. When working in an abstracted space like music or a party, where it is a matter of ambiance of the light rather than literal storytelling, one must consider every quality of light. Movement is a fast way to create a dynamic space with light. A moving gobo is never going to look like something other than a moving gobo. Because of this, the designer is freed to react emotionally to the moment rather than being tied down by a literal framework often found in dramatic works.
Templates are such a strong and noticeable effect that their proper selection is critical for creating a good composition. Once they have been selected, a good palette of templates can lend range and dynamism to a work that is not available without them. Choose wisely.
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