For a long time I was a strong proponent of the saying “Tis a poor craftsman who blames his tools.” The principal is a sound one at a certain level. Blaming a hammer because you did not hit a nail straight is disingenuous and foolish. It does not allow you to learn by paying attention to what you did wrong.
This idea becomes corrupted when translated into “I can make anything work under any circumstances.” While one could make a project work under poor conditions, they will not make the best work that could be made. It is possible to light a musical with three dozen lights on a two scene preset but it will never look good. One could make a passable effort and do something which looks good in spite of the limitations, but when we are concerned with truly great work we must have the right tools for the job.
This is a problem that lighting designers encounter regularly when working in the theater. Many venues have a stock of lights and many producers want to use that stock of lights rather than renting or buying equipment which fits the specific needs of the production. While one can do decent work sometimes without the right tool it is not the best work possible. A bank of PARcans is fundamentally different than a single 4k HMI. A Leko with frost is not the same thing as a Fresnel. SketchUp is not Vectorworks.
Too often a lighting designer is forced to use equipment that is simply not the right tool for the job. We learn to make the best possible work we can but that is fundamentally different than having the right tools to begin with. This happens with the physical lights themselves as well as control systems. While I have learned to program an ETC Expression so that it can do nearly everything an Obsession can do, having the Obsession makes the workflow much smoother and ultimately results in better work. And there are some things you just cannot do with an Expression.
Selecting the right tool for the job is what makes the great stand out from the good. Sometimes a bank of PARcans is the right choice over a 4k HMI. Sometimes an Expression is preferable to an Obsession. More complex technology is not always the right choice. Worklights from Home Depot make better footlights than nearly any theatrical lights available.
Knowing what technology to choose makes a great designer. If the solution does not work after having chosen the technology, the fault is not in the technology but in the designer’s choice. Always carefully selecting the tools we use does not preclude us from occasionally choosing the wrong ones. But then we learn and grow and do not make the same mistake twice.
This is an important idea for producers to understand. If we do not have the right tools we can not do our best work. This is a plain and simple truth. But it is incumbent upon the designer to choose wisely and appropriately. Being indulgent and buying into the idea that newer and more complex must be better diminishes the cause of getting the right tools when we need them.
I remember hearing Warren Flynn talk once about seven years ago. At the time I was very caught up in the newer is better mentality. His perspective made me question that. Someone made a derisive comment about some Autoyokes in his moving light rig and cheap producers. He was quick to point out that he specs them intentionally because they are quick to program and save tons of time when a simple frontlight special is needed. Shutters, gobos, rotation, frost control, and color all take valuable programming time when what the director wants is simple facelight or a downlight on a chair.
The designer needs to control the technology. If things go the other way around we have a disaster waiting to happen. Many draftsmen use nothing more than vellum and a number 2 pencil. It takes a lot of hand control to draft a high quality, readable set of construction drawings with a single middle weight pencil but if that is the right tool for the craftsmen then it is better than two boxes of top of the line drafting pencils or the most sophisticated 3D computer drafting program.
Learning new technologies is easy. Having complete control of the fundamental tools of one’s craft takes constant dedication and total attention. Focusing on our choices and learning from less than perfect ones allows us to grow and further perfect our craft.
