Evaluation

Overall I was happy with my lighting design because I had managed to include all of the requirements for the choreographers and aesthetically, it looked good on the nights of the performance. It was successful because there were no major complications and everything ran well in time for opening night.
I watched a few of the rehearsals for numerous pieces, such as the Salsa, Bollywood, Africa, and a couple of contemporary dances. This was beneficial because it allowed me to get a feel for the performance and provided me with some inspiration about what I think would suit the performance (a spot light to finish or to highlight something in particular) It definitely gave me some ideas, therefore I am glad I decided to watch.
With the help of Julie and Nancy, I came to the decision that the colours I should try and include as much as possible were: Red, Pink, Blue, Purple and Orange.

I was happy with the rigging session because I had been organised prior to it, for example I had my 2D Design with me, I had focus notes and a colour call. Therefore I was able to delegate jobs to my crew members and knew what had to be done. I was confident about where the lights were being positioned and which sockets they had to be plugged into. Obviously a few needed to be changed, along with extension cables (2 of which did not work so we changed them, then when one of the two still did not work as it should have done, we changed the bulb - after that it worked perfectly.) Any time anything changed, I ensured a note was made on my plan to avoid confusion. Also, for the purple backlight we did not have enough of the same colour for all 6 1K Fresnels, therefore I found an alternative and it worked well.

The focusing session was the following week and it did not run as smoothly as the week before. This is because it was difficult to determine how the space clearly looked with a large group working on set at the same time, in the space. I was responsible for giving my crew instructions on where the light should be focused. This is where my focus notes came in handy. I also had Julie's assistance when I did not understand something. She explained to me which direction a few of the lights should face / what would look best. I had to ensure the entire space was lit (general washes were my main concern). We avoided hitting the side curtains and the rig by using the barn doors on the minuette fresnels. As we were pushed for time, we had to work fast. I had to make quick decisions in order to complete the tasks.
I also noticed in this session that some of the gels in the parcans were incorrect and did not match. Such as the red for Bollywood, Salsa etc. We had this changed and fortunately there was enough of the gels we required left.

Unfortunately it became apparent the following day (Wednesday - Assessment Day) that a few of the general cover lights had not been focused and had been missed off my checklist. I took responsibility for this as I mistakenly overlooked the specific area of the rig. We re-focused the general cover and ensured the stage was lit without it being patchy. We did this by getting a member of the crew to walk across the stage and my making sure he was lit at all times. I also ensured the lights were in line at the front (and backlight at the back) This was important because if it did not look even or equal, then it would look messy and unfinished.

The LEDs were rigged last as they did not plug into the rig as they were battery powered. I wanted 6 on the rig and 4 for the booms (one on each.) I was fortunate enough to have help with setting up the dimmers and focusing on the morning of the plotting session to edit some of the focusing. We also rigged and focused audience lighting using 1K fresnels with the gel code 117 (Steel Blue) to ensure the stage was in blackout yet the audience could see where they were going / what they were doing.

I wrote down the socket numbers for each group of lights that the operators plotted. For example group 1 was backlight, group 2 was for the cold general wash, group 3 for the warm wash, group 4 for parcans, group 5 for spot lights, group 6 for side lights etc.

I was present for the plotting, technical and dress rehearsals of the Winter Showcase to help the operators programme. I provided information such as where specific lights were plugged into and what each light / group would be useful for. I also made any notes about lights that needed changing, whether I did not like something, or if for example a choreographer was not happy with a certain colour - I wrote it down to change it later in the day. Luckily staff and performers were happy with the colour schemes.

If I were to do another lighting design, I would be more organised on the night of the focusing session to ensure all changes had been made. This is because I lost track of where I was up to on a few occasions and it took time to work out where a certain light was plugged in. I would also plan more in advance for the rigging and focusing sessions because I felt I left it to the last minute and I had so much to do in so little time, therefore I would be more prepared and have my final design ideas checked and edited more to improve if I could.
 If I were to do the same show again, I would add more blue gels. This is because the blue was very pale and white, if I could go back I would add a deeper blue to add more colour to the stage. However I was happy with the green that I chose as it was a nice balance of both blue and green which was ideal for some scenes in particular (Africa and Bollywood.)