Light Bytes History Channel

Life of Pi

The recent Olivier Awards celebrated the successes and amazing achievements of some of the best shows that London has to offer. One of the shows is Life of Pi which is playing at the Wyndham’s Theatre. Life of Pi won 5 awards including the award for Best Lighting Design.

We are really excited to be chatting to the creative team behind this extraordinary piece of theatre – lighting designer Tim Lutkin and projection designer Andrzej Goulding about their incredible collaboration and work on this production.

Dragons and Superheroes

In this episode of Light Bytes we chat to cinematographer Fabian Wagner about his incredible work on Game of Thrones and Justice League. We talk about his process, his favourite instruments, and how he goes about lighting these epic fantasy productions.

In Conversation with Mandla Mtshali

Join us as we chat to South African lighting designer Mandla Mtshali – a young Johannesburg designer who is taking the industry by storm, not just with his lighting designs, but his set design work too – and if that is not enough, about his clothing range too. We’ll be talking to Mandla about how he got started, his work and processes, the state of the industry in South Africa.

Collaborations: Choreography and Design

Working in theatre is a truly collaborative process, and one such collaboration has taken Europe, London and South Africa by storm. Cion: Requiem for Ravel’s Boléro is the latest production by the Vuyani Dance Theatre, a Johannesburg-based dance company founded by internationally acclaimed choreographer Greg Maqoma. This new production featured the collaboration of set and lighting design Oliver Hauser whose work on this show is sublime.

Light Trails

This month we are chatting with lighting designer Tony Simpson, Associate Designer and Head of Lighting Dom Cook and Production Electrician Tom Tomkins who are the team behind some of the most popular Christmas Light Trails in the UK.

We’ll be chatting about what’s involved in putting a light trail together – from plans and paperwork to IP ratings and putlogs, to crawling around in the bushes with cables and fairy lights, it takes months of planning and an awesome team to pull it off.

Lighting for Stop-motion Animation

Have you ever wondered what goes into the lighting design for stop-motion animation? We are really excited to be talking to Tristan Oliver – a leading Director of Photography whose work you will have undoubtedly seen in films like ‘Isle of Dogs’, ‘Chicken Run’ and ‘Curse of the Wererabbit’, to name but a few. We’ll be chatting to Tristan about his work, how he got started, what it takes to work in this challenging area of animation, his process and his top tips and tricks for working with scale models and puppets.

This session promises to be a fascinating look into the world of lighting for camera and animation as we do a deep dive into the creative mind of a genius.

A World of Color

Episode outline: The introduction of LED lighting has seen a huge shift in the way that we work with light, the way that we design and program and the way that we need to think about color. We can do things now that were simply not possible before – LED has been a game-changer. But, like any new technology, there is a learning curve – processes are different, light behaves differently, and we need to think about color and control in a whole new way.

Join us and our resident color expert, Wendy Luedtke, and Eos product manager Nick Gonsman as we talk about all things color. We’ll look at the evolution of LED and luminaire design, how the physics of LED can influence the choices we make as designers and how metamer control gives you a powerful way to manipulate light and color in your designs.

In conversation with Yaron Abulafia – Lighting for Dance

The world of dance lighting is arguably one of the most exciting for any lighting designer. It is an opportunity to push the boundaries, try new things, break away from conformity – and nobody does this better than lighting designer Yaron Abulafia.
We are really excited to be joined by Yaron where we will be talking about lighting design for dance. We will be focusing on some of Yaron’s work in this field including “Impetus”, “The Comedy of Error(z)”, “Hikarizatto”, “Red Curtain” and “Lookout”. Yaron’s designs feature breathtaking beam-work and inspirational cueing. We will be chatting about how he got started, his process and workflow, his top tips and tricks and a host of other topics – this session promises to be a deep dive into the mind of a design pioneer.

Creative Collaborations: Lighting and Projection Design

Projection is no longer out of reach for most productions. The technology has improved dramatically making projectors that are smaller, brighter and more affordable and we are seeing these more and more on shows today. Software for both content creation and media playback is more easily accessible, powerful and affordable. These factors, coupled with our desire to create productions that are more visually stunning mean that it is not uncommon for a show to have both a lighting designer and a projection designer as part of the creative team.

What are the considerations we need to be thinking about when planning for a show that is going to make use of projection? What conversations should we be having with the projection designer? Are there elements of the lighting design that might need to change or be approached in a new way?

Mark Jonathan, Jon Driscoll, Hayley Egan and Katie Pitt join host Declan Randall in this session

From Theatre to Architecture: Theatrical Lighting Techniques in an Architectural environment

We all love light; it’s why we do what we do. We are fascinated by color; how changes in intensity or shifts in hue can alter the way we feel, or the way something looks. The past few years has seen a global shift in the awareness of, and the importance of light. The power of light beyond the simple function of mere illumination; the power to transform, to tell stories, to captivate and enhance. Few people understand this better than our next panel of speakers – all of whom made the transition from theatrical lighting design to the world of architectural lighting design. Using the skills they learned in theatre and bringing them to museums, galleries, theme parks and attractions as well as hotels, retail and public spaces, they are amongst the top lighting designers in the world. Join us as we chat to Anne Miletello, Paul Pamboukian, David Gilbey and Martina Alagna about the art and craft of employing theatrical lighting techniques into an architectural environment.

Lighting for Theatre in the Round

Join us for this fascinating dive into the world of lighting design for Theatre-in-the-Round. We will be chatting to designers Danielle Beattie and Johanna Town about their work in this exciting field and the challenges that a designer faces when lighting in the round. Having the audience wrapped around the stage brings with it some unique challenges, and our panel will help to demystify these and share some of their tips and tricks for getting the best results. Joining Danielle and Jo will be Peter Morgan who has been Danielle’s programmer for many years but who is also a designer in his own right.

Programming for Film and TV

Following on from the chat with Ed Rutherford in a previous Light Bytes event, join us as we chat to David Kane, Colin wood and Marc Lorenz about what it takes to be a lighting programmer in the film and television industry. If you have ever wondered about what sort of skills you need to work in this fast-paced environment, then this session is for you! We’ll hear about how they started, how to organize your show files, how best to prepare for a shoot and tons of useless tips and tricks.

In Conversation with Ed Rutherford

In this session we chat to Ed Rutherford, an internationally renowned cinematographer. His recent work on the Netflix series Little Birds caught our eye and we just had to talk to him about his process for this extraordinary design. We also look at ETC’s new range of panel lights and Fresnels – part of the fos/4 range – designed specifically for the film and television industry.

The Hog Club Edition

This year, Hog Club went virtual and we created a bespoke programming project for our members. Their challenge was to create a series of ‘looks’ for a corporate event and create a light show for a song by the band as part of the evening’s entertainment. This has been a 6-week program which consisted of several online training sessions interspersed with programming time, giving the designers a chance to hone their skills on the Hog family of consoles. This session sees the culmination of the project and we are proud to introduce the designers and their work to you.

Associations

We will be having a friendly chat with representatives from the ALD (Association of Lighting Design), STLD (Society of Television Lighting Designers), ABTT (Association of British Theatre Technicians), ILP (Institution of Lighting Professionals), SBTD (Society of British Theatre Designers), WIL (Women in Lighting) and PLASA (Professional Lighting and Sound Association). We will be chatting about who they are, what they do, which one is right for you as well as taking a look at the incredible endeavors that they have undertaken during the pandemic for their members and the industry at large. You will also have the chance to chat to them and ask them questions.

Back to the Drawing Board

Ever wondered what it takes to be a “re-lighter”? From assistants to associates to designers, we have probably all had to relight a show on behalf of someone else. We chat to designers Tom Boucher, Stuart Porter and Will Evans about what it takes to be a ‘touring re-lighter’. What skills do you need? What are the pleasures and the pitfalls, and how best to go about recreating someone else’s design faithfully and a whole lot more.

A Designer’s Round Table

Designers Assemble! We have gathered a panel of the UK’s top lighting designers to talk to us about how they got started, the trials and tribulations of being a freelance LD and some of their favorite tips and tricks. In this informal chat, we pick the great minds of our lighting industry leaders.

A Programmers Round Table

Lighting programmers are an important part of the lighting team – they are an extra set of eyes for the designer as well as the primary interface between the designer, the console and rest of the lighting team. We gathered some of our top programmers to chat to them about how they got started, how they like to work, their favorite short-cuts and their best kept programming secrets.

Is there a topic you'd like to see covered? Let us know.