Operating a spotlight is harder than it looks. To do it well, you need to understand how the light and its controls work, you need some training, and you need some practice.
Unfortunately, this specialized area of the craft is seldom covered in schools or training programs in more than a cursory way, and most technicians are left to learn what they can the hard way, on the job. This book is an attempt to fill in that gap, and give everyone the information that, in at least my opinion, every good spotlight operator should know.
A followspot is the ultimate “Intelligent Light”. Unlike the robotic moving lights that the term usually implies, a followspot with a good operator is the only light that actually thinks. A good spotlight operator needs to be able to multi-task – working all the controls on the light, often several of them simultaneously, while watching your target, listening to the show, keeping an eye on your cue sheet, and listening to whoever is calling cues for the spotlights. In most professional environments, a touring show is seen by the operator for the first time at showtime with the paying audience in place, figuring it out (and having it called to you) as you go.
Sadly, there is very little formal training for Spotlight Operators. Many schools skip past dealing with them entirely. For many technicians, your first exposure to operating a spotlight is getting handed a pile of color and directions to the spot booth or catwalk one day when people are short, and maybe, if you’re lucky, getting a quick rundown on the controls from someone in a hurry to get to their own place before the show starts.
That’s a shame, because Spotlights are used in every aspect of the entertainment business – Theater, Dance, Opera, Concerts, Videos, Stand up Comedy, and more. Different types of performances have different styles of lighting, and a followspot operator can end up in many types of environments. You might end up sitting on a rock and roll lighting truss, strapped into a tiny seat like a tail gunner with a small light between your knees, or you might be 300 feet away from an Opera stage in a wide glass booth operating a 4000 watt Gladiator 8 feet long.
There are dozens of different brands and styles of spotlights, made for different applications and throw distances. Each one is different, in its way, but all of them have the same essential controls. Once you become familiar with a couple of different models, adapting to something new becomes pretty quick work.
This book is a way to learn the basics or fill in the pieces that you may have missed along the way if you have just learned how to run a light on the fly without real training. It’s been very popular with IATSE Training programs, and is already in use in several locals, from Toronto to Pittsburgh to Tucson. It’s perfect for High School or College Theater departments who are looking to expand their technical curriculum or just fill out their department library.