From pretty halos to stark expression

Originally intended as a one-off event in 1981, the Showlight conference has become a regular forum for lighting technology professionals, bringing together experts from various branches of the industry. Held every four years, the conference owes its popularity to the diversity of its programme – talks cover everything from theatre and opera to TV and exhibitions. Our correspondent travelled to Florence, where he found a professional, open-minded and diverse lighting scene in attendance.

By Herbert Cybulska

Showlight is a relaxed, friendly and well-thought-out conference, organized primarily by volunteers, which harks back to its early days – it started life as a small colloquium in 1981. Now, the three days of the conference are filled with alternating lectures and social events, rounded off with a small exhibition. All participating firms get the same amount of space – roughly two by three metres – to present two of their products, and no more.

Starting on Sunday, the participants were welcomed by Chairman John Allen, who briefly introduced the committee before outlining the rules of the game: Speakers must not exceed the specified time, but allow subsequent questions, and a brief meeting held every morning and afternoon for speakers to discuss points among themselves. After ten minutes, the conference got straight underway. Declan Randall talked about the stage production of the comedy movie “Sister Act” in Johannesburg, which he worked on as a light and set designer in 2015.
With his humorous presentation, filled with punch-lines and apposite imagery, Declan Randall proved to be a considerable dramatic talent who had got into lighting and spatial design. His talk was above all about how things are done. How an idea emerges, how it is brought to fruition – and the surprises that occur on the way – in a country with a different culture and a different work ethos, and how everything comes together if the idea is good, its implementation is feasible, and communication is forward-looking and friendly – and a sense of humour is retained. The next speaker, light designer Al Gordon, took us to the United States and a production of “Grease Live in L.A.”. Al is an entertainment industry heavyweight who has worked on such huge events as the opening of the Olympic Games in Sochi and the U.S. Super Bowl halftime show. He recalled his cooperation on the three-hour production of “Grease” which was filmed and broadcast live. This kind of live broadcast performance is big news in the United States, and the “Grease” production was supposed to top all previous shows. Al Gordon is himself a great entertainer, who told the story of the production, from the rain-soaked day of filming – in a city where the sun nearly always shines – to the tricks used to link up outdoor and indoor scenes, the timing, the colorimetry in complex lighting situations and camera perspectives, in impressive detail.

Clash of perception concepts  
Henk van Geest of the Netherlands started his career as a light designer for theatre but set up his own studio for exhibition and museum lighting ten years ago. His many years’ experience of working for the stage means that he can not only design and draft light situations but also understand the basics of light and control technology. Above all, his work has taught him about human perception and what steers it.    
By the example of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Henk presented new possibilities for picture illumination, their potential for colour rendering, which can shed new light on the painting process (literally and figuratively), and how curators, light designers and museum directors have worked towards new lighting by a process of gradual steps and decisions.

Light design – digitally simulated in lifelike models
James Simpson talked about another aspect of digital technology, which poses new challenges for those of us working with light and artistic spaces: computer-simulated stage sets. Taking London’s Royal Opera House as an example, James described the digital process, from creating a 3D model of the stage space to conducting rehearsals on the computer. This allows individual sets to be tried out and well-informed decisions to be made about the space, stage-set construction and light design. As the technology becomes more sophisticated, affordable and user-friendly, this is already a feasible option for larger theatres.      

A big, bright bouquet of topics
From beginning to end, the conference’s programme was interesting and varied. Topics included the closing ceremony for the Olympic Games in Rio, in its unusual urban setting and stadium; the latest ARRI spotlights presented in the company’s 100th year; a new light design for Westminster Hall, orientated towards the human perception of daylight; the various vocabularies for light, presented by Keli Zezluka, who has humorously applied the latest linguistic findings to theatre rehearsals; digital light art by Frieder Weiss of Berlin; abstract dance spaces created with dichroic glass plates by Rob Halliday; David Duffy’s eccentric productions for his puppet theatre in London; the lighting for the latest “James Bond”, and a live broadcast with eight cameras for a new kind of sitcom. This colourful melange of talks was topped off with lively discussions and interesting questions. Listening and participating was truly rewarding, and opened channels of communication. Animated conversations continued in the breaks and at the dinners with manufacturers which formed part of the entertainment programme.    
For anyone who wants to get to know the entire spectrum of light design, Showlight is an excellent destination. The next edition is scheduled for 2021 and I, for one, am already looking forward to it.