Light Show

I just feel like writing down how I work on light shows, and specifically, my light show for the grade 9 tours.

1: Visualization
I start by making a playlist of the one song that I will be using (August's Rhapsody), put it on repeat, shut off all the lights, and just listen. In the dark I imagine what the theatre looks like, and I see different lights turning on and off with the music. I see pulsating lights at one point, a flash here, spinning colours and so on. I know the technical limitations of the theatre through my past experience, and can visualize what things I'm capable of doing. I get general ideas of what each thematic section of the piece will look like, and silently conduct my invisible orchestra in the dark. I would be put away in a mental institute if anyone saw me during this step, I'm sure.

2: Write it down
I play the piece again, and quickly type what I've been thinking. This keeps me centered around my original idea. However, this is more just to help me lock into the ideas more than an actual reference, because once I get programming, it's all inside my head.

3: Data
Since everything I do has to do with time, I need to know how fast the piece goes. I find the bpm values of sections, and find out how many tenths of a second I'll use (the smallest value of time on the light board).

4: Randomly start
I don't like to waste much time, so I pretty much just dive right into programming. I start at the beginning, and work my way through to save some numerical hassle later on. Perhaps it's slower that way, but it works fine for me...

5: Get tired of blogging, leave it, then post it when bugged by a nagging reader lol