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Lighting
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Equipment List
Note: This list is being made from memory and old paperwork almost 5 years after the tour, so I'm sure there are errors! This is also VERY similar to the Pocahontas system, as the system was taken from Pocahontas.
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Item
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1
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Compulite Animator 48 Plus Lighting Console running 3 universes
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1
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Vari*Lite Mini-Artisan 2
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3
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48 x 2.4k LMI L86 Touring Racks; 36-circuit Pyle and 12-circuit Socpex connectors
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3
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12-circuit Relay Non-Dim Units built into each dimmer rack
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2
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Low-Voltage Dimmer Rack
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4
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12-circuit Relay Non-Dim Units built into each truss distro box
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9
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Vari*Lite ACS Rack (1 on ground, 8 in truss)
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24
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Tomcat 10' x 30" Box Truss, Black
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15
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Tomcat 10' x 20.5" Box Truss, Black
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2
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Tomcat 5' x 20.5" Box Truss, Black
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24
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Vari*Lite VL2C Moving Light
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32
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Vari*Lite VL4 Moving Light
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18
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Clay Paky Golden Scan 3/Stage Scan Hybrid (Custom Prototype)
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16
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High-End Studio Color M
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296
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ETC Source 4 PAR
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6
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8-Way DWE Mole
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-
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Flouresecnt Footlights (around perimieter of ice)
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16
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Diversitronics 3000W DMX Strobe
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16
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Flourescent UV Light
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8
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Lycian 1290 2000W Followspot
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1
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Alumifax Mister System; Pipes around ice perimieter
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2
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DF-50 Hazer
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1
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F-100 Fogger
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3
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Tiny Fogger
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1
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4K Fresnel
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1
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5' Diamater Gobo Contraption for Fresnel
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-
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Hundreds of twinkle lights in set drops
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Lighting Designers: Michael Wilkinson & Sam Rembert
Animator Programmer: Sam Rembert
Vari*Lite Programmer: Michael Wilkinson
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More Lighting and Rigging Info
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The rig for the show consists of four main lighting trusses, each 60' wide, running side to side across the ice floor. These are spaced generally 40' apart, but are fully flexible to shorter distances depending on the size of the ice floor. The grid usually trims at 40'. Each main lighting truss (in 6 sections of truss) holds 72 Source 4 PARs for ice wash, 4 3000W strobes, 4 flourescent UV lights, and 20 moving lights. In addition, truss 1 has 8 extra Studio Colors for set wash.
Running along the center from upstage to downstage is a center-spine truss, along which runs the cable pick and all the distribution for the grid. Also hanging on this center-spine are 2 Golden Scans. Near each beam, a box hanging on the center-spine provides power for the moving lights and motors with custom-built relay boxes and two Vari*Lite ACS Racks
Around the edge of the ice are what we call "headers." These are simply footlights in a decorative housing, meant to look like the set. Ours are shaped and painted as logs to go with the tree theme of the show. Each header contains two colors of flourescent tubes. Each also contains various other automated scenic elements which will be mentioned in the "Set" section.
In the set, there is a huge 4K Fresnel aimed downstage onto the ice. Mounted to the front of this fresnel is a huge cone with a 5' diameter rotating gobo. This is used during Snow White's coffin scene as "light from the heavens" I guess.
The set is also filled with drops and curtains, each containing hundreds of twinkle lights. These were used as stars, gems in the mine, and as effect lighting during finale sequqnces.
I may be biased since I was one of the designers and programmers, but I think the lighting for this show was beautiful. We indeed received many compliments and praises from those who saw it. To see pictures, click here.
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The Set
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To this day, I barely remember the set for the show, even though I stared at it for hours on end while programming. It was a standard proscenium area with numerous drops and curtains which could be pulled for different backgrounds. On either side were two small entrances which the skaters used to get on the ice. The center curtain also opened to allow larger props onto the ice. As I rememebr, the drops ranged from a library for the opening "Reading is Fun" sequence, gems and stones for the mine scenes, and old trees for the forests.
Around the edge of the ice were the lighting headers. Inside these headers were numerous pieces which could be considered set pieces. In some of the headers were 6' long alligator heads which would pop up during the scene when Snow White is running though the forest, lost. In other headers were totem-looking organ pipes which danced back and forth pneumatically and shot CO2 CO2 clouds.
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Props
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Every Disney on Ice show is filled with huge props, many of which move around the ice by use of motors, being driven like a car from inside. Props for Snow White included the following (not a comprehensive list because I can't remember everything...expect more when I get my pictures!):
- A 20' tall castle which served as Snow White's home. Along with the castle came a well, complete with animatronic birds.
- The mirror. The mirror was approximately 6' tall and had an internally-lit face for the "Mirror, Mirror" scenes. The mirror was also fitted with tiny foggers so it would fog as it moved about the ice.
- The drawf cottage. The exterior of the house was almost flat, complete with smoking chimney.
- The drawf cottage interior which consisted of a wood-frame bed area about 8' high, and a myriad of kitchen items.
- A huge organ with totem-looking pipes. This thing was big enough to carry the entire cast around the ice, then open up to a 30' wide piece with countless pipes, many of which blew CO2 clouds.
A huge book which served as the centerpiece for the "Reading is Fun" opening segment. The book contained little strobes for each transition.
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Audio
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Sound for the ice shows is kept pretty simple. All music and vocals are pre-recorded on either digital tape or hard-drives, so the whole show is controlled from a small mixing board, usually just 12-channels. The front of house is set up in two large racks, each two rack spaces wide by about 20 spaces high. In these racks are endless arrays of playback, equalization, delay, and storage equipment.
The audio system is comprised completely of Meyer Sound speaker cabinets. There are up to 44 cabinets used, depending on the size of the arena. Since the show is in the round, there is a speaker on the end of each lighting beam (for the middle seats), and two clusters over the ice (for the lower seats, and for subwoofers). If the arena is big enough, more speakers are hung out in the house to provide sound to the upper seats.
Amplication is provided by two more huge racks backstage. I cannot remember the make or model of the amps, but they contained 8 channels each of amplification, and there were 7 of those. Each is also controlled by a processor to get just the right levels to each one.
In order to get the show sounding the same all around the house, the sound department uses a Meyer SIM computer and numerous microphones set up all around the arena. Each microphone can report back to the computer what it hears, and the sound guy can make adjustments accordingly until each mic is reporting the same thing.
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