Author Topic: How to strike Lighting Instruments  (Read 3929 times)

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How to strike Lighting Instruments
« on: Sep 25, 2007, 08:59 am »
By Tom Warnecke


Well, it's the final night and you've had a great run. Now, the sad part, your weeks of hard work and toil and this wonderful creation has to come down. It all gets loaded into cases and thrown on a truck to get sent somewhere else for someone else to play with! So before anything happens, take some happy snaps of your rig for the memories, unless it was a crap gig!, then you'll be happy to see it go.First things first, If you get the chance... give yourself twenty mins after the show to unwind, have a cuppa and just let the world pass by. Bumping Out can be a stressful process so you need to be relaxed.


Okay so once you're on the stage, keep in mind the safety practises. Every department will want to get their gear out right NOW. It's a busy place so safety is paramount. If you have anything on the ground, get rid of that first. Floor stands, groundrows and truss can all be dangerous with people walking around them and they can be easily damaged if someone steps on them.


Once you've got your floor gear out, it's time for front of house. This is usually a two person job, sometimes three. Because you're working over people's heads, empty your pockets and fasten tools to your belt. Remove all lighting accessories before de rigging the fixture. Put these in a box or clipped to your belt so they cant go anywhere. Then unpatch the fixture (making sure the socket is dead) undo the hook clamp and finally undo the safety chain. If the front of house bars are permanently in the roof, attach a rope (See @1) and lower the fixture to floor level.


[@1 - do this by making a loop at one end, slide the rope under the yoke and then back over the hook clamp]



Front of house and floor cleared....if the stage is free (or fairly free), drop your LX Bars. Drop all at once and get half a dozen people to de rig them. This makes it quicker. Remove all accessories and put them in the case. unpatch the fixture and undo the hook clamp and safety chain. With moving lights, you may need to lock the yoke or mirror. To lift some of the heavier ones may take two people.
Put all lights into their roadcases.


Finally control gear, this is simple. unpatch the dimmers, clear the desks' memory and put them in the cases.


As you strike the rig.... keep in mind a few things.


A - Roll up leads as you go and put them in piles according to length, this makes it easier to check before loading.



B - If you've changed lamps, modified the gear or anything like that, mark it with a piece of chalk and write down what you did. Keep these seperate so the hire company will know which ones they need to check.



C - Simple OHS. Make sure communications are available. Stage LX Power must be off for strike and finally make sure everyone knows what they're doing. When in doubt, ask!



Hope this helps.