Focus

TOC - Writing Cues

Hopefully at some point you will complete your hanging and circuiting, and move on to focussing. Your ME starts to work directly for you again, and is basically there to make sure that you can get your job done. It's time to focus.

• Preparation - gather gels, accessories - do dimmer check get crew
• Focusing A Unit- Step by step thru focus of a single instrument - Crew should loosen instrument, make sure that it will go to approximate area - tighten focus as much as possible - Precisely point and lock down (tips to avoid lengthy stupidity) - Set focus and color and accessories - tips for different types of instruments
• Focusing The Show
• Systems - checking focus and blend

Preparation

Before you start your focus, you should make sure to gather all the tools and crew you need. Time is of the essence, and making the set crew wait while you diddle around in the dark in not acceptable. So make sure you have everything you need beforehand so you don't need to go searching for it while you are trying to focus. This includes:

• Crew: light op, 2-3 to focus units, perhaps one on ground to assist you.
• Accessories: All the gels and accessories you will need, logically laid out by hanging position.
• Tools: The various tools you will need for the crew, e.g. wrenches, screwdrivers for out of tune units.
• Time: You should have carefully scheduled the focus with the Stage Manager beforehand.
• Working Lights: A full dimmer check should be run before focus.

Obviously, most of this is the domain of the Master Electrician, as it's not properly the LDs responsibility to gather a crew and tools. Work with the ME to make sure that these prerequisites are getting accomplished.

Focusing A Unit

I will walk through the focus of a single unit (an ERS, because it's the most complex) from the perspective of the LD. I'll explain what the electrician is doing, just so you know and can offer suggestions, but a more technical description is available in the ME docs.

Focussing an instrument should go something like this:

1. You will inform the crew which instrument will be focussed next, and perhaps approximately where it will be pointing (they can also determine it from the plot).
2. An electrician should go to the instrument and loosen the tilt- and spin-lock bolts (in general, I recommend you loosen the large hex bolt that holds the yoke, not the small square-headed bolt). The electrician should make absolutely sure that the instrument pigtail has enough slack to reach its focus point and that it's not upside down or otherwise hung incorrectly.
3. Once they are ready to begin the focus, they should let you know (with a call, "Ready!").
4. You will call for the correct channel to the light op, who will bring it up to about 90%.
5. The electrician should quickly set the focus on the unit to be as sharp as possible, and make sure that the shutters are entirely pulled out of the beam.
6. You should stand in the exact center of the area that the spotlight is to be aimed at.
7. At this point, you can aim the unit accurately in one of two ways:
   • You can leave the unit at 90%, and stand with your back to the unit to aim it. You should try to center the beam on the back of your head; a well-tuned instrument should have a fairly well-defined hot spot that you can frame your head with.
   • You can drop the intensity to 7% or so, until there's just a dim glow from the unit. If you look directly into the barrel of the instrument, you can actually see the lamp glowing inside the reflector. If you carefully center the lamp in the barrel, you will have centered the instrument on your head. You should check your focus by bringing the instrument back up to 90% and turning around. The advantage of this method is that you can do it while there are other lights on.
8. You should direct the electrician to point the instrument exactly at your head. Use hand signals to direct the operation. I recommend that you fix the L-R direction first, as when you tighten down the spin-lock, it's very easy to jar the instrument. Avoid this by keeping the spin-lock fairly tight until the unit is pointed, then just cinching it up the last little bit. Tilt locks should be tightened very well to prevent the unit dropping.
9. Once the instrument is pointed, say "Lock it down." The electrician should say "Working.." and then "Ready" again when he or she is done.
10. After the instrument is pointed and locked, set the focus by telling the electrician to run the barrel in or out.

Focusing The Show

Systems

TOC - Writing Cues