Lighting Focus at the Santa Fe Opera

Let's focus 350 lights in 90 minutes!

Wait, what?

Yeah, it's crazy. Before focus, strips of cloth with markings every foot are laid out on the downstage edge of the stage (stage left to right), as well as another going from down-center to up-center. There's another stage-left-right strip at center-stage.

They're called "focus tape", and yes, it was the inspiration for this video.

Two lighting supervisors stay on the stage, and each has a team of three apprentices in the coves to focus the rep plot. The supervisors have a two-channel wireless intercom, one channel talks to the board operator, and the other talks to an amplifier connected to speakers throughout the catwalk. The supervisors bring up a light for each apprentice (usually simultaneously), and then call out where the beam of light should "land" on-stage. Since it's easier to see the edges of the beam rather than a hotspot during a 6pm focus, the supervisor will call out where the bottom edge of the light will fall, left or right edges, and then any shutter cuts. Once the light has been focused and cut, the apprentice will flag the light (wave their hand in front of it) so the supervisor on-stage can see the flashing light, check the lands and cuts, and move on to the next light and system.

Focus tape on the set of "Tales of Hoffmann"


Vince checks his focus sheets while the team in the roof focuses a new system.


Along with "Life is a Dream", the ETC Ion makes it's debut at the Santa Fe Opera. It took the place of an ETC Obsession.


The supervisors on the ground use welding glass (similar to this) to check the hotspot of the current light.


Michael checks the lands of a PAR can.

In the coves? It's just craziness. Lots of running, lots of sliding. Everyone wears knee pads because it's damn uncomfortable to kneel on the catwalks, and you can also run down the catwalk, drop to your knees, and slide into your light. One sound I will never forget is the sound of someone running, dropping, and the sound of kneepads grinding against the deck of the catwalk.

Kent demonstrates the "slide".

Oh, and for the Apprentice scenes, i've been hired as the Ion board operator for part of the first show, and i'm on focus/spot op crew for the second show. AWESOME!