LUMUNAUT STORY #70: RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS LIGHTING DESIGNER: SCOTT HOLTHAUS
"Today, people try to wrestle out all of the technology a moving light can do and the result is a boring mess of windshield wiper wiggling light"
WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BECOME IN YOUR CHILDHOOD AND ARE YOU THAT PERSON TODAY?
I wanted to be an Artist... or a pot dealer but as you would have it ..This month I'm working on Chilli Peppers South America..Helping My friend Dan Braun with his amazing Metallica show..Bryan Adams in Europe, and hopefully..Alice in Chains in the States
WHERE DID YOU MEET LIGHTING DESIGN OR WHERE DID LIGHTING DESIGN MEET YOU?
I was working for a sculptor in 1982 and my friend had ten or twelve old lights and asked me to do a gig for him in a Bowling alley lounge.. I haven't had a real job since.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING RELATED TO LIGHTING DESIGN?
I have an organic farm on the Island of Kauai
WHAT IS THE CRAZIEST THING YOU EVER DID AS A LIGHTING DESIGNER?
When I designed the latest show for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.. It had a thousand moving motors.. We the band loved the idea but I didn't have any Idea how much it would cost or if it could be set up and striked in a normal rock and roll tour day.. Thank God some smart people made it happen and it was one of the most beautiful shows I have ever seen to date
CAN YOU EXPLAIN A BIT ABOUT THE CREATIVE PROCESS OF AN EXECUTED PROJECT YOURS?
To get an easy Keylight from Moving lights in a rock show, remember: You need a strong Key as there is so much competition with the other effects lighting. Say you have three (or twenty) moving lights as key or a downstage wash. First job ..get the levels right.. with three it might be 200 candles for the front and 80-100 for the rear ones. Then you have the operator at the desk either roll in a touch of cto or ctb on the wheel and match them up to somewhere around 5500-5600 degrees kelvin.. It is a snap with the Lumu Power Light Meter.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING IN LIGHTING DESIGN?
Today, people try to wrestle out all of the technology a moving light can do and the result is a boring mess of windshield wiper wiggling light...try not to forget to create a beautiful scene first
WHAT UPSETS YOU THE MOST ABOUT YOUR PROFESSION?
Designers that think that take themselves too seriously.. Some of them talk about their work in the same way you see a plack describing a minimalist painting.. “I tried to find the juxtaposition between good and Evil while forgoing my own duality between my father and God” that kind of Drivel.
IF YOU COULD GIVE ONE ADVICE/TASK/RIDDLE TO YOUR FELLOW LIGHTING DESIGNERS, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
If you ever turn on a strobe… make damn sure there is a reason to turn it off
YOUR READERS CAN FIND OUT MORE ABOUT YOU VIA?
Scott Holthaus' Website: Happymachine.net
