Michael R. Barrick

Doh! You're totally right about the red lighting ... looks great to the eye, but I'll change that up for next time. I've invested over $3000 on stage lighting at this point and now own all the lights I use for these shows - slowly, piece by piece accumulating what I need, and now have enough to light every area of the catwalk and wings where the models go. But I don't quite have enough for more than one colour option in each area ... that'll be the next thing.

Still, though, every show gets better than the last, in terms of planning, lighting, staging, all of it. For next time, some of the changes I'll be making are :

- cordless mic, so I can MC from the stage. No more disembodied voice and me guessing what's about to happen from backstage when something gets changed last second
- 4 more par 56's to illuminate the walkways
- I'll trend more to brighter colours than deep dark ones
- the catwalk will be approx. 3/4 of a foot higher next time. I think that'll make a HUGE difference.

And Michael - even though you're doing it for fun, the photos you end up taking are among the most publically accessible and sought after. And you're always there for the cool events ... I'm pretty sure we can get a riser or some kind of area for you to take photos from where the hassle won't be so huge. If you do want to be right in the front you'll probably always have to battle people, but each time we do what we can to expand the photo areas for the photographers. We'll sort something out for Forbidden for you ...

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Don't hesitate to call on me for help setting up or tearing down. If it is at all possible within my work schedule (can't always stay late) I'm happy to help.

Brighter colours aren't necessarily the way to go. Blues and greens work very, very well with digital images. JPEG compression is *designed* for pictures of people. Reds are intentionally blurred because then less image data needs to be stored for flesh tones and people's skin looks smoother, which is generally flattering. Greens and especially blues stay sharp. Green probably wouldn't be the most flattering, but blues would tend to make people's skins a surreal sort of white - could be very spooky. Maybe a little experimentation at Sin City would be the way to go before the next Forbidden.

With that said I'm not going to be at the June Sin City, that Saturday is the day Elaine and I fly to NYC and I'll be missing Covenant for the sake of spending money in New York. But come July I'll be happy to come out early to help with the grunt work so you have more time to play with the lights. And come November when my major debts are paid off I should be able to toss in a few bucks to help get some of the things I want to see ...because it is all good and well to bitch about how things "should be" and quite another to - literally - put your money where your mouth is ;-)

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"but each time we do what we can to expand the photo areas for the photographers"

A photographer pit would be a good idea

a row of chairs around the stage for VIP, the photographers behind them (and out of range for the oh-so-popular water bombing of the digital cameras that the models seem to love to do) and then the rest of the crowd behind the photograhers.

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Definitely going to create some sort of photographer zone ... but seating is not really an option. If the event was 100% focussed around the fashion show, perhaps. But it is still at least half the club night, and that would occupy way more of the dance floor than I would like. Before I get into seating, I'm going to see about making the runway higher. If the models are more visible from everywhere in the venue, probably people won't be quite as compelled to have to cram up to the front if they can also see from the back.

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The onion REALLY needs to invest in some video equipment
There would probably be less pushing to see
if what the camera in the front is seeing is projected on a large screen that is visible by the unlucky runts in the crowd who didn't want the elbows in the eye or the bad BO of the crowd

One thing that I think has been missing from Sanc is the large
loping video displays of whatever horror movie black dog gave us that week.. or any type of visual stimulous to accompany the music.

The CG does wonders for ORGANIX and definitely helps create the atmosphere .. and Chris Scotts nights (with his 5 records) lasted as long as it did because with the 80music - there was a looping video of retro-sci fi and horror shows.

Doing a looping video for skank I would throw in some Hellraiser , Dark City , City of Lost Children etc.
footage. The visual would match the audio .. and add to the immersion of the experience.

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Uh huh. Easier said than done. Video projectors are $2000+ to purchase. And the main reason you don't see them used much at the Onion is the lack of projection space. Sure, having a projected image might be cool, but on the other hand losing the floor space for both the screen and depth needed for the projection kind of sucks. And hanging a big screen somewhere may have another image to look at, but on the other hand also completely blocks off the sight lines from another area of the club. Besides which, there just aren't really any areas where we can finagle one in at the Onion anyway ... it's all very short walkspaces and low cielings.

I *totally* miss my projection possibilities at Skank ... crafting and bringing in all the horror shee-ott was something I really enjoyed. And we are always going forward with that at Sin City as well. 23 West lends itself well to that sort of thing.

And on top of that, these things don't come free. Generally nights that have a large visual element cost a tiny bit more than ones that don't. Sanctuary already still is probably the most screamin' deal in town at $2 cover STILL after 5 years ... I'd be happy enough to charge more and start bringing more to the night as well, but you know how people are. Usually it's been my experience that a lower cover makes people happier than cooler stuff once they have paid to get in, but that's just me.

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The opposite side of the dance floor from the DJ booth has a wall with two tables and noithing else. A projector could be hung from the rig at the end of the dance floor and projected against that wall.

Alternatively, the NE corner of Sanc never sees any traffic
Stretch a white sheet across the area (won't block any view) and project the image from the back of it.

But you're right .. I guess it ALL comes down to $

I am suprised that the Bar itself hasn't put the $1200 into a few TVs and celing mounts and a couple hundred feet of video cable or even the projector for special events.

Personaly I would pay the extra $1 cover but unfortunately
I am a minority

Here is an idea: put a survey at the coat check/dj booth and
ask people if they would be willing to cough up more for cover if you were to feature video streams /art exibits (slideshows)

...or Better yet.. get the projector and sell the Ad space
to subsidize the projector (but genre specific ads - projected sin city flyers, fashion shows , Mikes leather, Art gallery, Up comming horror movies etc... no car adds, no clearacil or femminine hygene)

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Not only do I prefer *not* to have televisions in the *any* bar(FFS if I wanted to watch TV I'd stay at home) but the thought of having commercials on them is henious.

Stop for a just a second think back to the times that projectors have been set up in Skank, in both the areas you suggest. Even with a crowd less than half the size and the east side seating area and half the dancefloor *not* taken up by a catwalk they were intrusive. Simply raising the catwalk 8" is simpler, cheaper by an order of magnitude, and infinitely classier.

*Bleck* Must we spend every waking second in front of a screen?

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...I'm not talking come car, or mentos commercial here...

But I am sure Nancy Black Fashoin might like honorable
mention, Mr Dark Leather, Mikes Leather, Goth Friendly Cafes,
Gothic BC, Video Stores that cater to the culture ,up comming concerts, or whatever Sponsors encourage the culture - and these might just be still shots sandwiched between the videos or whatnot The other alternative is getting the patrons to pay .. and that aint gonna happen.

gees.. you make it sound like I want a GAP perfume ad.

"Must we spend every waking second in front of a screen?"

Well the alternative is watching "unique" conformity without
originality that the scene has become. Seeing the assembly line of girl , colar, black dress, knee boots , tatoo HISSSSSS girl , colar , black dress , knee boots, tatoo... HISSSSSSS

Perhaps I am just jaded .. but I guess I feel the need to bring
back the ALTERNATIVE to the alternative.

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>I feel the need to bring back the ALTERNATIVE to the alternative.

By having a vote to determine the lowest common denominator and then installing television screens like every other bar and club on the planet?

Sarcasm aside, I really don't see feeding people images in the club as a positive thing at all. Culture is a matter of human interaction, not something to be spewed from a television. In fact I'd argue that the codified look and attitude you dislike is the result of people trying to emulate what they've seen on TV over looking to the scene around them. Look at the people at the forefront of any vibrant culture (or subculture) and you will see productive people doing what they *want* to do, not what has been decided by popular vote, run through a focus group, and optimized for television consumption.

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"Culture is a matter of human interaction"

Well since you can't really cary a conversation in the club unless you go to the smoke pit (but if you don't smoke it is hard to breathe in there)
You can sit with people , drink , or dance.

Wich is good unless they play something you aren't into , then there is no talking , no dancing, too dark to read , its just like a waiting room ..waiting for the song you like
while you sit on uncomfortable stools

*YOU* at least can take pictures .. you have your distraction .. your focus...

Call me crazy.. but I liked the screens ..
I liked the images .. they were a good visual stimulation , they helped focus your attention until you rested up to dance, until the lineup at the bar thinned out , while you waited for a song you liked...or when it was quiet enough to talk .. they were a great ice breaker and a focus of a conversation.

They also turned me on to alternative cinema and movies I had not seen before.

To mangle a commercial slogan that has just come out recently - if you take away the things to look at - what WILL you look at?

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The lights, the dancing, the people I am with - or maybe I might take a minute to *listen* to the music, or even more subversively I just might take a moment to have a thought that isn't being fed to me.

Long before I had the camera I used to sit an just look. There is plenty to look at, plenty to think about. I spent over ten years going to the club without the camera, often alone. What will you do at Burning Man without your T.V.'s? Sit back and watch the fire I presume. It's no different at the club. Sit back, listen to the sequenced drums, watch people dance to flickering lights of the electric fires and swirl in the stage smoke, and be in awe of five million years of bonfires and enjoy the company of your tribe, unmediated.

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seymour-glass.livejournal.com

that is the "old" culture...the new and improved culture doesn't require you to interact...they've polished and packaged it for you and you just have to buy into it...ha ha...i have to agree with you that there has to be some respite from televisions and advertising in this world...whenever i'm out i watch other people, it's infinitely more interesting than watching advertising...and i agree with you, those with style or into a scene or subculture are free from the constraints projected upon them by popular will...

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I won't actually be at Sin City for June either - pretty much the one thing that could make me have to miss it is happening. 2 of our good friends down in Seattle are getting hitched and obviously there is no option for us to miss it, not for anything! But we be back in July as well.

Def. we can do some 'speramentin' at Sin City. Over in the photo corner there I can set up a rack of par cans all hooked up to a dimmer, so we can experiment with different colours and intensities of light. I've thought about doing that before anyway, just for fun, but was a little nervous about putting my $650 light dimmer board out there where it can be accessed by strangers' fingers ... and drinks ....

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