The last Olympic Games in Beijing will go down in history as the jousts in which more Olympic records were broken: 43. Similarly, Beijing was the stage that crowned the American Michael Phelps as the winningest athlete in the history of the games with eight golden metals. But the Olympics in the Chinese capital were also highlighted by the majesty and beauty of the opening and closing ceremonies, in which the colorful choreography was combined with imposing lighting and dreamy pyrotechnics.
Lighting as far as a show is concerned, plays a preponderant role, as much as the audio or the artist that is presented. In the same way it becomes a determining factor in a discotheque, since together with the music, it must promote environments and generate emotions different from those that the visitor experiences in everyday life.
Three experts in the field: the engineer Carlos Manuel Gallo Vázquez, director of the Audiovisual Consortium Quetzalcoatl S.A. de C.V (Vidicom), the architect Pedro Garza de Mantenimiento Arquitectónico Integral S.A. de C.V, offered their vision on the lighting of shows, and Ricardo Flores Mendoza, Project Director of Siproe, a company dedicated to the assembly and lighting of nightclubs, who spoke about the importance of lighting in these places. With them we tried to inquire about the light and dark of the industry.
Regardless of whether the lighting project is intended for a show or a nightclub, the most important thing is that it is able to transmit sensations and create atmospheres to the spectator. Complementing the above, Carlos Manuel Gallo was clear in pointing out that investment, space, electrical energy specifications and architecture play a preponderant role. For his part, Ricardo Flores Mendoza said that with regard to the lighting of nightclubs, the fundamental thing is to identify the market to which the business aims, because the type of lighting that will be used for a site that will be attended by people between 23 and 28 years old will not be the same as for an audience of more age. In the same vein, Pedro Garza pointed out that the main thing when it comes to illuminating a show can be summarized in the concept that is going to be transmitted, the point of view of the spectator, the disposition of technology to solve the aspect raised, that the light effects are mainly seen without the emitting source being very evident and the type of control that is will have on it.
However, there are also a number of drawbacks that can hinder the desire to execute a project with high quality standards. Among them we can refer to budgetary limitations, the lack of plans of the place where the work will be carried out and time, which in the case of shows, is decisive because they are projects that are executed with great pressures in their planning and design.
LED technology has been opening up the field in both the lighting of shows and nightclubs, and although it is a technology that offers very good quality, is light and optimizes energy consumption, Ricardo Flores said that it has also made it possible to lose a little creativity, especially in the lighting of nightclubs.
