"I started lighting school theatre, then got a job at the local theatre that I lived near.” Richard recalls. “I freelanced for a bit, to build up experience, then worked at a couple of production companies for a few years.” A few years ago, Richard created a production company, MandyLights, with two of his colleagues.“I guess my official title is lighting designer” says Richard. “We design lighting, mainly for entertainment applications, like concerts, dance parties, church worship, dvd records - we work right across the board.”
“We meet with clients, come up with creative ideas, collaborate with the client. We think of what we want to create and how it relates to fixtures and control mechanisms. We do plans, including 3D renders of buildings. Then we program the operation through the entire production.”
“We have all sorts of projects – some that might last just a couple of days, then we have larger projects, like Fashion week and big theatre projects.” Richard says. “We did a new production of Cats in Seoul which we were working on for 6 months, and three weeks rehearsal, and now it’s playing for a year.”
Richard recalls, “We got to meet the original lighting designer form the 1981 production, who I looked up to in my early years.”
Richard is very proud of the production of Cats in Seoul. “It’s now touring in Korea and probably soon internationally. It’s one of the most seen shows - nearly 2000 people see this show a night. It’s pretty cool.”
But Richard also works on local projects. “We do a lot of the big dance parties in Sydney. The big events are rewarding.” Richard dispels the myth that lighting at dance parties are pre-programmed, or set to react to the music. It’s about the lighting designer’s interpretation of the music. “Operating a theatre show is easy, we program the speeds of the fades. For dance parities, or church, the lighting its pretty spontaneous. For a twelve hour dance party, we’ll program 12 hours, then operate it the whole way through. Those jobs can be pretty demanding.”
Keeping up with technology is one of the challenges that come with the job, Richard says. “Working logistically on a big theatre production or a tv show, you’ve got so many different productions fighting for the same time, resources and budget. Getting something together by the same time frame is hard and at some of the big tv shows, especially live, you’re really under the pump. You’ve only got one chance. “
“We’re lighting designers, but also have to run a business. After a gig, we need to come back and do the invoices.”
No two weeks have been the same in the past nine years for Richard.
”Today I’m just sitting in the office doing paper work, with a few meetings. Next week I’m on a project for a whole week, the next week I’m in the UK. It really varies. The good thing we do part freelancing, it’s really flexible, you can work hard and work 100 hours a week if you want, or pick and choose your jobs based on how busy you are,“ he says. “There’s no typical workday. Each job is a different venue, different site, with new challenges, with new ways to be creative.”
Richard says that when they’re in the office, they maintain a 9.30-5.30 work week. “During a production, it’s not uncommon to work at 6 or 7 in the morning and work till midnight. Often on a job site we need to do technical checks in darkness, so need to wait people to leave. We’re the first on site and last to leave.”
Richard explains the qualities a lighting designer would need. “We need to be creative, what we do is primarily artistic, just like a set designer or concept designer … but to be work with the other departments is really important.”
“We need to create something that works technically. If we need an amber glow from one side of the stage, it’s one thing, but actually working out how many fixtures we need, the amount power, how to program it is essential. We need the technical side to back it up. You need to have the budget, or the means to be able to do it.”
Getting into the industry is pretty informal, Richard shares. “There’s a huge collection of random informal training, which is good, because you’re just learning for yourself and you get to push yourself in to the area you want to go. It’s not ‘you get a degree and get that job’. The field is open. You can just specialise in something which is great.”
Advice for people entering the industry?
Have the passion to make it work. It’s a small industry, but people who are dedicated and keen, will go far really quickly. Be prepared at the start to do work for free.
There’s good money, but at first, be prepared to do gig you don’t want to do. I spent a few years going birthday parties and weddings.
Even today, a few of us do work in amateur theatre, to get the experience and explore things. Learning from as many people as you can, which feeds off the creative thing. There’s no right or wrong way to light someone, as long as you can back it up, do it.
It’s not about learning from a text book, so you can get guidance and develop your own style and you’ll develop your career.
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