In this brief guide to what lasers can do for stage lighting, we will first look at the various different techniques lasers are used in concert gigs, nightclubs and other stage light scenarios. Firstly most lasers will always be in two different main categories – They are lasers beaming onto a surface as a graphic and then beams that are seen effectively in the mid-air.
With the mid-air ones, the audience will see the usual kinds of laser structures which are often fans, shafts of laser light and cone shapes. In order to see these mid-air effects more effectively, fog or theatrical haze is used with the like of dry ice etc. as lasers in mid-air will not be seen in clear air, and don’t stop at a certain point like in the Batman movies. Another factor to consider with laser beams is also the speed in which they are moved around. This could be fast to make an exciting atmosphere or slow for a calm hippy like ambience. The last thing we will discuss is the way lasers are in fact used to scan over the crowd so the audience can feel involved with the impressive stage lighting display.
Laser Stage Lighting Tip of The Day
When it comes to the graphical side of laser stage lighting, the impressive use of laser graphics can be used with say for example beaming the logo of the brand, or even to animate the product, in an entertaining way or as I’ve seen recently to even tell a complex laser light story which I thought was very cool. Nowadays it’s not uncommon for the graphic and beams of stage light shows to be combined as the technology improves so rapidly. You could for example see a graphical center piece of a client’s logo with several beams emitting around it.
As mentioned earlier, it’s not possible to shine a beam onto a cloud like in the Batman movies, simple physics makes this impossible as the clouds are not low enough or flat enough. So this brings me to the next thing about stage laser lights. The laser lights must be shone onto an appropriate surface. These surfaces are usually conventional projector screens, walls that are indoor or outdoor, inflatable screens are also popular these days, and buildings are often used for example in an unveiling of a new building. The last thing we’ll touch upon here with regards to laser stage lighting is whether or not you go with a custom or semi-custom laser set up. I would recommend hiring a laser company to make you a custom show that no one will have seen before.