Lighting Designer ~ Electrician ~ Programmer
Alexander Marshall

Rigging
I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to take a rigging class the semester before 2024's Photona production, and as such I was able to contribute to the rigging team for the show. We were tasked with the preperation and construction of all the truss structures used in the production, including hanging points on the high steel, running motors, and leading crews to get it all in the air.
Here I wanted to share one of the rigging layouts I created in vectorworks to prepare for our load in calls. This wasn't part of the standard procedure I had been taught in class beforehand, but I wanted to take a different approach to planning out the systems because I knew we would be working with electricians who hadn't nessecarily had any rigging experience prior to this. As such, I wanted to create layouts that were as clear and easy to read as possible, making sure to graphically portray how it all needs to sit under load so they know it was done right. While modifications had to be made once we reached space, I think they proved very helpful to have in the conversations that needed to be had between myself and the team, as they gave a common reference point for us all to see and understand.

Here is a timelapse of a portion of the load in process, after all the points had been made in the steel. This in space time was shared by rigging and electrics, so being on both teams proved very helpful for always being in the know about what needed to happen next.