DRESSED FOR SPILL

Every so often a lighting gadget comes along that is simple but indispensible. Meet the Lightsock: a reusable cuff that fits around the lens tube of a lantern and any accessory attached to it, to eliminate light spill without using conventional heat-resistant adhesive black tape.

“There is nothing worse than white light spilling out of the back of colour scrollers or the sides of colour runners into the auditorium and spoiling the audience’s enjoyment of a production,” says Lightsocks co-director Peter Lambert. “We have carried out extensive research in collaboration with lighting technicians and production electricians to come up with a reuseable, user-friendly solution to sticky, disposable alternatives.”

The Lightsock has an elastic skirt at one end that is quick to fit around a lens tube, and a drawstring fastening at the front that secures it around a top hat or colour scroller, locking in any lightspill.A mesh panel allows the scroller fan to continue to function effectively, maintaining air circulation, and also acts as an additional dust guard. An elasticated rear opening allows easy access to the colour runners.

Unlike the traditional black tape solution, the Lightsock leaves no sticky residue, is re-useable and remains in place during transit on tours, dispensing with the need to strip and re-wrap each fixture at every new venue. “This may seem like a small thing but multiply this by the number of fixtures in a production and it adds up to a lot of savings in time, labour costs and BlackTak,” says senior production electrician and director of Working Light Limited, Fraser Hall. “We’ve used it on a number of tours now and it’s been a real discovery, knocking significant amounts off our lighting budgets.”

Made from flame-retardant fabric, the Lightsock is heat-tested and suitable for use with ETC Source Four profiles, Source Four Par fixtures and good old-fashioned P64 cans. The Basic Lightsock, for use with a Top Hat only, is available in three sizes to fit standard Source Four profiles, Source Four Pars and equivalent Source Four lens tubes, and the P64. Two sizes are available for use with colour scrollers and are designed to fit Wybron Color Ram II (standard 4-inch/large 7-inch) and Rainbow (6-inch Pro/8-inch Pro) units.

So far the Lightsock has been used on the West End productions of From Here to Eternity and The Lion King, and on the UK tours of Singing in the Rain, Cats, Wicked, The Lion King and Dirty Dancing. It is currently making its international debut with The Sound of Music world tour.

Source: media release

Lightsocks: www.lightsocks.co.uk