GUEST BLOG By Raymond Thompson

Ray Thompson is one of those rare people who works with a passion and clear vision that still shines bright after three decades of award-winning lighting design. He exudes love for lighting and color when he is working on site or in the creative phase, and he’s simply a joy to work with. I am also honored to call him a great friend and have known Ray and his partner Curt for many years. Professionally they continue to amaze me with their talent and I’m happy to say that Images by Lighting has been part of many of the Gala Awards that AOO Events has won over the years. These are my go-to guys for any important event as they always bring something beautiful and illusory to the party.

David Merrell, AOO Creative Director, Lead designdawg

THE LIGHT EMOTION

By Raymond Thompson

In the years that I’ve been lighting events – from epic and prestigious to intimate and glamorous -- I’ve found my greatest joy to be the emotion and movement that light can create not only for the event but for the moods of the people at those events.

To me, an event is like a dance, and we control the motions and emotions of it from the moment the guest steps into the room to the moment the “music” stops. We orchestrate emotion through all the senses and build upon it from the very first visual to the very last.

It’s a little ironic that in order to create this beautiful dance that I rely on a heavy arsenal of equipment but that’s just the way it is. Also, my background as an engineer gives me a desire to always want to explore the latest techie toys that will allow me to design with something as ethereal as light. Two of my most recent toys help me create the flow of emotion -- LEDs and DL3 video projectors. At the opening season and celebration the new conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, working with Gai Klass Event Production, I was able to put both technologies to work (or rather, play).

The event was designed as one long tent. At 220 feet long by 50 feet wide it was a challenge for the designers who needed to incorporate IMAG (image magnification) and branding of the L.A. Phil. I proposed doing groupings of spheres that were rented from AirDD. We assembled five groups of three 8-foot spheres that ran the length of the tent. We then cross-projected the spheres with two DL3s.

The beauty of these instruments is that you can size the image to the space exactly, even a sphere. These are video projectors but there is nothing big and clunky about them. It’s a riggable, moving light fixture similar in appearance to rock ‘n roll’s Mac 3 and can be programmed and positioned to project what and where you want.

For this event we programmed it with images of musical notes, bars, and orchestra instruments. Custom graphics were produced just for this. When Gustavo Dudamel, the charismatic new conductor, entered the room, we picked him up on IMAG which projected to the spheres. You could see him laughing, dancing, and talking on the spheres. Throughout the event, we projected flames, clouds, and even chandeliers in keeping with how the flow of the evening was going. As the celebration began to come to a close, we projected rippling water effect and the logo.

And the LEDs I mentioned earlier? They differ from uplights (the classic go-to for wall washes) in that they have the capability to dial in any color from a remote or they can be hard wired. Either way, they allow us to wash the perimeter walls of the tents in a variety of colors, going from one color to the next and building to a crescendo.

This lighting design was for a Disney event. Another way that a combination of intelligent lighting and video projection can create energy across a large space.

We do LED washes a lot for weddings. They are very effective and if the budget allows, a delicious way to create a mood. The room begins with walls bathed in candlelight. Then, when the bride and groom hit the dance floor we shift to royal blue on the walls and a spot of hot white on the floor for the couple. The focus becomes only the couple! The walls would then transition through specific colors throughout the remainder of the event.

When done right, guests usually don’t notice that the room changes color. But they do notice how they feel as it does. To me, this is the key to really great lighting. Sometimes you want it to be part of the design – such as pattern textures over everything, and other times, you just want it to be like the perfect guest and bring its very best to the party be that warmth, energy or simply brilliant illumination that affects everyone and leaves a beautiful memory.

Raymond Thompson

Ray Thompson graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. He worked his way through college at IBM, and upon graduation was hired by Hughes Aircraft field engineering services. In 1983, Thompson created Images by Lighting, which designed lighting and control systems for residential and retail store projects. Once Images got on its feet, Thompson left Hughes Aircraft and eventually permanent lighting installation projects led to parties. It was in this arena that he discovered and re-discovered color and texture. Events became his chosen canvas. As Thompson himself puts it, “One of my favorite things is that I can use lighting to enhance emotion. I can take something beautiful and make it extraordinary – take something ordinary, and make it magical. Lighting is my art of color and shadow. My canvas -- the event -- is my passion … my heart.”

In 1991, Thompson partnered with lighting designer Curt Stahl, and the two of them now handle all design for Images. Through their efforts and commitment, Images has grown to have a close family of regular clients, event coordinators, and venues in Southern California. Images has also designed numerous projects abroad which have taken Thompson to Paris, Australia, Monte Carlo, the Caribbean, Canada, and across the United States.

More Wang for Your Buck -- Part II

Up the down staircase! With four very different areas to this event, there were many directions guests could take, all of which led them to great entertainment, food and design.

Picking up where we left off in Part I, Jahon Pilichowski (AOO's Event Producer who produced this event with me), and I were in Boston working on a week-long series of corporate events that took place at different venues. On the last night we were at the historic and very beautiful Wang Theatre producing an event with three areas -- the lobby, tent, piano bar and stage. In this post, we make our way to the last two of those...

THE PIANO BAR

In this area we created an environment where guests could listen to music, sing along, or simply watch the World Series ... and now you know this event was in November!


There were a lot of buffets but I myself kept being drawn by this one as were many others! With its combination of sweet and savory goodies, it's no wonder it was so popular. Catering was provided by Tables of Content, a great vendor. I had the privilege of being a part of all the tastings and seeing their facility in person -- very impressive.


We used a custom-built piece with a bar on one side and a stage on the other to divide this large room more.

Sing me a song, Mr. Piano Man! Entertainment was supplied by Total Entertainment, linens for this area by Cloth Connection. Design, production, flowers and photos by AOO Events.


WANG STAGE

The final area was the giant stage of the Wang. It has a capacity for 500 guests just on its own. The theater is set up for concerts and our goal was to highlights it's magnificent architecture.

This was taken from the stage looking out over the theater seats. A line of furniture helped us create a barrier on the down stage edge. We did it for safety reasons, but it also added to the lounge feeling of the space.

Standing in the theater looking back at the opulent stage.

The tie lines of the stage were something that caught my eye the first day I walked into the space. I wanted those to pop so we hit them with lighting to create a very dramatic look with that backstage feeling.

This is a closer look at the space. We wanted to take advantage of the fact that we were on a world-class stage and highlight what makes it so special. In addition to lighting the lines at the back we also lighted the spiral staircase that the stage hands use to get to the catwalks. (See the very first photo that begins this post). To finish the look of the entire space, we added corrugated steel bars and cool, oversized lamps.

Boston was a great city to work in and visit. We were happy to have seen so much of it and call it home for all those weeks we were there before and during this event. We were EVEN getting to know our way around its complex street system a little without our GPS! Hope to be back soon!

More Wang For Your Buck - Part I

When a venue is this good, you can create what would appear to be four different events all in the same place. The venue was the historic Wang Theatre in Boston. The event was the last night of a week of events that occurred at venues throughout the city. And, this was the first time I had ever worked in Boston.

I had heard rumors that Boston is a nightmare -- it’s tough to get around and you have to know the vendors. While it’s true that there is no rhyme nor reason to the streets, and in order to not get lost you need a great GPS and someone who knows the city, the experience that I had producing and designing all the events was very pleasant. And of all the locations, I thought the Wang would be the most difficult yet it turned out to be the easiest.

The venue is very historic and lovely. We used the entire theater and some outside space to accommodate the 2,700+ guest list. Each room was themed as a separate genre of music, and the musical entertainment was the center of that area.

Because this is a union house, there were three entities that we had to work with. One set of crew handled anything that happened on the stage itself. A second crew handled anything that happened at the edge of the stage and the rest of the theater, including the lobby, lobby balconies and the lower lobby. And there is a third set of rules applied to the outside area where we erected a tent. Each area will be explained, as they all had their own personality. In this first blog post I'm concentrating on the lobby and the outside tent.

THE LOBBY

As guests entered the lobby, Bart Samolis and Lori Andrews set the tone with their unusual but effective jazz combination of jazz harp and upright acoustic bass. I have worked with Lori and Bart for many years. In fact, they were part of one of my first events to win a Gala Award. They are always an unassuming show-stopper.

A view of the second floor of the lobby. The second and third floors look out over the main lobby where Lori and Bart were performing.

A little lavender light in the ceiling showed off the opulence of this lobby ... you don’t need to add much to enhance it!

THE TENT

This tent was set up in a public space that we connected to the Wang. We got to know the city of Boston very well after this part of the event. Little rules tripped us up. For instance, in California, a state that is uber-cautious about fire, we are allowed to have umbrella heaters. In Boston, which has buildings that date back to the founding of America, they are understandably very sensitive about the use of propane. It was interesting learning the little differences between regions.

We created a series of tents of clear top tents of various sizes provided by Willis Tents. We worked with the lighting company, ALPS to create interest on the side walls by patterning them with a new gobo created by Rosco. I found ALPS to be a very supportive vendor with a can-do attitude that I was fortunate to work with on all the lighting, sound and other A/V needs throughout the entire Wang theater.

This photo is taken from the stage, looking through the microphone back at the audience. My friend Michael Cerbelli and some talented producers who work with him at Total Entertainment provided The Guthrie Brothers for this area. The stage was built behind the bar and raised up so that as guest were getting drinks the music was the center of attention.

A shot back at the stage and one of the three bars surrounding it. Custom end-caps to the bars matched the linens on the table. Linens for the room were supplied by Wildflower Linens. Youngsong Martin, the owner, made a new cloth for this event, and gave me extra fabric to cover my bars so they match.

Later this week, the Piano Bar and the piece de resistance, the actual stage itself which was used as a spectacular event space!

A Night at the Museum

I love visiting museums as part of the general public, but there is something so special about being there after hours, cocktail in hand, perusing the art in an exclusive setting. Obviously, I'm not alone. Many of our clients with multiple-day events want at least one night at a museum or cultural landmark when visiting a new city. It gives you that insider feeling to a city that you can't get otherwise. Such was the case when AOO Events traveled to Boston with a client and set up a beautiful event for them at the Museum of Fine Arts there.

While the museum has a new, contemporary wing, we held the event in this stunning homage to the classic beauty of European architecture and style.


The Koch Gallery reminded me of many of the galleries at the Louvre in Paris with its high ceiling and stacked portrait paintings. When I walked into the event space I saw the color scheme perfectly. It was reflected in the paintings but was perfect against the warm marble walls and ornate wood ceiling.


Custom bars split the gallery space up a little.

The fall tone roses and liquid amber leaves were a perfect accent to this gallery.


Ming vases. Persian tapestries. What more could you want? Except for delicious food produced by the Restaurant Associates who has the exclusive with this museum.

The Shapiro Rotunda made a beautiful gathering place that made all the clients' guests feel very special.

A week before the event, this was set to be a sit-down dinner. The guests list grew and we had to change the format of the event. It was an easy switch for the caterer and site who were both very flexible and easy to work with.

Some of the party took place amid the Chinese Sculpture exhibit. The same color scheme worked well throughout. Whereas this burnt orange shade blended with the other, warmer lighted rooms, it really popped here with the neutral background.

All the linen for this event was from La Tavola, all design, including flowers, was by AOO Events and the rentals were provided by my good friend Larry Green, owner of Rentals Unlimited.