21st Birthday with a HUGE twist!

[Mikeh 0]

Hey,

 

 

As many of you here know I run a disco! lol sorry what I mean is that as most know that I do programming as my main trade and currently in university taking hundreds of years worth of courses to get my grades anyway lol

 

Ive got this gig coming up in October and its a 21st birthday but with one amazing story attached to it. The gig is for a girl called Louise and shes had one hell of a rough ride from what Ive been told. Anyway when she was 4 her mum seperated and took her daughter with her, this seperated the daughter from her dad for 17 years! Finally the daughter has got the courage to start looking but so far has had no luck in finding her dad.

 

Heres where the story gets interesting, Louise's aunty has managed to track down Louise's father and has got him over the big 21st party, BUT Louise doesnt know. So not only do we have a massive 21st party but a family re-union too, tear jerker or what! Anyway carring on with this post I was book especially for my knoweldge of lighting effects and they wanted a lighting system that will work with the event so heres what I have planned! Be prepared its long.... just ask joe, lol

 

 

Arrival of guests

As the guests arrive and the girl all the disco gear will be setup normally using 4x datamoons and 6x Soundlab Colourscans. Will be running 2x 3ft lightscreens on the front along with 8 par cans to add to the 'party' atmosphere! General get up and go party music at this stage.

 

Arrival Of Louise

Ive been informed the song she currently adores is Lucy Carr - Goodbye so will have this tracked cued for her arrival at 8 and even have a specialised DMX show programmed into the lighting controller just for this song. Should just add that nice little touch, it also gives me 2 free scanners to use as tracking devices on her as she arrives, like a spotlight.

 

Arrival of Louises Dad

Now this is where I really want to get complicated and my programming knoweldge comes into its own. What Iam planning on doing is running 2x webcameras either end of the disco setup and using 2x infrared devices attached to the father to then automatically control 2 of the scanners as spotlights. Louise has NO idea her father is coming so the idea is as follows

 

At 8:10 after the first song for Louise has played we will then start to play Cha Cha Slide (another fav for her) but about 20 secs in break the song like its broken and then start playing Westlife - My Love (Her alltime favourite song). As soon as the song starts, all the guests move off dance floor and doors open showing him standing there. Instantly the webcameras notice the IR and shine lights onto him, they then track him as he moves up to Louise and they have a family get together. As they move into the dancefloor area 2 other scanners then move in onto them and do a rotating colour changing effect (hard to explain but looks really nice going from red to white).

 

Once they are on the dancefloor he will then turn her around and look at the wall were our laser system will then display a short cartoon followed by a message which is still to be decided. As the song ends he will give her a kiss and then he can lead her away from dancefloor and the party really begins!

 

 

 

Ok as you can imagine this is a tear jerker, even for a numbskull like me haha. As you can imagine its going to take a lot of effort to get the system running correctly due to the technolofy involved to automatically get lights to track someone. However I will be using the IR system as described which is extremly cheap and easy to use (however not to program).

 

Do you own a webcamera? if so turn it on and take a TV remote and point and click at your camera, you will notice the LED on it emits a solid bright white circle on the camera screen, this is the principle behind the lighting tracking iam working on. He will wear 2 armbands each with 4x IR LED's on which the 2x webcameras can track.

 

By looking at where the white dots appear on the webcamera images the computer can determine where exactly he is on the dance floor and then send signals directly to the USB DMX device to alter the pan/tilt of the scanners as needed, for example if the dot gets smaller it means they are moving further away from the camera hence needing the light to pan out a bit.

 

Ok thats about all thats happening, hope Ive explained it clear enough, but I really want to know is what else would you guys n girls recommend to make this night even more special for louise?

 

And on a last note, who would be interested in this IR technology if it could be made and sold for say £30 with 2 armbands? (ex camera, dmx usb and pc). If theres any interest I may look into developing the software for you guys n girls to try for free!

 

 

Anyway, thanks for taking time to read my whole post and I hope all your gigs in the future go well. Dont ask about sound for the event as thats the job for dave to organise.

 

 

 

Kind Regards

Mike

[joe 0]

WOOOOWWWWW! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/scared.gif

 

That is awesome! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/thumbup.gif

 

Sounds like a very good bit of technology!

 

I understand a bit better now! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif

 

Good luck with the gig, hope it all goes well.

 

Joe

[DJshaggy 0]

good grief things have moved on from light boxs and oil lamps hey??

 

all the best for that... does sound like it will be amazing http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[kazzachi 0]

sorry to say that with the arrival of her dad I dont think anyone is gonna give two hoots about the lighting!....and I couldnt think of anything worse than meeting my dad after 17 years at my 21st party - and I speak from knowledge here about meeting the man who fathered me - then doesnt bother to get in contact for all those years - and wants to come and surprise you at your 21st party - all I can say is the aunty must think she is cilla black on surprise surprise - Wonder what the girls question is gonna be to this man she doesnt know turning up to such an elaborate "sting"... wonder if he will bring the birthday and chrismas presents he hasnt bothered to buy over the last 17 years. Rather you than me mikeh! - and do you seriously think that even if the reunion doesnt thrown up all kinds of emotions - including anger - they are really gonna dance together after the big entrance and then bother to turn round and look at your spectacular lazer bit!

Edited August 13, 2004 by kazzachi

[FrankieJ 0]

Wicked Mikeh

 

Sounds really good, Dont think we should be putting the dampness on his event http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/nono.gif , I think its a great idea. Good luck mate http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[C.S 0]

Kazz has several HUGE points here and i think that if i had kept away from my child for 17 years and plucked up courage to meet her that i would would punch the first person who shone a spotlight on me. Please remember this is not a game show or this is your life, its real life and personaly in my view incredibly bad taste. I am sure your lighting is impressive and if your customers want this then fine but i think you could be in trouble as the girl doesnt know and i assume the dad doesnt either. Just my opinion.

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

Have a back up plan ready incase the young lady decides thats its all too much for one evening.

 

last time long lost reletives turned up at a gig i was playing a fight broke out and the groom decided that he was going home with out the bride........

 

But it sounds great and i wish you luck with the light show http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[kazzachi 0]

..thanks chris...... And for those of you who think I am putting a dampner on this, I do actually speak from personal experience. If this reunion is such a big deal then I cant imagine how they consider the lighting to be an important factor in the proceedings anyway - ! Sad client who places importance on lighting up against the roller coaster of emotions that will take place on the night!

[YourBigEvent 0]

Keep the car running.

 

I don't think I would have even taken the booking myself,

 

WHAT IF she has decided secretly she doesn't ever want to meet her dad

WHAT IF he bottles it

WHAT IF it all goes t http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/whistling.gif s up, which I think it might

 

Sorry to put another damper on it, but, the three people who have put a damper on it, are have been doing it a while. I can see it not working, no-body wanting a party, everyone leaving early, so that dad and daughter can catch up (If I was in that postition I would rather catch up over a quiet meal, or at home, NOT in front of 100's of strangers.)

 

That said......Good luck.

Edited August 13, 2004 by ADS Entertainments

[buck_rogers 0]

Hey Mike yeah good luck with this event I have done a few like it at live events with the dmx heads usb dmx device.

 

I would be interested in this technology if you could get it for that price as the only systems I have used upto now are a bit more compicated and run on radio wave signals http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

 

Wish you all the best let me know how you get on.

 

Matt

[ChrisPointon 0]

I have to go with personal experience here. A very close friend of mine (who was adopted at 2 years of age) was visited out of the blue by his paternal father. It didn't go well, and the police had to be called, and this was just a knock on the door visit. Imagine how this girl is going to feel with it happening in front of her friends and family?.

 

Maybe she has never told her friends about her adopted background?, some youngsters do grow up telling their immediate friends that their adoptive parents are their real parents, some people (Quite rightly) also consider their adoptive parents to be their real parents. I can only imagine the embarrassment and humiliation that it *could* create for her, when this guy appears in this manufactured Blaze of glory, especially if half of her guests didn't even know her full background. People get very nervous about public speaking and having a light shone on them at the best of times, but I think being illuminated at this point of time, may be a little too much.

 

Obviously you have just been booked for a 21st, and not really responsible for what happens, when the father appears however these things can be very unpredictable and you should be prepared for it not going to plan or working to other peoples 'ideals'. As a realist, I would certainly look beyond the cute, soap opera aspect of this and see the very real implications here , perhaps her Mother is not seeing this beyond the rose tinted glasses aspect. From your point of view A number of things could happen,

 

(1) They could rush into each others arms (as you and her mother hope).

 

(2) She could faint with shock

 

(3) She could burst into tears and run from the building

 

(4) Other members of the family could decide that its 'payback time' for this guy walking out on her in the first place, and a riot breaks out. Her mother must have had SOME reason for leaving!.

 

(5) They may disappear to talk and totally abandon the function.

 

I've never yet heard of a truely amicable arrangement whereby a parent literally abandons their own child at an early age, then can come waltzing back into their lives at a whim. There could have also been any number of sceanario's for him / her leaving in the first place, and non of them very pleasant and its true that older members of the family may well bear a grudge.

 

Personally, I suggest that you tread very carefully, in how you handle this. It could turn out to be a positive Cilla Black creation, but equally could also end up being like Jerry Springer!.

 

When a legitmate search agency puts child and adult(s) back in touch after several years apart, they first get each parties consent before reuniting them or passing on any details. 'Forced' reunions are not a good idea at all - some things are best done in private. How would you feel if somebody produced all of your Ex-Girlfriends at your Wedding?. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif

[DJTREV 0]

When I first read your idea I thought thats a lot of trouble to go for and was quite impressed but having read the subsequent replies I think they have a point. Whichever way you decide to go - GOOD LUCK - and let us know how you get on.

[Daz35 0]

The lighting does sound impressive and it's nice to hear of someone making an effort with their show, but I'm not sure this would be ideal circumstances for this kind of reunion!

 

A quite pub with dim lighting somewhere methinks.........

[Gary 0]

Oh dear.

 

Technology wise...sounds good, but be ready to aim the cameras manually, the IR tracking sounds risky as they'll be all sorts of other light sources which the webcams might latch onto, and miss the two important people.

 

From a morals, ethics and feelings point of view, I would voice concerns of "overload!" to the birthday girls mum. I think that some practicalities and more importantly, feelings, have been forgotton here.

 

For example: 8:10 Daughter meets "lost" father after 17 years. Ok, nothing wrong there so far, but its a very personal moment, tears, reactions, emotions. Theres a chance that both people will suddenly feel that they're the onlt two people in the room, as nothing else matters at that point but maybe not. In the Dads mind? "what will my daughter think of me?", "What will her 200 friends think of me?","will anyone here blame me for leaving her back then? do they know the full situation?"

 

Then, afterwards, what does the daughter do? theres going to be tons to talj about with Dad, but what about circulating with all the other people who were expecting to spend time with the birthday girl?

 

It'll be wonderfull that the two of them will be re~united, and I think your planning of then finer details is good for the situation youve been put into, however Im not sure that the immediate/local family have fully considered the feelings of the daughter and distant dad.

 

Have Plan B ready to roll!:

 

Two chairs,(possibly a stretcher http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif), some soft drinks, a box of tissues to share, a close friend of the daughters armed with "make~up repair kit" and plenty of party music for all the invited friends to enjoy on their own while all the family disappear to a quiet room to get re-aquanted.

 

 

[Mikeh 0]

Hey

 

Thanks for all the comments and crits much appreciated, as you are aware the dad is not the one in the wrong here, he HAS tried to made contact, he did buy her presents every year but the mother always rejected them and the girl DOES want to meet him, shes been trying for 2 years to track him down. Anyway this is out of my control and the end of the day Iam just doing my job.

 

The main point of this posts was about the IR technology involved with tracking a person around the room. This technology isnt new to me as Ive used it countless times before in security systems, by attaching an IR Led to top and bottom of a door it is possible for a computer to monitor when its open and closed a lot easier than if it didnt have the IR's

 

Obviously due to the nature of IR it can be possible for the IR to become invisible for several frames, this chance is hugly decreased by using 2 cameras either side of the room and can of course be adapted to 4 cameras if needed but this would obviously require a LOT of programming and work, heh

 

If the technology goes well I will look into developing it a lot further, possibly adding support for many other functions. Also the technology can be programmed to run of backups too, for example you can make it so that arrowkeys can auto override any or all of the scanners as required.

 

Anyway I do have backup plans and so do the families as far as Iam aware, there is also a quiet room available for the girl and father after the re-union, whether they use this or not who knows! However my backup plan is a van outside fire exit with doors open, engine running and dave in driving seat, haha

 

Wish me luck, especially now you lot are making me more nervous haha. Just remember point of this post was the technology involved not the girl/father situation.

 

 

Regards

Mike

[buck_rogers 0]

yeah best of luck with it mike.

 

I am definately interested in this IR technology never used it before mind. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/fear.gif

 

Matt

[dangerman 0]

QUOTE

I am definately interested in this IR technology never used it before mind

 

Ditto. Sounds like a good piece of technology

[kazzachi 0]

........ as long as you pay as much attention to your dj-ing skills as you do with the lighting side you'll be ok! Speaking as somebody who owns one of the biggest computer operated lighting rigs on the mobile disco side, if anyone is thinking that impressive lighting is gonna make any difference to the amount of work you will get, im afraid the old adage "a fool and his money are soon parted"! springs to mind.

 

If you are thinking of investing around 50k one thing for sure is that you wont use a huge intelligent computer operated lighting rig for the vast majority of bookings. You will find it useful however if you have contacts for fashion shows and if you are regularly doing gigs for 1000+ people who are prepared to pay a great deal for it. I certainly wouldnt recommend anyone placing more importance on the lighting than the music........and your dj-ing skills. Anyone who has worked in the industry for a long time will tell you that a few simple effects for the majority of bookings are more than adequate. Plenty of us on here have said time after time that you wont get booked purely because you had a great light rig. The only people who ever really show an interest in the lighting are other djs!

[YourBigEvent 0]

I could go out tomorrow (except it's Sunday !!) and buy £1m worth of lighting, doesn't make me as good as Karen for kids parties, just bigger. Tonight I have a huge do to do, working with among other bands a 10 piece soul band, I will have no room to set up in, so a couple of lights and speakers and that's it, but I know I will have a decent nightbecause of the crowd, not the lights. That said, I wish I had the option to set up a rig like yours more often, now (see other thread(s)) I have decided that I would rather spend 2 hours relaxing and drinking cups of tea at home than setting up big shows and getting knackered in the process.

[kazzachi 0]

andy.....save your millions mate...you can always hire ours!! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/cool.gif

[Kingy 0]

Only just read this one.

 

Hmmm.!!

 

The lighting bit is fine, reasonably clever idea, but the same could be accomplished more reliably with a simple follow spot. IR tracking on a Mobile Disco. Whatever next? Retinal scans instead of addmission tickets?

 

Its the whole "Officer & a Gentleman" meets "Surprise Surprise" bit that gets me. There are sooooo many things that could go wrong here. How can anyone possibly predict that this will go according to plan. It's totally the wrong type of function to do this at. I am lost for words. Its a horrible idea and I think the aunty is totally mad!

 

I wish you well in doing it and HOPE FOR EVERYONES SAKE that this goes to plan.

[ChrisPointon 0]

QUOTE

I would rather spend 2 hours relaxing and drinking cups of tea at home

 

I don't know who you are, but we want the real Andy back!. The real Andy would never have the time to spend lounging around at home. He'd be bombing around some remote corner in Wiltshire with a Van full of Wedding cakes!. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif

 

Karen gives some really good advice here, my advice is to listen to it if you are about to embark on a spending spree, and save yourself some money.

 

Nobody is criticising your idea, just warning you that things may not go to plan, and I agree that on this occasion your lighting will not be main feature of this re-union, anymore than if I'd just won the lottery, would I be looking at their lighting!!!. Of course, you may end up lighting a happy scene, equally you may end up illuminating a punch up!.

 

If you read your post above you should be able to spot the potential flash points yourself. This girl has had a very emotive upbringing, The Mother Preventing the natural father from having contact - even by letter!, and the reason why the Mother walked out in the first place. These are all questions which are likely to be asked by the girl when she meets her father, and I can see emotions between all sets of parents / grandparents running high, and accusations flying. The natural father blaming the Mother for the walk out, and the Mother blaming the Father. I think you are going to end up with a very volatile situation.

 

There are some very experience DJ's here all giving similar advice, so I would agree that you need to look beyond the lighting and technology and consider all of the implications.

[C.S 0]

Hear hear x a hundred

[Mikeh 0]

Hi

 

Again thank you all for the advice, but as Ive stated countless times before the actual turn of events is out of my control, Iam just going by the plans I have here from the aunty and the father involved. I know things can go wrong and believe me I will be one of the first out that building!

 

In regards to the lighting I KNOW it isnt needed but my job with MDM is to work the lighting, Iam NOT the DJ, its not my job to play tunes although I do the occasional dance, trance, house stuff when required. Dave does all our DJ work and has been DJ'ing since he was 11!

 

Tbh for about 99% of mobile discos around here 3 or 4 effect lights, a smoke machine just in case and possibly a bubble machine is perfect. However we do not just deal with disco gigs, we also work alongside 2x drama clubs having to provide portable lighting for their stage, as well as this I also hire a lot of my gear out toa local nightclub and some local pubs mainly the laser and the scanners for when they have their special nights.

 

The IR idea has been done by me before but it was a bodge, when I first done it back in 2002 I only had one webcamera and the computer didnt directly control the DMX devices, rather it was linked via another control board and then on to the lighting thus making it a more expensive and complex method. Again Iam no electronics expert so dont ask anything regarding that.

 

What I would like tho is for you to MOVE away from the "more lighting isnt good" and the "aunty is mad" type of posts as this is NOT what I intended the topic to be about, I know your trying to help but obviously i have considered all of these outcomes myself as I have also had personal experience seeing I never saw my real dad until I was 14. Luckily for me things went ok, not great but certainly wasnt no anger or punch ups in the air.

 

Anyway, my point for this post is to please ask that we move on from the big lights dont work idea because i know they dont, I have different uses for my lighting other than mobile discos which is just part of what our company does. I was just trying to propose the IR technology and using this 21st party as an example of how it can be used to track a person.

 

Anyway, thank you for the advice regarding the party but obviously none of this was planned by me, none of it was setup by me, Iam just providing lighting, disco gear and sound as required by the client. As they say the customer is always right, well in this case it may not be true but I will get back to you lot on a full report when the time comes!.

 

Anyway

Bye Bye

Mike

[buck_rogers 0]

Yep totallt agree there my company doesnt just do mobile discos either we do theatre work as well whcih is what i was looking at the IR technology for. As i can see we have two differnent types of people here people that just conentrate on mobile discos maybe big lighting isnt an issue and i totally agree with that i only take a few effects to my discos out of a choice of a good choice of 250+ dmx lights and normal par cans etc.

 

But i only gig all my equipment when we have the touring stuff as I dnt think I could fit 52 malcom hill 2000w speakers in most of the venue infact i dont think i could even fit two of them without blowing the walls out of sumthing.

 

But my personal opinion and i know some people may disagree with me and some may agree as we are all different running different events so i think that we have worn the discussion dry on the lighting side and lets concentrate more on the actual djing side rather than what is completely out of our control of what happens about the customers.

 

Matt