As the curtain begins to fall on 2017 - I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at some of our most popular blog posts from the past year.
Below, you'll find the blogs that resonated the most with you, our adored Spectrum audience, for each of our core markets.
Located in the heart of Dublin’s Central Business District, Miesian Plaza is an excellent example of the Modernist style made popular by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. When the complex underwent a €69MM redevelopment, Rosco Custom LitePads were chosen to illuminate one of its central reception areas. This blog explains how the rectilinear shape of the LitePads enabled the architects to maintain the Modernist/Miesian style as they updated the building to modern LED illumination and energy-consumption standards.
Another renovation story made the list - this time inside a dance studio. When Ashley Burkland, owner of Ashley Ballet Arts Academy, learned that she had to demolish and throw away her sprung floor when she moved into her new studios, she began looking for a flooring system that would grow with her. This blog explains how Ashley discovered Rosco SubFloor - our modular sprung floor system that is engineered for easy installation (and UN-installation) into dance studios. The video featured in the blog also has an interview with a handsome young man at Rosco named Joel Svendsen.
Can we get three cheers for Lighting Designer, Susan Hamburger? She wrote this powerhouse of a blog that has been shared again and again with lighting designers around the world. When it comes to dance performance, there is rarely any spoken text. This means the visual artistry on stage needs to convey all of the action and emotion of the piece - this includes the lighting design, which is why lighting for dance is such a rewarding challenge. If you're a designer, director or choreographer looking for a way to enhance your dance lighting, the five color-techniques Susan describes in this blog are easy solutions you can put to work in your next dance production.
Considering all of the blogs we've published about LED lighting for filmmakers and broadcasters, imagine our surprise when this blog (by the skin of its teeth) emerged as our top filmmaking blog for 2017. Maybe the reason it was so popular is because there are SO many articles about set lighting LED fixtures, or maybe it's because filmmakers were hungry to learn techniques on how to make beams of light visible in their shot. Personally, I think much of this blog's success rides on the fantastic images supplied to us by Cinematographer, Matt Bendo. They showcase Bendo's masterful use of the Rosco V-Hazer to create cinematic haze in four distinctly different ways.
Who doesn't love LEGOs? By combining LEGOs with one of our most popular topics - how do Rosco gels render on camera? - this blog shot to the top of our popularity charts! Spanish Photographer, Sergio Fabara, published his own blog that showcases every single e-colour+ filter as the backlight color to the same guitar-playing LEGO figure. While this Spectrum blog only uses a small portion of Sergio's original photos, its translated text is still a great reference for photographers, videographers, and cinematographers to see how our e-colour+ filters render on camera.
Easily the biggest Rosco news headline to come out of 2017 was our acquisition of the Film, Television, and Broadcast LED specialist company, DMG Lumière. This blog proclaimed the acquisition to the world as it introduced the DMG Lumière team and its LED light fixtures to our Rosco customers. The announcement was made at IBC in September and we were instantly congratulated by filmmakers and industry-insiders on the acquisition. The DMG Lumière team has only been a part of Rosco for a very short time - but I can tell you, thanks to their ingenuity, we'll be presenting some surprisingly innovative technology to filmmakers in the coming year! I can't wait to see the next DMG Lumière product!
I saved the best for last! This blog, technically, was published at the very end of 2016. I had to include it on this list though for three very good reasons. #1 - by the numbers, it is EASILY the most popular blog of the year. It has more page views than the other six blogs on this list combined! #2 - This blog signifies the beginning of Rosco's relationship with the newly-founded Guild of Scenic Artists. #3 - I love the story of how this blog came into existence. Becky Bechel - Inside Sales Manager at Norcostco - said to me, "you know what we need Joel? We need a blog that teaches people how to mix off-white colors with your paint. Do you know how many times we get that question?" I thought it was an excellent idea and asked Angelique Powers - Scenic Artist and Founding Member of GoSA - to explore it. She did a masterful job writing the blog and scenic artists around the world have been sharing this wonderful resource ever since.
2017 proved to be Spectrum's most popular year yet! More people came to learn from our blog this past year than ever before! On behalf of everyone at Rosco, I sincerely offer you our thanks and hope you continue to read our blog and share it with your friends in the years to come.