The plan was for three volunteers to operate the lights, each wearing a walkie-talkie headset. A fourth volunteer, Bonnie Kristell shown in Figure D, acted as floor manager, directing the lighting volunteers when to hit the lights.

FIGURE D


Bonnie Kristell videotapes the BestFest proceedings along with other duties. Roll over picture for a larger image.

She also communicated with the projection booth to control the audio levels while she videotaped the entire event. BestFest volunteers wear many hats!

This setup worked fine, but it quickly became clear that it was tying up four people and four headsets, just to turn three switches on and off. We were already shorthanded due to some volunteer attrition, and this seemed like a promising application for some X-10 remote control devices.

Automate this!
Fortunately, the theater was in a shopping center with a Radio Shack store only a few doors away. I purchased two 500-watt X-10 Home Automation Appliance Modules to remotely control two of the three lighting stations, and a Mini-Remote Control Center to operate the modules.

One appliance module was connected to the stage-right lights, as shown in Figure E.

FIGURE E


The stage-right lights were controlled by one appliance. Roll over picture for a larger image.

The other appliance was connected to the spotlight in the rear of the theater, shown in Figure F.

FIGURE F


The spotlight in the back row was controlled with an X-10 appliance module. Roll over picture for a larger image.

The Mini Controller, shown in Figure G, was plugged into an outlet strip next to the stage-left lights.

FIGURE G


An X-10 Mini Controller and multi-outlet power strip allowed one volunteer to control all stage lights and the rear spotlight. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Luckily for us, all the outlets in the theater were on the same circuit. Had this not been the case, this arrangement would not have worked. So for this situation, X-10 was truly Plug and Play.

Programming the system was a breeze. I turned the dials on the modules and switched the controller to House code "A" and switch code 5. When I plugged everything in, it worked perfectly on the first test. Total setup time was literally a matter of a few minutes.

Pressing engagement
One volunteer with a headset sat at the front of the theater with the Mini Controller, serving as the sole lighting technician. When the floor director said, "Hit the lights!" he pressed one rocker switch on the Mini Controller which lit the stage-right lights and the rear spotlight.

At the same time, he pressed the master switch on the third lighting station at stage-left. Voila! All three light stations under the control of one volunteer. The two volunteers who were previously "stuck" turning the lights on and off were freed up to cover other duties, which helped BestFest rack up another award-winning season.

FIGURE H


Freed up by the X-10, BestFest volunteers man the check-in table for the student filmmakers. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Lessons Learned
Home automation is not just limited to your home. There may be a "quick and dirty", and inexpensive, technical solution to many problems if you think out of the box, and are near an electronics store!

With the X-10 devices, test everything first to find out which outlets are on the same circuit; otherwise you may need several controllers to cover your whole setup. The total cost for parts was about forty-five dollars, and we'll re-use the system each year.

By the way, with the success of BestFest in San Diego in 2004, the decision was made to expand it nationwide. For information, go to http://www.bestfestamerica.com. See you at the movies!

James Booth is Editor-at-Large at ZATZ Publishing. In addition to writing for Computing Unplugged and Connected Photographer, he's the author of Do-It-Yourself Wedding Photography. A self-taught photographer, James also dabbles in digital graphics and has learned to be a PC and handheld specialist through personal trial and error. James can be reached at jbooth@zatz.com.