Event Lighting Tips:
Breakup Patterns
Worcester | 2023
Ambiance. Mood. Theme. These are three basic reasons why using breakup patterns as lighting effects would be beneficial to an event.
What is a breakup pattern?
A breakup pattern is a lighting effect that gives a texture to a beam of light. They’re commonly used with ellipsoidals and moving lights to project onto walls, stages, and floors for added interest.
Examples of breakup patterns…
In these examples, you can see how the lighting and breakup patterns can add to the event’s ambiance, mood, and theme.
(Top left) A church conference was met with high energy and enthusiasm as the lighting patterns circled the room to coincide with the music.
(Top right) In this example, the breakup pattern added a twinkle to the evening’s atmosphere!
(Bottom left) The geometric patterns added flair to the ceiling in the main room of a conference.
(Bottom right) The breakup pattern across the organ made the stage the focal point of excitement behind the band!
There are countless patterns to choose from. Some are pre-installed into the light fixtures, and others are available through distributors. It’s up to the imagination what pattern would work best for the planned event! For instance, a wavy pattern over blue might be chosen for an event that is based on an ocean theme. Or, a twinkle pattern over white might be used for an event “under the stars!”
For the techies…
When it comes to adding breakup patterns at an event, Revelation recommends using the Ayrton Mistral as the main moving fixture. This fixture includes 16 interchangeable HD glass, patterned gobos* on two wheels: one rotating wheel with seven positions and one fixed wheel with nine positions. Its continuous dynamic effects wheel can be used in combination with the two gobo wheels to create unique graphical effects. MISTRAL also features a 15-blade iris diaphragm, a five-facet rotating prism, and a soft-edge frost filter as standard equipment.
*Gobo refers to a device placed in the gate, or at the point of focus between the light source, called a lamp, and the lenses. Basically, it’s a thin metal plate etched to produce a design which can then be projected by a profile spotlight.
Visit Ayrton for information on the Mistral!
To sum it up… breakup patterns are an easy way to create ambiance, mood, and theme for an event. For an immersive light experience, be sure to request a breakup pattern from your AV production team!