He even played the piano for a couple years while in high school. Music has always been an extreme passion from a very young age. Also during this time he decided to focus his pursuit of design primarily towards concerts. During his studies, Calvin concentrated on interweaving the relationships between lighting and video into one cohesive design. So, he decided to attend graduate school at the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University. There was a desire to learn even more about the craft. It was during this time Calvin cultivated his craft as a lighting designer.Īfter several years of freelancing in the special event, touring and entertainment sectors, Calvin wanted a new challenge. He also freelanced for several production companies that specialized in diverse special event lighting such as concerts, corporate events, fashion shows, and weddings. After graduating from Morehouse, Calvin began to light plays around town for various theatrical companies. At this point he was allowed to design a few theatrical performances on campus, as well as professionally. His creative desire was so strong he even changed his major from business administration to drama. He even followed in the footsteps of alumna, Spike Lee, and directed the Miss Maroon and White Pageant.
He again volunteered his talents around campus while honing his craft working on events such as fashion shows, pageants, and small concerts. His first intention was to study business administration but his true calling was to become a theatrical artist. Upon graduation from high school, Calvin attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. That “can do drive to succeed no matter the obstacle” is what still drives him today.
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He taught himself how to get the system running and even made a few repairs. The lighting system was rather antiquated but Calvin learned by doing. There were a few PAR cans, fresnels and border lights hanging in a small theatre space where the performances took place. He was excited to volunteer his time to operate the audio-visual equipment for a few theatrical presentations. While taking part in the the after school program Upward Bound, held at Lemoyne-Owen College, Calvin discovered the craft of lighting and sound. However, it wasn’t until high school when the opportunity arose to really “design” lights. Little did he know then, this was the budding of a career in design. Watching the excitement of their faces was a very enlightening experience. People would come from throughout the neighborhood to see the display. The spark of creativity started at a very young age while helping his parents hang Christmas lights outside the house for the holidays. Overall, his underlying philosophy is to create a visual statement that supports the vision of his client. Having access to someone with such skill sets offers an abundance of creativity when designing a production. With the aid of various media servers such as PRG’s MBox and Resolume’s Arena 4, Calvin can play back video and lighting elements at the same time to create spectacular shows. Calvin is not only a highly sought out designer, but also a competent programmer on some of the most state of the art lighting consoles in the industry such as the GrandMA 2 and Wholehog 3 & 4.
Conversely, the most successful designs incorporating these two segments are often best conceived by a lighting designer. Since it is becoming increasingly common these days for video and lighting elements to be combined into a singular design aesthetic, due to the dawn of new technology, he has expanded his focus to include both of these components when conceptualizing a show. Concerts and special events that include music are his specialty. Johnson (also known as Light Guy Calvin) is an accomplished lighting and production designer specializing in integrating lighting and video into one cohesive design.
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