While I was caught up in the words and meaning of Bush’s speech last night, others were more focused on the ‘set’. Apparently, a lot went into the stage setup for the president’s presentation. Lighting, color coordination, etc. Here’s what some had to say:
Dan Froomkin, WaPo columnist –
From Bush’s lonely walk to the podium, to the cathedral over his shoulder lit up like Disneyland, to his wooden delivery before an audience of none, there was something particularly off key about all the White House stagecraft imported into the ghostly center of a still half-drowned town.
The New York Times’s Elisabeth Bumiller, acting as pool reporter, informed colleagues yesterday that all the lights and generators needed to create the desired effect were flown in by the White House.
Reporters were not allowed out of their vans while the president spoke, but they demanded a quick tour of the area beforehand.
“Bobby DeServi and Scott Sforza were on hand as we drove up about 8 p.m. or so EDT handling last-minute details of the stagecraft,” Bumiller wrote. DeServi is the White House’s chief lighting designer; Sforza is in charge of visuals.
“Bush will be lit with warm tungsten lighting, but the statue [of Andrew Jackson] and cathedral will be illuminated with much brighter, brighter lights . . . like the candlepower that DeServi and Sforza used on Sept. 11, 2002, to light up the Statue of Liberty for Bush’s speech in New York Harbor,” she wrote.
“Here’s a quote from DeServi on the lit up cathedral: ‘Oh, it’s heated up. It’s going to print loud.’ “
Overheard – Karl Rove on a cell phone…
“Hi, This is Karl Rove calling for Harry and Linda Bloodworth Thomasson.”