What it actually decides.
A followspot is a high-output instrument worked by a person. The operator controls where it points, how big the pool is, how hard the edge is and how bright it runs, changes colour through a boomerang of gel frames, and kills the light with a douser rather than by switching the lamp.
Automated fixtures with tracking systems exist and are good. A human operator remains the answer when the subject is unpredictable — an award winner who comes up the wrong stairs, a speaker who walks downstage into the audience, an auctioneer working a room.
The position is the planning decision. A truss spot is rigged in the air on a seat, which gives a steep, flattering angle and keeps the beam off the scenery, and which brings fall protection, a climb plan, a comms channel and a person who is committed to that chair for the duration. A floor spot on a stand at the back of the room is far easier to crew and produces a flat angle that tends to throw the operator’s light on to the screen or wall behind the subject. Neither is free, and the choice is made when the rig is drawn.
Calls are not standardised between houses. Pick-up, size and colour are agreed in rehearsal, and a spot that has not rehearsed will find the wrong person.
We own this equipment.
Gala and fundraiser production — owned inventory, our own crew, and a site survey before anything is specified.