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The special NASA exhibit here at the South by Southwest festival
is anchored by a full-scale model of the James Webb Space
Telescope.
Now, during the day it's quite a sight,
but at night it's even more memorable.
And the reason-- the lights.
Hey Todd, I heard you are the lighting jockey.
Yes ma'am.
I am the lighting designer over this project.
OK, so what does it mean to be the lighting designer?
I know you put lights on it, but really
how difficult a job is this?
For me it just comes natural.
It's my way of expressing art through light.
And as you can see, I have all these beautiful LEDs
that surround the James Webb telescope, which
I'm using to create my art.
So you said LEDs, so it's probably not very hot, right?
No, you can touch this.
This has been on all day.
Oh my.
It's been on since 10:00 this morning.
It's actually a little cold.
It is very cold.
It uses hardly any energy at all.
Well, how do you control the colors of the lights?
Well if we look over here, I can show you my lighting board,
which you might enjoy.
So this right here is my console,
which I like to refer to as my paintbrush.
And I refer to the lights as my paint,
the telescope being my canvas.
And this is where I create my art.
With the simple slide of a couple of faders,
I can come up with any visualization color scheme
that anyone would want to see.
It looks almost like you're playing an instrument.
It is, only to me it's a visual instrument.
You said any color they would like to see.
So do you actually change the colors to somebody's liking?
Yes.
When I see people taking pictures,
I like to ask them what are your favorite colors?
And then I'll simply slide a couple of faders
and come up with their favorite colors,
and then it gives them a personal memory
to go along with their journey here.
Thanks so much for taking the time
to show us the colors of the Webb.
Thank you very much.
Now, as Todd said, the lights are very efficient,
so much so that cumulatively these lights only
use up about as much energy as your microwave.
Thanks for joining us for this special edition
of Behind the Webb at South by Southwest.
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