Another book from John Offord’s Entertainment Technology Press: this time the definitive story of the gobo: “Gobos for Image Projection”.

Michael Hall, ex-head of Rosco UK, with Julie Harper, have written an exhaustive treatise on the gobo, its history, its great variety, and an exposition on current trends and practice.

A splendid book, lavishly illustrated, it includes commentary from designers from around the world, telling of their use of gobos.

It also contains a Foreword from yours truly.

For me it was 1961. I well remember the impact of those early gobos, that offered the, then, extraordinary ability to fragment the light beam; to make light mottled, unexpected, textured, a giant step from the ubiquitous bland cone emitted from the normal spotlight.

They were also hard work. Every one was cut, drilled, filed  by hand out of tin-sheet. I particularly remember David Hersey slaving away on the Theatre Project lighting store bench. His fingers got really sore, and he soon rather successfully escaped, to create DHA, and introduced the etched gobo and a new era.

See: http://www.etbooks.co.uk