Renegade shines on Boiler House benefit

29 November 2010

UK - London-based design house Renegade produced and supplied all the technical design and equipment - lighting, video and visuals, set and scenic elements plus sound - for the SHINE 2010 Benefit Dinner, staged at The Boiler House, a new temporary structure located inside the shell of London's Battersea Power Station building.

The event featured a 'greatest hits' performance by Bryan Ferry, and raised large sums of money for the charity, which supports additional educational initiatives encouraging children and young people to raise their achievement levels.

Renegade has worked closely with SHINE for the last seven years, producing all their live events. The high profile 2010 Benefit Dinner was project managed for Renegade by Mike Fidler working closely with Nick Gray as lighting designer. Andy Cobb filled in with conceptual designs along with technical production manager, Chad Higgins, who completed the team.

Renegade's visual design included stunning large format video projections onto the visible end of the Power Station building, producing a lively and interesting visual montage that entertained guests during dinner, for which they commissioned Nathan Prince of Silent Studio to produce bespoke content.

Renegade and SHINE wanted a very specific look and feel to the event, and the venue allowed Renegade to bring in some of their own suppliers. Nick Gray comments: "Our key creative and production people have now all worked on several projects together, so there is a fluid ongoing exchange of imagination and communications which really makes the workflow on a complex, multi-layered show like this efficient".

The exterior chimneys of the Power Station were lit using eight Philips ColorReach TR Powercore LED wash fixtures, with the brick facade illuminated by Vari*Lite 3500 washes, complete with two Martin Professional MAC 3K profiles used for corporate branding.

The initial entrance fibreglass tunnel into the venue was lit using special wireless (and weather proofed) uplighters from SHOK London, and Minuette fresnels. A second wooden tunnel into the actual Boiler House was lined with two 50m runs of electroluminescent Light Tape, with ETC Source Four profiles shooting beams up the walls for additional drama.

The entrance lobby featured a unique installation of 24 giant vintage light bulbs, each with oversized filaments and a sultry glow, created by Nick Gray above the cloakroom counter, which was finished in a mirrored surface to enhance the effect.

Complimentary to the six 18K Christie projectors covering the back wall, Renegade's external lighting design matched the colours and textures of the video content by enhancing the structure and its majestic chimneys with four MAC 3Ks, eight V*L 3500 FXs and six Atomic strobes.

A d&b audio system was supplied by one of Renegade's regular technical partners, Dobson Sound.

Two Q7 speakers were rigged from truss leg at the presentation stage position with four d&b T10s utilised as front-fills; another four T10s were used for delays, flown from the installed truss. Eight Q7s on stands were also delayed down the room from the presentation stage position and reverse delayed for the main stage position.

A DiGiCo D1 console was used for the FOH mix and a Yamaha PM5D for monitors, which were a combination of d&b M2 and M4 wedges and IEMs.

Tru Staging and Sculptivate were brought in to install the stage and provide all the scenic elements and room dressing.

(Jim Evans)