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UK - Students at the Guildford School of Acting (GSA) staged West Side Story at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, for their Graduation Show. The lighting team opted for PixelLine 110s from PixelRange.

The lighting design team comprised seven students, taking their lead from designer Richard G Jones, recently applauded for his work on The Railway Childrenat London's Waterloo station. The brief was to recreate the emotional journey of The Story with lighting as the sole scenic element.

Second-year student and assistant lighting designer for the production, Natalie Davey, specified the PixelLine 110s to work in conjunction with conventional cyc floods already in the school inventory. The 110s were positioned on side booms to wash across the white cycloramic scenery wall where the cyc floods also washed from their positions top and bottom.

Davey approach

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Macau - Franco Dragone's newest spectacular has been five years in the planning, two years of rehearsal and cost approximately £160m. Surrounded in mystery and much anticipation, The House of Dancing Water launched on 16 September in Macau's City of Dreams.

The Dancing Water Theatre was designed by Pei Partnership and is a 270-degree theatre-in-the-round, with a central stage diameter of about 20m. The theatre houses around 260 automated fountains that spurt water up to 18m in the air, and a total of 11 hydraulic stage lifts and vomitory lifts that enable an artistic flow in performance from aquatic to conventional stage.

Contracted by Theatre Projects, Stage Technologies provided a 141-axis whole house control and engineering system for the purpose-built venue. The system includes a 40-unit track and trolley system, which can transport up to 250kg at 3.5m/sec, allowing

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USA - When Arcade Fire launched their new album The Suburbs and then the accompanying tour, they had a clear vision of how the album and tour should work together.To oversee the vision for their lighting design, Arcade Fire enlisted the assistance of designer Susanne Sasic who in turn brought in 40 VLX Wash luminaires, provided by Solotech and Upstaging.

"Once I was brought on by the band's manager, we began discussing the new album and how they wanted to integrate aspects of the album into the tour," says Sasic. "The overall feel of the album is a sort of journey into their childhood through the looking glass of a faded Polaroid, so this is what they wanted for the tour. The set design would consist of a suburban, outdoor location with a large projection video screen contained inside a road-side billboard frame measuring 20' wide x 10' high. Then we also a

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UAE - The most prominent exhibit at the recent Cityscape exhibition in Abu Dhabi was a vast model of the government Urban Planning Council's vision for the capital of the United Arab Emirates in the year 2030.

Although it measured a substantial 22m x 18m, its size was not its only remarkable feature. The model formed the centre-piece of a multimedia presentation, launching the master plan for the city as it expands over the next two decades.

An 11m screen carried a short movie running on three edge-blended projectors, with sound tracks in English and Arabic. Simultaneously, a grid of 16 ceiling-mounted projectors brought the model to life. The synchronised show highlighted areas featured in the movie, animated the transport links, and used moving graphics to create an absorbing and exciting multimedia experience.

The technology, designed and installed by London visual

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Denmark - The Performing Arts Centre (Musikhuset) in Esbjerg, a harbour city on the rugged west coast of Denmark, hosts many diverse cultural activities ranging from rock concerts to theatre, ballet and opera. Attracting 150.000 visitors a year, the centre has always been hampered by the fact that it lacked a medium sized venue for theatre. Esbjerg Musikhuset won the right to build a new modern theatre, capable of seating 500 guests, designed by architects Jan Utzon and his father J°rn Utzon, famous for his design of Sydney's Opera House.

"Choosing an appropriate PA system was more difficult than first envisioned", says Paul van Zijl, in-house sound technician. Together with facility manager Christian S°vad they took from Utzon's design philosophy, and placed people in the centre of that decision. "Many modern theatres today have big line array systems, fl

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Canada - In June of this year, production company Out of the Box Productions, was presented with a unique opportunity. William J Mackwood, lighting designer at the Department of Dance at York University, Toronto reports, "In 2004, we had originally produced our show Opera Erotique at the Events Centre, a nightclub in Victoria, lit entirely with conventional instruments. When we talked about remounting the show at the Tranzac Club in Toronto, we decided to conduct a comparative study by lighting the entire production with LED instruments - not just washes, but acting areas as well.

"Through the generosity of J.F. Canuel, VP of A.C. Lighting, we were offered a complete LED lighting rig for the show - whatever I requested was made available to us - including the new Color Block 2. These fixtures, with their GBA optics, 530 lumens of output and theatrical grade dimm

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USA - Martin Professional's M1 lighting console has snared the spotlight for a few special events, but now it's on the road, making its North American touring debut on The Black Crowes' current run.

A visit with Matthias Hinrichs at Martin's Los Angeles office helped LD/Programmer Jason Dill focus in on the Martin M1 for its many solution-solving features in a powerful, compact package.

Dill needed no special training on the M1 but a brief run-through from Hinrichs. "Everything made sense. It's easy to get around," Dill says. "Programming lighting is just a matter of controlling DMX channels, so it's a matter of knowing what keys you need to push to get the console to do what you want. The M1's syntax is logical, as opposed to other consoles that take a computer-minded approach to operate them."

With the ever-changing lighting rig to consider, console fle

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Finland - ARX's MSX 32 active microphone splitters feature prominently in the new audio system installed into the Helsinki Cathedral.

Helsinki's most prominent landmark and Finland's most important Lutheran building the Church of St Nicholas (Suurkirkko) is located in the centre of the city. Seating 1300 people the neoclassical building was completed in 1852 and is a popular tourist attraction.

Starlike Oy, ARX's Finnish distributor installed a six-channel Sennheiser wireless mic system and Clockaudio wired Mic's which feed two units of ARX MSX 32 active mic splitters.

From the MSX 32s, audio is split to multiple Audia DSPs from Biamp Systems which provide signal processing for multiple Renkus-Heinz Iconyx digitally steerable column loudspeakers.

(Jim Evans)

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USA - Bandit Lites going green might have taken many more years had it not been for Jackson Browne and Crosby, Stills and Nash. In mid 2008, Bandit San Francisco general manager Dizzy Gosnell became engaged with long-time Jackson Browne production manager Dennis Scrimo, lighting designer David Davidian, and managers extraordinaire Cree and Buddha Miller. The question was put to Diz, 'How can we go green this year?', and that set Bandit to thinking.

The only solutions available at that time were either very expensive or very low quality. Bandit immediately set out to test a large number of various devices to determine the best, affordable option. That summer Jackson willingly served as a proving ground for various types of LED solutions. There were several immediate upsides to an all LED rig; low power consumption, endless and vivid colour varieties, and the point most impressive

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UK - Following on from the first Hippotizer open day staged by A.C. Entertainment Technologies video division, the exclusive UK & Ireland distributor for Green Hippo products has announced a further rollout of regional open days starting later this year. Dates will be confirmed shortly.

Held in conjunction with Green Hippo at AC-ET's Northern sales office in Leeds, technical staff from both companies were on hand to demonstrate the full functionality of the Hippotizer.

The open day also showcased other new products in A.C. Video's extensive portfolio of leading brands, including the innovative Pufferfish PufferSphere high impact display system featuring a 360° spherical viewing window and the Christie Projection line-up including the latest in the popular M-Series range.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Never Mind the Buzzcocks is back for its 24th series. The BBC2 show continues its obviously successful formula with guest competitors from the worlds of music, TV and comedy, regular team leaders (Phil Jupitus and Noel Fielding) along with a guest judge for a scathing and somewhat provocative attack on the music industry.

Lighting designer Chris Kempton, supported from the offset by Richard Martin Lighting, uses what he previously admitted as 'nothing exotic' to compliment the Industrial and Urban design of the set.

The rig includes MAC 500's and MAC 250's, while MAC 600's on the floor are used to wash set pieces.

Chromabanks can be seen dotted underneath the panel's desk, whilst LED Par 36's are used to backlight the 'speaker stack' set pieces that appear behind the contestants.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - 2010 has proved to be another successful year for Zero 88 at the Edinburgh Fringe. Over 100 venues selected Zero 88 control consoles and dimming for their fringe runs, with products being supplied from a spread of Zero 88 dealers, including Black Light, Northern Light, Stage Electrics, Hawthorn, HSL and Stage Lighting Services.

Products in use varied from the Level 6 DMX through to the ORB and ORB XF professional theatre consoles. The largest presence of Zero 88 products this year was once again at the Pleasance venues which utilised 23 Zero 88 control desks, plus 56 Betapack dimmers (including generation 1, 2 and 3 varieties). The smallest venues at the Pleasance feature just six ways of dimming and a Juggler console, whilst the largest, the Pleasance Grand, included an ORB and 34 Martin Mac 700 moving lights.

Chief electrician Dom Knight comments, "It was a logical

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UK - One of the fast emerging collectives on the UK festival scene are the Chai Wallahs, whose increasingly familiar marquees are dedicated to providing an eclectic blend of music appealing to different lifestyles.

Founded three years ago by Si Chai, today, Chai Wallahs attend a number of summer calendar events - including Green Man in the Brecon Beacons - and are quickly becoming seek-out destinations.

Inside the organic-looking structure Afro-beat, funk and reggae artists perform alongside DJs in a free-form mix, with the emphasis on acoustic music earlier in the day. It also provides its own chill area in the form of a café bar.

Green Man has become one of Chai Wallahs' more recent destinations, and after their debut last year, this summer they were again out in force, with London-based sound engineer Harry Bishop piloting a Soundcraft Vi4 in the 800-

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UK - The Chatsworth House Attic Sale has caught the attention of the media and the public interest, with four days of public viewing preceding an auction lasting three days (5-7 October 2010). Aside from Chatsworth items, attic retrievals have been gleaned from the fine houses associated with the Devonshire family since the 16th century including Holker Hall, Hardwick Hall, Chiswick House and the massive London seat of Devonshire House.

Point Source Productions, working in conjunction with Fine Art Lighting, has supplied the lighting solutions to auctioneers, Sotheby's, for over 20,000 sale items. These are estimated to raise over £2.5m and are arranged in 1,400 lots within a series of marquees in the grounds of Chatsworth House.

The marquees were chosen specifically to give the ambience of a country house sale and arranged in a square around a central courtyard in which

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UK - Comedian Les Dennis has begun a new series of the children's game show, Fee Fi Fo Yum which airs every Friday afternoon on BBC TV.

As games play out on Brian the Giant's table top, young contestants, or 'humunchies', compete for the chance to run off home and avoid being eaten for dinner by giants.

With computer generated assistance, giants, gunge, a fantastically designed set, a very dapper Dennis in a sequined jacket and catchy slogans (such as 'if you're not the winner you'll be Brian's dinner') it is sure to capture the imagination of the younger generation.

Brian the Giant's home-made studio was created inside BBC's TC3 at London's Television Centre. The set took up all but a few feet of the studio with the massive kitchen scales at the centre; giant books made up the steps and in the middle was a very big bowl which held the messy gunge games.

Tasked with

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Brazil - Brazilian distributor Quanta presented a wide selection of the dBTechnologies' product range at the 27th Expomusic show in São Paulo last month, proving a solid commitment to the brand in a burgeoning market.

Import restrictions have made international trade difficult until recently, but Quanta director Augusto Gaia has every faith in the Italian manufacturer's potential in this territory. "With its great products, dBTechnologies promises to shake the Brazilian market. The sound quality in particular is really excellent," says Gaia.

Celebrating 20 years of business in the industry, Quanta prides itself in being a leader in distribution and marketing solutions for digital technology. dBTechnologies sales & marketing director Michael Herweg - who was also present at the show - celebrates Quanta's dedication. "We have the advantage of a highly motivated c

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France - Indochine's Météor tour took in the Stade de France in Paris where 80,000 fans celebrated the band's 30 years in the music business. The tour officially kicked off on 6 October 2009 at the Zénith in Rouen and ended in a grand finale on 15 September 2010 with a final concert at the Palais Omnisport in Paris Bercy.

Olivier Payen, the tour's lighting designer, who also worked on Indochine's previous Alice&June tour, succeeded in creating a breathtaking light show. However, according to the team managing the project, it was no easy ride. Apart from the challenge of an enormous stadium, from the outset specifications were determined by the video layout. With five 16:9 screens occupying the entire north curve of the stadium and covering a total area of 720m2, there was little space left for the lighting. The design used lighting to surround

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UK - Kinesys has supplied 160 of its new DigiHoist motor controllers to Production Resource Group (PRG).

The new units will replace all PRG's existing motor control stock in the UK, standardising the control platform across its substantial rigging department which has over 2000 motors.

Kinesys were one of three companies that pitched for the design commission of this project which was managed by Dave Weatherhead for Kinesys, and for PRG by PRG's UK head of asset management Paul Weaver and Summit Steel's Jon Bray - who have co-ordinated an overall upgrade for all equipment in PRG's rigging department.

Together, they came up with a list of requirements and a basic spec from which the DigiHoist was developed as the most suitable product for concert touring and systems for shows and events of all sizes.

Following the product's official launch at the recent 2010 PLASA exhibitio

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Lebanon - Vicoustic's flagship Wave Wood acoustic panel has featured in a major installation at the St Gabriel Church, Ajaltoun, Lebanon. Led by Movses Balabanian, a team from Vicoustic's Beirut-based distributor 21dB installed over 650 Wave Wood panels on the ceiling in order to address acoustic problems in the venue that included long reverberation times across the frequency range and poor speech intelligibility.

Wave Wood is specifically designed to control excessive and unwanted frequencies while maintaining a bright, ambient sound. The panel's design, which includes a series of non-linear cavities set into an elegant wood finish, has proved highly effective in the treatment of medium and high frequencies while also enhancing the appearance of room interiors.

"The whole installation project took eight days to complete, with the team having to work almost continually a

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France - Having launched ACP (Agence Centrale de Presse), the first BtoB editorial marketplace in the world of newspapers, ACP Group is to join forces with Digigram for the next stages of its development.

A statement says, "The new entity aims to ensure the acquisition, storage, transportation and management of content for the media in order to improve their productivity and responsiveness. This proposal is consistent with the transformation of traditional media to a new model of 'convergence' and aims to reposition 'content' as the engine of growth for its customers."

"This merger is a fantastic opportunity for Digigram because it combines the pursuit of development in the areas that, historically, are the heart of our business and associates us with the ACP project launched by ACP Group. It will enable us to add value as well as being highly motivating for our

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France - Robert Juliat reports that its new Aledin LED profile has been adopted by one of France's most popular news channels. i>TELE, a subdivision of Canal+ Group, the leading pay-TV Group in France, has installed 24 cold white Aledin profiles in its broadcasting studios where they are in daily use on live news broadcasts and weather reports.

i>TELE studios has changed all its lighting from incandescent sources to LED or fluorescent. Technical director Laurent d'Auria says, "There was too much maintenance, too much energy consumption, too much heat being produced at i>TELE studios, all of which was just not compatible with our new lighting infrastructure."

i>TELE quickly decided on Robert Juliat Aledin on the advice of Canal+, pioneers in the new uses of television, who were already investigating low energy solutions. Aledin's new technology provides the answer to

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UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies audio and lighting divisions have supplied an extensive inventory of stage production equipment for the auditorium of the Hawth Theatre in Crawley as part of an upgrade to the venue's technical facilities.

The Hawth Theatre is one of the south's liveliest arts venues, playing host to a diverse mix of theatre, dance, music, comedy, concerts, film and visual arts. The theatre has been host to hit West End and worldwide musicals including West Side Story and Saturday Night Fever, comedy acts including Eddie Izzard and Jack Dee, and visiting companies including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Following a competitive tender, single source supplier AC-ET was selected to provide the complete order of leading brand entertainment technology products, accessories and custom manufactured items from its

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UK - Jon Thornton, head of sound technology at the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA), has recently taken delivery of two new Audient ASP8024 consoles. LIPA students have been learning on Audient desks for almost a decade.

Thornton comments, "Eight years ago we came to replace two split analogue consoles in our studios. We wanted something intuitive, clear and simple - yet flexible. Fortunately, that was just after the Audient ASP8024 had been released. What attracted us was the clarity of the desk, which is ideal for training purposes. It has a nice big centre section, so you can get four students around it comfortably and they can all see what's going on."

Audient is an established player in the education market, with Thornton explaining, "In teaching basic principles - signal path, equalisation, signal routing - analogue is easier and better t

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USA - After a year of planning, and following several other momentum-building events, the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee staged its spectacular XLV Countdown Live from Cowboys Stadium on Friday10 September. A 60' Daktronics LED video display, provided by Argyle, TX-based GoVision, served as the main backdrop for the jam-packed evening of entertainment.

With more than 200 stars on hand to speak, sing, play or perform during the evening's festivities, every one of the nearly 37,000 attendees wanted a close-up view of the stage. Corporate Magic, the official event producer of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee, enlisted the expertise of GoVision to construct and provide the LED centerpiece to do just that.

"Only the lower tier of the stadium was used during the event to provide an intimate feel in the massive venue," said Chris Curtis, president

  1. Votes underway in milestone PLASA-ESTA elections
  2. XL Events screens on Pope's state visit
  3. Stage Electrics adds Panasonic projectors
  4. J.R.Clancy in San Paulo's Teatro Bradesco
  5. Arena Group at the 2010 Ryder Cup
  6. DiGiCo's SD9 out on the road
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