USA - Robe’s Forte LED moving lights have been purchased and installed at the extensive main campus of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. The Baptist Evangelical mega-church in southern Orange County is the largest in California and one of the biggest in the US with several campuses in California and worldwide, complete with a busy worship schedule inspired by senior pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren. For now, the 24 new Forte luminaires - the Church’s first Robe investment, specified by lighting manager Jacob Olson and supplied via integrator Amplio Systems - are rigged on trusses above an impressive temporary tented structure, custom-designed and erected during reconstruction of their church’s main auditorium. The structure was erected when the California COVID tier system enabled the church to start holding limited capacity worship
Hong Kong - Widelite Technology Limited has installed Zero 88 FLX range lighting control consoles and Chilli dimmers in over 30 schools for the government’s Education Bureau (EDB) department which is tasked with overseeing state-wide education and learning. Widelite is a stage engineering company founded in 2009 to provide stage and studio lighting for multiple sectors, incorporating equipment sales, system design and installation services plus audio and video systems for the broadcast world. Zero 88’s FLX range and the FLX S48 in particular, together with their practical and robust Chilli dimming systems have proved a good choice for several reasons, explained Widelite’s Charlie Mak, one of the sales engineering team. “They are perfect for schools where staff and students can learn the console quickly and easily. Usually, a half-day training is suffici
Germany - Schwarzkaue Herten is an event space that was once part of the now closed Schägel & Eisen colliery. Although outfitted with the latest modern amenities, the facility pays homage to its industrial past through its traditional architectural flourishes. The team at Schallmeister balanced these classic features with a contemporary lighting design to create a memorable livestream event for a tech-drive industrial client. “It was absolutely essential that the set for the livestream retain the historic architecture of the building,” said Tim Jansen, owner of Schallmeister GmbH. “Special features, such as the baskets on the hall ceiling, give the room an interesting texture. Our task was to integrate a modern and professional television studio into an old industrial location.” Helping Jansen and his team meet this challenge was a collection of Chau
Germany - Dry hire company CGS GmbH, based in southern Germany, has chosen Prolights EclPanel TWC and EclPanelTWCJr, widely expanding its dry hire inventory in TV and film lighting. Christian Geyer, managing director of CGS, comments, "With the Prolights EclPanel TWC and TWCJr we have a very mobile solution in our stock. The fixture impressed us with its high light output and its excellent source quality. In addition, the panels include several features that make our everyday work easier, such as an integrated power supply and W-DMX. This makes these fixtures a no-brainer for many projects where exactly these requirements for quality, mobility and performance prevail." The EclPanel TWC and TWCJr were designed to ‘meet extremely high colour rendering values’. They also come with various pre-programmed and customisable effects.
USA - An awed and reverential silence descends over the 4,000 seat amphitheater as audiences watch the events of Jesus Christ’s last days unfold at The Great Passion Play. It has always been this way at this outdoor production nestled in the Ozark Mountains, which has attracted over seven million visitors since it debuted in Eureka Springs, Arkansas in July of 1968. This year, the power of this story has become even more moving, thanks to a balanced and richly coloured lighting design by Chandler Mann and Cameron Edwards of Momentum Lighting. “Having grown up in Eureka Springs, I have a special attachment to The Great Passion Play,” said Mann, who now works out of Houston. “The production has captivated visitors season after season, but its lighting needed to be upgraded. Our previous system had no LEDs or color mixing and was operated from an old
Germany - For many years Thomas Gerdon from Gerdon Design has been in charge of lighting the German TV show Verstehen Sie Spaß (Do You Understand Fun?), in which unsuspecting people are victims of pranks and filmed with a hidden camera. Kimmig Entertainment produces four editions a year in the Bavaria Studios in Munich, two of which are broadcast live. The first live edition on 17 April 2021, provided the space and opportunity for a world premiere of the new Fusion Stick FS16 Z from Fusion by GLP which was used for the first time. As lighting designer and lighting cameraman, Gerdon used the new LED battens on the show stage during the performance by Sarah Lombardi and Luca Hänni as an effective show light.. Six towers were placed on the stage, each of which had two horizontally hung FS16 Z LED battens in addition to further spotlights. "Our goal i
UK - Founders of the global #WeMakeEvents movement feature in the fourth episode of The Meister Series, Jägermeister’s project celebrating “the mavericks and innovators in the music and events industry.” In April 2020, #WeMakeEvents was launched by PLASA in response to the impact of the pandemic on the live events ecosystem. What started as a single UK campaign soon grew into a global movement now spanning 40 countries. Since then, through fundraising, mental health support and campaigning, the organisation has worked tirelessly to keep the music industry alive and support those impacted by the crisis. In this fourth episode, founders and board members of #WeMakeEvents - Nicky Greet and Peter Heath from PLASA, Koy Neminathan from Avolites and James Gordon from Audiotonix - join Jägermeister in a passiona
UK - Collaborative Creations (CC) has announced that its centrally located, London studio space is open and available to companies and individual members of the events and event technology industries. With restrictions now coming to an end, booking is no longer essential though for specific product viewings is advisable. Less than a minute’s walk from London Waterloo the CC Studio is a multipurpose environment available for use by the events and event technology industries. Newly refurbished, the CC Studio can welcome up to 60 people standing, up to 30 in a theatre-style configuration or 12 in a training room seating arrangement. Operational as a boardroom style meeting room, the studio can seat up to 14 and features an engaging 70-inch interactive touchscreen for presentations. The space is equipment ready with Chamsys controlled Martin Professional lighting
South Africa - Mellow Yellow Entertainment, producers of South African music games show Musiek Roulette wanted a new look for the 2021 season, so called on the services of Ryan Lombard, head of show lighting at Blond Productions and Michael Gill, owner of Michael Gill Designs to design lighting and set respectively. TV lighting specialist and rental company Blond Productions supplied all the lighting equipment, while the set was built by Dream Sets. Ryan needed a highly adaptable lighting rig and used 72 x Robe moving lights to assist him in lighting the series, which was recorded at the Urban Brew Studios in Johannesburg. The idea with the new aesthetics was to retain a casino vibe but offer a more streamlined and modern feel, with the studio floor featuring a striking stylised central roulette wheel and three large LED screens around the circular-shaped
UK - Artistic Licence products have been used to provide new DMX infrastructure in the Manchester Studios complex, formerly the Granada/ITV headquarters. The studios have been undergoing massive refurbishment since 2016. The Granada Studios were built in 1954 for the purpose of recorded and live filming, and served as the Granada/ITV headquarters until 2013. As part of the refurbishment, Artistic Licence products have been installed in the ongoing upgrade to Studio 1. This is the largest space within the complex, housed within a self-contained building complete with wardrobe, props, dressing rooms and production offices. A central DMX patch houses two rackLynx octo 8-universe Art-Net gateways and four rackSplit octo 8-way DMX/RDM splitters. These distribute DMX out to eight wall boxes around the studio floor that each house two further rackLynx octo splitters.
The Netherlands - “Using Capture 2021 is almost like seeing the visuals in real life,” is Eurovision LD Henk Jan van Beek’s assessment of the Swedish manufacturer’s pre-visualisation software system. No stranger to the Eurovision event, having been part of the 2005 programming, Capture Visualisation was proud to be part of this year’s show at Rotterdam’s Ahoy Arena. Always an extravagant feast of lights, video and FX, Eurovision 2021 was chosen as one of Europe’s pilot events for COVID safe live events, making for one of the most eagerly anticipated Eurovision shows of all time. Since 1994, Capture Visualisation has been developing and evolving the software in the pre-programming sector and is now seen as one of the leading brands in this increasingly busy sector of the entertainment market. "It is an honour to be the preferred solution for this premier
UK - LED lighting manufacturer CFE Lighting has completed a major project at the luxury Sandburn Hall Hotel, near York, North Yorkshire, which is set to open this week. The company, which specialises in bespoke LED luminaires and lighting solutions for the commercial, industrial, and public sectors, designed and manufactured 55 exterior lighting bollards, which have been installed by electrical partner NEC Services at the new hotel complex. The bollards are fitted with low-energy, high lumen LEDs, which will provide wayfinding and emergency lighting along the main walkways which run around the front and back of the 40-bedroom luxury hotel, which will open its doors to guests for the first time on 24 May. The £5m hotel will be the first major new-build hotel development between York and the coast for over 20 years, with the site already home to an 18-hole champio
USA - Asked to describe his impression of Global Citizen’s Vax Live, The Concert To Reunite The World, Tom Kenny answers with a simple six-word phrase, “Full of Grace, Full of Light.” The globally televised event, which raised $302m, enough to procure 26m doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, was certainly all of that. There was the grace that arose from the inspired words of world leaders sent to the event via remote video, and from the impassioned live performances by artists like Jennifer Lopez, who brought her mother on stage to join her in a plea to ensure the equitable distribution of the vaccine needed to fight the pandemic. As for the light, Kenny and the Diversified Productions Services team ensured that it was present in full force at SoFi Stadium, supporting the performances of Lopez and fellow stars Eddie Vedder, Foo Fighters, J Balvin, and H.E.R. with a var
USA - As part of a complete technical overhaul, River of Life Church in Crawfordville, FL has upgraded its full lighting system for the first time since its building was constructed 18 years ago. The new setup, which utilises ADJ fixtures for both house and stage lighting, has not only enhanced the aesthetic of the space but also significantly improved electrical efficiency through the use of LED light sources. Firelight Media and Integration was the company selected by the church to carry out a complete refit of its audio, lighting, and stage power infrastructure. The relatively young but fast-growing integrator specializes in the church market, driven by owner and founder Joshua Branch’s 15 years of experience in music ministry. Established in 2017 and based in Thomasville, South Georgia, the company services churches throughout the South East, all the way from Virginia
UK - “All of us who flourish in this field have retained our child-like enthusiasm for playing with things to come up with something new and different,” says Johnny Palmer, the founder and manager of Pytch. “Really, when you come down to it, that’s why we do what we do.” An entrepreneur who opened a string of livestream studios during the height of the pandemic, Palmer works hard to keep these creative flames glowing throughout his well-established event company, even when it means buying the fuselage of a Boeing 727 jet liner and parking it on shipping containers in his warehouse lot. It was on a trip to Cotswold Airport to look at a private jet that he came across the Boeing 727. The plane instantly caught his attention. “I saw this beautiful old bird and thought why not,” he recalled. “So, I got permission from our local planning commission and agree
Croatia - Since its release in February 1987, Bon Jovi’s Livin’ On A Prayer has been embedded in our collective musical psyche. It seems that everyone, from the Royal Philharmonic to Alvin and the Chipmunks has recorded cover versions of this ‘80s anthem. 2Cellos are the latest. In their latest video, Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser, the Croatian cellists who make up the group push the oft-played rock classic to new levels. Reflecting the driving force of their performance visually throughout the video is a dynamic and intricately layered light show by Crt Birsa of Slovenia-based Blackout Lighting Design. Running the 6-universe, 126 fixture, time-coded show on his ChamSys Magic! MQ80 console, Birsa created myriad patterns of light to play off the music video’s unusual venue: a 33mlong tunnel in a former military warehouse. To focus the viewer’s attent
Russia - Truck brand Kamaz - Dakar Rally Truck category winners 18 times and lknown for their rally, drift, and stunt driver teams - celebrated its 45th anniversary with a spectacular live show, presentation and special event featuring jazz band Denis Matsuev & Friends, staged at its main factory in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan. When Denis Matsuev suggested opening the event to the strains of orchestral suite Time Forward! by Georgy Sviridov, event director Irina Karimova had the idea of a video intro that would combine the movement of trucks with the rhythm and mood of the music. So, the event’s creative team decided to involve seven of the newest Kamaz-54901 tractor units in a ‘dance’ routine in the snow. This challenged lighting designer Artem Sagaidak to produce some practical illuminative solutions for the video shoot and he turned to Astera Ti
USA - Singer, rapper, and songwriter Bryson Tiller recently recorded an XR concert - for later broadcast - in Calabasas, California at Xite Labs’ XR stage facility, which involved a lighting rig that included Robe T1 Profiles, SuperSpikies, Tetra2s and BMFL Blades. Xite Labs - founded in 2018 by visual and production design specialists Greg Russel and Vello Virkhaus - was approached by producer Amish Dani and creative studio the 92 Group to assist the project in the production of ‘stunning XR environments’. They received a detailed brief with a set of storyboard images and a flow concept of the four dynamic worlds that they wanted to build. The 3D spaces were created by multiple highly skilled artists commissioned by Xite Labs using Unreal Engine and Notch. For the shoot, the physical studio design comprised three-sides - including a back wall - of LED, an LED
Europe - Neutrik UK has announced the appointment of Karl Cowing as its new sales manager. Cowing comes to the position with an extensive 22-year career in engineering, and engineering sales, support and key account management roles within the electronics, automotive, transport, aerospace and defence sectors, including with Formula BMW, Varta, Aerco, Molex and Smiths Interconnect. His experience includes responsibility for electronic interconnect solutions into strategic aerospace and defence customers, helping them adapt to rapidly changing technology requirements within the radar and electronic warfare sector, and positioning high reliability RF electronic connectivity solutions, including fibre optic technology, to help customers address future bandwidth issues. Commenting on his appointment, Cowing says, “Over the years I have known of Neutrik connectors as best
USA - One of the first companies to invest in Claypaky Mini-Bs, OSA has put its inventory of 48 fixtures to work on a diverse range of projects despite the coronavirus pandemic. OSA provides entertainment technology, event production and systems integration from offices in Chicago, Las Vegas, and Nashville. “The Mini-B seemed to be the right size, the right brightness and had great zoom capabilities,” vice president of lighting Mark Fetto recalls. “As a wash light Mini-B may be small in stature but it’s large in output.” Although the coronavirus pandemic slowed production for many businesses, OSA’s development of the Concertata digital engagement platform has enabled a roster of virtual events to take place, a number of them utilising the new Mini-Bs. A national telecommunications company tapped the fixtures for a trio of corporate events staged live
Germany - Last year, GLP presented the new Creative Light 1, a battery operated, completely wireless LED system for maximum flexibility. With 24 individually controllable RGB pixels, the Creative Light 1 offers ‘countless design options and can be installed in no time, thanks to the integrated magnet’. In March 2021, a small GLP team demonstrated this by transforming a dreary motorway underpass into a pulsating dance temple within a few hours. GLP managing director Udo Künzler had previously discovered the aforementioned tunnel during an evening walk. Immediately he had the idea of equipping the tunnel wall, which proved to be magnetic, with Creative Lights. Boogie Pimps (Somebody To Love) were tasked with making the project a special audiovisual experience. The duo not only contributed a track (Awesome), but also agreed to perform on site in the tun
Europe - Harman Professional Solutions has introduced the Martin by Harman VDO Atomic Bold Creative LED lighting fixture. High-lumen output, true tungsten emulation, smart interlocking mechanics and a compact footprint make the VDO Atomic Bold powerfully versatile. Combining an audience blinder, strobe light, creative LED pixel/surface (beam and aura) and stage wash; the VDO Atomic Bold equips lighting designers with a palette of application possibilities. The fixture retains the same precision interlocking mechanics, same universal cabling and a similar look as its popular sibling, the VDO Atomic Dot, but is much larger with higher, full-colour LED lumen output. In addition to its octagonal-shaped design that offers single light or large array configuration options, the VDO Atomic Bold features control via Martin’s proprietary P3 software and Art-Net, sACN and DMX p
Europe - Robe has launched two new products in its all-weather IP65-rated iSeries - the iPointe65 and the iSpiider – both suitable for exterior work or any damp, misty, steamy or high condensation environments. The iPointe65 is a bright, high-performance multifunctional luminaire modelled on the company’s best-selling MegaPointe. The new fixture works equally well as a beam, spot, effects and wash, says Robe. Designed, developed, and manufactured to be sealed against water and particle ingress, the iPointe’s aluminium housing also gives a dust-free environment for the optical, gobo and colour systems, eliminating the need for frequent cleaning and maintenance. Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology enables access setup, diagnostics and other performance-related features directly from a mobile device using the Robe Com app - even when the fixture is not powered
China - Nanlux has introduced The Evoke 1200, a 1.2kW LED fixture designed for cinema, live events, stills and broadcast. At the heart of the system is a COB delivering “stunning levels of controllable, flicker-free light, comparable to that of a 1.8kW PAR or 2.5kW HMI Fresnel”. Available as both 5,600K and Tungsten 3,200K models, the Evoke 1200 features an interchangeable optic system allowing it to be easily configured, to satisfy almost any lighting requirement. The large aperture and sturdy fixings of the mounting system, allows users to quickly switch between optics, to sculpture, shape and modify the output with absolutely no compromise in beam quality, colour or intensity. The Evoke is fully dimmable and features a selection of onboard creative effects including INT loop, flash, pulse, storm, TV, paparazzi, candle/fire, bad bulb, firework, explosion an
