USA - Tom Sutherland was back on the set of Dancing with the Stars recently, lighting his second season of the American reality dance competition for the ABC network. Lead designer at DX7 Design, Sutherland, who used Elation lighting on last season’s show, again turned to Elation fixtures to light the myriad of dances while finding a visual solution to fill empty audience space. “There were some challenges this year as there was no audience, which usually plays a big role in the show. Nobody, especially in television, likes black holes,” said Sutherland. “When you have an expensive set that looks like a million dollars, you don’t want to sacrifice that by a few dodgy shots. With HD cameras and 360-degree looks we have to make sure we have all our bases covered.” Dead space on the set was something Sutherland was especially wary of when lighting this
Sweden - Visual design studio PXLFLD recently deployed Hippotizer Media Servers from Green Hippo to provide the visual backdrop for a secret party and live performance by singer-songwriter Veronica Maggio. Conceived by Red Bull, the exclusive event, staged at the Nobis Hotel in central Stockholm, was available only to fans who completed a treasure-hunt-like series of tasks. Nikolaj Brink, Maggio’s lighting designer and a recent addition to the PXLFLD team, was responsible for the event’s show design, and called in his colleagues to deliver the show’s visual playback elements. But with the limitations imposed by Covid-19, this was a show with a difference. PXLFLD’s Anders Granström explains, “The stage was built in the hotel’s grand lobby. To maintain social distancing, the audience enjoyed the concert from their hotel rooms, looking down at the perfo
UK - Highlite UK has embarked on a UK roadshow during October and early November to present some of its new latest products. After hosting the first session at its office in Calne, the company is heading to Future Technical Solutions in Torquay on 15 October; Subfrantic in Bromley on 20 October; Vector Lighting in Milton Keynes on 22 October; MRL Productions in Clacton on Sea on the 27th; Stage Management Company in Leeds on the 29th, and Musicmann in Walsall on 3 November. Those who wish to attend should register via Eventbrite. “We will be taking the roadtrip to seven venues,” says Highlite. “There will be two sessions at each venue, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The first session will take place from 10am until 12:30pm and
UK - Sound, Light & Laser FX has been known as SLLFX by much of the industry for most of its existence. Now, as part of a larger rebranding and investment initiative, the Birmingham-based AV rental company has officially taken SLLFX as its name. The new name and logo is just one element of a full brand refresh and investment process that has helped to transform the equipment rental company. The investment process started ahead of the UK’s national lockdown with the addition of Unilumin HD LED screens to the company’s hire stock. Following this, during lockdown the company launched two streaming services. First, a streaming studio complete with full DJ setup and LED walls for DJs to deliver the professional look they are used to at clubs. Joining this is the mobile media centre, a fully mobile virtual venue for corporate clients looking to overcome Zoom fatigue
France - Silence is often elicited by the sight of the Louis Vuitton Foundation building, Frank Gehry’s stunning architectural gem in Paris. Soaring skyward like the giant sails of a great ship, the distinctive structure inspires a quiet, cathedral-like reverence through the sheer power of its design. Inside the expansive auditorium section of Louis Vuitton Foundation, silence is not only a natural response to the room’s beauty, it also quiet desirable - enriching the experience of hearing performances by internationally renowned artists like Yuja Wang, and Vladimir Spivakov that take place within its walls. It was with this desire for utter quietness in mind that Prodster recently installed 14 Chauvet Professional Maverick Silens 2 Profile fixtures inside this performance space. The 560W fanless fixture operates in complete silence, making it well-suited for this
Greece - The National Theatre of Greece (NTG) staged three acclaimed performances of Aeschylus’s The Persians - first produced in 472 BCE - in July at the ancient Epidaurus open-air amphitheatre, complete with a fully socially distanced audience - of 4,500 instead of the usual 10,000 capacity, who enjoyed the drama and energy of live performance in this classic tragedy. Lighting designer Christina Thanasoula chose Robe LEDBeam 150s to add flexibility and multiple options to her design, placing 10 of the fixtures in the footlights position around the front of the stage floor. All three shows, directed by Dimitris Lignadis (artistic director for the NTG), were fully sold out, and the second night’s performance was live-streamed worldwide with support from the Greek Ministry of Culture in partnership with Google Greece as part of the 2020 Athens and Epidaurus
Japan - Bringing out the beauty and diversity of the underwater world, Art Aquarium hired TSP Taiyo to integrate and install a Martin by Harman lighting solution that delivered stunning visuals and a mesmerizing experience for guests. Since its inception in 2007 and subsequent shows every year after, the Art Aquarium has emerged as a summer tradition in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. However, stretching beyond the base of Nihonbashi, Art Aquarium producer and artist, Hidetomo Kimura, has seen his exhibit on display in countries around the world. The shows take place every year with previous locations including Milan, Italy, Shanghai, China, Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall, Kyoto’s Nijo-jo Castle and the 21st-Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. To enhance the exhibit, Art Aquarium hired TSP Taiyo to integrate and install a Martin Professional lighting solution that ‘provided u
UK - Zero 88 has announced the next major release of its ZerOS software platform – ZerOS 7.9.8 – which powers the FLX and FLX S lighting control consoles, along with the recently announced ZerOS Server. The headline new feature is ZerOS Library – an all-new library which doubles the amount of fixture personalities available to Zero 88 users, and includes extensive gobo libraries, additional fixture macros and much more detail about each fixture’s parameters. “‘ZerOS Library’ is a brain-transfer for ZerOS - not only providing great new features today, but setting up for the next decade of releases planned for Zero 88 customers, users and fans,” says Zero 88 product marketing manager Jon Hole. To achieve this, the ZerOS Library collates data from many different sources which are then referenced throughout ZerOS. Some of these sources include Carallo
Australia - The Pilbeam Theatre in Rockhampton, Queensland, is a lively performing arts hub for the city and region. Located in a commanding position fronting onto the Fitzroy River, before the coronavirus pandemic dramatically impacted on all areas of performing arts the venue regularly presented a diverse mix of drama, dance, musical, concerts and comedy productions in its main 1000 capacity auditorium, and they also invested in Robe T1 PC wash moving lights. These are replacing 12 tungsten moving head washes – from a competitor brand – as part of a general lighting upgrade which is part of a programme to transition to LED. Jim Thorogood is the theatre’s head of lighting. The venue is both a producing and a receiving house, and he lights most of the shows produced there. Jim was integrally involved in the specification of the T1 PCs together with Ashley Salta w
Italy - Prolights has appointed David Ferraz to the position of marketing manager. David began his career at White Light in the UK after graduating in Live Events Technology from the University of South Wales. He later spent five years at Wireless Solution Sweden as their international business development manager, leading up distribution and marketing for the Swedish manufacturer. In his new role, David will oversee new marketing strategies and business intelligence, and support the sales development team to open new opportunities for the rapidly expanding company. His technical background will allow him to tailor the marketing strategies to reach and communicate with the users more effectively. “I have worked in different areas of the entertainment lighting market - my career started in technical support and then worked in business development, and I now have the o
Greece - Athens football club Olympiacos celebrated the 45th championship title in its history by sending a message of hope and optimism to its supporters in Piraeus, all of Greece and around the world. A spectacular televised show, filled with light and music, was staged in the empty G. Karaiskakis Stadium where the team demolished a coronavirus pandemic “wall” and fans joined players virtually to raise the championship trophy. Claypaky Mythos 2 fixtures contributed to this Lights of Hope ceremony and its theme of overcoming obstacles to emerge triumphant. George Tellos, lighting designer with Lighting Art Athens, was responsible for the programming and lighting coordination for the show. He selected Claypaky Mythos 2 fixtures over two other moving light candidates for their performance across long distances. “I was astounded by them,” he says. “I had seen
Columbia - Drive-in concerts have become popular in the wake of Covid-19 lockdowns. So too have livestream shows. Orbit Eventos combined the two formats this September, in a show that offered fans the choice of watching at home via a livestream, or enjoying the DJ and band performances from their automobiles at a simultaneous drive-in show. Collaborating with Orbit Eventos, Colombian producer, Ricardo Ruiz, who has worked with leading Latin stars like Justin Quiles, Darkiel, Victor Manuelle and Grupo Niche, created the dual-purpose show at a park south of the city of Cali. Although the two-hour event offered fans the best of both worlds, it did present some special concerns for lighting designer Milton de la Cruz, who had to balance the demands of creating looks that were bold enough to reach the spread-out drive-in audience, yet tight enough to work on a livestream.
South Africa - Rokunda Netshiluvhi of DirectorRo has managed to ride the COVID-19 wave and come out tops, using this time to learn, establish himself as a lighting designer and set up a virtual platform at Vision View Productions based in Cosmo Business Park, Johannesburg. Rokunda resigned from full-time employment at rental company Murangi Productions and started his own company as a freelancer in November 2019. “I decided to register myself as a business so that I could be accountable in everything I do,” he explains. “If freelancers pay attention, they can do what I’m doing. It starts off by thinking of yourself as a business instead of living hand-to-mouth. “Many freelancers rely on receiving a phone call and being booked for an event. They think that to get work, someone has to call, instead of thinking let me try and make something myself, let me pitch
Australia - Sunstudios in Sydney, is a diverse creative hub for the photographic and motion picture / imaging industries and creatives. Owned by Canon Australia, the Sydney facility offers five studio spaces plus camera and lighting rentals, CPS service, a gallery space as well as fine art printing and other specialist services. With the video elements of the business expanding, explained sales manager Zoltan Blazer, they sought more flexible and practical options for lighting, and were hearing good reports about Astera’s wireless battery-operated LED product range from several sources. So, he and motion specialist Neale Head thought they should take a further look for themselves. Astera’s Australian distributor ULA group arranged a demo and the Titan range of LED tubes “really impressed us” stated Zoltan, “and after seeing this we knew we wanted this
UK - Persistent and torrential rain didn’t dampen any spirits or enthusiasm at Silverstone Circuit in the UK where moving light manufacturer Robe UK, rental and production company Clearsound and Silverstone’s events and conference team transformed the race track’s Wing building and conference centre ‘resplendent red’ for the evening of 30 September 2020. This massive effort was in support the #WeMakeEvents Global Day of Action. Nearly 100 Robe moving lights supplied by Clearsound and Robe helped light two key locations at Silverstone – The Wing pit lane and paddock building, which resembles the wing of a race car with extensive event and conference facilities on the higher floors, and the BRDC (British Racing Drivers’ Club) Clubhouse which was a couple of kilometres away on a different part of this enormous site. The Robe luminaires were combined w
USA - In mid-August, Matchroom Boxing and sports streaming service DAZN placed a boxing ring in the middle of the street in downtown Tulsa for a night of fighting action that gave a whole new meaning to street fighting. Omni Lighting in Tulsa was called on to light the event for co-producers Matchroom and DAZN and chose to support the action using an adaptable rig of Elation lights. Holden Productions promoted the event locally. There are few things more exhilarating than a good boxing match where two evenly matched opponents go toe to toe to see who’s got the most grit. Tension runs high and the excitement level is at a peak both leading up to and during a bout. That suspense is the result of a number of factors, not least the lighting environment, which can ratchet up the fervour one moment then settle to put clear focus on the task at hand once the bouts begin.
UAE - ETC lighting solutions have been selected for the new TV studios of news channel Al Arabiya. ETC dealer, Oasis Enterprises supplied the equipment including a Sensor3 Power Control system, a Gio @5 Eos-family control console, Response Mk2 DMX Gateways and DataTrack Backbone system. The TV studios, located in Dubai, had the full ETC lighting equipment installed in just three weeks with the help of Oasis Enterprises who have worked in collaboration with Al Arabiya for almost twelve years. Lighting manager at Al Arabiya, Safwan Harcouss commented on the installation: “The news programme is a 24-hour show and requires the best and most reliable equipment. Having worked successfully with ETC products in the past, we are confident that the new additions will perform well.” Last year, the Al Arabiya news station added an Eos Ti console desk to its production st
USA - Chris ‘Thumper’ Hathaway made the backdrop created for Blackberry Smoke’s Leave A Scar LP an integral part of his design for their performance at the Starlight Drive-in outside Pittsburgh. Aside from that, the colourful backdrop also helped him create a compelling look for the show, despite the small size of the drive-in stage, especially when it was enlivened by the eight Chauvet Professional Maverick Strom 1 Wash fixtures in his rig. “I have always been a big fan of backdrops, especially for Blackberry Smoke, given the nature of the band’s sound,” said Hathaway. “This one was designed by the band’s drummer, Brit Turner, as album cover art. It’s a blow-through and has become our go-to piece for outdoor shows, including this one, even though it’s supporting a new album. “A thing I really like about this backdrop is that it lights up v
Germany - ARRI has announced that its new, versatile LED fixture, Orbiter, will soon be available to customers worldwide. Since Orbiter’s product launch in September 2019, many initial field tests have been conducted and valuable user feedback on Orbiter and its features has been collected. Using these findings, Orbiter was greenlit into serial production. The first units are now being shipped to customers. A completely new production concept was developed for the assembly and evaluation of the Orbiter, with an extended and comprehensive test setup. A high level of process automation that ensures stable quality standards, combined with experienced employees and the necessary flexibility, enables ARRI to continue to develop and manufacture its products in Germany. In addition to the core element ARRI Spectra, the new and innovative light engine, a wide range of access
Germany - The 10th anniversary edition of the iHeartRadio Music Festival took place recently in Los Angeles. Among the cast was Usher, broadcasting from a red-lit stage. Both his 20-minute set, and the generic lighting rig at the iHeartRadio Theatre LA, were studded with GLP fixtures - supplied by locally based Volt Lites and put to work by LD Matt Ardine and programmer Mark Butts. While the generic rig itself contained a ceiling of 36 GLP X4 atoms - described by Ardine as “an inexpensive way of making the lighting rig look large” - along with 77 discreet GLP FR1’s, Usher’s set featured GLP FR10 bars, at the request of the artist’s design team, Eric Gorleski and John McGuire from TrasK House creative agency. “We wanted Usher’s set to feel different than the other performances at the theatre, with a more intimate, but still 6ft socially distanced feel that
USA - Drone show technology specialist Verge Aero recently provided its expertise in drone swarm technology to a US television show, the History Channel’s Unidentified: Inside America’s UFO Investigations. The show follows Luis ‘Lue’ Elizondo - former director of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Programme (AATIP), the secretive Pentagon unit that studied UFOs - as he investigates reports of unexplained aerial phenomena. Last December, sightings of large drone formations flying over Eastern Colorado and Nebraska sparked considerable press attention. However, extensive investigations by state and federal authorities including the FAA, DOD, and FBI failed to find an explanation for the presence of the machines. Elizondo met Verge Aero’s experts to find out more about its proprietary drone ‘swarm’ technology, and consider whether this
Poland - Bedoes is one of the most popular rappers in Poland and boasts many collaborations with popular Polish singers. On 18 September, he held an open-air gig in Warsaw, the last date on the Opowieści z doliny smoków (Tales from the land of dragons) tour. “The tour started in January 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic we were forced to postpone the last two shows until the end of summer” said Szymon Płotkowski, lighting designer who oversaw the project. “While designing a lighting plot for this tour, I wanted to reflect the dark atmosphere of the album (medieval, fantasy references), adding some glamour when needed. That's why I used Prolights SunBlasts 3000FC in the basic plot. These fixtures gave me the opportunity to have ‘dirty’ wash sidelight, fancy pixel effects and powerful strobes. A huge range of amazing effects all from one fi
UK - Scottish lighting trail Wondrous Woods has secured a corporate sponsor for their relaxed performance evening in October. The lighting trail, being organised by Edinburgh event company 21CC Group opens its gates at Hopetoun House on 21 October promising “2km of beautifully-lit woodland trails and a magical safe night out for families”. Organiser, Geoff Crow of 21CC Group says: “We understand that the multi-sensory nature of the environment may cause sensory overload in those with Autism or other sensory processing disorders, so on Tuesday 27 October we are reducing capacity, decreasing the sound levels, and increasing the lighting levels to ensure the best possible experience for our guests. All of this is only possible with the support we have secured from Walter Scott; we are delighted that they are on board with us, allowing us to bring this event to those who m
USA - Rod Sintow, vice-president, Solotech sales and systems integration division, has announced the appointment of Brad Nelms as sales director of Solotech's Las Vegas office. Nelms will be responsible for the leadership of the Las Vegas sales team, with the objective of establishing Solotech’s business position and growing revenue and market share in the region. He will oversee the development of key existing accounts in the live performance and entertainment sectors, while ensuring a strong diversification strategy to penetrate other high-promising market segments. With over 15 years’ experience in sales management and operations, namely at ACT Lighting, VER and 4Wall Entertainment, Brad Nelms has considerable customer service skills and a strong background in personnel management, training and organisational development. “Brad’s certifications and qua
