Production News
Martin MAC 101 RGB and CT fixtures for Radiohead
Posted on Friday, December 21st, 2012
Radiohead recently finished their world tour with five gigs in Australia where they showcased the band’s multi-decade career in an incredible aural and visual celebration. As a live band they transform their creations into an experience both towering and incandescent aided by the spectacular lighting of Andi Watson.
Andi’s groundbreaking design for In Rainbows from 2008 used a 100% LED lighting and video system and it was important that this tour was just as environmentally friendly hence the inclusion of thirty-two Martin MAC 101 RGB and sixteen MAC 101 CT LED moving head wash lights – the only moving heads in the rig.
The MAC 101 RGB fixtures are used as rear light and the MAC 101 CT as side and key lighting on the floor.
“In reference to the MAC 101 RGB fixtures, I was looking for an LED fixture that I could fire through the gaps in the upstage Versatube wall,” explained Andi. “It had to be a very small fixture in order to focus through the gaps and the MAC 101 RGB seemed like the ideal choice. It’s tiny size meant that we could sub-hang them from pipes coming down behind the Versatube wall, so close they almost touch it. Not only could we get a lot of up and down movement, we also managed side to side movement albeit not quite a full range.”
With the flexibility offered by the MAC 101 RGB fixtures, Andi could use them to back-light the band, as rear band key light, to provide block colour washes and also to sweep out into the audience. The MAC 101 RGB’s added another layer of audience lighting whilst the video screens were preoccupied displaying band image work and Andi was impressed by their performance throughout the tour.
“The reliability of the units is amazing,” added Andi. “They performed really well.”
Incorporating both cold and warm white LEDs, the MAC 101 CT allows for easy changes in colour temperature from crisp cold looks to warm shades and features simple intensity control. Each MAC 101 CT is colour temperature calibrated (2800 – 6200K) to ensure a high quality of white light and visual consistency across fixtures. A while back Andi trialled some pre-production MAC 101 CT fixtures on a Radiohead gig in New York and he found them to be ‘incredible’.
“I was really amazed by their quality of beam,” he said. “They have a nice, tight beam of really lovely light plus they’re very bright and small. I used them as top key light with a couple also on the side place on the floor for white side washing. I loved them so much, and how we used them, I wanted to carry the idea through to this tour’s design. That’s where the sixteen lights at the side come from; they gave me a lot of options with intensity changes and therefore be able to change where the light is coming from without actually having to move the fixture all the time.
” I really love the MAC 101 CT, being able to go from the warm to the cold really does give you a lot of opportunities plus they’re a great key light for the cameras. ”
Photos: Troy Constable
A busy start to the summer season for Philips Vari-Lite fixtures
Posted on Tuesday, December 11th, 2012
As the big international acts start to head downunder for the busy summer season there is one thing most of them have in common: lots of lovely Vari-Lites!
Elton John’s lighting designer Kevin ‘Stick’ Bye, a former Vari-Lite technician, naturally prefers to use Vari-Lites and for this run he preferred to have around fifty-two VL3000 and twelve VL2000 washes. Lighting was supplied by PRG.
Nickleback’s lighting designer Butch Allen also used PRG’s Vari-Lite 3000 fixtures as well as six VL2500 washes with Chris Maeder in control.
The most talked about concert was Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto World Tour where lighting designer Paul Normandale used Vari-Lite VL3500 Wash FX units to create a unique lighting experience to perfectly complement the band’s ultraviolet spectacular.
” The band wanted a vivid ultraviolet feel, with a sphere of energy that could transform from small to massive,” explained Paul.
To create the right look, Paul used Vari-Lite VL3500 Wash FX units, which feature an output that exceeds 50,000 lumens, as well as varied new options for colour and beam control.
“The 3500 allows me to use just one light with where I would normally have to use two,” commented Paul.
The 3500 FX was the back bone of the stadium show, with 34 units including 12 on the upper concourses of the stadiums. As Paul said: “Few lights have the power to cut through from so far away.”
The band had its own strong vision for its live performances. At each gig, fans were asked to wear a radio-controlled lighting device wristband that omitted either blue, white, pink, or yellow on cue to music, turning the entire stadium into a sea of dancing orbs.
“Coldplay is all about live audience interaction, the OED wristbands were given free to every member of the crowd and interact with the lighting and performance, basically it is 60,000 people of pixels,” said Paul.
Lighting was supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems who are also providing the lighting for Jennifer Lopez who will be playing arenas later this month with a Vari-Lite dominated rig designed by Sean Burke.
Sean has created an energetic and dramatic design using a battery of VL3500 Wash FX and VL3000 Spot luminaires .
“The lighting workhorses for this show are definitely the wash lights,” says Sean. “I’ve been using the VL3500 Wash fixtures for a while now and I really like them. They’re extremely flexible fixtures and do something that no other lights on the market can do.”
Aside from Lopez’s band and dancers, the huge stage measuring 62′ wide x 48′ deep is filled with a backdrop of powerful LED video screens.
“The VL3500 Wash fixtures are the perfect weapon to combat high-powered video walls, but now when I add in the FX unit I get two bangs for my buck,” continues Burke. “I have the ability to use gobo patterns in addition to a really wide wash that’s incredibly bright and can zoom down into a pencil beam. It’s an incredible fixture.”
Burke also required a powerful spot luminaire to complement the VL3500 Wash FX, and that’s where the VL3000 Spots step in.
“The VL3000 Spots are extremely versatile fixtures. The bright beams go from narrow to wide with consistently smooth operation and are the perfect complement to the VL3500 Wash FX. Plus, it makes it easier on the crew when all the lights in the rig are consistent. Given that the VL3500 Wash FX and VL3000 Spot do everything I required for this show, there was no need to mix them up with other fixtures.”
Elton John and Coldplay Photos: Troy Constable
Coldplay fires up with an arsenal of Martin fixtures
Posted on Friday, November 30th, 2012
Coldplay has departed our shores leaving behind thousands of elated and satisfied punters who attended their Mylo Xyloto tour.
And what a show it was with an absolutely stunning stage and lighting set up courtesy of production designer Paul Normandale who chose an array of Martin fixtures, including the new 1000 W MAC Viper Profile™, to add to his lighting arsenal, which enabled him to create fresh, dynamic looks and feels that were a real crowd pleaser.
Lighting vendor for the Australian leg was Chameleon Touring Systems who supplied 24 x Martin MAC700, 6 x MAC Vipers, 16 x MAC2000 Wash XBS, 58 x MAC101, 26 x Atomic Strobes, and 20 x MAC250 fixtures.
“Martin originally asked me to incorporate the Vipers as field test units. But I saw them on demonstration at their Aarhus headquarters and knew that they would fit the bill of a bright but small profile source,” says Paul.
The new MAC Viper Profile produces 26,000 lumens of power, making it brighter than 1200 W fixtures on the market with a smaller form and lower weight. Its excellent light quality and very flat and uniform field, plus its fast zoom with auto-linked focus makes it ideal for Paul’s purpose.
“For me, the benefit of Martin is that they produce the right fixtures for the job,” he proclaims. “They are reliable and readily available worldwide, which is important when you’re taking a large production on a global tour.”
The convergence of lighting and screens is something that has become a familiar concept in recent years and is one that Paul has embraced on this tour. With five large circular screens providing plenty of eye candy, Paul’s lighting design seamlessly draws the two mediums together.
“I was keen to blur the boundaries of lighting and video on the stadium shows,” he says. “My ideal is totally colour affected IMAG, working in union with the lighting.
“This means that the lights I use need to be bright and their zoom needs to be significant. The Martin Professional fixtures help me to achieve that and I am always very happy with the way the equipment performs and their support.”
Photos: Troy Constable
Robe and VuePix drive the style at 2012 Australian Motor Show
Posted on Tuesday, November 27th, 2012
Over 200 Robe moving lights accompanied by a large number of LED VuePix displays were specified for use at the 2012 Australian International Motor Show (AIMS) which was recently held at the Sydney Exhibition centre in Darling Harbour.
Lighting equipment for ten of the high profile Automobile manufacturers made up of Ford, Holden, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Mercedes and Toyota – was supplied by Clifton Productions.
The Lighting design for Toyota’s exhibition space was conceived by Ziggy Ziegler, while Mark Hammer created the look for Ford, the other 8 manufacturers were designed and executed by the Clifton Productions lighting team.
The Holden booth was surrounded by video. It featured the longest video LED display on the entire exhibitionfloor,, totalling 54.4m of VuePix screens. The centre main screen was built from sixty M10 panels, which were seamlessly integrated with 20 VuePix P18 panels on each side. These 2 models of Vuepix Led displays ran all the visuals through the entire Holden Exhibit. All the screen content was controlled via an v i7 Quad Core MacBook Pro. Three ImagePro HD scalers were looped through each other to merge the individual screens. The single piece of HD content was then scaled into the correct position using the ImagePro boxes.
The Lamborghini display incorporated 2 x VuePix P6 display configurations (both consisting of 16 panels), each of them being built into freestanding truss arches.
VuePix screens were also used as a visual centrepiece for the video content displayed on the Mitsubishi booth. 75 pieces of P18 Panels were arranged in 17.3m wide x 5 metre high screen, which resulted in one of the widest displays of the show. The unique video content was designed to support the custom aspect of the display. Screen content was driven from a MacBook Pro via an ImagePro HD.
A wide variety of Robe moving lights were utilised overall – including the ROBIN LEDWash 600, which was used extensively throughout the exhibition as it is ideal for automotive lighting applications.
The Hyundai stand also featured the high powered ROBIN 600E Beams.
Other fixtures used throughout the show included ColorSpot and ColorWash 1200E ATs and ColorSpot 700 and 2500E ATs.
Robe was once again specified for the 2012 Motor Show as a result of Clifton’s excellent experience with using the fixtures at the 2011 AIMS in Melbourne.
Clifton’s Project Manager for the show was Michael Parsons, and their lighting team consisted of Matt Hansen (Holden), Dave Wier (Honda), Tim Beeston (Hyundai), Josh Evans (Infiniti / Lexus), Rowan Denny (Mitsubishi / Mazda) and Kane Meade (Toyota).
Vari*Lite And ETC Are Legally Blonde
Posted on Thursday, November 22nd, 2012
Currently playing at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre, Legally Blonde The Musical is lit by Kenneth Posner and Paul Miller with Hugh Hamilton acting as associate for the Australian Tour. The set and lighting design for the Australian production comes from the London production of the musical held at the Savoy Theatre.
The rig houses only Vari-Lite moving lights: forty-four VL2500 Spots, twenty-two VL2500 Washes and five VL3500 Spots whilst conventional lighting consists of over 200 ETC Source Four fixtures. It’s a fairly straight forward rig that was, according to Hugh, expertly prepped at PRG, easily hung and there were very few problems to overcome.
“The overhead trusses go spot, wash, spot, wash, spot, wash and the ladders are all VL2500 Spots,” explained Hugh. “It’s a great rig because you can put anything you need where you need it, plus it’s quick to focus. Both the VL2500 Spot and Wash models are great and are amongst the most reliable fixtures in that class on the market. I really like their smooth dimming wheel; because it has a coated glass dimmer wheel the zero to up fade seems to be very smooth. I can’t think of the last job I’ve done when I didn’t have the VL2500 Spots as the backbone of the spot area. Legally Blonde, Jersey Boys, Wicked – the VL2500 is a real workhorse on all of them.”
Kenneth Posner particularly likes the VL2500 Wash and is quoted as saying, “I love this light. When I design a project, I like to start by defining a very specific colour palette with exact timing and movement. For my design style, this is the perfect light for me because they have a great colour palette and are fast with consistent movement.”
“The washes have really good colours,” concurs Hugh. “It’s small, lightweight and fast and has a great zoom range from 14º to 55º.
The VL3500 are hung on the balcony rail from where they can do a predominant number of specials and effects. Hugh is a fan of the VL3500’s four-blade shutter mechanism that allows the blades to be operated independently or in unison on two planes for a clear and crisp image.
“The shutters get used quite substantially in this production,” he said. “The two gobo/effects wheels are really good too.”
“The VL3500s can do the work of many fixtures, because they can constantly change shuttering and recompose as the stage pictures recompose,” said Posner. “It’s a tremendous asset in touring productions where you truly can’t troupe a Broadway-sized conventional rig around the country.”
There are approximately 2 million ETC Source Fours shining brightly in entertainment and architectural venues across the globe – outperforming and outlasting all others. No other lights provide such lighting punch while keeping heat generation to a minimum and providing radical energy savings. And Source Four Zoom optics have yet to be surpassed in performance and efficiency.
“The ETC Source Four is the workhorse of the conventional lamp family,” added Hugh. “It’s solid, dependable and used everywhere!”
Photos: Jeff Busby
www.jands.com.au
Clay Paky delivers versatility to the X Factor
Posted on Tuesday, November 20th, 2012
As yet another successful season of The X Factor reaches its finale, lighting designer Ian Anderson can put away his creative hat in order to have a few days rest! Week after week Ian has consistently designed a splendid array of ‘mini lighting designs’ for individual contestants within the vast overall X Factor design.
Helping him along the way were thirty-four Clay Paky Alpha Beam 700 and forty-four Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures.
“Both the Sharpys and Alpha Beams have got to be some of the most versatile lights on the market today,” remarked Ian. “They have a great selection of gobos for beam effects, nice colour mixing and they are very reliable. Both types of units can also turn into very punchy wash units using the frosts.”
The Alpha Beam 700 was conceived as an automated ACL to create parallel light beams, visible even in the brightest scenes. Its small, lightweight, quick-moving body contains the most advanced technology for generating a bright beam that can be coloured and shaped at pleasure, for amazing dynamic mid-air effects.
“With shows that are based around a lot of LED screens its important to get the beams from the lights but they still need to be able to light things as well and this is where the Alpha Beams work well on camera,” commented Ian. “I might even hasten to say that wash lamps may be a thing of the past with fixtures like these on the market!”
Ian has extensively used the Sharpys this year for moments where he requires light to be the centre of attention. They have become a feature of many acts whether it is sixteen of them sitting onstage creating fans or eight circling above a piano casting gobos.
“The compactness of the fixtures have allowed us to really just throw them into any situation to be the feature as well as getting nice subtle looks with the rest of the rig,” he said. “The Sharpys are so small and light the hard working crew on X Factor can manage to get sixteen of them onstage, cabled and active in a four minute commercial break!”
Ian has made use of the Sharpys the whole way through the series this time from the auditions tour, bootcamp, titles shoots and the live studio shows.
Vari*Lite And ETC Deliver The X Factor
Posted on Monday, November 19th, 2012
As another season of The X Factor draws to a close, it has to be said that lighting designer Ian Anderson has excelled himself creating an endless succession of inspired lighting scenarios.
Helping him to do so is a variety of Vari-Lite and ETC fixtures; in particular the forty-eight VL3000 Spots.
“I have used these on X Factor for a few years now and they are a great workhorse,” commented Ian. “They are great for covering the entire stage with a soft gobo, using as key lights for those special FX moments or just filling in the gaps the cameras seem to find! I still have my favourite custom set of gobos that have done wonders over the years.”
Ian also has sixteen VL2500 Spots and sixteen VL2000 Washes which he describes as a nice small fixture that will fit into most places.
“I have them all in between the side LED screens to give that extra kick to dances and to take away the flatness that you can get on camera with LED being in such a small studio,” he explained. “I also have twenty-eight VLX LED wash fixtures – a solid moving light that we have no problems with at all! They are bright and act and feel like a bigger wash light.”
The rig contains thirty ETC Source Four Revolutions, the high-performance, 15-35° Zoom Ellipsoidal equipped with motorized pan, tilt, zoom, on-board dimming, and gel scroller.
“These units may have been around for a few years now but there is still not another fixture on the market that can light a person for camera as well as a Source Four Rev,” remarked Ian. “Keylights, kickers, backlights …. every unit in the system would have a go at each of those tasks probably several times per show! We are working on shows now more than ever with 360deg views of the entire studio, hosting positions constantly being tweaked to get the best angles and grids that we can’t get to for quick focuses. In fact, I believe that you can’t light a show like X Factor without them!”
Lighting was supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems.
A Floral Feast with Martin MAC301’s
Posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2012
Floriade, Australia’s biggest celebration of spring is held every year for thirty days over the months of September and October. It showcases one million flowers in bloom, set in Canberra’s Commonwealth Park and attracting over 400,000 visitors.
For five of those nights Floriade comes alive after dark with NightFest when the garden bed designs, pond waters and trees are shown in a whole new light as they are lit by dazzling light shows.
Designed and created by Mandylights, this year’s NightFest made extensive use of the Martin MAC301 the LED moving head washlight with a powerfully fast zoom and impressive zoom range. Capable of producing a wide range of exceptional colours from rich saturated shades to pastels through the entire zoom range, the MAC301 was the ideal choice.
Prior to the event, Mandylights organised a ‘shoot out’ of comparable products on the market and even though the MAC301 is a bit older than some of its competitors, it still had the edge over them in terms of sheer output.
A total of forty-eight MAC301 fixtures, positioned in groups of six, took care of lighting the largest part of the site; the main vista comprising of six different garden beds that occupy 200m x 50m of the park.
“It’s the iconic view of Floriade that they use in all of their marketing,” explained Richard Neville of Mandylights. “It’s also the first part of the park that visitors see so it has to be impressive.”
The MAC301’s are situated in eight of Mandylights’ own custom built scaffold towers which they have refined over the past three years of doing the event. The first year saw Mandylights use all conventional fixtures for this area followed a year later by discharge moving lights.
“This year, with the interactive element, we needed a fixture that is reliable with so much colour changing over the course of the night,” added Richard. “We didn’t think that a traditional CMY mixing system would hold up to the assault of repeatedly changing colour for five hours over five nights in a row.”
Another important factor to be considered when choosing a suitable fixture was that the site has no power with everything generator powered. So a fixture’s power consumption was extremely important and the MAC301 offers great energy efficiency.
“The MAC301 is also small and light which makes rigging easy,” commented Richard. “Also, as it uses LED colour mixing there are no moving parts involved which makes them a more reliable fixture.”
This year it was decided to give visitors a new experience by offering interactive lighting whereby they can actually pick the colour they want to see washing the flower beds via an iPad.
“The theme for this year’s Floriade revolved around style so this has been carried through to the lighting – apply your own style of lighting colour and effect to each bed,” said Richard. “It’s very simple for the visitor to choose between a few colours and chase patterns.”
Each of the six beds had an iPad in front of it with custom made software that talks to the MA Lighting MA2 lighting console via Midi. The lighting console then triggers off a number or a combination of cues that would then instantaneously change the MAC301’s.
Whilst the MAC301’s would do their individual colour changing courtesy of the public for five minutes they would then do a two-minute show programmed by Mandylights to exploit the movement of the MAC301’s.
“We found that if we shot them all up into the air with a narrow zoom you’d get a searchlight effect into the night sky which was really cool,” added Richard. “We really got a lot of bang for buck out of them.”
Canberra in the spring can get down to minus 3 degrees at night, sometimes getting up into the high 20’s during the day plus it can also be windy. According to Richard, the MAC301’s were onsite for two weeks and performed admirably.
The MAC301’s were supplied by PRG.
Resolution X teams up with Chunky Move
Posted on Friday, October 26th, 2012
ResolutionX is proud to announce a production partnership with Chunky Move for their latest ambitious piece An Act of Now for the Melbourne International Arts Festival. An Act of Now is the first show choreographed by the company’s new artistic director Anouk Van Dijk, with lighting design by Niklas Pajanti.
Keeping with Chunky Move’s commitment to challenging the norm, this show is staged inside a glass house at the Myer Music Bowl. Audience members don wireless headphones upon entry to the venue then make their way down to sit on the stage, looking out towards the amphitheatre.
This unique staging presented Niklas with a number of challenges, but as anyone who has seen the show will attest he met these head-on, producing some stunning results.
Niklas employed six Clay Paky Alpha 1500 Profiles and six Studio Due City Color 2600s to provide his foundations. The Alpha 1500 shutters framed beams of light into the glass house as well as throwing light up the hill of the amphitheatre. The City Colors created a low-angled backlight effect into the house and also cast light up the hill.
Much of the show was lit from inside the house using a variety of sources with diverse colour temperatures. Among them a Metal Halide and high-pressure sodium ‘grow lights’, 1500 watt QIs, 8 way Molefay blinders and Martin Atomic 3000 strobes from ResX, plus dimmable cool-white LED strips mounted in the floor.
ResX’s new ETC Ion 2000 and a 2 x 10 fader wing were the consoles of choice, operated by Johnboy Davidson.
Chunky Move also utilised two new Martin Magnum 1800 Smoke machines to duct smoke into the glass house, as well as ResX’s latest addition the battery-powered Look Solution Tiny Power Fogger.
An Act of Now runs until the 27th of Oct. For quotation or demo on this or any equipment from ResolutionX please call or email 03 9701 2411 hire@resolutionX.com.au
Photos by Jeff Busby
www.resolutionx.com.au
Martin MAC Vipers make their show debut in Australia
Posted on Friday, October 12th, 2012
Resolution X took delivery of the first Martin MAC Vipers in Australia and these new units didn’t spend long in their new warehouse before making their debut appearance at the AFL Footy Show Grand Final Edition.
The show was broadcast live from Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena with an audience in the millions but this didn’t stop lighting designer Rohan Thornton from debuting a product he’d never used before.
“I knew it wouldn’t be a risk as Martin is famous for their reliability and the people at Res X would have tested them thoroughly,” he added. “In fact on the night they were the only fixture we didn’t have a problem with! The only risk was that I only had twenty-four Vipers and I used all of them with no spare but I wasn’t let down.”
Rohan had seen the MAC Viper at the Entech tradeshow and heard how it was going to be the replacement for the MAC2000 so he was very interested to see how it would perform.
“All these new lights come out with flashy bits but the workhorses are the backbone of the industry and I wanted to have a play with what could potentially be the next workhorse,” he remarked. “I wasn’t disappointed! I found them to be excellent; optically they were very, very good, the choice of lamp is excellent, the colour temperature was very consistent, the gobos are good as is the zoom range – in fact there was no feature I didn’t like. I loved everything about them.”
The Vipers were positioned on moving trusses upstage from where they were Rohan’s primary profile light and source light on the stage from behind.
“Optically and from an intensity point of view they cut through all the other fixtures that I was using so they had pride of place,” he added.
Also over the stage were Martin MAC700 profiles and washes and twenty-four MAC TW1 fixtures which Rohan adores.
“I love them, always have and always will!” he said. “I’ve used them on just about everything I’ve done. I like to add a bit of tungsten into the arc profile spots – it’s a nice differential colour temperature.”
On the vertical trusses rear of stage were thirty-four Martin MAC Auras which Rohan was curious to use on a televised show.
“I think most TV lighting folk don’t like the pixel look of LED moving lights but the idea of having a soft fresnel lens and being able to colour separately looked promising so I was keen to give the Auras a good go on a TV show,” commented Rohan. “They were absolutely sensational and are my LED fixture of choice from now on! Apart from being a damn good fixture with a good beam, colours and everything like that, physically on the set they look much more like a light than a bunch of moving dots.”
Ninety-six Martin MAC301 LED fixtures were used around the arena to light the audience and they were so successful, for the first time Rohan did not have to use any conventional lights.
Photos: Ben Claydon
www.resolutionx.com.au
www.showtech.com.au
Santos GLNG City of Lights comes alive with Clay Paky
Posted on Tuesday, October 9th, 2012
For three weeks in September, thousands of people gathered on the banks of the Brisbane River every night to see Santos GLNG City of Lights illuminate the city with a brand new light, laser and special effects show presented by Events Queensland for Brisbane Festival 2012.
Santos GLNG City of Lights saw massive towering structures built on the river, with cascading water features, and lasers and searchlights from rooftops and river barges thrilling spectators with a dazzling choreographed dance of colour, music and light.
A total of 231 lights and lasers and 70 speakers were used, along with an 800 tonne barge the size of two tennis courts housing 30 metre towers and massive water pumps. Added to that were five spectacular green and gold lasers which were projected from five buildings. In addition, 48 searchlights and 174 special effects including 80 Clay Paky fixtures lit up the skies.
Another four full-colour spectrum lasers were positioned on the city banks to project onto the water and nine fountains sprayed water up to 60 metres in the air – the equivalent of a 20-storey building.
This year’s Santos GLNG City of Lights and its accompanying soundtrack were developed by creative director Tony Assness with lighting designed by John Rayment.
“One of the greatest challenges was that the fountains sprayed salt water over the lighting equipment so everything had to be weatherproofed,” commented John. “Some product had special enclosures built for it but we also used the Pro Shop Air Domes.”
John chose to use forty Clay Paky Sharpy and forty Clay Paky Alpha Beam 700 fixtures, all positioned on the barge. With its unprecedented brightness usually achievable only with far greater wattages, the Sharpy is ideal for such large events as it produces a perfectly parallel, laser-like beam with an incredible output of 59,760 lx at 20m.
“The Sharpys are sensational especially when you consider they are a 189W light source,” said John. “They move very fast and have a terrific optic – they left me staggered! During the programming stage we inadvertently shone them right over the river onto an apartment block and I was astonished at how bright they remained. They’re a jolly little light that is quite robust even in these hostile situations. In fact they were fantastic for this application.”
The Sharpys are also lightweight and compact which made them ideal for the barge from where they could create an array of spectacular mid-air effects.
The Alpha Beam 700 is also small and lightweight, with a bright beam that can be coloured and shaped for amazing dynamic mid-air effects. This beam may be pointed at the audience or used as a dynamic colour changing “sky-tracker”. Well protected by coverings, the Alpha Beams drew clear shafts of light into the sky, showing off the extraordinary performance of this new generation of moving heads. John describes the Clay Paky Alpha Beams as having a more organic flavour than the Sharpys.
“They have slightly different optics and I was very happy with the combination of the two as their beams look so different,” he remarked. “The Alpha Beams have a different quality to them and it’s great to mix them up – they played well together in the sand pit!. They really are a great little light.”
Owing to its variety of effects, the Alpha Beam 700 is a very versatile Alpha 700 series model. The light generates a beam with splendid mid-air effects thanks to gobos and rotating prisms. At the same time, focusing and high quality optical components mean gobo projections are bright even at great distances. The Alpha Beam 700 may even be transformed into an efficient washlight using a linear frost system. The light beams may be pointed very quickly at the stage, at the audience or, in the case of open air events, up into the sky.
Also on the barge were 20 Martin MAC700 Profiles, 30 Martin Atomic Strobes, 30 SGM Palco 5 LED wash, 100 Pro Shop LED DMX Tubes and a couple of JEM Roadie Heavy Foggers. Control was by an MA Lighting grandMA with Chameleon Touring Systems supplying the gear.
BAAC Light testing ArKaos Media Master 3 for Hairspray Set Projection
Posted on Monday, October 8th, 2012
Prior to the recent release of ArKaos Media Master 3, the team at BAAC Light gave the new software version and the video mapper functionality the ultimate final beta test. An amateur production of Hairspray the Musical staged by PLOS Musical Productions provided the ideal opportunity due to the requirement of a fully projected set. Large moveable set pieces constructed from polystyrene called for a media server solution capable of individually mapping over 90 different projection surfaces as the set pieces move into the numerous configurations for each scene.
BAAC Light co-founders Andrei Chlebnikowski (projection designer) and Brad Alcock (lighting designer) opted to upgrade their existing Media Master License prior to the official release in order to unlock the functionality of the newly developed Video Mapper extension.
The setup for the show consisted of three Media Master Servers running on full spec’ed Mac Mini’s with dual solid state drives outputting to four projectors. The first two servers represented a pair of main and backup machines running the beta version of Media Master 3 and the Video Mapper Extension. Utilising Matrox dual-head-to-go graphics adaptors, these machines provided coverage for all the stage elements to be mapped. As the software was still in beta, running a hot swappable backup machine seemed prudent, but was never required to be switched to during the entire run – Media Master 3 and the video mapper were rock solid. The third server ran Media Master 2.2.6 (as no mapping was required for the final two projectors that this server was outputting to). Two large TV set pieces positioned on either side of the stage had live camera feeds from stage projected onto them during the numerous “TV Studio” scenes as well as pre-show TV commercials from the era.
Given the large number of projection surfaces to be mapped, the amount of artwork involved and the fact that as it was an amateur production with a very small technical production window in the actual theatre, the majority of the surface mapping and media server programming as completed in BAAC Light’s pre-production studio. This was achieved by loading CADs into the video mapper as background images which showed the projection surfaces to be mapped for each scene in its correct position. From there, over 90 individual projection surfaces were created.
BAAC Light then, for the first time, used Media Master in simple mode which effectively takes the assignment and manipulation of images away from the lighting console and has it performed on the Media Master itself. Given the amount of pre-production work, all that was required when each set piece was positioned during the plotting sessions was for the mapping of each surface to be quickly fine-tuned to the actual physical surface. Operating in simple mode still allowed for lighting console control over the intensity of each individual projection surface and for all projection cues to be incorporated into lighting cues to allow for single GO button playback of all lighting and projection cues.
LSC Clarity weathers the storm
Posted on Friday, September 28th, 2012
Tantrum Theatre, in association with the Australian Theatre for Young People, recently staged Grounded, a commissioned piece set against the backdrop of one of the most intriguing events in Newcastle’s recent history, the grounding of the Pasha Bulker. Playwright Alana Valentine was commissioned to create this new work, which celebrates Newcastle’s identity and the significance of the working harbour to Newcastle’s culture.
Lighting designer Lyndon Buckley has been a user of LSC Lighting’s Clarity software control for four years now and naturally chose to use it for this production.
“I’m very comfortable with Clarity and it was particularly ideal for this production,” he said. “I purchased Arkaos Media Master Pro to use alongside Clarity as it integrates seamlessly.”
Lyndon also used Clarity to trigger audio cues explaining that the production had a composer who created a fantastic soundscape that followed the show. Hence it was easy to embed a lot of the audio cues into the lx cues in fact some lx cues did nothing but play audio.
“With Clarity it was really easy to incorporate lighting, projection and audio into the one control solution,” confirmed Lyndon. “This was perfect for me as I was the only operator touring with the show.”
Lighting equipment for the show included one LSC Clarity VX20 Wing, two Martin MAC 250 Entour, eight LED PAR cans, a HZ500 Hazer, ten ETC Source 4 Juniors, twenty 1.2kW Fresnels, twenty-two 575w Profiles and four 650w.
The show played a two-week season at The Civic Playhouse, Newcastle before transferring to Studio 1, at the Australian Theatre for Young People in Sydney a week later for a shorter season.
For the scene of the Pasha Bulker actually grounding, a storm was created on stage using projection, lighting and sound effects for which Lyndon used the advanced timing capabilities of Clarity.
“Clarity has a really good way of editing timing within cues,” commented Lyndon. “With the tight schedule we had, Clarity was the quickest to make changes or adjust. In fact I’ve just done another show with Clarity where the schedule was so tight I actually plotted during the dress rehearsal!”
Lyndon also notes that the level of support he gets from LSC Lighting is fantastic. “I’ve always be able to get quick support from LSC and their forums are a great resource for people needing to ask questions about Clarity. Richie almost always has any answer to any questions I may have!”
Touring equipment, transport and support was supplied by Silhouette Sound Studios, Newcastle. Consumables supplied by Clearlight Shows, Melbourne.
Martin MAC Auras and MA onPC command wing for Fusion
Posted on Friday, August 24th, 2012
Fusion Entertainment was the first production company in Australia to purchase Martin MAC Auras and Paul Walton, Fusion’s production manager, has been delighted with their performance. In fact, he can’t fault them at all saying that they have done everything required of them.
“We purchased six towards the end of last year,” remarked Paul. “I had been hanging out for the right LED moving light and the launch of the MAC Aura was perfect timing. They arrived just before the busy December period and have been in demand ever since. They’re a wash light that can do a whole lot more than any other LED light on the market. They’re a nice small unit that is very punchy.”
Paul describes the colours created by the MAC Aura as amazing especially the pastel hues.
“The RGB white offered by the MAC Aura gives you a whole new range of colours that I haven’t seen with any other LED products,” he commented. “The wide zoom range also makes the MAC Auras very versatile as we can use them as stage wash lights or zoom them right up to get some really good beam effects. Having the ability to use the Aura effects is handy too!”
As the MAC Auras are so small and lightweight they were perfect for the recent Tommy Emmanuel tour (pictured) of Australia which was lit by Paul. As it was not a truck tour, Paul could simply check them in as luggage.
“They’re great on a small tour as it’s easy to climb up a ladder with one in your hand to rig it,” he added.
Also accompanying Paul on the tour was his MA Lighting MA onPC command wing. Paul has been a long time Hog user but was keen to get into the MA Lighting market.
“However with the type of jobs we do I couldn’t justify purchasing a full-size grandMA console,” he admitted. “So, once the MA onPC command wing was released it was an easy decision to purchase one! I found it very easy to learn and the amount of features offered compared to other consoles is amazing. The amount of control you have over each individual element of what you’re trying to do is great. Of course, its light and compact size is wonderful.”
For the Tommy Emmanuel tour Paul carried his MA onPC command wing onboard the plane as hand luggage.
Clay Paky at the ASTRA Awards
Posted on Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012
The ASTRA Awards recognise the wealth of talent that drives the Australian subscription TV industry and highlights the creativity, commitment and investment in production and broadcasting. Entries are sought from subscription TV channels and platforms.
Held at Sydney Theatre, guests at the 10th Annual ASTRA Awards were treated to live performances from some of Australia’s finest performers including Timomatic, singer/songwriter Pete Murray and performers from Sydney Dance Company.
Event producers were Teamevent with Mandylights supplying and designing a fabulous lighting show using Clay Paky Sharpys and Alpha Profiles. The set designed by Julio Himede skillfully blurs the line between where the set stops and the lighting starts. The main scenic element were the arches rimmed with LED tape and tubing which contained LED screens and multiple lighting elements were flown in and out.
The lighting rig was fairly simple, with fixtures chosen for their impact and versatility as there were three main performances plus several awards to be handed out.
A dozen Clay Paky Alpha Profile 700 fixtures were flown in the roof, the first time lighting designer Richard Neville had used them for a television gig.
“I was really impressed by their performance,” he commented. “We needed to have a versatile fixture and the Profiles were great. Their output is fantastic, the zoom speed is really cool and the speed that the framing shutters move meant we can do some really cool chase effects with them.”
Nine Sharpys were positioned on the floor from where they became a part of the architecture of the set design.
“We held them in a static state and with the high-gloss stage plus heaps of haze we created solid beams of light that really complimented the set,” said Richard. “As such they became functional set pieces rather than just a lighting effect. Having said that, we also did lots of cool lighting with them.”
Mandylights will soon be lighting the Daly M Awards and the first thing that Richard did was insist on the Clay Paky Alpha Profiles 700 fixtures!
“I have to admit they are becoming a bit of a favourite,” he revealed.
Two MA Lighting MA2 consoles were chosen for control with one used by Alex Grierson to program the media content and other by Richard to control the lighting.
“The MA2 is my console of choice at the moment,” added Richard. “We use it on almost everything; it’s fast, it still has the reliability for networking and for media servers it’s fantastic.”
Photos courtesy of Teamevent
www.claypaky.com.au
Lady Gaga performs a monster show in Australia with Martin and MA
Posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2012
Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Ball is her third concert tour in support of her second studio album Born This Way and is imbued with political and social themes such as discrimination and government control.
The show clocks in at a meaty to two and a half hours, with 23 songs split into five acts, each with a different feel, and obviously many, many different outfits – this is Gaga we’re talking about, after all.
There’s Gaga astride a disturbingly real-looking mechanical horse, Gaga coming out of the zipper-like vagina of a large, inflatable body, Gaga in a hovering Aliens-esque costume featuring a mask that obscures her face, Gaga in a plastic white dress topped with a ram-horned headpiece and Gaga in a clear bathtub built into the stage. Who cares what it was all about – this was pure pop theatre with a message of love and acceptance for all.
The stage, designed by Gaga herself and her creative team Haus of Gaga, is modeled after a medieval Gothic castle, featuring viewing towers, intricate carvings and a large catwalk to interact with the audience.
Lighting design is by Patrick Woodroffe with Mac Mosier on tour as lighting director. The rig is a self-contained Upstaging production that includes 19 x Martin MAC700 Profile, 2 x Martin MAC700 Wash, 68 x Martin MAC Aura, 28 x Martin Atomic Strobes and control is a MA Lighting grandMA2 console.
The set is a monstrosity that dictates how the production loads in and out of buildings and how everything else is set up. The lighting itself is actually quite straightforward. When you look at a top plan view of the lighting system it looks fairly simple. However, it’s how Woodroffe uses the lighting that makes it so unique and makes it look so great.
“There’s quite an assortment of fixtures in the rig with a lot of it dictated by the amount of space we have,” commented Mac Mosier. “The MAC700 Washes and Profiles fit nicely into the confined spaces within the set and work very well from there. You need a light with good punch and power to come out of such confined spaces and the MAC700’s are ideal.
The MAC700 Profiles are mixed into the set, with Mac describing them as the best light for the application. The MAC700 Washes are situated within the windows built into the set downstage left and right and Mac favours them for their beam size, punch and colour.
The MAC Auras are situated around the perimeter of all the runways and the downstage edge of the stage running across the front edge of the stage. Some are also placed inside the set to act as key lights for the band.
“The MAC Auras work great,” revealed Mac. “They’ve really got some power to them and I love their colour saturation, their dimming, and the movement of them. I’m really happy with them and they’re a great LED moving head. Patrick Dierson programmed the show so that the MAC Aura lenses are one channel and the light another so you’re controlling two different aspects.”
Surprisingly it is the Martin Atomic Strobes that Mac describes as the workhorse of the set as they are an effect that Gaga likes to use quite often.
Using the MA Lighting grandMA2 on this tour has been quite a learning curve for Mac who particularly likes the way the console is laid out.
“You can set it up just like the MA1 or however you like, and that’s fantastic,” he said. “Everyone has their own way of using a MA2. The MA2 has some really neat new features such as instead of having an effects palette to work upon, you can actually build the effect into the cue. It’s a great console and it’s exciting that it still has more to offer. There’s no timecode on this show so I’m actually operating the console and calling spots, it’s a lot of fun.”
Also in the rig are 97 x VL3500 Wash FX, 30 x Clay Paky Alpha Spot 1500 HPE, 17 x CP Alpha Profile 1500, 34 x Clay Paky Sharpy, 31 x Selecon Aclaim 650 Fresnel, 60 x Chauvet LED Batten, 44 x Colorado LED Batten, 52 x Pixel PARs, 1 x Shadow Light, 1 x Nova Flower, 1 x Hungaro flash and heaps of LED tape.
Photo credit: Troy Constable (Note there are strict copyright restrictions set by Gaga herself meaning these photos are not to be used by anyone else)
Creative Generation with Martin
Posted on Friday, July 27th, 2012
Each year, the most talented dancers, singers, musicians and actors from Queensland state schools come together to stage one of the state’s largest performing arts events. More than 1500 students from across Queensland showcase their talent by starring in the professionally produced show alongside some of Queensland’s leading professional artists.
Creative Generation – State Schools Onstage aims to mentor and foster the next generation of performers and provides opportunities for them to work with and learn from professional artists. This annual entertainment event has launched the professional careers of many students who have gone on to star in theatre, television and musical productions.
2012 marked the eighth year of Creative Generation – State Schools Onstage with four arena-style shows staged at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, South Bank.
The show is televised by Channel 10 in Queensland and so lighting designer Trudy Dalgleish had to ensure that the expansive area had plenty of lighting for all of the camera shots.
“I have to design a fairly generic rig because I never know until about three weeks to go what will be available,” she commented. “I take into consideration the television cameras a lot because it’s such a large area with a lot of camera shots at different angles. I have to have a light everywhere – on the floor, in the roof, up the back – because every shot they take I have to have something in the background. This year I used a lot of LED battens including Pulsar Chromabanks, to border the entire dance area and they were fantastic. Usually I would use Martin StageBars but unfortunately there weren’t any available.”
Moving lights included seventeen Martin MAC2000 Profiles and twelve MAC2000 Performances with shutters.
“The absolute workhorses of the rig were the thirty-six Martin MAC2000 XB wash fixtures which are my favourite lamp,” Trudy said. “They are a fantastic light and I use them on every single show as I love them to bits! I couldn’t get as many as I wanted and had to use another brand’s wash light which I absolutely hated and will never use again!”
The main scenic element was twenty-one Martin LC Panels as well as 120 Pro Shop LED Tubes lighting up the stairs from within. The LC Panels were arranged in six strips of three panels.
“I’m really getting into media at the moment as that seems to be the way of the future,” commented Trudy who used a Martin Maxedia Media Server on this production. “I’m slowly building up my own media library and for this show we designed a couple of media clips. The one thing I really like about the Maxedia is that you can see every clip that you’ve got on the show on its’ monitor.”
For control Trudy used a MA Lighting grandMA console whilst six Robert Juliet 2.5K Aramis follow spots and four Unique Hazers were also deployed.
Mandylights at Vivid 2012
Posted on Thursday, July 26th, 2012
Mandylights were thrilled to have three installations selected for Vivid 2012 in Sydney – the city’s annual festival of light, music and ideas. The team saw Vivid as a rare opportunity to experiment and play with light in the Sydney CBD and all three of their 2012 projects were included in the Sydney Morning Herald’s “Top 5 things to see at Vivid” guide.
Doing what they do best – creating unique lighting designs for any application – Mandylights created a giant game, three giant angler fish and a huge rotating cube for this great Australian festival. All three installations were conceived, rendered designed, drawn, programmed and constructed in house at their Camperdown offices in Sydney.
Tic Tac Toe
Proving that Vivid isn’t all about deep and meaningful narratives and symbolism, Tic Tac Toe was a larger-than-life, simple and fun game of noughts and crosses, played on an interactive touch screen by members of the public and brought to life on a giant 9m high game board. Mandylights wrote the interface and control software for the installation which send MIDI commands to an MA Lighting onPC system. The game board was made up of nearly 500m of red, white and blue LED rope light and rigged on nine custom made steel panels.
The game was hugely popular, with over 10,000 games played over the festival.
Follow the Current
Mandylights designed the lighting to accompany this stunning crowd favourite produced by the Group D Creative Collective. Three enormous fish – built over Pedapod bicycle taxis – ’swam’ around Circular Quay each night, gradually changing colour. Each fish featured 35m of DMX controlled RGB LED strip and another 80 individual LEDs which were mounted inside the teeth, eyes and mouth. Each fish featured it’s own battery and control system to randomly progress through different colours that matched the different textured fabrics that were used.
Colour Cubed
One of the most photographed installations was Colour Cubed, an enormous 2.4m x 2.4m cube set on a rotating base that projected coloured patterns out over a 50m radius. Designed by Mandylights to show visitors how a single light globe could look just as spectacular as an installation with thousands of light sources, the Cube featured one 2.5k tungsten lamp mounted in the centre of a steel frame. This frame was clad with coloured sheets of perspex which created stunning projected patterns around Campbell Cove, and the entire installation sat on a base that members of the public could rotate to spin the cube at different speeds.
Colour Cubed was seen in various international media publications and is now being squashed into a shipping container where it will become a key night time feature of September’s Forumla One Night Races in Singapore before moving onto a number of other international arts festivals.
For more information and photos: www.facebook.com/mandylights
grandMA Joins Prince on Welcome 2 Australia Tour
Posted on Thursday, July 26th, 2012
grandMA got the royal treatment when four full-size grandMA consoles accompanied Prince on his recent Welcome 2 Australia Tour.
One of music’s most iconic superstars, Prince played 14 shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, Australia. He last performed on the continent in 2003, so audiences were eager for his high-energy appearances on a 360º stage in the shape of his signature symbol.
A.C.T Lighting supplied all the lighting and video control for the tour, which were driven by three live grandMA1s; a back up grandMA was also on hand. Tour director and production designer Demfis Fyssicopulos, a longtime grandMA user, specified the systems for their versatility and reliability.
The lighting complement for Prince consisted of a fully-automated rig arranged on a lighting truss structure with a center hexagon an six radiating spokes. At the end of each spoke were six lighting pods with a videowall flown in front to conceal them.
The show used other video elements as well. The entire stage was outlined by Nocturne V9 LED tiles, which were driven by a Control Freak system with audio-responsive VU meters triggered by grandMA. Prince’s piano and drum set were wrapped with magnetic video wallpaper.
Four overhead projector clusters projection mapped the stage with custom content and the output of an interactive video system. The latter system. conceived by Fyssicopulos during the 21 Nights In LA residency, features two thermal-imaging cameras that track the body heat of anybody on the stage and generate real time interactive video content that is then projected onto the stage. For example, glitter trails were projected that followed the artist’s steps.
On Welcome 2 Australia PRG provided the lighting system and rigging. Nocturne/Big Picture the video elements, Tait Towers the stage, Show FX the confetti and Co2 cannons, and Control Freak Systems the interface to control the video elements from grandMA and the audio-responsive video elements.
Ice Cube live in Canberra
Posted on Tuesday, July 24th, 2012
American gangster rapper Ice Cube came to entertain Canberra during the marathon event in late April. His concert at AIS arena was packed with hip-hop and gangster rap classics. The event lasted three and half hours, with DJ Dazz warming up the crowds spinning everything from Snoop Dog to Mary J Blige.
Elite Sound & Lighting were appointed to do the whole production of the show, supplying lighting gear, video and audio technology and rigging for this great event. A huge VuePix LED screen hung up in the middle of the stage was divided into three segments. Consisting of 40x VuePix L10 panels, the screen created a perfect visual background for both Ice Cube and his supporting acts. The content for the screens was delivered from ArKaos Media Server controlled by ChamSys Maxi Wing with Tablet PC.
The lighting rig specified by Darren Russell from Elite Sound & Lighting featured 24x Robin 600 LEDWashes and 16x Robin 600E Spots, which together with VuePix screens created great lighting shows for the audience. The ChamSys MQ 100 Expert was used for lighting control.
Darren Russell comments: “They gave us pretty free rein with the design for this show which we also supplied all the operators for, Ice Cubes touring production manager was ecstatic with the end result, making comment with regards to the quality of the screens and the light output of the Robe fixtures. In fact he told the local promoter that it was the best production they had experienced in Canberra on this tour.”
Ice Cube started the show with his collaboration with Dr Dre, ‘Natural Born Killaz’ and worked the crowd as he raps along. Songs ‘Hello’ and ‘Check Yo Self’ were crowd favourites, as was ‘Do Your Thang’, ‘Bop Gun (One Nation)’ and the most mainstream of his songs, “You Can Do It”.
Ice Cube delivered an explosive performance, leaving patrons with their ears ringing, old-school beats swirling around their heads and excitement for the next time one of the best MCs of all time comes to town.
Res X and Tim Newman create unforgettable Prime Minister’s Olympic Dinner
Posted on Thursday, July 12th, 2012
The Prime Minister’s Olympic Dinner held on the 23rd of June was a fundraising event for the Australian Olympic Team. Hosted by Eddie McGuire the show featured performances from Delta Goodram, Silvie Paladino, Marina Prior, Todd McKenney and David Hobson. The event was produced by Peter Jones Special Events with technical direction by Martin Featherston.
Resolution X worked closely with lighting and production designer Tim Newman to deliver a successful event. Held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre’s Plenary Hall, it was always going to be a big event with 665 lighting fixtures used throughout Plenary Hall, the final outcome was a spectacular.
Tim designed an unusual stage set in order to accommodate a 90-piece orchestra and a 100-piece choir on stage and as the venue does not have wide sight lines, he came up with the idea of placing them on shelves! A proscenium, named the Crystal Proscenium, was constructed from scaffolding pipe and industrial palette wrap internally lit by LED lighting. Over 470m of truss was used.
As well as 240 static fixtures, there were 136 moving lights consisting of 70 Martin MAC700 profiles and washes, 12 MAC TW1 and Clay Paky fixtures including Sharpys, and 700 and 1500 Alpha Profiles. Added to that were 289 LED fixtures: Pro Shop Ehrgeiz Fusion Bars, Pulsar ChromaStrips, Pro Shop Honeycombs, Pro Shop MultiPARs, MAC301’s and Resolution X’s newly acquired Selecon LED PL-1 cyc floods.
The Pulsar ChromaStrips are used to light the faces of the choir whilst the Honeycombs lit the backdrop behind. The MAC700 washes provided wash over the stage whilst the MACTW1’s provided front light for the orchestra. The MAC301’s, positioned on the proscenium surround, did a fair bit of work front lighting the choir.
The show was controlled via two MA Lighting grandMA’s, two MA2 NPU’s a MA1 NSP, Pandora’s Box Media Manager Pro and 2 Players and data distribution throughout the building.
www.resolutionx.com.au
www.showtech.com.au
Showtech Australia Ignites the Olympic flame and spirit
Posted on Thursday, July 12th, 2012
“The Prime Ministers Olympic Dinner has become the signature lead-up event in preparation for the Games….to recognise and support those who have been selected to represent Australia in London by raising vital additional funds to support our Olympic team” says Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia.
Held every 4 years, The Prime Ministers 8th Olympic Dinner, produced by Multiple Award Winning producers – Peter Jones Special Events, held at the Plenary, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Australia’s award winning convention and exhibition centre, raised over $2 million dollars for our Australian Olympic Team, competing at next month’s Games.
VIP’s included former Prime Ministers, Over 60 past and present Olympians, along with corporate guests Entertainment for the evening included a star studded line up featuring Orchestra Victoria, Melbourne Philharmonic Choir, Delta Goodrem, Todd McKenny, David Hobson, Silvie Paladino, Marina Prior, Anthony Callea and Marcia Hines.
Peter Jones Special Events team sort the expertise of Tiny Good and the team at Showtech Australia to deliver a turnkey solution for their rigging and aerial effects.
Showtech Australia using our multi axis, high speed Stage Technologies automation system launched the event with one of our future Olympic hopefuls- 15 year old VIS Gymnasts Kiara Munteanu – flying with a replica of the London Olympic torch to meet the automated flying cauldron on her journey to the main stage to meet past and present Olympians.
Later in the evening Todd Mckenny, one of Australia’s most versatile and critically acclaimed performers, flew his way on an aerial swing, with great applause from the guests to the well known version of Peter Allen’s hit Song “ I Go to Rio”, signifying the journey to the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics.
To close the evening the Diva of Soul herself, Marcia Hines performed many hit songs to the dancing guests, whom were met on the dance floor by a giant flying Mirror Ball.
Showtech Australia’s proven service and quality delivered high flying and high end services over the cream of Australia’s Olympians, celebrities and high end corporate captains of the industry. Thanks go to the team at Peter Jones Special Events for an outstanding event along with the performers who
joined our long list of those who “get their wings” and fly with Showtech.
Canberra Festival 2012
Posted on Wednesday, July 11th, 2012
Celebrating its 99th Birthday, the Australian capital city Canberra enjoyed 17 days of great events across the whole ACT region. The Canberra Festival is held every year and reflects the city’s unique qualities through exhibitions, displays, sport, music, film, dance and theatre events.
Elite Sound & Lighting, one of Canberra and the ACT’s premier Audiovisual Production and Installation suppliers, was appointed to supply their gear for numerous of the events throughout the festival, including large amounts of Robe moving heads and VuePix LED Screens. Managing Director Darren Russell comments: “We are proud to be involved in these high profile events in Canberra”.
Ballet in the Park
The Ballet in the Park featured the best bits of favourite Australian ballets performed by the country’s leading dancers. The sumptuous divertissements from La Favorita, Giselle, The Nutcracker and Le Corsaire were performed alongside an emotionally charged Pas de Trios from Grame Murphy’s masterpiece – Swan Lake.
The Outdoor stage in the Commonwealth Park featured 24x Robin 600 LEDWashes and 8x Robin 600E Spots, which enhanced the scene with vivid saturated colors, creating a unique atmosphere for all performances. The lighting show was controlled from ChamSys MQ 100 Expert.
The Ballet in the Park was also a great opportunity to celebrate 50th birthday of the Australian Ballet.
Symphony in the park
Those loving Symphony had an opportunity to enjoy the Canberra Symphony Orchestra (CSO), with elaborate performances conducted by Timothy Sexton under the stars in the park.
The stage for this event featured 3x VuePix L Series 10mm screens, which created the main visual background for the orchestra. The ArKaos Media Server was used for the content, controlled by a ChamSys Maxi Wing running on a Tablet PC. The entire Robe lighting rig consisted of 24x Robin 600 LEDWashes and 16x Robin 600E Spots, which were controlled by the ChamSys MQ 100. LeMaitre MVS hazers were used to enhance the special lighting effects.
The CSO brought Hollywood to the park, performing a variety of hits from the world’s most popular movies. Joined by musical theatre favorites, Rachael Beck and Ian Stenlake, the CSO performed classics such as ‘Singing in the Rain’, ‘The Wizard of Oz’, ‘Moulin Rouge’, ‘Grease, Cabaret’, ‘Fame’ and ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s.’
Celebrate in the Park
A big party celebrating Canberra’s birthday was held in the Commonwealth Park the following Monday. This family event hosted some of the Australia’s top talent and international guests, including Marvin Priest, Baby Animals, Short Stack and local talent.
The birthday party was based around the main stage utilizing the Robe lighting rig and VuePix LED screens from the night before. The VuePix screens were again used as the main visual component for media on stage, with the latest Robe technology creating full lighting shows throughout the whole event.
The huge program of entertainment, fun and games finished with a spectacular fireworks display lighting up Canberra’s sky.
Hugh Taranto lights The Voice Australia
Posted on Friday, July 6th, 2012
The Voice Australia has become the musical and social media phenomenon of 2012 with Channel 9 enjoying massive ratings for this talent show with a twist.
Filmed at Sydney’s Fox Studios, the show is lit by Hugh Taranto with Chameleon Touring Systems supplying the equipment. Ian Anderson is the console programmer/op with Paul Collison appointed as the Screens Content Supervisor.
The show’s producers wanted the set and lighting to have a rock’n’roll concert feel to it and so Mondrian-inspired truss grids (Global Truss from Design Quintessence) are an integral element of the scenic design. Attached to these truss grids are Martin MAC101 LED wash lights, forty-eight in total that create audience lighting as well as truss lighting.
“The MAC101’s are very reliable which is important as the truss grids are fairly inaccessible,” said Hugh Taranto. “The MAC101’s are easy to just keep running and don’t require a lot of attention. Further audience lighting is supplied by sixty MAC2000 washes which are always a dependable, bright wash light.”
Sixty MAC700 Profiles are also used to light the audience as well as positioned in clusters of four on stage that can fly in and out.
Forty-six Pro Shop LED PARs are used to colour the box truss and truss fingers over the stage. The lighting underneath the runways and the main stage is delivered by forty-eight Pulsar ChromaBanks.
Hugh loves having sixty-eight Show-tec Sunstrips to play with describing them as awesome! The Sunstrips consist of ten 75watt Halogen lamps, built-in dimmer and DMX resulting in an interesting fixture like an updated zipstrip.
“We’ve pixel-mapped them into our media server and you can get some great effects with them,” he remarked. “They’re great for the rock numbers but just as useful for the down tempo numbers with a texture or piece of video running through them. They’re versatile, reliable and have been received really well.”
Hugh deploys Robert Juliat follow spots – four Victor and two Super Korrigan models – chosen for their even colour temperature and intensity
Control is all MA Lighting with Hugh using a MA2 full size console whilst Ian and Paul each use a MA2 light console. A spare console is available for programming on the floor.
“We’re all running the same show networked together so we’re all backing each other up and it’s working really well,” commented Hugh. “We often share the load or stay within our own worlds depending on what works best. It’s a great and reliable system.”
Clay Paky Alpha’s for The Voice
Posted on Friday, July 6th, 2012
The Voice Australia brings to our screens superstar musicians, Delta Goodrem, Seal, Joel Madden and Keith Urban. For the past few weeks they’ve competed against each other as coaches and mentors in the quest to find Australia’s next great voice.
Channel 9’s ratings winner is broadcast from Sydney’s Fox Studios with a massive lighting rig designed by Hugh Taranto and supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems.
The set and lighting design follows the template of the overseas versions of The Voice. The show which hails from the Netherlands, is shot in a daylight colour temperature and Hugh also adds tungsten light sources to capture that original look. To compliment the daylight effect, Hugh uses Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1500 fixtures for key lighting the various hosting positions on stage.
“They’re very good for that as they have an even colour temperature and the shuttering system is very useful,” he commented. “We also use them for effects lighting during the performances where their gobos and colours get a work out. It’s a great light, bright and with fantastic optics.”
The range of effect and projection options offered by the Clay Paky Alpha Spot 1500 fixtures along with their high luminosity, sharpness of image, richness of colour and graphic effects are all features that help Hugh’s creative vision become a reality.
Added to the forty Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1500 models are forty-eight Clay Paky Alpha Beam 700 fixtures which are scattered throughout the rig. The Alpha Beam 700 is a special and unique luminaire, conceived as an automated ACL to create parallel light beams, visible even in the brightest scenes.
“The producers wanted a rock concert feel to the lighting and the Alpha Beams really deliver that ACL beam rock’n’roll look,” said Hugh. “We’ve used them from the first show steadily increasing their number to forty-eight to create the feeling that you in an arena watching a rock concert. As an effects and beam light they’re absolutely amazing and can really punch through. They are also quite small and light which makes them ideal for integrating into sets.”