The lighting design developed for the show by Tom Kinane and Svend Pedersen didn't contain a single moving light, and was styled to compliment Patrick Doherty's media-based stage set, and to offer a dramatic presentation departure from previous Chris Tarrant shows.
The Catalysts were supplied by Ross Williams and operated by Pedersen using a WholeHog 3 console, running 16 DMX universes and controlling up to 2060 individual fixtures around Studio 1 at the London Weekend Television HQ on London's South Bank.
Pedersen created approximately 200 custom video clips for the show, many of them involving turning the set into the idiosyncratic colour schemes needed to match the different 'colours' of the money (all real cash) in the machines as the game was played. They also did banner texts of contestants' names and the programme Ident.
The Catalysts drove 44 i-Pix BB4 and 7 BB7 LED wash lights and nine different screen surfaces, including Barco O-Lite banners curving around the back of the set along with three G-LEC header banners, one large G-LEC background screen, a large high resolution central screen and 3 low res screens at the back providing camera candy in reverse shots of the contestants.
(Jim Evans)
