One of the artists invited, Italian director and lighting designer Simona Braga proposed a mini eight-minute son et lumière with music and recitation. Le souffle du monde is a sequence of projections and lighting effects that develop the basic themes of the festival (nature and light). The projections have been achieved using high resolution photo gobos for the graphic designs created by the author, and Clay Paky metal gobos to produce some of the effects, such as the woods and fog which appear to come from the lake and disperse with the sunrise.
The lighting effects are projected onto four fan-shaped screens between 16 and 20m from the ground. The Alpha Profile 1200s have been hung on a tree in front of the screens, at a height of about 14m, and protected against inclement weather. This year's edition has been marked by bad weather, snow and ice, which has transformed the city's landscape. The violent gusts of wind delayed the installation of the screens, but the hard wearing Clay Paky lights have allowed the show to be staged even during the harshest conditions.
Simona Braga programmed the 76 light cues on a computer in order to achieve synchronization between the 'fade in' and 'fade out' times and music score. Lighting desk operator Federico Selva, from Michele Alvarez's Emme SA, programmed the show on a Compulite Vector during the installation, then transferred everything onto a Vector Node for automatic loop reproduction for the whole duration of the event.
(Jim Evans)
