Lighting

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14 March 2016

Featuring many of today's top artists performing songs made famous by the seven-time GRAMMY Award-winning group, the production also included footage from that landmark Sunday evening along with various presenters discussing the worldwide impact of The Beatles. Behind the scenes, it was designer Matt Firestone who was charged with bringing the events lighting to life while working on an extremely tight production schedule; which he did relying on VL3500 Wash, VL3000 Spot and VL3500 Spot luminaires from Philips Vari-Lite.

"For the production, we mainly needed both backlight and a floor package that could compete against the large video wall

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14 March 2016

Prolific award winning lighting designer, Gurdip Mahal, was tasked with providing a stand out lighting design for the show, which was watched by more than 3m viewers across the UK. Mahal opted for the high-impact effect of the Clay Paky Sharpy in order to deliver a strong rock concert style atmosphere.

"When I set out to design Big Brother my brief was to make it look like a enormous and exciting outdoor event - a cross between a live concert and a TV show," Mahal explains. "I needed lights that would cut through the ambient lighting and be bright enough to make a dramatic impact outside. The Clay Paky Sharpys fitted the bill perfectly."

Mahal used 32 Clay Paky Sh

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14 March 2016

The multi-purpose venue, which hosts a variety of events including theatre, live shows, congresses and town hall meetings, needed to upgrade its audio system. The house engineer specified a digital console with recording capabilities that would be practical and flexible.

"After installation, feedback from the engineer was that there was a great improvement in sound quality and all the staff were very impressed with how easy it was to operate," comments Marcos de Matos from Allen & Heath's Portuguese distributor, Avitel. "The house engineer was also very impressed with how practical setup was, and as they host a lot of outdoor shows, t

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14 March 2016

By specifying the multipurpose Flares, lighting designer Nick Whitehouse reduced the overall fixture count for the tour, saving space, energy, labor, and freight, while at the same time gaining features and improved performance! Positioned on the stage, back wall, and overhead, the compact Flares can be used where conventional lights will not fit, e.g. hidden in the stage and other tight spots. The Flares were provided by Solotech of Montreal and Las Vegas.

"We tested the Flares on the JT-JayZ promo tour and loved the output and features," says Whitehouse. "Having used them to light the audience in entire stadiums, I knew they

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14 March 2016

The band's established lighting designer, Cormac Jackson helped to develop their artistic vision involving a different way video can light the stage. Production manager, Bob O'Brien approached long time friend Mark O'Herlihy of PRG Nocturne to supply the video and custom designed products for the creative video solution.

As on previous tours Franz Ferdinand show their personality by using various production elements. For this tour they chose to experiment with the way they use video on stage. There were three custom-fabricated screens made of a reflective UV material, Mark refers to them as almost like "rotating, vertical, venetian blinds". These were the main target for the projectors to hit. Adding to these reflecting screens, the backline amps were also covered with

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14 March 2016

The 'prize' was coordinated by the National's head of lighting resources, Huw Llewellyn - and a pair of SGM's G-Spot LED all-weather spots were ready to test the creative abilities of the fortunate students - selected by Llewellyn and provided by SGM UK.

The students were given advanced training to allow them to gain a more in depth understanding of the software used to light the iconic theatre on London's South Bank before being given full creative rein, as they lit up the Theatre nightly between 26 April and 2 May - in three-minute sequences starting at sunset.

Huw Llewellyn first saw the G-Spot immersed in wat

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14 March 2016

The 10 'final' performance episodes this year involve seven hand-picked choirs performing several different pieces of work each week. The show is being recorded in the Victory Theatre, Orange Grove, Johannesburg and is broadcast twice weekly by Mzansi Magic. It is again expected to be one of the 'most watched' series on SA television and highlights the country's propensity for vocal talent.

Lighting for this year's show is a co-design between Peter Rieck - who did the first series - and Ryan Lombard, both of whom specified the Robe Robin MMX Spots and Robin LEDBeam 100s.

The Victory Theatre, built in 1929 is a

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14 March 2016

The EDM extravaganza, headlined by Dutch producer and überstar Tiësto, was the eighth international edition of the festival and its first South African incarnation, with the chaos kicking off in Cape Town before moving on to Johannesburg. Fireworks for Africa teamed up with Yeatman to create explosive visual spectaculars that pumped up the party animal audiences, with Yeatman's Avolites Tiger Touch console as the control system.

The awesome pyro displays included the use of 12 Channel Red Back Dimmers for controllable hot power channels to trigger the CO2 jets and Stadium Shot streamer canons and the 6m flame units come

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14 March 2016

The students, who are half way through the Academy's 16-month FdA Live Events Production, are available to work in June, July and August and are seeking either ad hoc events work or three-month placements.

Most students have already gained experience at live events in a variety of backstage roles and all have completed modules in Introduction to Working in Live Events Production, Concept Design & Presentation, Staging, Live Sound, Lighting and Live Visuals.

During the Introduction to Working in Live Events module, students undertook a range of industry-based certificates to prepare them for working safely on site: Event Safety Passport; Emergency First Aid; Stage Pyrotechnics; Pra

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14 March 2016

The lighting coordination for the three day event was managed by 3srCreative, a new design firm comprised of designers Seth Jackson, Nathan Scheuer, Brent Sandrock and Jack Rushen, who had worked together previously on Selena Gomez's tour. CounterPoint provided a new set of challenges to overcome, as a tour typically consists of one artist, one concept, one designer and (hopefully) one cohesive vision, but a festival can have upwards of eight or nine of those each day.

"The lighting design for the music stages was designed to provide as much variety and flexibility as possible giv

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14 March 2016

This new location in its multi-office rental network marks #14 for this stage lighting and rigging rental company - a number that CEO Huntly Christie considers to be a very auspicious one.

With this addition Christie Lites is adding to an already impressive list of primary locations across North America, including major entertainment centres as Toronto, New York, Orlando and Las Vegas.

The new 50,000sq.ft Woodridge shop will follow the standard model set-up as the rest of its facilities. The design allows space for efficient equipment testing and maint

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14 March 2016

Qeytek a specialist distribution company was founded in 2012 by industry known Cally Bacchus, and with the recent appointment of Paul Turner joining the young company and experienced team, the Dutch manufacturer is confident that the technical sales and support knowledge on the range of software and hardware products are in capable hands.

Visual Productions with the support of Qeytek, enjoyed another successful product showcase, at PLASA Focus, of its lighting control products. These include Cuelux software and a preview of Cuety: lighting control for iOS (available Summer 2014) for the entry level and smaller clubs, bars and DJ / LJ markets. Also on show was the architect

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14 March 2016

At an official and glamorous opening party on 9 May at the company's new headquarters in Gemert, Netherlands, distributors, customers, family and friends were treated to a night of music and celebration with the company's warehouse transformed for one night only into a nightclub complete with bands, DJs and free flowing bar.

ELC Lighting's sales manager Silvio Cibien identified an opportunity to extend his thanks to the people who have made the company the success it is today and enabled the move to premises of its own. He said, "I can hand on heart say that none of this would be possible if it wasn't for the commitment our distributors have

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14 March 2016

The show was staged at the Incheba Exhibition Centre in Bratislava, produced by live communications agency Forza and broadcast live on TV channel JOJ as well as being enjoyed by a live audience of 3000. Technical production - lights, sound and video - was supplied by Slovakia's biggest rental company, Q-99.

The fixture list included 72 x Robe Robin Pointes, 16 x Robin LEDWash 600s, 10 x LEDWash 1200s, 10 x MMX Spots and 44 x Robin LEDBeam 100s.

Kubanka drew on his vast experience of designing stage lighting and video for televised beauty pageants and took things to a different d

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14 March 2016

Chroma-Q are a Premium Sponsor of promising UK racing driver, Jack Goff, in the 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.

Jack showed great promise in his debut season last year, including being second fastest for most of the race day at Silverstone and achieving a well-earned second place podium finish in the final round at Brands Hatch, after a climactic battle for position with outgoing BTCC champion Gordon Shedden.

A hotly tipped contender in 2014, Jack returned to the UK's premier saloon car series with RCIB Insurance Racing Squad / Team BMR, driving the Vauxhall Insignia again. It is promising to be an exciting season, with seven former BTCC champions, a cap

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14 March 2016

MGG's newly appointed general manager, Denzil Smith, who joined the company in December, took the production to a new level. With a team of professionals at his side including lighting designer from MGG, Kevin Rieck, and the assistance of the impeccable system technician, Thomas Peters (known to drive people mad as he labels every piece of equipment and cable - and quite rightly this ensures a seamless production), the event was technically flawless.

This was no mean feat as the event, which ran off a grandMA2 full size, included 48 ClayPaky Sharpies (fourty more Sharpies than last year) and some 400m of

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14 March 2016

Lighting designer David Harding began his relationship with Neil way back in the 80's when he was the Vari*Lite tech/operator for Crowded House. Over the years he has built a solid relationship with Neil who didn't even have to brief David on what he wanted for his lighting on the Dizzy Heights tour, such is their relationship.

"I opted for practical lighting for the band and Neil is quite minimalistic," explained David. "Colours are either in contrast, or, complimentary to how the backdrop is lit. The backdrop is the cornerstone for setting the scene. It reacts brilliantly and in a great number of ways to light

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14 March 2016

Koy Neminathan, sales director for Avolites Ltd, comments, "I am very excited about working with Fairlight on an exclusive basis. We will now attain the resources necessary to promote our range of lighting and video control on a larger scale. Our relationship goes back well over 20 years and the foundations we have built allows us to hit the ground running. We have arranged dates for seminars, workshops and a comprehensive marketing campaign to expose the Titan and Ai platforms to the Dutch market. We're all very enthusiastic regarding the further integration of the powerful Avolites Titan software and the Ai video control platform."

Steve Warren, managing director of Avolites Media adds, "Fairlight have proven the

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14 March 2016

Recently installed by entertainment lighting specialists White Light, the new system - the first of its kind in London's West End - is based entirely on LED technology, which draws less power and produces less heat than the previous lighting system, creating huge energy savings for the space. The installation is also the first in the world to utilise the new ArcLamp fixture from GDS. Developed specifically for the Savoy Theatre project, it is designed to fit pre-existing fittings on installations where clients wish to keep existing lamp housings due to economic or design imperatives.

White Light completed the installa

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14 March 2016

Lighting director and programmer Mikkel Bedsted used ETC's newest control desk, Cobalt, at the Folketeatrets grand stage in Copenhagen, to programme a version of the musical, which closed the week before Austria's Conchita Wurst surprised and delighted audiences in equal measure.

The title, which refers to one of the country's best loved entries, means 'we're painting the town red', and refers not just to the raucousness of Eurovision, but also the craziness of the 1980s in general.

Bedsted was at the offices of Danish dealer Bico, when he mentioned that he might be interested in trying something other than his

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14 March 2016

Fonoon has an impressive portfolio backed up with experience managing a broad range of significant events from corporate occasions and lavish weddings to large-scale concerts. From the production end, Fonoon takes charge of every aspect of an event, including the lighting, sound, staging, video and special elements such as lasers. In order to offer its clients original and exciting event concepts, the company ensures it stocks the latest in versatility and innovation, hence the investment in Showline LED luminaires.

"We actively look out for the most innovative products in

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14 March 2016

Alistair joins Flashlight after working for various manufacturers & sales/rental companies, bringing 20 years of industry experience to the company. Having worked in a number of technical service & sales support positions through the years, his skills should add further firepower to Flashlight's team of industry veterans.

In his new role, Alistair will focus on delivering Flashlight's innovative products and renowned customer service to their new and existing portfolio of clients. With a significant amount of growth over the past year, the company felt that adding to their experienced staff was necessary to maintain attention given to their customers.

Alistair says, "I'm delighted to join Flashlight, their reputation and professionalism

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14 March 2016

The live show is based on the music of the modern series, composed by Murray Gold and conducted by Ben Foster, a symphony orchestra plays live to video packages displayed on a large projection screen. This is combined with a cast of live characters from the series and enhanced by dynamic lighting interaction.

MJF Lighting was the lighting supplier for the Wellington event. Controlling the lighting system was MJF's new grandMA2 light with an MA onPC command wing working as a backup control surface. grandMA2 has become one of the most popular and sought after control systems in the lighting world.

Production and lighting designe

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14 March 2016

The visual possibilities for a show like this show proved irresistible for UK-based lighting and set designer, Declan Randall, who returned to South Africa specifically to work on the project. He used the diverse services of local theatre equipment rental supplier Gearhouse Splitbeam to help bring the concept to life.

"I have had a long and wonderfully collaborative relationship with VDC since the company be