Lighting

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14 March 2016

Fifalite's managing director David Pfeiffer has always leant towards a different brand of lighting console but he happened to be visiting Brisbane Show Technology on a different matter, when Adam White showed him a brochure for the new dot2 console.

"I had always admired the MA brand in so much as everywhere I go, the grandMA2 seems to be the console of choice," commented Pfeiffer. "I never thought I would own one as I run a fairly small business and they are quite expensive for me. Plus the type of shows that I do would not warrant having such a fancy console. However, the dot2 brochure got me interested and once I found out the price, I was hooked."

Mu

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14 March 2016

Johnny Scholtz from DWR advised the client on a cost effective way to light up the set of their new News Studio. Jakes Mogale from DimBright was then commissioned to carry out the installation.

"While it was a very basic install, which included a power supply, controllers and LED strips the end result looked great," commented Jakes. "It was a wonderful experience as it was my first time in East Africa. Johnny had worked out a solution from South Africa for the client, but when I arrived, we had to alter the set somewhat to accommodate the lights."

The set was made out of Perspex and was showing spots. A simple vinyl print put over the Perspex set allowed the light to disperse evenly.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

As a leading specialist technical solutions agency, TechRig approached SGM's local distributor S.E.T Africa to expand their rental stock with SGM luminaires. "We were looking for cutting-edge LED solutions, and that's why we selected the SGM products," says director of TechRig, Michael Collyer. He adds, "The Q-7 is a nice small multipurpose unit, which can be used as a colour washing set piece to eye candy extravaganza."

SGM's profile matches well with TechRig's vision. This well-established and experienced company seeks to implement the latest technological developments with top quality gear that is constantly updated, and, as Collyer underlines, "SGM applies a different way of thinking to their products makin

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14 March 2016

With so much at stake, brands like Ford, Bentley and Jaguar Land Rover understand that an audience-engaging show booth is worthless without camera-ready, visually stunning displays of their new vehicles. That's why they tap design firms like Imagination and lighting suppliers like Static Light Company, which are staffed by experts who understand the challenges of illuminating a car's sleek curves and metallic sheen in an indoor convention hall. To meet those challenges, they rely on Martin Professional's lighting fixtures.

"Our MAC series of premi

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14 March 2016

"On Electric Tundra we had the challenge to present a national headlining act with limited setup time on a small stage with a video wall, all on a tight budget," began production manager, Katie Gilliland, University at Buffalo Centre for the Arts. "Inside the 6,500 seat arena, equipment cannot be hung from the r

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14 March 2016

Before taking on a huge number of concerts in major European and Asian capitals, he embarked on a tour of theatres in Italy to mark the release of his latest work Beyond This album also features foreign artists and producers.

Jo Campana, the lighting designer who has worked with Biondi for several years, briefly described how the tour lighting design came about: "After a discussion with Mario and after listening to his new album, I tried to steer my work so that it diverged from the Mario's past and supported his intention to seek out and discover new musical horizons.

"My idea was to create an elegant stage concept, with just a touch of

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14 March 2016

While Protec's core business is corporate events it also provides production for rock and roll events, and the year kicked off with #DBXNYE, Dubai's biggest New Year's Eve party, which featured Pharrell Williams, Busta Rhymes, Paul Oakenfold and others. Protec supplied the audio, an L-Acoustics K2 system with a DiGiCo SD5 desk; lighting which included many Clay Paky and Vari-Lite fixtures ran on a GrandMA2 Full desk; video, which was displayed on 150sq.m of Protec's Mambo 9mm LED screen; plus staging, rigging and the company's EHD Mark 2 concert roof system.

Another spectacular event was the opening ceremony for IDEX 2015, which won the 2015 Middle East Event Award for Best Tempor

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14 March 2016

Ray Woodbury of RK Diversified Entertainment (Los Angeles) used the moving LED panels to create a captivating lighting display over mid-stage for the Toyota Summer Concert Series during the Orange County Fair. Woodbury flew 16 Next NXT-1 panels on overhead truss for each of the 24 concerts in the series. "They were the workhorse of our rig," he said. "Of course they were also much mor

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14 March 2016

This is the fifth year running that Utopium has been called upon to supply its lighting and rigging for the creatively themed BoomTown Fair, which is well known for its imaginatively themed cityscape. Utopium provided festival lighting and rigging to 10 stages, including the expanded Lion's Den stage, The Town Centre, The Old Mines, The Jolly Dodger, Crazy Calamities Saloon and The Hidden Woods, as well as providing lighting for all the woodland areas.

Utopium provided a range of its LED fixtures to support the organiser's ethos of reducing energy use to minimise the festivals carbon footprint. This year the Lion's Den stage was re-located to a larger area and Utopium were called upon to supply all the lighting control, dimming, distrib

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14 March 2016

Maverick LD Pelle Larson's lighting design included 24 x Robe Pointe moving lights installed in prominent positions around the dancefloor and amidst the orchestra.

Pelle is a well-known and respected industry figure in Sweden and in addition to a host of top LE TV shows, including Let's Dance for national channel STV4 since the series began and many other TV productions, he has also been active as a touring and concert designer.

He likes to keep the business of his company, LD Sweden, literally '

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14 March 2016

Blackout worked alongside production manager Jon Howes, within a team of contractors, who year on year collaborate with the venue's management and sponsors. The team work to facilitate both events and aid Somerset House's transformation into a concert setting and then an open air cinema.

This is the eleventh year running Blackout has worked on the Summer Series concerts, supporting promoters Metropolis Music. This year the concert featured performances from Passenger, George Ezra and Jessie J and attracted crowds of up to 3,000 people.

Blackout provided all of the stage rigging as well as two truss wings, which flanked either side of the stage, to hang the PA systems and branding, negating

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14 March 2016

Using four Elation Platinum Profile 35 Pro fixtures amongst a plot of LED lights and conventional sources, it was Herrick's task to carve out a black and white world that was later colorized by the presence and strength of will of Eva Peron, in stark contrast to the character of Che and the various political elements that she was constantly beset by.

Herrick relied heavily on the Elation fixtures to define areas of the relatively small stage and make the world of

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14 March 2016

"It made complete sense" he stated, "It's small and light enough to easily fit in my car or go on the plane, and powerful enough to run the majority of the shows on which I am currently working." Having his own console means he can always have his control platform of choice. Peter was delighted that MA's small and highly versatile dot2 was also within a reasonable price range. The console was supplied via MA's South African distributor, DWR Distribution.

"It's the

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14 March 2016

This tightly planned and executed operation - which this year battled with inclement weather for the first time in the festival's recent history - involved the supply of nearly 500 moving lights, 228 high powered Dragon LED PARs and a mix of other kit, including LED screens for the Main stage and other areas.

Colour Sound's crew of 22 was chiefed by James Hinde and Alex Ryan. James co-ordinated the get-in and set up of all the operated stages, while Alex looked after all the other areas, and together with Woody (Stuart Wood), oversaw the whole operation during the show days.

Colour Sound regular Jon Rickets was working as techni

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14 March 2016

The opera, held across the Netherlands on 12 dates throughout May and in the first week of June, tells the story of Orpheus, a mythical musician, poet and prophet in ancient Greek religion, who is said to have been able to charm all living things and even stones with his music.

Ten Hof first came across the new Source Four LED fixtures a year and a half ago, when he was working with Dutch dealer Lightco. "I was amazed

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14 March 2016

For the first time, they specified Robe's BMFL Spot fixtures, 22 of which are being supplied by the tour's lighting vendor, Theatrical Media Services (TMS) from Omaha, Nebraska.

The band is well known for their long annual summer tours and sets featuring involved improvisations of their songs - always played differently - accompanied by eye-catching visuals and lightshows, an aesthetic that has been carefully crafted by Fenton since he started working with the band in the early 1990s.

Fenton and Aaron developed the design together, often drawing on architecture and art for inspiration as they build a visual stage concept.

This is the

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14 March 2016

In light of the above and after 17 years as PLASA's chief executive officer, Matthew Griffiths has decided that now is the right time to step aside which would help kick start and facilitate a fresh set of ideas and approaches needed for the next chapter in PLASA's dev

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14 March 2016

Renzo Arbore has always loved jazz and Neapolitan music classics. For the release of ... e pensare che dovevo fare il dentista... (...and to think I was supposed to become a dentist...), he is leading his Orchestra Italiana, with his voice, clarinet and boundless charm, on a new summer tour that culminates on 7 September in Milan.

Gazebo Giallo (Arbore's management company) turned to Paco Toscano to interpret the atmospheres of Arbore's music with lights. "I joined the production team that organize

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14 March 2016

The first of these options, the ARC-3 wall panel remote, was introduced to the systems integrator community at ISE 2015. Arriving in a single SKU with both surface- and flush-mount capabilities, ARC-3 incorporates a brand new capacitive touch interface with LED feedback, as well as a multi-lingual graphics-capable OLED display that is expected to resonate strongly with Symetrix' global customer base.

The second new option is the ARC-WEB browser-based dialler, which allows owners of iPhones, iPads, Android phones, tablets and network-enabled computers to control audio via embedded web servers running on SymNet Edge and SymNet Radius DSPs.

"With this option, end-users can

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14 March 2016

The tour, in support of alt-J's second album, This Is All Yours, visited a variety of indoor and outdoor venues around the US including a show at Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

The video design, created by Jeremy Lechterman and Jackson Gallagher from FragmentNine, uses horizontal rows of LED, interspaced with gaps which can be used with lighting.

At the O2 show, XL Video supplied a solution using their regular touring frames, and special brackets.

"For the US tour design, the designers wanted to reduce the size of spaces between the LED rows," said XL's US touring projects director, Gareth Jeanne. "As our touring frames have

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14 March 2016

"We wanted to create a 3D experience for the audience," agrees lighting designer Paul Normandale, "And bring some of the video content to life, blurring the lines between screen and reality. We went to Specialz as they did such a great job on the last tour and this mechanical, visual, yet tourable challenge is very much their area of expertise."

To this end, Specialz was charged with creating a huge 3m diameter reflector, a set of bespoke dollies pre-rigged with Sharpys and last but cer

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14 March 2016

Following the success of the BBC phenomenon that is The Great British Bake Off, Jo Brand has been welcoming a panel of guests each week to enjoy cake related discussion.

Filmed with Love Productions in front of a live audience at The London Studios, An Extra Slice reflects on the week's baking, with guest interviews with departing contestants, behind the scenes clips and a selection of audience based cake related triumphs and disasters.

To help lighten up the serving, Aurora has provided LD Oli Richards with an array of Martin Auras and Viper Performances which are kept fresh by moving light operator David Francis and tech Simon Willet.

The show features a number of set practical pendants which have added an atmospheric h

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14 March 2016

The play has opened in Windsor and will begin its UK tour next week, visiting venues in Leeds, Brighton, Richmond, Birmingham, Aberdeen, Newcastle, Norwich, Cheltenham, Woking, Milton Keynes and Cardiff.

Starring television's Ian Kelsey and Patrick Robinson, The Shawshank Redemption tells the story of Andy Dufresne, a man serving a life sentence in the notorious Shawshank prison. Realising he cannot survive life behind bars, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with prison fixer Red and soon begins to hatch a plan

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14 March 2016

It was one of the issues that had to be considered when Jands Venue Engineering (JVE) and event AV services provider, Staging Connections, put their skills together to engineer a faster, safer and more efficient staging management system for the hotel. One of the biggest challenges faced by JVE and Staging Connections was the installation - it had to fit in with existing hotel commitments, to make sure all the rooms involved were empty, and it couldn't be done at night, with the risk guests could be woken by the drilling.

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