USA - A new book about the techniques and issues of lighting design for live events and productions being shot for broadcast, webcast or IMAG, has been published by Routledge and their media technology division, Focal Press. Lighting for Televised Live Events: Making Your Live Production Look Great for the Eye and the Camera unlocks the science, art, philosophies, and language of creating lighting for live entertainment and presentations that work for the television camera as well as for the live audience. The authors, Jeff Ravitz and James L. Moody, each have extensive lighting design credits in both live and televised production and have brought their experience and insights to the book in an attempt to explain the common denominators between live and televised presentation lighting. Ravitz explains, “The television camera has become an ever-present part o
Zimbabwe - Nyaradzo Group marked its 20th anniversary recently, with a livestream concert celebration that featured 21 of the region’s leading artists. The musical extravaganza was a big hit for viewers, especially since the performances on stage were supported by dynamic displays of video and light, as LD Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Sintara served up a stream of colourful looks that flowed naturally on stage. Sintara’s design may have looked effortless, but in reality it was anything but easy. Producing different looks for 21 different artists on a small livestream stage is a “fun challenge,” he says. Helping Sintara solve this puzzle was a supportive group of people. “Divine Concert Sound (DCS), the Nyaradzo Group Zimbabwe, Epic Sets and my mentor Simbarashe Bapiro were all very helpful,” he said. “I am grateful to have such support.” Also contri
Germany - Dark Matter is a new permanent exhibition space for lighting, visual and sonic art, and technology in Berlin’s lively Lichtenberg district, currently comprising seven sculptural and kinetic visual works created by light artist Christopher Bauder of WHITEvoid. This experience, which opened last week, is the long-term brainchild of Christopher and his quest to curate a “parallel cosmos of expansive lighting installations blurring the boundaries between real and digital worlds” capturing and stimulating emotional, spiritual, and imaginative journeys as guests embrace the artworks – some interactive, some reflective, all fascinating – engaging and experiencing a wide range of emotions. Robe lighting is involved in this project, initially with the supply of Tetra2 and MegaPointe fixtures which will be used for special events lighting in one of the larg
USA - As a rule, Jimmy Davidson favours intense looks in his lighting designs. But sometimes rules are not made to be broken; they’re made to be doubled down on. Such was this case this Memorial Day Weekend, when the Texas designer lit a three-show concert series by chart-topping country artist Cody Johnson. Employing a torrent of intense colour washes (mainly in red and blue) accented by sharp beams of white light and blinding blasts, he set a frenetic pace for his client’s 21-song set without repeating the same look twice. Helping him serve up this visual eruption was a beefy Texas Stage supplied rig that featured a collection of 54 Chauvet Professional Rogue, STRIKE, Ovation, and COLORdash fixtures. “I absolutely wanted to put something extra in this show,” said Davidson. “It was nice to have a little time off to be at home during the pandemic, but now it
USA - Specialist solutions supplier, Creative Technology Group, has increasingly turned to Elation Professional’s KL Panel LED soft light for use in their US-based LED studios and has added a number of the full-colour-spectrum fixtures to their rental inventory. In the United States, Creative Technology (CT) operates virtual event LED studios in Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and Nashville. Each is equipped with xR and camera tracking technology that works with powerful graphics engines to create dynamic scenes that put a presenter or product virtually into any environment. The results are truly spectacular. In late spring of 2020, Creative Technology contacted Elation about a high-quality LED soft light for the studios and eventually purchased 75 of the units with snap grids and snap bags. CT has used the KL Panels on many of their studio projects, inclu
UK - amBX, has announced the details of the latest updates to its smart lighting control platform, SmartCore. Users will now be able to add Smart Emergency Lighting Control to their SmartCore platform. The new amBX Emergency Lighting Monitoring Dashboard will allow users to input and manage test results, check scheduled fixture tests and record and monitor ongoing actions needed to achieve compliance. Results can be exported to provide a hard-copy records. This will aid with supporting regulatory compliance while simultaneously making the audit process easier. The update has also introduced a number of new protocol support options to SmartCore, including publishing data to MQTT topics for IoT applications to access. This allows for connectivity to the cloud and provides lightweight, efficient and reliable data management. Introducing the new features
USA - The Shawnee Cave Amphitheatre, 100 miles southeast of St. Louis, bills itself as “a venue like no other.” Tucked into the base of a massive 100ft high sandstone rock formation sits in the middle of 60 rugged acres of craggy paths, creeks and waterfalls. Kyle Curtis had a hand in creating just such memories Memorial Day weekend when he lit the site for an event featuring a line-up of jam bands that included The Infamous Stringdusters, Sam Bush, Leftover Salmon, Keller Williams, Kyle Tuttle Banjo, and Chicken Wire Empire. Enlivening the surroundings with vivid colours and making the cave wall come alive with gobo patterns, he enhanced the evocative effect of the setting without distracting from the artists on stage. Helping him accomplish this feat was a collection of 54 Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by Chris Parton and his team at Midwest Music Supply
Australia - Mackay Entertainment and Conference Centre (MECC) is a busy and diverse complex of nine different venue and event spaces in Mackay, central Queensland, hosting a lively mix of corporate launches and conferences to opera, music, dance, and performance shows. Head of lighting Dan Grace and his team are amongst the first in Australia to have Robe’s new high power Forte LED luminaires in the house, with a purchase of 12 of the fixtures plus 12 new Robe Spiider LED wash beams, with more of both types of moving light to follow once the season ramps up again. The decision to buy Fortes was underlined by MECC’s previous experiences with Robe – with nearly 100 fixtures already, including 30 x DL7s, a mix of profiles and fresnels, which directly replaced 36 hot and power-hungry 2K fresnels in the main theatre in 2019. The last batch of these DL7s arrive
Russia - Aistenok Irkutsk Regional Puppet Theatre occupies a prominent place among Russian puppet theatres. The marionette masters in the Siberian city of Irkutsk recently worked with Light Power Design (LPD) to upgrade its stage lighting and chose low noise, low heat Elation Professional LED luminaires along with Magmatic atmospheric effects. Despite its relative solitude, Irkutsk is a thriving seat of culture that embodies all the best of Russia’s storied theatre tradition. Puppetry applies the same lighting techniques as a regular stage. Despite the compact space, all types of lighting instruments are used and just like a regular theatre show, fixture choice depends on the effects desired and mood required. Founded in 1935 as the first professional puppet theatre in Eastern Siberia, the Aistenok Puppet Theatre has operated from an elegant building in the heart o
Poland - Harman Professional Solutions recently collaborated with Stage Source and ATM System to deliver a dynamic lighting design for Polish reality television series The Voice of Poland with new Martin MAC Aura PXL fixtures. Part of the internationally syndicated television franchise The Voice, The Voice of Poland is a televised reality competition that gives singers the opportunity to showcase their vocal talents in front of celebrity judges and coaches on live television. First aired in 2011, the series recently filmed its eleventh season, which was hosted by actor Maciej Musiał and filmed in Warsaw. In order to ensure premium production quality for the nationally televised series, the show’s producers hired ATM System to supply a lighting design that would deliver dynamic lighting both on stage and on camera. ATM System collaborated with d
World - The first Virtual Showlight (VSL) event which was held on Tuesday 25 May 2021 proved to be “a real success story,” according to its organisers. With the full Showlight postponed due to the pandemic, VSL 2021 turned trial into triumph when it threw open its virtual doors to an online audience in excess of 430 delegates. Students, educational establishments, venues and of course lighting designers from all genres of the industry - theatre, film and TV, architectural and events, and more - attended from almost 50 countries, and many have since returned to re-watch the Papers through Hubilo’s On Demand service. Delegates were treated to a diverse range of subject matters from industry professionals at the top of their game. Topics included the illumination of a lighthouse on an island in the Bahamas, lighting comic book movie Birds of Prey, the remote ligh
USA - The ADJ team will be exhibiting at the 2021 Nightclub & Bar Show (Booth #822) scheduled to take place in Las Vegas at the end of June. The ADJ booth will showcase a variety of the company’s latest entertainment lighting products, including IP65-rated fixtures ideal for use on patios, terraces and other outdoor spaces, which are set to be more popular than ever this summer. The 2020 edition of Nightclub and Bar, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was the first time in 30 years that ADJ hadn’t attended this annual event for the hospitality industry. “This is the perfect time for venue owners and operators of all sizes to gear up for the summer season,” comments ADJ USA’s national sales manager, Alfred Gonzales. “Following a year of restrictions, there is a huge appetite for getting out and socialisng, but it will be locations that of
Spain - With the introduction of new projectors and displays at ISE 2021, Panasonic offers ‘the most complete line-up of 4K visual solutions to meet growing demand for highly detailed and richly immersive viewing experiences’. With the additions of new 4K 1-Chip DLP projectors and interactive displays, Panasonic can offer 4K solutions for ‘any environment, across all industry sectors’, with projectors from 5,000-50,000 lumens and 43-98 inch displays. The technologies are all complemented by Panasonic’s 4K collaboration solutions, including video conferencing and wireless presentation systems. “The time is now for 4K and we are seeing increased demand across all industry sectors,” explained said Hartmut Kulessa, European marketing manager at Panasonic Business. “The entertainment world is using 4K to draw back audiences with immersive attractions, educat
USA - Keith Hoagland is not normally given to public displays of emotion. But at the start of his spotlight meeting prior to Jason Aldean’s Friday 14 May show at The Bonnaroo Farm, he admits it was difficult to avoid. “Things got real at that meeting prior to the show,” said Hoagland, owner of CKP Lighting. “That’s when it hit me. My voice cracked and I just stopped to let it all sink in. I apologised to my crew, but they all felt the same way. It was all very emotional. We were all so happy and grateful to be back.” It had been 14 months since Aldean and his crew had done a full production show. Now, with COVID restrictions starting to be eased, he was lighting Friday and Saturday shows at this open-air concert venue 63 miles south of Nashville. The two shows (the second of which was also livestreamed), more than lived up to expectations, not just fo
USA - Altman Lighting has hired two new sales representatives. Jon Hyrkas will serve as the new Western regional sales manager, and Jake Rhodes will serve as product sales specialist. As the Western regional sales manager, Hyrkas will be representing sales in Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. “I’ve been working in theatre and entertainment for 15 years. I’m really excited to connect people with some of the new exciting products we are launching,” says Hyrkas. “I want to make sure I get the right product in front of the right people, for the right purpose,” says Rhodes. "As the industry begins to emerge from a very difficult time, we are working hard to ensure that we are hiring sales leaders
UK - Having developed and introduced LED solutions for over 15 years, Chroma-Q has built a steady following within the production industry, that continues to see the creative application of their low energy technology by a growing number of crews. A selection of products from the company’s range of low energy solutions were put to good use recently, with experienced gaffer, Wayne Shields (Brave New World, The Witcher season 2). Wayne says, “I’ve worked with Chroma-Q products for a few years now. As an LED source, they deliver some great results, powerful output with plenty of flexibility when you need it.” Wayne and his crew recently made use of the company’s Color Force IITM LED battens, with an installation designed to deliver a range of creative, in-camera effects. He explains’ “We used the Color Force II to illuminate a large
Australia - A large, illuminated Ox artwork created by Paul Wells from Sydney Props Specialists to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Ox was illuminated with Astera Titan Tubes and NYX Bulbs and realised in collaboration with Sydney Event Services. This stood on display in Darling Harbour, Sydney, for three weeks during the 2021 Chinese New Year celebrations. The work was commissioned by Sydney’s Harbour and Foreshore Authority. They approached Paul just four weeks ahead of this year’s Chinese New Year and asked if the piece could be delivered as an internally lit steel-framed structure with stretched fabric skins. Paul in turn asked Mitch Hancock from Sydney Events Services to assist with the project’s lighting and delivery. Once work started on the Ox which is 1.16m wide and 2.4m long, Paul and Mitch soon realised time was simply too tight to complete th
Greece - Lighting designer Christina Thanasoula brought her visual style to a recent Greek National Opera production of Juditha Triumphans with the help of some Robe LEDBeam 150s. The performance was directed by Thanos Papakonstantinou with music delivered by the Armonia Atenea Orchestra, musical ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro, the GNO Chorus and members of the GNO Children's Choir and conducted by Markellos Chryssicos and recorded for broadcast on the Mezzo TV channel. The Vivaldi oratorio - the only surviving one of four he is known to have composed – was staged at the Greek National Opera’s Stavros Niarchos Hall in Athens to mark the 2021 bicentennial of the Greek Revolution. Christina is co-founder of Athens-based lighting design company Creative Lighting, and her inspiration for lighting this production was the early Baroque painting Juditha slaying
UAE - Pro Lab has been appointed exclusive distributor for Prolights in the GCC region and Egypt, as of June 2021. The appointment comes after the increased demand for the manufacturer's products, and strategy alignment between the two companies who are eager to supply high-quality equipment with the best technical expertise and product support. “We are thrilled to start promoting Prolights' products and be able to show them to our customers as the world of entertainment opens back up,” said Rami Haber, managing director at Pro Lab. “We have been following Prolights' continuing success not only in entertainment but also in the broadcast and theatre markets, and we couldn't be more excited to be part of that journey.” Paolo Albani, international sales manager at Prolights commented, “We are very happy to work with the team in Dubai. Despite its young ag
UK - A small group of patrons of London’s Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts have been able to enjoy a live performance of the romantic comedy, Shakespeare In Love. Performed in front of a small and socially distanced audience of industry professionals, the production immersed them in the fictional tale of Shakespeare’s unrequited love for his ideal women. Contributing to this experience was an evocative Adam King lighting design, which, despite the well-advised safety protocols at the theatre, was able to convey a richly textured sense of time and place. “We had lots of different locations to depict in the play, but due to Covid we could not have massive scene changes,” said King. “It therefore became very crucial that our lighting really help drive the scenes taking place on stage, whether they be dingy taverns or grand ballrooms.” Helping Kin
<b<Denmark - In the weeks leading up to the lockdown, Volbeat was tearing up Europe on a 32-city tour of the continent. The Danish metal band included a date at the 15,000-seat Stuttgart Hanns Martin Schleyer Halle. Building on the energy of the band’s performance and driving the intensity level ever higher was a 40-universe Niller Bjerregaard light and video show powered by the designer’s two ChamSys MagicQ MQ500 Stadium consoles. Part programmed and part busked, the show served up a torrent of searing images for the 22-song set. Although fans haven’t been able to see a live Volbeat show since the lockdown, they had the chance to immerse themselves in the magic of that special evening when the band’s Stuttgart performance was streamed on a pay per view platform. “The broadcast was as original as it gets,” said Bjerregaard. “All elements and feature
UK - In February 1840, a group of local citizens, including a future prime minister, welcomed 10 students to what was Britain’s first purpose built teacher’s college. Over the ensuing 180-plus years, both the size of the institution and the scope of its mission have changed dramatically. Known today as the University of Chester, the university welcomes some 15,000 students from every continent, save Antarctica and, as its guide notes, offers courses ranging from Animation to Zoo Management. The energy and broad educational mission of the university is reflected in the busy main performance space in its School of Arts and Media. One of four such spaces at the university, this facility hosts myriad productions that can include a traditional theatrical performance, a live music concert and a lecture or conference covering endless topics, sometimes all in the same day
UK - Scottish events company 21CC Group has recently unveiled the output of months of planning, with a new project delivered in partnership with The City of Edinburgh Council and Edinburgh College. The creative lighting design company was appointed to transform the iconic gasholder tower into one of Scotland's biggest works of art, while providing opportunities for students at Edinburgh College - a major academic institution in Scotland - to work on a live creative project. Commenting on the success and long-term objectives of the installation, Geoff Crow, director of 21CC Group states: “We are immensely proud to have been appointed for this project, and of the results achieved by our technical production company, 21CC Productions. For us, it’s about giving Edinburgh a new landmark and students hands-on experience with cutting edge equipment, that will enable them
USA - The San Francisco Opera utilised a complement of Ayrton Perseo-S fixtures when it brought opera back to town in a COVID-safe outdoor production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Ayrton Perseo is the first compact, multi-function luminaire with an IP65 enclosure rating developed for intensive outdoor use. The Barber of Seville, directed by Matthew Ozawa, ran from 23 April - 15 May at Marin Centre, 15 minutes from San Francisco, where the audience pulled up their cars alongside the lagoon with the beautiful hills of Marin in the background. They watched the production, on a custom-built stage with soaring LED videowalls, from their vehicles. “We have staged concerts before in Golden Gate Park, but nothing to this extent has been produced outside in the three years I have been with the company,” notes Justin Partier, lighting director for the
