Hungary Production designer Frédéric ‘Aldo’ Fayard (of Concept K) deployed Fusion by GLP FS20 Sticks for the first time when lighting the recent ISL (International Swimming League) event in Budapest. Born from the initiative of Ukrainian businessman Konstantin Grigorishin, the event features 10 teams of 28 swimmers, who take part in a knockout competition, culminating in two semi-finals and a final. Held inside a sanitary bubble, the audience-free occasion was one of the biggest sporting events in the world this year and was broadcast on CBS in the US and BeIN Sport among others. From a lighting perspective, Fayard had to ensure this high-profile international competition, where several world records were broken, still retained its entertainment value in the absence of an audience. The LD founded Concept K 23 years ago, mainly for touring and classical eve
USA - For The Morton Arboretum, the idea of not running Illumination this past holiday season was not an option, says Lightswitch principal John Featherstone about the popular wintertime lighting display in Lisle, Illinois. Illumination continues to shine through after being redesigned for a drive-thru experience using additional Elation luminaires, the eighth year for the project. “It’s about a partnership between a remarkable institution, and an industry full of incredibly creative, hard-working and motivated people who are still passionate about delivering remarkable experiences to an entertainment-starved public and bringing relief to people,” says Featherstone. “The motivating force behind why the Arboretum decided to pivot Illumination to a driving experience was not only to ensure guest safety in the middle of a pandemic, but also because we
UK - Knowsley Safari Park, just outside of Liverpool lets you see baboons, prides of lions and much more. This year they organised Enchanted, a foot safari which comes alive as the sun sets. You can enjoy the safari after dark as the whole path is lit with magical lights which guides you through the enchanted trail. Stage Management Company installed the lights for this project. They used Showtec Spectral M800 Q4 IP65 spots. Additionally they deployed Showtec Cameleon flood and Showtec Cameleon bar 24/3, both very powerful fixtures. The Showtec Festoon string was used as well, which has a length of 15m with 20 pixels. Each pixel can be controlled individually with the dedicated Festoon controller. Completing the setting were the Infinity iW-1915 fixtures, where LEDs are divided in five controllable sections allowing for rich colour flows and creative patterns.
UK - Video specialist Observatory has expanded its senior team with the addition of Kelly Faller as director of marketing. Kelly, originally from New York, will ‘leverage her extensive events experience and fan engagement expertise to expand the global footprint of the business’. “Kelly brings a skill set that will strengthen and drive expansion for the business,” says Observatory founder and creative director, Ben Sheppee. “We have been looking to develop our portfolio in fashion and lifestyle, where she has extensive experience. Our existing clients can look forward to an industry expert bringing her knowledge and understanding to the vision of engaging audiences, so we are thrilled to have Kelly add to and grow Observatory, building on our award-winning conceptual visual offering.” Kelly has worked in New York for both digital media and creative producti
UK - Creative business development agency Collaborative Creations has appointed David March as associate director. March brings over three decades of experience across manufacturers, rental production houses and big-name brands in the world of technical entertainment to the Collaborative Creations team. These include: AED, VER, Phillips Entertainment, PRG and most recently, Green Hippo. Collaborative Creations offers a range of plug-in services to events companies, which include business development and sales support, social media planning, website content, case studies, coaching and more. As the pandemic forced many businesses to look at cutting costs, Collaborative Creations provided a cost-effective alternative to full-time marketing and business development professionals. Collaborative Creations director Tom Wilkes comments: “We’ve known and respected David f
Belgium - Theatrical musical producers Deep Bridge created a special streamed Home Edition version of their 2020 Christmas Show, with appearances and special Christmas collaborations from a host of celebrities and music stars, all presenting different festive musical moments. The event was recorded over three days at Deep Bridge’s HQ in Antwerp with lighting designed by David Smeets of event design and production company The Creative Factory, (TCF) based in Meerhout. David specified Robe moving lights including T1 Profiles, Spiiders, LEDBeam 150s, Tertra2 LED bars and BMFL WashBeams, all of which were supplied by rental company L&L Stage Services. The artist line up included a star-studded cast of Belgian singing and dancing talent. The challenges of the project included a tight turnaround time – just 10 days from when the idea germinated
USA - The Behind the Scenes (BTS) Mental Health Initiative wants language about mental health and respectful workplaces “to become a part of every toolbox talk or safety briefing because psychological safety is as important as physical safety.” BTS says: “It’s not always an easy subject to talk about, so to make it easier for those delivering these talks we are suggesting topics and providing sample language that can be used as is or tailored to fit individual needs. “It is important to acknowledge the mental and physical stressors and challenges faced by all of us in the entertainment industry and offer your team tools to help them better manage and respond to these challenges. We know that the last months in particular have been very stressful and returning to work is bringing a new set of concerns for everyone. Many people are struggling with anxiety, gri
Europe - Chauvet Germany GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of ChamSys’ parent company, is now exclusively responsible for selling and servicing the complete line of ChamSys products in the German market. In conjunction with this move, which reflects ChamSys’ commitment to building on its success in Germany, Frank Alofs has been appointed the German business development, training and support manager. Alofs brings considerable experience and knowledge to his new position. “We’re very excited to be direct in Germany and to welcome Frank to our team,” said Henning Oeker, operations manager for Chauvet Germany. In his new role, Alof will be responsible for conducting training sessions and tutorials that cover the full range of ChamSys consoles in German. Information on these can be found on ChamSys’ new German language website:
Germany - Prolight+Sound, along with a number of other trade fairs planned for April and May in Frankfurt this spring, has been postponed until April 2022. A statement from the organisers says: “Back in September 2020, a decision was reached by Messe Frankfurt and the industries involved to forgo any physical events at our home base in the first quarter of 2021. Now, following close consultation with customers, it has become necessary to postpone the international physical trade fairs planned for April and May – Prolight+Sound, the International Consumer Goods Show, Heimtextil, Techtextil and Texprocess – as a result of the regulations and travel restrictions that have been imposed. “There is currently no end to the pandemic in sight. Events are effectively banned in Germany, and ongoing international travel restrictions mean that it is impossible to make any t
UK - Although 2020 was a dark year for many, there have been glimmers of light along the way; software provider Stardraw.com has been pleased to record two significant milestones during the 20th anniversary year of its incorporation. First, in 2020, for the first time in the company’s history, more than 250,000 user sessions for Stardraw Design 7 were logged. Secondly, as a result of new processes and practices introduced in 2019 to streamline the Product Request Service, the queue of approved product requests was reduced to zero for the first time ever. “While we may not have felt like celebrating our 20th anniversary and, like so many others, our business has been impacted by the pandemic, we’re thrilled to have achieved two landmark milestones during what was inevitably a difficult year,” says Stardraw CEO, Rob Robinson. “A ‘user session’ is defined as someo
Italy - The annual musical event Concerto di Natale has taken place once again, gathering international pop, rock, soul, gospel and opera voices and broadcast on Canale 5 on Christmas Eve. The 28th edition took place at the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome. Show designer Francesco De Cave was responsible for the lighting, adding to his portfolio of working with artists like Laura Pausini, Elisa, and many TV Shows, including previous editions to this one. The Italian lighting designer chose Prolights EclCyclorama 100 for this year's Christmas Concert: “I needed a fixture that could light the faces of our artists on stage from below. The EclCyclorama 100 has proven to be an excellent product for lighting backdrops and to make fine adjustments to the picture seen on-camera,” said Francesco. He added: “The 80º x 40º of angle provided by the Cyc was perfect fo
France - Released on New Year’s Eve, Jean Michel Jarre’s virtual reality show, Welcome To The Other Side, is ‘a mind-expanding experience’ that garnered 900,000 views on YouTube within a week of its release and, according to Sony Music International, over 75m views on all outlets (Facebook, VRC, Weibo, Tik Tok). The work mixes high-tech sights and sounds around a reimagined (and virtual) nine-centuries-old Notre Dame cathedral. During its 55-minute run time, conceived to celebrate the arrival of 2021 in the French capital, animated geometric forms rise and fall within the historic church’s nave, keyboard instruments melt with colour, brilliant light patterns run up stone columns to play off stained glass windows. Moving seamlessly with Jarre’s music in Welcome To The Other Side is a multifarious lightshow created by Jvan Morandi of Placing Sha
The Netherlands - Over 500 CLF fixtures were part of the first Electric Fireworks NYE show in the Amsterdam ArenA. Selected because of their power and punch, Poseidon and Aorun beams took care of the aerial effects. LEDbar PRO and Ares fixtures were added to create blinding firework effects. 4Light Showprojects and Dutch7 were in charge of the technical production. Lighting was designed and programmed by LD Company. During load-in, the roof of the ArenA had to be open all the time. Therefore, fixtures with an IP65 rating were preferred. Ronnie Santegoeds (4Light Showprojects) explains: “Initially we planned an outdoor event. That’s why we started the preparation process with a big fixture shoot-out, based on projection at 50m and beam intensity. The CLF Poseidon Beam was chosen to feature the circle shaped structures which resemble fireworks.” The firework
Israel - Over 150 theatrical venues, concert halls, music clubs and sport arenas across the whole of Israel – in cities and communities large and small – were lit up in red on 26 December 2020 in a ‘Red Alert evening of action’ designed to highlight culture and the arts and the immense amount of enjoyment, entertainment and value that it brings to all. The spontaneous event – that began like so many of these organic movements as an animated conversation – was organised by multidisciplinary artist, musician and lighting designer Nadav Barnea, together with lighting designer Baruch Shpigelman, and it energised and united engineers, technicians, designers and directors working in every discipline in the sector - lighting, sound, video, staging, rigging, visual, scenic, cameras and broadcast. Delighted to participate was another leading Israeli lighting design
USA - This year, when The Heights Baptist added a 12-minute video to its socially distant Christmas Eve service, the Dallas church’s creative team had a critical goal in mind. “We didn’t want people to feel like they were watching a video,” opens technical director Zach Carnefix. “Our intent was to make them feel immersed, as if they were in the midst of the events the video was portraying.” To create this sense of engagement, the church accompanied its video with live music, pre-recorded voiceovers, and a dramatic lighting display that featured Chauvet Professional Rogue R2 Wash fixtures supplied by B&L Sound and Lighting. “Our video was divided into two sections,” says Carnefix. “The first, called ‘400 Years of Silence’, covered the time before the birth of Christ, while the second, ‘The Arrival’ is centred on the nativity. Lighting play
USA - Companies joining the Behind the Scenes Pledge-of-Support Programme make a long-term commitment to support the work of the charity through the sale of their products or services. The organisation reports that despite the unprecedented challenges of the past year, these companies stepped up to honour their commitment with 2020 donations and Behind the Scenes is extraordinarily grateful for that support. “Our deepest thanks go to Concert Shop, ETC, Evoke Collaborative, Gray Matter Visual, HG Lighting Design, InCord, J-4 Design, Light Touch Designs, Lightswitch, Litegear, Rosco, TMB, and Westview Productions,” says BTS. “We encourage you to support these companies in whatever way you can, because they are supporting you during good times and bad.” To join the programme, companies pledge a percentage of profits of the sale of a product or service to the chari
Europe - Elation Professional is set to resume its Innovation Hour livestream presentations on 21 January with a discussion of the various types of colour mixing systems found in today’s modern automated luminaires and the pros and cons inherent in each. The ability to create millions of different hues from a single lighting fixture is perhaps the greatest benefit of an intelligent luminaire. Elation national sales manager John Dunn and global product manager Matthias Hinrichs will be live on 21 January (Thursday) at 10:00 a.m. PST as they examine additive and subtractive colour mixing including the different types of RGB colour mixing systems, CMY colour mixing, DTW, and Elation’s proprietary SpectraColor system. The Elation Hour and Elation Innovation Hour are virtual presentations and discussions that address lighting and lighting markets, products and product
UK - GlasGLOW3 was an illuminated trail event conceived and produced by event specialist itison and staged at Glasgow Botanic Gardens. It ran for two and a half weeks in October and November featuring a fully COVID-compliant 1.5km socially distanced walking trail featuring numerous imaginative lighting works, installations, and adventures. Lighting designer Grant Anderson was one of a core creative team comprising itison’s Oli Norman, set designer Kenneth Macleod and composer Kevin Murray who wrote and compiled the soundscape for this project. With a superhero central narrative to the trail, Grant chose 60 Robe iPointes to be key ‘hero’ luminaires within his dynamic site-wide lighting design for GlasGLOW3. iPointes were chosen for their brightness and ability to create super-strength beams of light that would be visible from across Glasgow in the right weather co
Germany - In a summer that saw hardly any live shows, Landstreicher Konzert set an example with their corona-compliant series of Picnic Concerts in several German cities. Singer-songwriter Lea was one of the artists who performed during the concert series, with lighting designer Maximilian Gräf from PE Lichtdesign using 20 KNV Line from GLP to bring a breath of fresh air to the existing tour design. Gräf, who has been working as a lighting and stage designer for Lea since February 2017, had to fall back on an older design for the Picnic Concerts due to the pandemic. “The design for the new album Treppenhaus only exists on the drawing board, because all festivals were cancelled due to Covid,” he said. “When it came to the Picnic Concerts, I looked at both the old recording of the Zwischen Meinen Zeilen design and the drafts for the planned Treppenhaus<
USA - The Mall at University Town Centre in Sarasota, Florida, has over 100 stores and 20 dining options that attract multitudes of patrons year round. This past holiday season, the mall retired its smaller Christmas experience from years past and debuted a spectacular new holiday light show as incentive for customers to forego stay-at-home shopping and visit the mall instead. Justin Stancil of Stancil Entertainment was contacted to design the lighting spectacular and turned to the ONYX platform from Obsidian Control Systems to control the massive system. “The client called saying they had a vision to do a big light show but had no idea how to achieve it,” Stancil shares. “I got the call in August and we designed a complete system - advanced pixels, intelligent lighting, control, hardlined and wireless networking, and automation.” The lighting canvass, spread
Norway - Chauvet has named Scandec as its exclusive distributor for Norway. The arrangement covers both Chauvet Professional and Chauvet DJ products. “Until now, lighting has been missing from our portfolio of products,” comments Roar Birkeland, CEO of Scandec. “Before adding any lighting brand, we wanted to be completely certain that it offered the quality that our customers associate with the Scandec name. The wide range, quality and reputation of Chauvet attracted us to them. Now we are very excited to offer our customers complete solutions that include excellent lighting products.” Stéphane Gressier, international sales director of Chauvet, adds: “We couldn’t be happier to have Scandec as our exclusive distributor in Norway. The dedication and energy that the Scandec team brings to the table will help us build on the momentum we have established in Nor
UK - Avolites has launched its new flagship Diamond 9 (D9) console, available in two versions: D9-330 and D9-215. The consoles are the result of years of technical innovation from the Avolites team, utilising their 45 years of industry experience, feedback from designers across the industry and award-winning industrial designers to create “the ultimate control surface”. “The Diamond series is designed by visual designers, for visual designers and everyone in-between to intuitively combine lighting, media and other visual aspects of a show together,” the company says. “Each screen, fader, encoder and button has been meticulously thought over, so the console becomes an extension of the designer to give them totally unhindered creative freedom to power their ultimate shows.” Bringing a new distinctive look and feel to the console, the main front panels are ma
UK - London welcomed in 2021 with a spectacular city-wide display, sending a message of thanks and hope to the nation and the world. Jack Morton, the global brand experience agency, helped to develop the original concept and worked in partnership with the Mayor of London’s office and a dedicated team of experts to create the extraordinary experience. The 10-minute show, designed for home-viewing and created in collaboration with the BBC, was broadcast live on BBC1 and watched by a global viewing audience of millions. Jack Morton’s creative show team worked in collaboration with On the Sly for the music production, Titanium Fireworks for the pyrotechnics design, and SKYMAGIC for the swarm drone sequences. Lighting for the event was designed by Durham Marenghi with Paul Cook as associate LD and programmer. The spectacular array of 168 Claypaky Mythos 2 and 168 Elati
USA - Imaginary Labs has announced the release of their premium subscription-based DMX plugin, Carbon for Unreal. It provides “the tools and assets necessary for professional, real time productions within the powerful framework of Unreal Engine.” Producers, designers, and virtual production professionals will now have a “singularly powerful solution for design development, renderings, visualization, and XR productions”. David S. Perkins, CEO & chief architect of Imaginary Labs states: “Trustworthiness is the most important aspect of visualization. We want users to trust that what they are seeing in Carbon is a realistic representation of what they should expect to see in the real world. We are devoted to getting this right. At Imaginary Labs, we subscribe to the scientific method, with an open mind towards constant improvement. Combined with our devotion to se
