MTV's flagship show has been treated to many ground-breaking visual designs in the past and this year's set was no exception.
Director Hamish Hamilton and designers Mark Fisher and Anne Brahic along with lighting designer Allen Branton based the design on a flown array of 16 LED video screens of various sizes, each mounted in a classical ornate gilt picture frame and flown from CyberHoist CH1000 one tonne motors and CH500 half-ton motors. The screens, nine of which were constantly in motion throughout the show, were used to show a combination of Imag footage, specially created graphics, captions and visual effects.
Kish Rigging's project manager JR Cassidy said the CyberHoist system chosen for its ability to provide complex, multi-cue movements with straightforward, user-friendly programming, its near-silent operation and millimetre accuracy. "The first time we saw it, we were blown away by it," he says, "and it provided the MTV VMAs' design team with flexibility and precision of movement that no other system could come close to."
The system was supplied to Kish Rigging by Flashlight along with senior programmer Jim Allison and technician Pieter Jaap Visser.
JR Cassidy said: "The system was great to programme, very fast and intuitive, and no more complicated to rig than conventional hoist motors. With a fast moving television show the ability to re-programme moves to accommodate the director's requirements is a great asset and we used it to the max here."
This year's MTV VMA winners included Panic! At The Disco, James Blunt, Kelly Clarkson, All-American Rejects, Chamillionaire, Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, Pussycat Dolls and Pink.
CyberHoist / InMotion 3D was awarded Rigging Product of the Year at the ETS-LDI Show last autumn 2005 and the PLASA Award for Innovation at its European launch in London in 2004.
(Chris Henry)
