Central to his lighting and set design was the specification of 24 x Robe BMFL Spots moving lights. Gavin's re- imagining of the show in a new and contemporary context involved a 30m long black high-gloss central runway emanating from the stage, traversing to the centre of the venue.
Sic Productions produced the event for Sun International. The traditional gala dinner set up was ditched in favour of tiered VIP seating - fashion show style - flanking the catwalk.
Broadcast live on TV channels MNET and Mzanzi, this redefinition of traditional beauty pageant presentation was hailed as a major success by the media and received with great enthusiasm by the public.
Twelve of the BMFLs were positioned on a 30m spine truss flown directly overhead the runway, with the other 12 rigged on trusses above five upstage LED screens at the back of the stage set featuring a series of wide staircases. The staircase set, three metres high at the back / highest point was split in two by a central tunnel through which the 12 contestants walked out onto the runway.
The tunnel and the catwalk were both dramatic and different departures from anything previously seen on a Miss SA show.
"The extra brightness of the BMFL Spots and the fact that I still had loads of headroom in terms of intensity was fantastic" comments Josh, adding that "the quality of the light, the CRI, the crispness and the uniformity are all amazing".
Johannesburg based Dream Sets supplied the full technical production for Miss SA which also included another 70 Robe moving lights.
Seventeen LEDWash 800s were rigged over the stage and used to wash across the whole stage area and to boost the back light.
Sixteen ColorWash 2500E ATs on the front trusses were utilized for keys and fills and 12 ColorSpot 700E ATs provided another layer of accent lighting above the stage.
Twenty-four little LEDBeam 100s positioned on trusses out in the auditorium were used to zap around the crowds and the arena perimeter catching the vibe and hubbub of the occasion.
These and a number of other lights were all programmed into Josh's grandMA2 full size console and programmed over four nights.
Josh also selected the ambient playback video content which was output to the five onstage LED screens and the plasma wall at the rear of the runway entrance, which was programmed onto four Coolux Pandora's Box media players and triggered via his grandMA2.
The show was hosted by Proverb and live performances from Gangs of Ballet, Beatenberg, AKA and Sterling EQ all helped make it a memorable and entertaining evening culminating in Liesl Lauria being crowned Miss South Africa 2015.
(Jim Evans)
