Recently 365 Media used nearly all its Robe stock to light the finals of the most popular TV show in the country's history - Icelandic Idol. Set and lighting were designed by Alfred Sturla Bodvarsson. The show's LED-lit truss half-dome, was supplied by Eurotruss in Holland and clad with LED starcloths from Universal Stars Ltd, as was the rear projection material, onto which Apollo Design Technology glass cloud gobos were projected by Robe MS Zoom 250s. Robe 575 XT Wash lights also coloured the projections. Five front projection video screens inside the dome completed the design, plus the trademark Idol stairs backlit with LED tubes. The Plexiglas floor was washed with 14 Robe 575 XT Wash lights. Eight Robe ColorSpot 1200E ATs were used for backlighting from the dome's upper regions, plus five Robe MS Zooms 250s just peeking out over the floor level.
Bodvarsson wanted a clean, uncluttered look in his Idol stage design and for the video graphics to stand out. The eight Color Spot 1200E AT were the main source of lighting effects, with "Their fantastic selection of gobos and amazing zoom". He particularly likes the fact that the patterns stay in focus throughout virtually the full zoom range, "A particularly nice effect in TV is to have the beams zoom in and out with the camera cranes". He also finds the 1200E very fast and bright. He used two 1200s behind the audience that sliced through the extensive Par 64 backwash to create movement as the cameras captured the crowd's excitement.
Bodvarsson says that he had a good feeling right from the start about Robe when he met Josef Valchar in London in 2002. "It's the best bet I've ever made in this business!" he says, "Robe was once our 'secret weapon' and now it's our strongest asset."
(Lee Baldock)
