This was the first time that Littman has used these Robe moving heads, which were recommended by several people including two of his crew for the Emmys, Ed Duda and Eric Perry: both had worked with the Robe fixtures on Deep Purple's 2004 'Bananas' world tour for LD Louis Ball. Littman specified 18 ColorSpot 1200s - Robe's top-of-the-range fixtures - for the Emmys design, combined with assorted generic fixtures which he programmed and operated via a GrandMA console. Littman was highly impressed with the ColorSpot 1200's performance, stating, "Robe's will become the new work horses of my designs."
For the show, he utilized the ColorSpot 1200s for the dual roles of accenting on the set and for washing the whole stage, where the zoom allowed him to shift the units from being hard-edge fixtures to washlights. To create an even softer beam, he used the frost filter, "by far one of the best I have seen to date" says Littman, adding that its smooth transitions are "a real plus in a television environment where fast transitions can be seen as shifts in luminance."
Along with many other Robe advocates, Littman also loves the ColorSpot 1200's standard gobo selection, which he used to create "Nice breakups and beautiful graphic beams" for the show. He also placed two units upstage on the floor to help create atmospheric effects on camera, where once again the fixture's intensity came into its own. "On camera, the fixtures' beams looked solid rather than almost imperceptable splotches - an issue I've had with other fixtures in the past."
The 1200s were also employed to create back lighting for the presenters (including host Graham Norton) and again, "the intensity, the strong colour system and the fantastic zoom" allowed him to generate the ideal type and quality of rear light needed for a large televised event.
(Lee Baldock)
