The imaginative stage set has been lit by Light-H-Art designer Bas de Vries and his assistant, programmer Joost Wijgers.
Having collaborated on a number of similar TV talent shows for Talpa in the past, including The Voice, Dance Dance Dance and It Takes Two, the two men this time turned to 12 of GLP's GT-1 hybrid Spot / Beam to dominate the set, which has been built at the giant Studio 24 on the Media Park in Hilversum.
"We got to test a GT-1 when we were recording Dance Dance Dance and thought it would be a great fit for The Next Boy / Girl Band," admits Joost.
The show itself is recorded in front of a live audience. The main elements of the scenography are three big elevators rising up from the floor, revealing the three candidates auditioning for the boy or girl band. "Therefore, the entire stage and audience needed to be raised 3,5 meters above the normal studio floor," he reports. "As a result, this left restricted height for the remainder of the set, instead giving it a real feeling of width."
As the only spot fixture used in the rig, the GT-1 has a leading role in setting both the look and feel of the show. "Using both the beam and gobo function of the spot, we have been able to create very different looks with a limited number of fixtures," he reveals.
Supplied as part of the overall lighting package by Ampco Flashlight, the GT-1s are placed in a single straight line behind the stage - in a simple, but highly effective deployment, according to Joost. "We use both the Spot and Beam mode, which gives a nice variety to the looks. We also use the different prisms fairly extensively."
(Jim Evans)
