zactrack follows Charlie & The Chocolate Factory
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This is one of the first European musicals – following successful shows in the UK, the Disney parks in France and a production of Starlight Express in Germany – to utilise this technology, and therefore “very energising” explained Valerio, to whom the system was initially demonstrated by zactrack’s Italian distributor, RM Multimedia. He believes zactrack is a creative tool that “truly unlocks the mind in achieving so many new and different possibilities” with lighting.
The idea of harnessing the flexibility and creativity of zactrack to control selected lighting fixtures occurred to Valerio during the production’s design phase. He knew that some lighting positions would be limited and inaccessible in the tented Espacio Delicias Teatro structure and saw real time tracking as a vehicle that could assist with the dramaturgy of the lighting.
Thirty zactrack Trackers on 15 cast members are controlling 60 moving lights all supplied by Spanish rental company Fluge. Using the technology, Valerio was able to replace ‘classic’ follow spot positions with more flexible and aesthetically pleasing options, and to light multiple actors simultaneously.
The system comprises 30 x Trackers, eight Anchors (antennas) and two zactrack SMART servers, with two Trackers allocated to each actor, located on their shoulders beneath their stage clothes. This gives optimal stability, as the Anchors can always see at least one Tracker wherever the performer in positioned onstage.
Valerio has been able to light the big ‘production dance’ number cues consistently using zactrack to accurately follow the movements of many artists simultaneously. At one point in the show, an aerial performer is followed moving at lightning speed via zactrack, with the creation of incredible lighting movements as they jump and turn, all of which are replicated exactly for each show.
This zactrack configuration – with shoulder positioning of the Trackers – also facilitates performers being accurately followed with extremely tight and narrow light beams, sometimes illuminating only the face as there is a perfect centring of the beam on the character’s face. In the case of understudies having to step into a role for any performance, the Tracker positioning can be swiftly and simply recalibrated to work for that actor.
A major challenge was asking the actors to wear additional hardware on top of their radio mics, but being able to control the tracking system directly from the lighting console “opened up multiple scenarios that previously have been almost impossible,” noted Valerio. This included following characters with multiple fixtures, not just with accurate lighting, but enabling a whole range of “specials” involving dynamics like colour changing, reshaping and other effects to be applied.
The eight Anchors are positioned out of the audience’s view, with two on the FOH truss, two just behind the stage, two on the upstage truss and two on the first (most downstage) booms in the room to cover the entire stage area, plus selected other parts of the room that are used to help tell the story.
The two zactrack servers communicate directly with the show’s grandMA3 lighting console and the 60 lighting fixtures are a mix of Robe BMFL, Ayrton Eurus and Cameo Opus SP5 spots, and Martin Aura XB washes, which are among the ‘base’ luminaires of the show. The grandMA3 at FOH is connected to a laptop close by used as the main zactrack server, and this close proximity is useful both during programming and for running the show, as all the ZT functions can be quickly verified, from the active Trackers to the various masks and scenes that have been created using them.
On stage, Tracker tech Maria Elena Alejandre has a tablet to rapidly identify any anomalies reported during the show by the console operator. Zactrack Spanish distributor Earpro&EES with zactrack’s direct support helped source local technicians in Madrid, including Himar Santana Sarais to co-ordinate and assist with the installation in Madrid.
Earpro&EES lighting & rigging product manager, Asier Suso, was also integrally involved in this entire process, giving technical support to Fluge – alongside zactrack – during the setup and directly assisting Himar to ensure everything went smoothly.
