Atoms bring live action to Love Actually
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Although a long-time member of the Full Flood lighting design consortium, the commission came through Berger’s own independent operation, Innovative Intensity - the latest in a multi-year collaboration with Los Angeles-based production company For The Record Live, which specialises in musical presentations based on the canon of a film director.
In December 2017 they were approached by The Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills to put together a show for their black box theatre space, The Sorting Room. “We took the music / script for Love Actually and basically performed the film in its entirety with about four hours’ rehearsal. The success of that project pushed us towards creating something new for this year in the Goldsmith Theatre.”
This full-on musical featured a 15-piece orchestra that live scored the film as well as playing the ‘soundtrack’ to the show.
Key to enhancing the audience experience in this 500-seater theatre was to create a sense of immersion.
Michael Berger specified GLP S350s to function as front of house keylight - mostly because he wanted to audition their features for television. “Overall I was really impressed with the brightness, colour rendering and surprisingly low noise floor,” he says.
He adds, “I’ve grown to love the X4 Bar and the X4 atom when using them on America’s Got Talent and I knew that they would be the right fit for our light wall.”
He describes the GLP equipment he deployed as an 'embarrassment of riches', with 24 X4 atoms, 10 X4 Bar 20, seven of the giant X4 XL heads and seven of the new S350’s.
In addition to Ryan Tanker, Mike Berger’s creative lighting team included Joe Clavell as assistant lighting director. Lighting was provided by 4Wall Los Angeles.
(Jim Evans)
