Singapore - As in past years, this year's National Day celebration was on a grand scale with large numbers of Martin automated lighting fixtures used to bathe the Marina Bay venue in swathes of celebratory colour. 320 MAC 2000 Washes, 60 MAC 2000 Wash XBs and 20 MAC 2000 Performances were utilsed. Lighting production was by Showtec Group of Singapore.

The 60 MAC 2000 Wash XB fixtures formed the bulk of the stage's front wash for the National Day event. "With the XB's I'm getting more level on stage and much better control, and the new lens has taken them to a whole new level," says lighting designer Paul Collison."They were sent directly from Martin's Danish headquarters and gave much more control over the 100m throw to the stage.

"The shallow angle of the FOH position caused all sorts of grief last year with excess ambient light being thrown on to the construction site on the other side of Marina Bay. The new lens' 9 degree spread was perfect to tidy this up. It's like they were designed for this show. I wouldn't do another show of this scale without the micro-Fresnel Lens in the arsenal."

Also in the system were some 320 MAC 2000 Washes along with 20 MAC 2000 Performances, which Collison says were ideal for locking down performers on the promenade. "I love the Performances, they are so very versatile. I'd have them on every show I do if I could."

This year saw the introduction of video as a major part of the scenic landscape with 1,800sq.m of custom made LED netting framing the back of the stage. Four MA Media PC's drive this. "The influence this has on the view is amazing," Collison says. "I've always liked playing with video and lighting however I've never had the chance to work with such a massive screen and have total creative freedom to entwine it in to the lighting landscape. Playing between the lighting fixtures and the screens is a lot of fun. On such a big scale as this it's something you need to be careful with not to take over the whole stage."

(Jim Evans)


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