India - To deliver clear, intelligible vocals and a surround sound experience, Cine Tech Engineering Works equipped Century City Cinema Punjab with a JBL Professional cinema audio system.
Located in the heart of Mandi Dabwali, Century City Cinema is a 381-seat multiplex with two luxurious screening rooms. Cine Tech Engineering Works was hired to upgrade the aging audiovisual system with a cutting-edge Harman Professional Solutions cinema audio system featuring JBL loudspeakers and Crown amplifiers.
“We recently installed cinema sound solutions in Century City Cinema, Punjab, with the help of the Harman Professional Solutions team,” said Asad Rashid, owner, Cine Tech Engineering Works. “As per the client's requirements, we designed a cutting-edge audio system that includes JBL 4732-T loudspeakers and JBL 4642A high-power subwoofers along with JBL 9300 cinema surround speakers. The system is powered by Crown DSi Series amplifiers and a JBL CPi2000 cinema processor.”
To create immersive audio experiences, Century City Cinema supplemented the system with JBL 9300 cinema surround loudspeakers. With a versatile wall-mounting system, JBL 9300 loudspeakers can be positioned at three different angles for optimal coverage.
To provide staff at Century City Cinema with a simple means of adjusting audio levels and sound quality for both screening rooms, Century City Cinema equipped the theatre with a JBL CPi2000 cinema processor. With DSP processing, audio enhancement presets and an intuitive software interface, the CPi2000 provides seamless contro
Monaco - From 12 July to 28 August, 2019, the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco hosted the prestigiuos Chaumet in Majesty. The exhibition provided a rare chance to see up close a spectacular set of jewels of the Parisian Maison Chaumet, some of which belong to the Empress Josephine de Beauharnais and the Princess Grace of Monaco.
Darian Srl was involved in setting up the installation and decided to use 350 units of Prolights Minieclipse to enlighten the precious jewels.
Daniele Giordano, chief executive for Darian Srl, said: “The Grimaldi Forum is one of our most important clients, and the event was very exclusive, therefore the lighting had to be appropriate, granting the proper relevance to the displayed jewels. I’ve chosen Prolights because I’ve been impressed by their professionalism and products’ quality.
“MiniEclipse turned out to be a perfect choice. They’re a lightweight, compact designed fixtures, providing a highly bright light beam which has perfectly met our needs. The final result has been very impactful and it surely played a role in making the exhibition a real success.”
(Jim Evans)
Germany - Berlin rockers punk rockers Alex Mofa Gang recently completed a 15 leg German tour in support of their latest LP Ende Offen.
Backing up the band’s music was an intense Gabriel Paul designed lightshow that featured a collection of 22 Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by PM Group.
Working and touring together with the Alex Mofa Gang band members, Paul developed a staunchly defiant lighting concept, that focused virtually all of its energy on backlighting the quintet on stage. Illuminating the band from this angle, without the reassurance of front light and top light, evoked an arresting sense of uncertainty.
Key to helping Paul accomplish this were the four Rogue R2 Wash and two Rogue R1 Wash fixtures in his rig. “The Rogue R1 and R2 Wash fixtures were instrumental in creating the overall look and feel of the band's visual concept," said Paul. "I was able to use the zoom feature to create almost beam-like effects from behind the band, which gave visual presence and purpose."
While the rich colours of the Rogue R1 and R2 Wash units accentuated the dramatic punk sound of the band’s performance, the two Maverick MK2 Spot and two Rogue R3 Spot fixtures in Paul’s rig helped him endow the stage with a greater sense of depth. Drawing on the intensity and gobo capabilities of these fixtures, he peppered the stage with dramatic patterns that reflected the music.
Paul relied on four Rogue R1 FX-B fixtures with their five independently moving heads and infinite pan and tilt motions to conjure up a steady stream of new
USA - On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs won their first Super Bowl in half a century. In the heart of downtown, at the Kansas City Live! block, a happy group of 10,000 fans soaked up the victory in a sea of wild cheers and streams of confetti, accented by displays of light and coloured fog created with Chauvet Professional fixtures and atmospherics.
Jason Bradley, the director of entertainment and production at the Kansas City Power & Light District, that houses over a dozen restaurants, bars, and nightclubs, recalls the experience. “It was something special to be a part of,” he said. “Adam, Pete and Taylor from Harvest Productions, my technical staff for the event, put in some very long hours to make this vision a reality.
“Our guys were well prepared,” said Bradley. “We had a great cue made for the win to highlight the victory. Pounds and pounds of confetti were shot off. This is where the punch of the R2X beams got to shine, lighting up the confetti, the crowd, the venue and everything else in brilliant colour. We also knew Fox Sports was going to come back to us for their live shot after the win, so we used our STRIKE 4 fixtures to illuminate the crowd for the cameras.”
The watch party’s main stage rig at Kansas City Live! featured 12 Maverick MK2 Spot, 12 Rogue R2X Beam, eight COLORado Solo Batten 4, and four STRIKE 4 fixtures flown on upstage truss; and six Rogue R3 Wash units on the downstage truss, as well as four Vesuvio RGB LED foggers and four Rogue R2X Beams on the deck. Bradley and his team also had 10 Rogue R3 Wash
USA - Lighting director Marc Tiskewicz works with the Pabst Theatre Group and the Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee, where Greensky Bluegrass played three epic shows, including a New Year’s Eve concert featuring a lighting design from Andrew Lincoln. The lighting rig at Riverside included 12 High End Systems SolaPix 7's, 12 SolaPix 12's and six SolaFrame 1500s.
The Riverside opened in 1928 as a Vaudeville theatre and is now one of four venues operated by the Pabst Theater Group. These days. The Riverside hosts a wide variety of show from comedy, rock, dance to major political events.
Tiskewicz says PTG purchased their Hog 4 Full Boar console in 2016 from Studio Gear. “We next added the SolaFrame 1500s that mostly live on a mid-stage pipe where I can get the most out of them show to show. Then, during the Greensky Bluegrass three-day NYE show, we used 12 SolaPix 19's and 12 SolaPix 7's to demo from Tim Cooksey at Studio Gear. We then subsequently purchased the 12 Solapix 7's.”
LD Andrew Lincoln specified his own rig coming into the space. Tiskewicz says the designer was thrilled to learn they had the extra fixtures available to demo, and he came up with a plan to place them on two mid-stage pipes and the downstage truss
The SolaPix’s output combined with a smaller fixture fit Lincoln’s design goals for the shows. Tiskewicz adds, “The organisation of the DMX footprint (using base, flex and pixel modules) made it quick and easy for him to clone the fixtures into his show and have them work perfectly with his extensive existing programmi
UK - In addition to deployment in the West End, DiGiCo is used widely in touring theatre. “As one of the earliest adopters of DiGiCo consoles for use in theatre, we’ve been happy to contribute to their development and continue to be so,” comments Autograph’s Duncan Bell.
“From as far back his first meeting with them in 2002, Andrew [Bruce, Autograph’s founder] has been particularly closely involved in the development of the ‘T’ theatre-specific application software. His contribution, and that of numerous other theatre sound designers, means that DiGiCo is the established Gold Standard in theatre globally, and in fact most of the sound designs we see are based on the capabilities and workflow of T-equipped DiGiCo consoles.”
“A factor that works particularly well for us as owners of an extensive DiGiCo inventory is the return on investment from their products,” Bell continues. “Largely this is because of its policy of continuously updating software and developing new engines for existing hardware platforms. The new Quantum engine is a perfect example - in 2004 the very first DiGiCo console we supplied into the West End was a D5T for Les Miserables, which was subsequently upgraded to an SD7T during the last audio refit in 2011.
“The show’s London home since 2004, the Queens Theatre, has just undergone a major refurbishment and reopened with the new production as the newly-named Sondheim Theatre. The refit included a new sound system, at the heart of which is a new Quantum7T - the same interface, similar hardware but
China - Qinhuangdao Jiayun Electric Appliance Co recently deployed a complete JBL Professional audio system for the theatrical production Tang Dynasty Legend Songzhou • Wengcheng, put on by the Songpan County Party Committee and County Government.
Located in the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, modern-day Songpan County includes the site of the ancient city of Songzhou. According to legend, in the year 632, Tibetan emperor Songtsen Gampo attacked Songzhou after being denied a marriage alliance with the ruling Tang Dynasty of China. Although the Chinese managed to repel the invaders at Songzhou, the Tibetan emperor was eventually allowed to marry princess Wengcheng, in an event often referred to as the “national marriage” of the Han and Tibetan people.
To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, the Songpan County Party Committee and County Government staged a large-scale theatrical performance of these events called Tang Dynasty Legend Songzhou • Wengcheng. To give the production a sense of immersion, Harman distributor Qinhuangdao Jiayun Electric Appliance Co chose to deploy JBL VLA Series loudspeakers and Crown amplifiers.
Qinhuangdao Jiayun Electric Appliance selected JBL VLA-C2100 two-way line array loudspeakers for the show, which deliver full-range sound via dual 10-inch Differential Drive woofers and a trio of 1.5-inch D2415 high-frequency drivers.
To amplify the system with as much power and clarity as possible, Qinhuangdao Jiayun Electric Appliance
Czech Republic - Lighting designer Michael Kuehbandner worked closely with creative director Achim John from Jack Morton Worldwide and the show direction team from Quinton’s Concept to deliver a spectacular visual extravaganza for the VIP launch of the new Škoda Octavia car at the Prague National Gallery’s Trade Fair Palace.
Assisting Michael were over 180 x Robe moving lights – a mix of MegaPointes, Spiiders, LEDWash 1200s and DL4S Profiles.
The eye-catching event was production designed / produced by marketing and communications agency Fischer Appelt in collaboration with leading global brand experience specialist, Jack Morton Worldwide.
Michael was working directly for adhoc engineering, German-based interdisciplinary events and technical specialist, who were responsible for coordinating the full technical production and implementation led by Maik Ragheb as technical director.
The six-minute reveal show reflected starred three new Octavias, one of which emerged from a crystal-shaped set piece that split apart.
Two of the cars were driven along a ‘crystalline light tunnel’ created by Michael using the MegaPointes and Spiiders to the sounds of Opus Octavia, a specially composed piece by Jazz musician Jesse Milliner, performed by the Prague Philharmonie (Pražská komorní filharmonie) orchestra and the Time for Three string trio.
The MegaPointes’ two prisms and animation wheel helped Michael create the specific crystalline ‘sharded’ look that the client wanted for this stunning creation.
The other
UK - White Light has supplied the lighting equipment for Holes which is currently touring venues across the UK.
Presented by The Children’s Theatre Partnership, Holes is the creative new stage show based on the multi-award winning novel and Hollywood blockbuster. Adapted for the stage by the novel’s author Louis Sachar, the piece is set in a labour camp where a boy, Stanley, has to dig the same sized hole every day while a tyrannical warden looks on. The show features a lighting design by Prema Mehta and an associate lighting design by Guy Jones.
Guy comments: “I have dual roles on this production as associate lighting designer to Prema as well as production electrician, with my overall brief being to recreate the original lighting design in a touring format. Many of the tour moves are in and up in a day so one central aim has been to replicate the looks while ensuring the rig would be quick to install. Making a consistent standard achievable for every tour move was my main focus with regards to designing the rig itself. Another big consideration was that the entire show must tour in one trailer, so any toured LX had to occupy as little space as possible”.
As the play is set in the Texan desert, this played a major part in Prema’s design. Guy explains: “In terms of feel, Prema’s design uses strong colours on the cyc, with the heat of the desert being introduced with warm backlight. There are also many specials used for puppets and other specific whilst side light is also used a lot. I started with the kit list that Prema had us
UK - Ayrton’s new IP65-rated Perseo LED profile fixtures saw their first Scottish engagements when they were specified by lighting designer, Grant Anderson, for two major outdoor winter events in Glasgow, created and produced by online marketing and events company, itison.
The first in a series of major events from itison, the spectacular GlasGLOW, returned at Halloween to Glasgow Botanic Gardens for the second year running, drawing over 100,000 visitors over its two-and-a-half week run. This sound and light extravaganza took visitors through the Gardens on a 60-minute, 2km interactive trail of light, through nine differently themed worlds that delighted with fresh surprises at every turn.
Twelve Perseo fixtures were employed to dramatic effect by Anderson in three of these worlds: Arcade, The Dragon’s Lair and Area G12 where they were deployed at low-level with gobos texturing the grass and creating aerial effects through the tree branches. A further eight units of Ayrton’s unique MagicPanel-FX adorned The Party Palace within the Botanic Gardens’ giant glasshouse.
Anderson specified Perseo with itison’s major new event series in mind after trialling them in a shootout, organised with Ayrton’s exclusive UK distributor, Ambersphere. “I needed something that could withstand three months of Scottish winter weather,” says Anderson, “but when I saw what Perseo was capable of, it was a stand-out winner. With other exterior IP-rated fixure I have used, there is always a compromise. Usually they are not as bright, or the colour mixing is
Germany - The Staatstheater Nürnberg is one of the largest multi-discipline theatres in Germany. Under the auspices of general music director Jens-Daniel Herzog, 600 employees in the opera, drama, ballet and concert divisions currently facilitate more than 750 performances per season for almost 300,000 visitors.
For the ballet Sacre, directed by Goyo Montero, the Staatstheater Nürnberg used Robert Juliat SpotMe for the first time, in conjunction with a Robert Juliat Victor followspot and Robert Juliat Maestro server.
Robert Juliat SpotMe is a 3D tracking tool for followspots and the only tracking device for performers on the market that puts the followspot operator in control by enabling ‘slave’ lighting fixtures to follow the movements of a followspot. Because movement is based on the position determined by the followspot, no cameras or sensors are necessary in the stage area, or on performers or objects.
Karl Wiedemann, team leader Lighting Opera, explains: "The requirement for this special production was to be able to control a ring of 40 moving lights hanging above the stage via a transmitter-receiver solution. We wanted to be able to track a dancer automatically with the moving lights, so that he could be seen to ‘play’ with the light. The truss ring containing the spotlights was suspended from eight-point hoists and could therefore tilt in all axes.
"In order to use tracking at different positions of the traverse circle, we divided the 40 moving lights into four groups and assigned them several 3D positions,” Wiedemann
USA - In a recent production of the musical Man of la Mancha by the MNM Theatre Company at the Raymond F. Kravis Centre, West Palm Beach, Don Quixote’s flowering dreams, were brought vividly to life by a Clifford Spulock lighting design that featured Chauvet Professional fixtures.
Positioning two Rogue R1X Spots on the house box booms and four Rogue RH1 Hybrids on upstage truss, Spulock built a variety of looks for the show. “I wanted the lighting to evoke myriad emotions from the audience,” says Spulock. “The setting of the play is already dark, so I wanted a clear delineation between the prison and Cervantes’ ‘story within the story’ to draw the audience into this imaginary world, which seems bright and happy, but slowly becomes more sombre and complex as the emotional state of the characters is revealed.”
The iris edge function of the Rogue R1X fixtures created precise specials for the actors and doubled as a powerful spotlight substitute to add extra punch to the dance and musical numbers, as well as the dramatic soliloquies.
Spulock also relied on the Rogue R1X Washes and the RH1 Hybrids to establish visual cues, with colour, light, isolation and shadows, which helped to highlight the drama unfolding onstage and draw the audience into the story on a more visceral level.
“I really wanted to use colour and effects to establish the two different worlds within the show,” adds Spulock. “My ambers, darkness and gobo breakups made the audience feel as if they were suffering with the prisoners in the dungeon; then
UK - A large number of ADJ Hydro Beam X2 and 32 HEX Panel IP fixtures were used to create the outdoor lightshow to launch the international Mayflower 400 commemoration year. As part of the Illuminate festival of light in Plymouth - the port from which The Mayflower set sail on its legendary journey, the display filled the maritime city's historic waterfront with vibrant colours and piercing beams that could be seen from miles around.
2020 marks the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower from Plymouth in the UK to what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts. Mayflower 400 is a year-long initiate that will champion the values of freedom, faith and personal liberty that informed that original journey. At the same time, the commemoration will recognise the impact of the Mayflower’s journey on Native American communities and address themes of colonialism and migration, providing an accurate, inclusive account of the Mayflower’s legacy.
Illuminate 2019 was a spectacular light-based festival that connected all of the Mayflower 400 destinations across the UK and internationally. A breath-taking series of events involving light-based art installations and projections took place at locations across the UK, Holland and the US in November of last year. The flagship event in Plymouth, England - which ran across four days from 28 November to 1 December - was organised by RIO (Real Ideas Organisation), who brought in local lighting specialists Essential Supplies to install and program lighting fixtures throughout the Royal William Yard on Plymouth’s waterfront.
Italy - Opened in October last year, Cristó is a new events space, restaurant and cocktail bar in the north Italian city of Brescia. Owned and run by Gino Liguori and Alda Civelli, Cristó is an adaptable space, which, depending on the requirements of an event, can be configured to cater for 200-500 guests at any one time. Located in the heart of Brescia, in Piazzale Arnaldo, the venue is inside The Grain Market, a majestic neoclassical structure which dates back to 1820.
Divided between two levels, Cristó is a flexible events space which meets a variety of customer needs, whilst retaining a very particular identity. Wood, iron and concrete feature in an interior that comprises a unique alchemy of art, antiques, recycled materials and carefully designed furnishings.
Having enjoyed more than 20 years’ experience in the nightclub and hospitality sector, Liguori and Civelli were acutely aware that the quality of its sound system is central to the success of any events venue which aspires to accommodate a wide range of functions. The Cristó team chose Pioneer Pro Audio to meet the demanding needs of this multi-faceted space, engaging solutions provider Maste Eventi to install the system.
Maurizio Prestileo of Maste Eventi comments: “The Cristó team’s aim was to install a high quality system with excellent diffusion in all areas. It was important that it should not create any external disturbance, given the venue’s city centre location. The space was challenging as a result of numerous physical factors, including the thickness of internal and
Europe - On Muse’s 2019 Simulation Theory world tour, Elation Proteus Hybrid IP65 moving heads proved impervious to the wet European summer.
Designing lighting for the tour, which started early in 2019 and wrapped in October, was Sooner Routhier, her first lighting design for the band and her first experience using Proteus fixtures. She comments: “We needed a strong IP65-rated fixture for the rainy, European, outdoor stadiums. They had to be a punchy hybrid beam to reach the high levels in the stadiums. We also needed a fixture that could handle all the intricacies of Muse’s music. This was my first experience with Proteus and they were the perfect fixture for our needs.”
Muse travelled the world throughout 2019 in support of their late 2018 Simulation Theory release. Sci-fi thematic with 1980’s and video game inspiration, the tour’s artistic direction was by Jesse Lee Stout with lighting playing a major role in the show. Routhier’s stimulating design carried out into the audience via a runway that connected to a B stage that allowed the band to engage with their audience. For the outdoor stadium shows, as well as a pair of London O2 arena video shoots, the immersive visual look was amplified with lines of Proteus Hybrid on both sides of the runway and encircling the B stage.
“Sure, we used them because of their IP rating but they were also good at accenting the intricacies of Muse’s music. I think my favourite moment was during the song Thought Contagion, where they were focused on the runway and the B stage
UK - The National Theatre of Scotland’s acclaimed production of The Panopticon at The Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, directed by Debbie Hannan and lit by Simon Wilkinson, was the first stage production of Jenni Fagan’s narrative of life and friendship.
It follows the journey of 15-year-old Anais Hendricks, failed by most adults she has ever met, who ends up in the Panopticon, a young offenders institution. Inside its distinctive circular architecture amidst a regime of control and dehumanisation, residents develop intense bonds.
Wilkinson was asked to work on the show by Debbie Hannan, and decided to try out Robe’s T1 Profile moving light, a flexible and quality multi-functional LED luminaire which has been developed for theatre applications.
One of the challenges of lighting the piece was the imposing geometric set - a series of column-like flats that rotated to offer different structural formats - created by scenic designer Max Johns. These were also a projection surface for video material produced by Lewis den Hertog, providing critical locational information and dramatic digital backdrops.
Wilkinson’s starting point was ensuring that lighting and video worked as fluid dramatic partners in the piece. The six Robe T1 Profiles were all rigged on FOH booms.
The lights were used for key lighting and for shuttered sources picking out the action all over the stage. That was his basic requirement, but once the tech period commenced, he started using several additional T1 features that he’d not necessarily anticipated.
Saudi Arabia - Last month, the grand finale of Leila, The Land Of Imagination took place at the Riyadh’s King Fahd Stadium.
The spectacular event, created by Marco Balich and his all-female creative team from BWS, captured the essence of Saudi Arabia through an adventurous 10-year old lead character, Leila, “symbolising the next generation of Saudis who will experience the realities of the changing kingdom, established by Vision 2030”.
CT was commissioned by Balich Worldwide Shows to provide site-wide projection for the large-scale unforgettable event.
Tom Stocks, CT’s senior engineer, explains: “We used 89 Panasonic RZ-31k and 21K projectors and Epson EB-L1755U laser projectors with ultra-short throw lenses to span across a 4,400sq.m projection surface which included four hills, a lake and a sandpit.”
The stage had multiple projected scenic reveals including a 12m high Inflatable Fortress, a Gauze house which revealed beneath the field of play, an inflatable hand and hot air balloon which moved position during the show. Stocks continues, “The biggest challenge was projecting onto the moving scenic elements as there was a risk they could be affected by varying wind speeds and direction. Our Disguise operators were always on standby to make real-time adjustments to projection line-up as the scenic elements revealed themselves during the show.”
CT provided BlackTrax real-time tracking technology which was integrated into the technical solution to track performers and scenic elements throughout the show.
Stock
USA - Indie rockers MisterWives just finished a sold-out ‘underplay’ tour in the US promoting their EP mini bloom, for which lighting designer Matt Guminski wanted to create something raw, fresh, different and stylish.
The goal was achieved with the help of 16 Astera Titan Tube wireless pixel tubes supplied by 4Wall Nashville from lighting rep Tyler Bevel and VP of business development Al Ridella.
Matt initially met the band at the Boston Calling festival in 2015 and joined up for a run supporting their record Our Own House. Since then, they stayed in touch, waiting for all the stars to align so they could work together again.
The opportunity came up last fall when tour manager Alex Feld called and asked him to present some design concepts for the forthcoming string of US dates.
With lead singer Mandy Lee’s enthusiasm for floral and outdoor elements, Matt hit on the notion of using the Astera Titan Tubes rigged at different heights to make a ‘LED forest’ look on stage and have the band live within the world of the tubes.
The depth and three-dimensionality that this would bring to the stage appealed to both him and Mandy. The design focal point quickly became the Astera Titan Tube.
Some of the tubes were positioned on the floor with the stock floor bases and others attached to the upstage trusses using a combination of their proprietary clamps and some modified film clips which allowed them to be hung vertically off the trusses.
The upstage Titan Tubes were attached to schedule 40 pipe and to four ve
USA - Cleveland-based RTHAV, a brand company of Rock The House Entertainment Group, finds its new Ayrton Diablo LED profile luminaires are flying off the shelves. “We got the second shipment of Diablos in the US, and since they arrived last summer they’ve only been in the shop a matter of days,” says Ryan Konikoff, partner and COO in RTH. “The Diablos are proving to be a multi-purpose fixture for us.”
The two-dozen Diablo RTHAV purchased mark the first investment in Ayrton fixtures for the entertainment and event production company which does around 1,500 events annually, including corporate meetings and conferences, concerts and social engagements.
“We were in the market for 20,000-lumen profiles and saw Diablo with ACT Lighting at the USITT trade show,” Konikoff recalls. “We had some hands-on time with the fixture and thought it was a contender. Later, we did a shoot out and our team voted Diablo the best fixture.”
The RTHAV team liked Diablo’s shuttering capabilities, strong colour quality, speed, and low power consumption. They gave kudos to the four additional gobos and deep frost included with the fixtures, which give more creative options to lighting designers.
What stood out for Konikoff was the fixture’s compact size and light weight. “Our corporate work is mostly in ballrooms where the rigging is restricted and weight is a big issue,” he explains. “We usually need to spend the weight on an LED videowall, not heavy lighting fixtures.”
The first project for the Diablos was a two-month, nationwide d
The Netherlands The Nationale Opera & Ballet creates, produces and presents both traditional and innovative opera and ballet productions of the highest quality. Seeking to replace a number of outdated fluorescent fixtures with something more modern, in 2018, the organisation contacted leading lighting supply company Ampco Flashlight to set up a demo of several possible solutions.
Elation’s key account manager for Benelux, Bert Schmeits, brought a Seven Batten 72 to Bas van Schelven of Ampco Flashlight for the demo at the venue. “Overall they were impressed with the light but they had some concerns about the dimming,” Schmeits explains. “That was an issue we were glad to address so we produced new software that met their criteria and a new demo took place at the opera in May 2019. This time it was with the Seven Batten 42, which was preferable for them in terms of handling.” Consequently, an order for 71 fixtures was placed via Ampco Flashlight and the units were delivered and installed in October 2019.
Deputy head of the lighting department at Nationale Opera & Ballet Richard ten Hof comments, “The Seven Batten with its 7 LEDs projected the quality of light required, especially when we put a special microstructure diffuser (frost filter) on it. As far as dimming, I requested to have 16-bit control over each colour and a dedicated dimming channel with 16-bit. The necessary changes were made so now we can make a proper colour in 16-bit and we have a dedicated dimmer channel, which, in combination, wasn’t there before. The dimmer chann
France - For the sixth year in a row, the Champs-Elysées avenue shone brightly for New Year’s Eve celebrations. After winning the tender launched by the city of Paris, Cookies Production produced a spectacular sound and light show relying on 15 Barco’s video-projectors and four Modulo Player media servers by Modulo Pi.
On 31 December, more than 400.000 people gathered on the Champs-Elysées avenue to celebrate New Year’s Eve. The crowd of tourists and Parisians could enjoy a magnificent show projected on the Arc de Triomphe, which included music, video mapping, and pyrotechnics.
After answering the call for tenders initiated by the city of Paris, Cookies Production was awarded with the challenge of producing the new show to enter 2020. Christophe Gillier, CEO of Cookies Production, explains: “The city was looking for a fresh artistic proposal. While the budget for the project remained the same as the previous edition, I wanted us to achieve something even better. Better because we would deeply exchange and have the technical, artistic, and pyrotechnics teams collaborate.”
In order to produce the show, which is now highly expected and observed every year, Cookies Production worked with Magnum for the technical production, and the creative studios Holymage and Spectre Lab for the artistic direction and production.
In terms of technical set-up, 15 Barco UDX video-projectors were used for the show. “We reached about 470.000 lumens, and more than 300 lux per square meter. This was a first for the Arc de Triomphe,” comments Christ
New Zealand - AV integrator Skopik and Harman distributor JPRO recently outfitted the newly-opened Old Elephant House restaurant at the Auckland Zoo with a multi-zone indoor/outdoor audio system featuring JBL loudspeakers and Crown amplifiers.
Opened in 1922 and expanded in 1973, Auckland Zoo occupies a 40-acre lot near Auckland’s Central Business District. The zoo’s former elephant house was recently converted into a unique restaurant and versatile event space called the Old Elephant House.
To ensure sound quality and even distribution throughout the indoor and outdoor areas of the restaurant, the Auckland Zoo hired AV integration company Skopik to design and install a multi-zone audio system featuring JBL loudspeakers and Crown amplifiers supplied by Harman distributor JPRO.
“The brief was simple,” says Jeff Sundrum, AV service and installations manager, Skopik. “Our client required a high-fidelity audio solution for multiple areas at the Old Elephant House, which could be used by any staff member. We selected the JBL Control Contractor series and all-weather outdoor speakers from JBL’s broad range of products because the audio quality and coverage is pristine. This ensured that the best type of speaker was utilised in each location.”
Skopik selected JBL Control 25-1 wall-mounted loudspeakers and Control 14C/T ceiling speakers to achieve balanced sound quality and broad, consistent coverage in the indoor sections of the Old Elephant House. The built-in InvisiBall mounting hardware allows the speakers to be mounted discreetly, w
Israel - Robe continues to make an impression on the theatre scene in Israel with the specification and installation of DL7S Profiles and LEDWash 1200 moving lights - 54 in total - in the Bet Lessin Theatre, Tel Aviv, the city and Israel’s third-largest theatre venue, just reopened after complete refurbishment, a project ongoing over the last three years.
The tender for supplying and installing new lighting and stage machinery was initially issued in 2015 and won via by Danor Theatre and Studio Systems who proposed Robe moving lights to bring modern-day flexibility and dynamics to the two constantly busy stages.
Influential in the decision to choose the Robe option was leading lighting designer Amir Brenner, who was brought onboard the project as a lighting consultant. He worked in the theatre extensively during his early career in the 1990s lighting numerous productions and was “honoured” to be asked to contribute to the revamped venue.
When making a decision on moving lights, he looked at key features like output, the variety of effects and the quality of both the white land coloured light and, naturally, the reliability - “all the basic parameters essential for a busy professional repertory theatre”.
He emphasised that selecting any moving light for a rep house ideally needs a combination of traditional and new exciting features. In choosing the DL7S Profile, LDs working at Bet Lessin will now have the “fantastic colour range and highly accurate beam shaping that are perfect for theatrical use”.
The venue has two main sp
USA - The Interrupters wanted a new look for their shows when they contacted Peter Therrien and JDI Productions through an intermediary. “I was touring with Flogging Molly when someone, I still don’t know who, gave the band contact info for JDI and me,” says Therrien. “Their management reached out to us. My Flogging Molly tour was over and I had time, so here we are.”
The LA-based quartet are in the midst of an extended North American tour in support of their Top Ten Fight The Good Fight album. For Therrien, the tour not only represents the chance to spread his creative wings with a first-time client, but also an opportunity to run a different kind of show with his new ChamSys MagicQ MQ80 console.
“Cody James of JDI tried the ChamSys MagicQ MQ 500 Stadium lasts year, and told Derek Iorfida (owner of JDI Productions) great things about it, so Derek purchased some consoles,” adds Therrien, who designs for the Cranston, Rhode Island-based company. “I wasn’t 100-percent happy with the console that I was using. I wanted something that would make it easier to patch and clone different house stuff on tour. My first show with the MQ80 was in June. I haven’t looked back since.
“I think all tours have their own set of challenges, but this one for me was all about learning the band, what they like, and what makes them feel comfortable. The Interrupters want a very classic ‘punk show’ at points so, verses get big looks. Then, I add some movements for choruses in deep washes of colour. On the more ska/dance songs, it’s pretty