Tonight Show tapes in Texas with TurboRay
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Mick Smith of Eastern Lighting Design serves as lighting designer for the remote shows outside the NBC studios. His choice to continue using TurboRay was simple. “I was wanting a fixture with a larger aperture and more homogenised, attractive look to it. The diffusers on the TurboRay checked that box,” he explains.
“Secondly, I wanted a fixture with a decent zoom range that could especially give me great beams. A real bonus was having quad control of the LED engines - and the aerial effects we were able to quickly achieve - to give us unique looks for the different beats of the show.”
The TurboRays - which are manufactured in High End Systems’ Austin, TX headquarters - were interspersed between profile fixtures across four trusses over the stage. “The trusses were trimmed higher downstage just below the proscenium arch to lower upstage at the top of the LED screens, helping to fill some of the negative space above the set in the wide shots,” the LD notes.
The TurboRay washed light on actor and Austin resident Matthew McConaughey and TV’s ‘Fixer Upper’ hosts and Waco residents Chip and Joanna Gaines.
But when it came time for the evening’s musical act, the TurboRay went into eye candy mode for rapper/songwriter Gucci Mane. “Even though they’re not featured in some of the music shots, the TurboRay were integral to the look of the act,” Smith says. “Our programmer, Kevin Lawson, was able to dive deep into the fixture’s capabilities and wrote some great effects for our musical act. The lights exceeded our expectations and looked great on camera.”
(Jim Evans)
