ENVISION I BUILD I TECH I GO
SEPTEMBER 2016
Child’s
PLAY
E CURSED CHILD TH D AN ER TT PO RY AR H G N TI LIGH MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS • THE TEMPEST AT NOTRE DAME SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL SINGAPORE CELEBR ATES INDEPENDENCE • LDI NEW PRODUCTS PREVIEW ICY PROJECTION FOR DALL AS STARS • ALL ABOUT NICOLINE REFSING
TABLE OF CONTENTS ///
SEP TEMBER 2016 /
GO ///
ENVISION ///
5 QUESTIONS
KEVIN ZEVCHIK, US MANAGING DIRECTOR, AV STUMPFL INC. /// BY MEGHAN PERKINS
BUILD ///
COVER: RICHARD HEATHCOTE, GETTY IMAGES
/// BY MARK RANDEL
BUILD ///
STORMY WEATHER
LIGHTING NOTRE DAME SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL’S PRODUCTION OF THE TEMPEST /// B Y K E V I N D R E Y E R
LDI 2016: PRODUCT PREVIEW /// B Y M A R I A N S A N D B E R G
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE?
TECH///
PERFECT PLANNING FOR THE UNEXPECTED
BELLYDANCE EVOLUTION CHINA TOUR 2016 /// B Y C O E N V A N D E R H O E V E N
TECH ///
POWER SURGE
THE SEQUENCE GROUP ON THE MAKING OF THE ICE PROJECTION THAT KICKED OFF THE DALLAS STARS PLAYOFF SEASON /// B Y M E L E A H M A Y N A R D
LOADOUT ///
VIDEO VILLAGE
BOB BARNHART LIGHTS THE 2016 VMAs /// B Y E L L E N L A M P E R T- G R E A U X
FEATURES ///
ROCK THIS WAY
ROCKART DESIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR NICOLINE REFSING ROCKS PRODUCTION DESIGN /// B Y M E G H A N P E R K I N S
COVER STORY ///
MAGIC WANDS OF LIGHT
NEIL AUSTIN ON HIS LIGHTING DESIGN FOR HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD / / / B Y E LL E N L A M P E R T- GR E A U X
ONWARD SINGAPORE
SINGAPORE CELEBRATES 51 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE WITH A NATIONAL PARADE
/// B Y M E G H A N P E R K I N S
GO ///
© KELLER FOTOGRAFIE, KELLER@KELLER-FOTOGRAFIE.DE
Audi AG at 2015 IAA International Motor Show
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5Qs Kevin Zevchik
US Managing Director, AV Stumpfl Inc. /// By Meghan Perkins
W
ith more than a decade of experience in live shows and events, Kevin Zevchik has firsthand experience in the growth of video in entertainment design. With a degree in digital animation, he easily transitioned into the world of production, immersing himself in the development of the popular technology. As US managing director for AV Stumpfl Inc., Zevchik has witnessed a void of video requirements and specifications appear between content creators and media server operators/programmers. In his LDI 2016 session, “Video For Presentations: All Things Video-Codecs, Colors, FPS, And Compressions Versus Uncompressed,� Zevchik seeks to provide an understanding of basic video, beyond just resolution, from the differences between compressors, codecs, and containers to the differences between HD and 4K. Live Design chatted with Zevchik about his career in video and his upcoming LDI session. Video For Presentations: All Things Video-Codecs, Colors, FPS, And Compressions Versus Uncompressed SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
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GO ///
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escribe how you transitioned from digital animation and robotics to video content and design. What are the major similarities and differences? Growing up, I always had a deep interest in animation. In college, I studied digital animation. I was even involved on teams of students and advisors where our work was involved in motion picture animations. During a graduate elective called “Art in Robotics,� we toured a local company in our small college town of Bowling Green, Ohio that fabricated animatronics for theme parks, museums, and retail attractions. I was always fond of what Walt Disney did in the early years and during my youth, so this fascinated me to no end. The founder of the company, LifeFormations, was Dr. Gene Poor, coincidentally a department head at the college. After seeking him out and speaking with him, he gave me an entry-level job. I worked my way up through just about every department until I was the technical director of the company. Programming animatronics came naturally to me from my studies in digital animation. I already had a keen understanding of how to mimic and characterize human, or indeed, animal movements. During that time, our control system was outdated, and I was actively seeking an off-the-shelf replacement. I found AV Stumpfl at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) trade show and was very impressed with what they offered with show control. I brought a few demo pieces back to my office, and before long, I was in love with the interface and hardware.
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© KELLER FOTOGRAFIE, KELLER@KELLER-FOTOGRAFIE.DE
Audi AG at 2015 IAA International Motor Show
I had a direct line of communication to the engineers, and when I needed something specific either changed or included, I usually got it in about 24 hours. The show control capabilities of the AV Stumpfl products were some of the most versatile that I had used. It wasn’t until three years later that I even used the video aspects of the software, and I didn’t realize what I was missing. A couple years later, AV Stumpfl approached me to run the professional technologies division in the US, since I knew the software better than anyone else in the Western Hemisphere. By this time, AV Stumpfl Wings VIOSO was developing industry-first advancements. This has always kept me at the forefront of the available technology and what we have to offer to the world of video and multi-display systems. Every manufacturer and every production company wants to be the leader, the innovator; this is what keeps the audience watching and participating. SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
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GO ///
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hat brought you to your current role as US managing director at AV Stumpfl?
After transitioning from programming and developing control systems for animatronics to running the business model in several markets, I’ve had to develop my own business management tools. I had a rooted history in art, animating, and even programming, not an MBA. I met with many obstacles, and the learning curve was, well, curvy. Because I started as a customer, I learned to watch and listen as a customer. I meet my clients’ needs, not with what I believe is best for my bottom line, but what is best for their projects. I have found that, rather than selling the product, I must concentrate on helping them succeed. This intuitive behavior and the vast knowledge I have with the product helps me understand the customers’ needs and develop solutions for them.
Spirit Of Exploration during Holidays In Space at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
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Harmony needs balance, silence, and quality of light.
SCENIUS The sound of light
www.claypaky.it
Music spreads into the surrounding silence, and a harmonious light radiates into the darkness of the scene. In a play on perfect symmetries, light too varies its tones. Balanced intensities, soft shades, vivid colors, perfect white, accurate wash, fancy shapes... Listen: this is the Scenius, the harmonious sound of light.
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C
an you share any recent projects and their challenges and/or successes?
As Dr. Gene Poor used to say, “Every project is a prototype.” This couldn’t be truer in our industry. Whereas it is common to find similarities with events, every project that you come across has its own unique flavor or distinction that starts as an idea, works its way to becoming a challenge, and ends up a success. Even if an idea doesn’t come to fruition due to capacity, budget, time, etc., what is deemed as a failure is an experience to learn from. Not every project has its trophies; some are high-profile jobs that are just boring in their content, and some are small oneoff jobs with incredibly interesting stories. At a recent monthlong event at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA wanted to do a projection-mapping show that ran nightly on one of their rockets in the rocket garden. Having delivered the project a year previously, they experienced many setbacks with the technology used. We were approached because of our ability to recalibrate the eight projectors in a matter of minutes. Since this was an outdoor event, the projection towers were exposed to Florida’s harsh environment. Even the smallest movement in the projection towers translated into inches in the projection located 32.8’ away. Therefore, an auto-calibration system for the projection was essential. Moreover, after meeting with the production company about media delivery, they were ecstatic to know that we had the ability to display a lossless video file, rather than high compression. The content was nearly 7,000 pixels wide on the 164’ rocket. The project was a great success and well-received by the audience and the client, NASA. Who knew that guys who go to outer space would be impressed with our video capabilities?
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n what direction do you believe video is heading, and how will it change the entertainment design and technology industry?
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Displays are getting bigger, pixels are getting smaller, surfaces are getting more complex, and the audience is getting more discerning. These are the challenges that are faced with every project. How can we continue to “wow� a discriminating audience with more than standard video playback? With the bigger screens or projection areas, the pixels are getting smaller, which translates to higher resolution imagery. These displays are wrapping the audience and immersing them, which means that our content must be higher quality. Video used to be a supporting element in the event world, and now it’s not uncommon for it to steal the show. There was a time where 4K was impressive. We are seeing projects in the 60K pixel range and higher. Whether you are presenting a performer, an attraction, or even a car, that video element is the enabler and the storyteller. Lossless and now uncompressed media content is becoming normal. The industry is constantly exploring its creativity and is tasked with new ways to display, whether this is for an increased attendance or the PR piece of a lifetime. We are developing the technology to keep up with the brilliant and creative ideas.
SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
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GO ///
5
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hat do you think will be the biggest takeaway for attendees at your LDI session?
More often than not, the end customer is going to say, “I want what they did at the ‘so and so’ event.” My purpose is to help the attendees understand what “that” is and how to explain it to the end customer. There are inherent differences between playback on a single HD projection screen and mapping to a complex stage design with 10K pixels, not just with the budget, but also the technology, production, and delivery method. I’ve had powerful clients say, “I want to take these YouTube videos and project them on the wall,” without a clue as to how highly compressed video playback looks at a venue. With the magnitude contrast of uncompressed and YouTube videos, there are innumerable variations of all in between. Even project management should know when to use lossless versus compression, what medium portrays each of these variants best, and when not to use one. Content management can break a budget immediately if it is not determined at the inception of a project or event. The delivery method of the media is just as critical, from playback, cabling, EDID management, connection, color space, pixel maps, and storage devices.
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T-Rex Cafe at Disney Springs in Florida
COURTESY OF AV STUMPFL
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ENVISION ///
Perfect Planning For The Unexpected /// BY MARK R ANDEL
O
ne of the biggest c h a l lenges a product ion ma nager faces is producing a show that is in another location. I recently produced a show in Houston, and I was working for a compa ny i n Southern California at the time. After the budget came through, my team decided that it would be best to rent the majority of the gear locally in Texas rather than truck our own gear to the show. This suggestion posed several potential challenges. Communication is key. You not only need to communicate clearly, but you also need to know what things are important to communicate. Scheduling of deliveries is also of great importance as, often, there is only one location for drop-offs,
and drivers are paid hourly. Ideally, you’d partner with one company and split the profits. This way, they are more inclined to help you out if you need something extra or last minute. In my situation, we did our best to find one company that could handle all of the gear and labor. Unfortunately, the company we found decided to jack up their prices due to a lack of gear because of a last minute show they landed around the NBA finals. These changes put them outside our budget, and therefore, put us back on the path of sourcing gear. We did end up finding all the gear we needed, but instead of one local company, we had to source from two separate companies, one of which was a two-hour drive outside of Houston. Up to the day of load-in, we had produced this show like every other show. I went for a one-day flight there-and-back site visit. I took all the measurements and drew the plans. We scheduled all the deliveries and labor. I consulted with the client and game-planned our load-in/out and SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
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ENVISION ///
show strategies. I had the entire production timeline laid out on a spreadsheet with everyone in the loop on the schedule. You’d think that for a small, three-hour production, I had really overdone it. On the morning of the load-in, a truck from the company that was two hours out of town was late. They were scheduled to arrive at 8am and had the majority of the gear necessary for the production. My team scheduled them to arrive an hour before the site opened for us to load-in. We did this on purpose to ensure that they would arrive on time. The labor call was set for 9am when the site was to open. The truck had still not arrived by 9am and didn’t arrive until 11:30am, which meant that we were paying techs to stand around for two and a half hours. That error, later explained to me as traffic, was the first of many challenges to be faced that day. The next issue was that of miscommunicated gear. Without going into details of the specifications of each piece of gear here, let me just tell you how important it is to be extremely clear about the gear you think you are ordering. When initially shopping rental gear, it is perfectly fine to be general. However, before a decision is made as to what gear specifically will be rented, be sure to review in detail and even check out a couple manuals before assuming that it is what you need for your specific application. Needless to say, some gear was
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Having a backup plan, or in my case, someone that I could call for eleventh-hour adds is a must, even if you don’t intend to use them.
not what I thought I ordered. A few more challenges arose throughout that first load-in day, including missing gear and more wrong gear. I did have a local company just a quick drive away that I was able to call on to fill in all the missing and wrong gear. We also got everything that I had planned to accomplish on day one finished on time. I think the takeaway here is that even the most well thought-out plans can have holes. As much as I continue to improve my processes, I will never be perfect (even though that’s what my LDI session title states). Having a backup plan, or in my case, someone that I could call for eleventh-hour adds is a must, even if you don’t
intend to use them. Also, in an unexpected circumstance, maintain a good attitude, and don’t react hastily to challenges you face. If you’ve already considered the problems that you could face, you will have a better chance at fixing them when they come up. While the first day of load-in was very stressful, we were able to overcome the obstacles and the show was flawless. If I hadn’t planned for potential challenges ahead of time, the headache could have been much more severe.
Mark Randel started in entertainment as a performer. He side-stepped into technical entertainment and started touring as an LD in 2005. He graduated in show production from Full Sail University at the top of his class in 2012 and has been working as a production manager in Southern California. Check out Randel’s LDI 2016 session: “The 5 Ps Of Production Management (Perfect Planning Prevents Poor Production)” SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
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COVER STORY
Magic Wands Of Light NEIL AUSTIN ON HIS LIGHTING DESIGN FOR HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD
MANUEL HARLAN
/// BY EL L EN L A MP ER T- GRE A U X
SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
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COVER STORY
H
MATTHEW MURPHY
arry Potter is back in the halls of Hogwarts but this time to see his son, Albus. It’s 19 years after Harry graduated from the wacky world of wizards, and he is working at the Ministry of Magic. He is also one of the lead characters in Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, a new play written by Jack Thorne, based on a new story by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Thorne, that received its world premiere at the Palace Theatre in London’s West End in July. Directed by Olivier and Tony Award-winner John Tiffany, Harry Potter And The Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage, with lighting by Neil Austin, sets by Christine Jones, sound by Gareth Fry, and costumes by Katrina Lindsay. Also a Tony and Olivier winner, Austin experimented with various lighting gear at London’s White Light to get the right mix for his lighting of the illusions on stage. Live Design joined Austin for a little peek backstage and a flick of the LD’s magic wand.
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SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
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COVER STORY
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MANUEL HARLAN
LIVE DESIGN: Are you a Harry Potter fan, and had you seen the movies? NEIL AUSTIN: I’m the only member of the team not steeped in Harry Potter lore. I was offered the job and thought, “better get reading,” but before the books had arrived in the post, I met John Tiffany, the director, and he asked if I’d mind not reading them or watching any of the films. That way, I could be the “muggle” in the team, and if anything was unclear to me, they knew they needed to explain it better. The play manages very successfully to fill in enough back story for the newcomers without patronizing the die-hard fans. LD: Can you talk a little about the sets? Do they look like, or were influenced by, the movie sets? NA: The set, by our wonderful scenic designer Christine Jones, is influenced by the architecture of both Kings Cross and St. Pancras stations in London. It is a very clever piece of unit set design that allows me to be able to transform it with light to create Kings Cross, Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic, and all the other necessary locations for the piece. The proportions are influenced by, and lead from, the architecture of the Palace Theatre itself, and so the auditorium leads seamlessly into the set. It is a joy to light.
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COVER STORY
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MANUEL HARLAN
AMAZING GRACE
LD: In terms of the sets, where are your lighting positions, and what is the architecture of your rig? NA: I had to persuade Christine to cut quite a few holes in her floor and in the arches of her set to be able to make the most of its architectural possibilities, stretching dimensions here and there to allow the lighting units to fit. Being able to light the set from as many different angles as possible was key to aid the storytelling by transforming the environment around the actors in as many ways as possible.
LD: How does the lighting help tell the story, and without giving anything away, how do you light magic? NA: Scenically, most scenes happen on the full, open stage with only a few additional elements to change location. For instance, there is a set of freestanding doors and staircases that help shape the environment, but apart from that, it’s up to lighting to shift location and help the audience to understand where we are. Obviously, lighting is also manipulating the audience’s understanding of the mood
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COVER STORY
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SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
MANUEL HARLAN
and atmosphere of each scene as well, but that work is, hopefully, subtler and less immediately obvious. Lighting is always about what you don’t light; maybe it should be called “shadowing” instead. Needless to say, there are many things that mustn’t be lit in Harry Potter to help the magical nature of the storytelling, and more than ever, I’ve taken great care with my shadowing on this show. LD: Can you provide a run down of some of the fixtures used? NA: It’s a pretty quiet rig, very important as it’s a play, and the spoken word cannot compete with the noise of fans from lights and other technical equipment, so the workhorses front of house are ETC Source Four Revolutions and ETC Source Four Series 2 Lustr fixtures. On stage, there are more Revolutions, Philips Vari-Lite VL1100s and VL3500s, GLP impression X4 XLs, and a lot of impression X4 Bars.
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MANUEL HARLAN
COVER STORY
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COVER STORY
NEEDLESS TO SAY, THERE ARE MANY THINGS THAT MUSTN’T BE LIT IN HARRY POTTER TO HELP THE MAGICAL NATURE OF THE STORYTELLING, AND MORE THAN EVER, I’VE TAKEN GREAT CARE WITH MY SHADOWING ON THIS SHOW. Neil Austin
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Lighting
is always about what you don’t light; maybe it should be called ‘shadowing’ instead.
MANUEL HARLAN
Neil Austin
LD: Can you discuss one or two big lighting moments, again without revealing anything? NA: Not really! LD: What console is used, and who are your programmer, associate, and assistants? How much time was spent programming? NA: We used an ETC Eos Ti, programmed by Daniel Haggerty. The production electrician is Martin Chisnall, and assistant LD is Adam King. I commissioned new software, designed by Dan Murfin of the National Theatre, that interacts with the Eos and allows us to track moving lights automatically using motor data. This means that, as sections of the show change, or
even as they speed up live during a performance, the lights are always perfect; no reprogramming needed. LD: Do different places, like Hogwarts or the Ministry of Magic, have different looks or different color palettes? NA: The color palette of the show is muted between candlelight, daylight, and dusk tones, so very much a classic color palette of the natural world. There are certainly no pinks, purples, or greens here. LD: Are the Harry Potter plays Broadway-bound? NA: I don’t know, but if I did, I’d have to cast a Confundus charm on you! SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
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COVER STORY
MANUEL HARLAN
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WE USED AN ETC EOS TI, PROGRAMMED BY DANIEL HAGGERTY. THE PRODUCTION ELECTRICIAN IS MARTIN CHISNALL, AND ASSISTANT LD IS ADAM KING. Neil Austin
SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
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COVER STORY
MANUEL HARLAN
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ETC Source 4 WRD LED ™
The ONLY bona fide, white-light LED retrofit for the Source Four® ellipsoidal
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MANUEL HARLAN
COVER STORY
SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
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COURTESY FERGUS BURNETT PHOTOGRAPHY
FE ATURE
ROC THIS
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CK WAY
ROCK ART DESIGN CRE ATIVE DIREC TOR NICOLINE REFSING ROCKS PRODUC TION DESIGN /// B Y M E G H A N P E R K I N S
SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
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FE ATURE
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COURTESY FERGUS BURNETT PHOTOGRAPHY
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icoline Refsing was earning her Master’s degree from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design in Denmark, when she discovered production design. A friend who was working on a large show asked for help with some drawings. Refsing effectively immersed herself in the world of entertainment design when she agreed to help to design the show. The gig in question was held in a venue in Copenhagen that was run by an old rock ‘n’ roll crew, who welcomed her into their realm of soundchecks, product demos, and creative discussions. “When I was introduced to that theory of production design, I just thought that this makes sense to communicate through space, movement, color, lighting, sound,” says Refsing. In 1998, Refsing saw The Rolling Stones’ Bridges To Babylon Tour. “I just thought I’d gone to heaven,” she states. “It completely blew my mind, and that was where I decided that this is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life.” Near graduation, one of her mentors pointed out that it was “the same guy who designed all the big Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, and U2 tours.” She looked at her mentor and replied, “I’m going to work for him.” Indeed, she did, spending six years under the wing of industry icon Mark Fisher, founder of Stufish.
Diamonds Are Forever Gala Event for the Duke of Edinburgh Award’s Diamond Jubilee
SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
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FE ATURE
Eurovision Song Contest 2014
COURTESY OF ROCKART DESIGN
“My biggest dream in the whole world just came true working for Mark,” says the creative director and designer. “I was mesmerized by the whole thing and by him.” The first time she met Fisher, he showed her his library at the studio, pulling books of artists she had never seen. Refsing learned much from his knowledge and vision, working on countless projects as part of a small team. “One of the great things about working with him was that, if you had a problem with a design, either technical or creative, Mark always had the answer,” remembers Refsing.
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Eurovision Song Contest 2014
COURTESY OF ROCKART DESIGN
While working at Stufish, Refsing worked on the design for Pink’s Funhouse Tour from the London office, and Fisher collaborated with the creative team on site. “She’s just so powerful and extraordinary in all kinds of ways,” Refsing says of Pink, “so when it landed on my desk, I thought, ‘I’m going to give her something really, really strong.’” It became the fifth highest grossing tour of 2009, according to Billboard. Refsing believes that the design helped give the tour a strong brand, matching the identities of both the artist and the album. In 2011, Refsing struck out on her own and founded Rockart Design, combining production design with creative direction and show branding. “I always wanted my own business,” she says, “but what I found
a little surprising was that there was sort of a demand for me doing bigger and wider roles than just design, and that creative flexibility has been very exciting.” Refsing has since delved into screen content as well, resolving the border between set and screen. “It is very magical,” says the designer. “You add a lot of layers to it, but it is almost like watching it in an old theatre or a more theatrical storytelling way.” As creative director and content producer for Eurovision Song Contest 2014, Refsing put the new skill to work. “My aim was to create content that was interesting both in the wide-shot and the mid-shot and the close-up,” says the designer of the live international broadcast. As a result of the show, the Rockart Design team developed SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
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REFSING’S FIRM HAS ALSO DESIGNED FOR HIGH-PROFILE EVENTS SUCH AS THE NATIONAL TELEVISION AWARDS, THE BRIT AWARDS, AND X-FACTOR.
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Eurovision Song Contest 2014
COURTESY OF ROCKART DESIGN
a new visualization software that displayed the set with surfaces, reflections, lighting, projections, and screen content while in realtime jumping from one camera angle to the next to effectively present a close visualization to the director. Refsing and the Rockart Design team created engaging designs for the 37 countries, giving each country its own light in which to shine in front of 195 million viewers. Refsing was creative director for Latvia in 2015 and for Italy and Australia at this year’s contest, which achieved the show’s record-breaking 204 million viewers. Refsing continues to branch out into new areas, taking on the production design for the 2015 World Championships for League of Legends. “When they first called me, I was rather surprised,” says the creative director. “I told them I don’t
know much about computer games.” They pointed out that she knows how to create a show and make a spectacle. “It was a completely different game,” she says, but her expertise in production helped her successfully combine the authenticity of the noise and action with innovative technology and design into a feat of entertainment. Refsing’s firm has also designed for high-profile events such as the National Television Awards, The Brit Awards, and X-Factor. Refsing most recently designed the Diamonds Are Forever Gala Event for the Duke of Edinburgh Award’s Diamond Jubilee. She looks forward to upcoming projects, focusing on the spirit of creative collaboration because, she believes, “the way you work with people is essential.” SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
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Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Rendering for Greece’s performance at Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Rendering for Lithuania’s performance at Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Rendering for Malta’s performance at Eurovision Song Contest 2014
COURTESY OF ROCKART DESIGN
Rendering for Albania’s performance at Eurovision Song Contest 2014
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Rendering for Portugal’s performance at Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Rendering for Romania’s performance at Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Rendering for San Marino’s performance at Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Rendering for Slovenia’s performance at Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Rendering of main set for Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Rendering of main set for Eurovision Song Contest 2014
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THOMAS HANSEN
Latvia’s performance at Eurovision Song Contest 2015
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Australia’s performance at Eurovision Song Contest 2016
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ANNA VELIKOVA
Italy’s performance at Eurovision Song Contest 2016
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COURTESY OF RIOT GAMES
2015 World Championships for League of Legends
COURTESY OF ROCKART DESIGN
Renderings for the 2015 World Championships for League of Legends
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Pink’s Funhouse Tour
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COURTESY OF ROCKART DESIGN
Rendering of the Diamonds Are Forever Gala Event for the Duke of Edinburgh Award’s Diamond Jubilee
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ONWARD S
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SINGAPORE SINGAPORE CELEBR ATES 51 YE ARS OF INDEPENDENCE WITH A NATIONAL PAR ADE /// BY MEGH A N PERK INS
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ugust 9, 2016 marked the return of Singapore’s annual National Day Parade (NDP) to its National Stadium after a ten-year hiatus in which the stadium was completely rebuilt. This year, the nation celebrated its 51st year of independence. Creative director Beatrice Chia-Richmond and technical director Kenny Wong led the creative team, which included stage and set designer Seah Chee Huang from DPA, lighting designer Mac Chan, sound designer Shah Tahir, and props designer Gerald Leow.
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The NDP featured a series of suspended set pieces, which were flown via a bespoke fly system installed by Stage One. The cable net system comprised eight catenary lines anchored from the roof, each carrying a trolley hoist, as well as two point hoists in the central hub.
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Some point hoists and trolley hoists simultaneously flew 20 aerialists clad in wireless DMX-controlled LED costumes, designed by Tube Gallery. All axes were controlled via a Stage One Q-Motion automation system.
A 13.5x7.2m (44’x24’) boulder was suspended over the stage and “exploded” into eight pieces, then moving horizontally via the trolley hoists. Since the set piece needed to be lightweight to accommodate the roof’s weight restrictions, it was constructed out of inflatables wrapped in a digitally printed skin.
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Hidden inside the boulder was an enlarged replica of the Singapore Stone. Both set pieces were fabricated by Stage One Creative Services. The stone comprised an aluminum frame skinned with molding cloth so that internal lights, controlled via wireless DMX, could illuminate the inscriptions on the side of the set piece.
A sky city, comprising 15 clusters of buildings fabricated by Showtex, rose from the stage until it floated above it, lifted by 15 bridled point hoists. Each cluster was about 5sq-m (16 sq-ft), while the buildings were 35m (115’) tall. Each building cluster was framed with aluminum and carbon fiber and wrapped in fabric and collapsed into a 70m (230’) tall cart.
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A pair of tree trunks that seemingly grew out of the stage floor transformed the sky city into a giant tree, alongside projected imagery. Stage One fabricated the tree trunks, which had a controlled inflation system to help them appear to grow. VYV was the projection consultant, helping to determine the feasibility of 360° mapping on 15 independent clusters, which cast shadows upon each other and did not hang still, spinning and swaying slightly from their suspension. Hexagon Solution helped execute the realtime 3D projection mapping, using 66 Christie Boxer 4K30 digital projectors, 12 VYV Photon media servers, and 250 tracking beacons with 40 tracking cameras.
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The 60m (197’) diameter stage, built by Pico Art, was raised 2.5m (8’) off the ground, creating a substage from where scenic elements emerged through a series of seven hydraulic traps, also built by Pico Art, and six slide traps, provided by Stage One.
When designing the lighting, Mac Chan and associate LD Michael Chan had to consider bright lighting for broadcast, the creation of a backdrop for cameras, and 360° lighting for a live audience. Showtec provided the lighting system, including 400 Robe MBFL Blades, 100 Robe BMFL Spots, 100 DTS Raptors, 72 Harman Martin Professional MAC Viper Profiles, and 12 DTS Wonder fixtures, all controlled by two MA Lighting grandMA2 full-size consoles. The lighting was programmed in collaboration with co-programmer Javier Tan a month in advance using Light Converse visualization.
To combat the reverberant environment of the domed National Stadium, speakers were positioned in clusters with focused dispersion, with a minimal amount of fold-back speakers in the field-of-play. The Show Company supplied multiple products from CODA Audio, including 138 AiRay modules, 44 ViRay modules, 38 SC2 bass extenders, 32 G715 speakers, 110 Linus10 amplifiers, six Linet Masters, and 12 Linet switches, with a total of 26 flown arrays and over a kilometer of 6mm speaker cables. Performers wore FM receivers as monitors. Sound was mixed from an Avid Venue S6L.
The Show Company provided a total of 2,200 LED panels for the stage design, four 16x9m (52’x30’) screens in thecorners of the stadium, and four 32m (105’) curved stage fascia LED screens on the sides of the stage, controlled by four coolux Pandoras Box Quad Pro media servers and three 17x17m (56’x56’) Lightware matrices.
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To create a backdrop for the 360° experience, each of the 55,000 audience members was given a Pixmob Wristband X, synced with Pixmob Pro, an infrared controlled solution. Pixmob also supplied and controlled the LED props that 600 dancers used to create various images on stage.
The motion of the life-sized automated unicorn, constructed by Q’s Advertising, and the 14,000 LEDs embedded in its skin were controlled via wireless DMX.
Riedel Rental provided the Artist Digital Matrix Intercom platform for the show communication system as well as the Mass Cast FM system for performer monitoring. Glorious Group designed and supplied all indoor and outdoor fireworks, confetti, and flame projectors.
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HOW I DID TH AT
Stormy Weather
AARON NICOLS
LIGHTING NOTRE DAME SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL’S PRODUCTION OF THE TEMPEST /// BY KE VIN DRE YER
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HOW I DID TH AT
THE TEMPEST HAS CAUGHT A LOT OF ATTENTION IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, AS THE WORLD HAS BEEN CELEBRATING THE ANNIVERSARY OF SHAKESPEARE’S DEATH.
“W
e are going to do The Tempest with an aerialist or two, several gymnasts, live musicians, jugglers, and up to 20 industrial fans. The fans are going to blow fabric and other items up into the air, sometimes as much as 40’ into the air. We want you to design the lighting.” – Grant Mudge, Ryan Producing Artistic Director, Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival. I like challenges, but this was a new one. Within the confines of a single light plot with a fixed inventory and a very limited budget, I needed to light actors on the stage floor, in the pit, and on top of a ship 13’ above the stage; an actress who would spend the entire performance on a trapeze 10’ above the stage, and another actress who would climb more than 20’ into 72
the air; jugglers’ balls tossed 10’ to 15’ in the air and a set of silks that would be propelled by a “wind illusion” more than 30’ into the air; and the entire stage-left side of the deck would be blocked by a distressed boat that would rise 16’ above the stage floor. I also had to make sure everyone remained safe and that the lights never distracted the performers or prevented them from being able to complete their acts. All of this was to be part of the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, which is held each summer culminating in a major production in the Patricia G. Decio Theatre. The Decio is a proscenium house with a 24’-high arch that seats around 350. Located on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, it serves as a touring venue and is home to university theatre and opera productions.
AARON NICOLS
Kevin Dreyer
Dreyer needed to light actors on the stage floor, in the pit, and on top of a ship 13’ above the stage as well as an actress who would spend the entire performance on a trapeze 10’ above the stage.
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This summer NDSF had promised a circus-themed Tempest. The festival has been in operation since 2000, and this was the first repeat title. The Tempest has caught a lot of attention in the last two years, as the world has been celebrating the anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. It is generally believed to be his final play or at least the last one he wrote by himself. Certainly that was the reason to reach back into the part of the canon we had already produced for this summer’s production. Following hard on the heels of a very successful Tempest in Chicago during 2015, it was a risky choice, but one that has paid off well both in terms of the production itself and the overwhelming response, from reviewers and our audience alike. After talking with the producer and with West Hyler, the director, what was running through my brain was this: great images, very exciting and active, but what do they have to do with The Tempest and what ties them all together, what is the throughline, the spine on which I need to build my design? 74
A set of silks were propelled by a “wind illusion” more than 30' into the air.
AARON NICOLS
BUILD ///
Marcus Stephens’ set design for The Tempest featured a “theatrically real” world with fans, acrobatic silks (tissu), and a static trapeze.
I consider myself a storyteller; my medium just happens to be light. Like the physician who pledges “first, do no harm,” I know that my first duty is to make sure the audience can see, but that is really my only rule. Well, that is not entirely true. It is my only consistent rule. The choreographer, Gus Solomons, Jr., was fond of rules in choreography. He would create a new set of rules for each piece he choreographed, and I have incorporated that idea into my own work. I have also discovered that a carefully chosen point where the rules are broken can be just as important as following the rules. So how do you build a set of rules that are coherent for the storytelling, yet flexible enough to allow for all of the disparate elements so that they can all feel of one piece?
That was the driving question going into the rehearsal process: a remarkably short three weeks before tech, one week of tech, and only two previews in which to get it all right. Rehearsals were choppy, with big chunks of time taken out for training the circus acts and, shortly before we began work, the idea of a shadow puppet piece was also added to the mix. The artistic team spent about nine hours outside of rehearsal talking through the show, beat by beat. I started out with the usual sorts of questions to try and get a handle on the project and the design. Describe the place where this will happen: Is it an island, a stage in the Midwest, a circus, and if so, what kind of a circus? Most of the answers were in terms of what it was not, which often is just as useful. SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
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AARON NICOLS
The electrics were unmaksed, still keeping the legs, to dispense with the masking on the ground row.
It was not a lush island—think volcanic, not a roustabout circus—more Cirque du Soleil-influenced, as we were not interested in fully unmasking the space and letting it simply be a theatre space. The set design, by Marcus Stephens, underwent several variations from abstraction to construction to realistic, which is where we landed. This left us in a “theatrically real” world where fans, acrobatic silks (tissu), and a static trapeze all needed to make sense. I had asked if we could have a painted backdrop, but the budget wouldn’t stretch that far, so that meant a white cyc without room to rig a proper bounce or a black scrim to make it pop. The first major decision that I made with the director was to unmask the electrics, still keeping the legs, and to dispense with the masking on the ground row. For me, this introduction of stage machinery within the “frame” caused the fans, also clearly mechanical devices, to have a place in this otherwise realistic space. It also meant that, as I had a really clear shot at the cyc for templates, and I could trim the electrics high enough to be out of the way of the aerial rigging, the flying silks would not get fouled. This also meant that the electrics did not have consistent trims. The rigging for the aerial equipment was locked down at 26’, and my lowest trim was on my fourth electric at 25’. The first and third were trimmed out at 27’ to be clear of the rigging, and the second, just above the air zone, was trimmed at 35’. Because of the jugglers, acrobats, and aerialists, I felt I needed sidelight to complement the movement and to light the balls without hitting the jugglers in the eyes. This was the first time I had ever used sidelight that came from only one side. In order to balance the booms on stage-right, I did add a few units on ladders hung stage left, but the lowest unit on the ladders was still higher than the top unit on the booms. 76
THE FIRST MAJOR DECISION THAT I MADE WITH THE DIRECTOR WAS TO UNMASK THE ELECTRICS, STILL KEEPING THE LEGS, AND TO DISPENSE WITH THE MASKING ON THE GROUND ROW. Kevin Dreyer
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HOW I DID TH AT
AARON NICOLS
The booms were hung with 26°, 36°, and 50° ETC Source Fours in a R64 far/ near system, a R51 boom top, and a R53 shin. They were completed by a 10’high template unit and chest-high R89 to complement the “Ariel’s Qualities,” or AQs, our troupe of acrobats, aerialists, and musicians. The ladders were at a variety of heights, to stay out of things in the air, and had a R20 far/near and a R56 template wash. This sidelight set up pushed me into a somewhat asymmetrical plot. Additionally, when the boat was brought onto stage following the opening tempest, it sat at an angle where it reached
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center all the way up stage and was about 2’ away from the masking downstage. There was an entrance downstage of the boat, and one or two people could sneak on upstage of the boat, but otherwise, stage-left was dead. This meant that my centerline really ran from quarter right upstage to center downstage and directly impacted the overhead systems. In recognition of this skewed centerline and in an effort to control shadows on the boat, I set one of my front light systems (R02) along the angle of the boat and pushed the other one (R52) as close to perpendicular as I could.
COLOR HAD TO BE CAREFULLY CHOSEN AS THE MAJORITY OF IT WOULD LIGHT THE BOAT, AND THE REST WOULD IMPACT THE HEAVILY PAINTED FLOOR. Kevin Dreyer
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AARON NICOLS
The booms were hung with 26°, 36°, and 50° ETC Source Fours in a R64 far/near system, a R51 boom top, and a R53 shin.
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Color had to be carefully chosen as the majority of it would light the boat, and the rest would impact the heavily painted floor. I used more individual colors on this production than usual in a large part because there were so many one-sided systems. The boat dictated the plot in a way I had not initially imagined. The trapeze on which our Ariel spent all but the last minute of the production became its own small plot that was folded into the larger one. Light had to come from enough different directions (coves, box booms, electrics, SL ladder, and SR booms) to make this one spot in the air as dynamic as the rest of the space. I also had to carefully consider where the beam landed once it passed through the trapeze. All of this had to be done while ensuring the performer felt safe executing some very complex and potentially dangerous choreography. The tissu was less of an issue and simply needed to be lit for its full height, as all of that choreography was very vertical. The “air tornado” was a bit more problematic. This effect is a central part of the touring production, Air Play, that West had helped develop with air designer, Daniel Wurtzel. The difference is that Air Play is a standalone production with a world of its own, as opposed to being folded into a play by Shakespeare. Much of what they learned from that show helped us to be successful in ours, but we found some new considerations. Remembering my snow tricks from past Nutcrackers, I incorporated a few units (36°) from the second and third ladders to light the air above the fans. What I had not accounted for was that some of the items that flew into the air were very small, and others were translucent. SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\
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AARON NICOLS
This meant that, at times, we had to keep the cyc very dim, and at other times, we had to light it in such a way as to allow the things in the air to be multiplied by their shadows. Templates from the first electric and an R69 wash from the balcony rail focused into the cyc helped very nicely in these situations. The next most significant choice we made was to stop treating the cyc as a realistic sky. This came about organically, as the original shadow-puppet idea morphed into a shadow play, with people on a midstage silk screen and finally into a distorted shadow play on the cyc. The nature of the
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fabric that was to be our screen did not allow for clear shadows, once there was any stage light on. The solution was to move the light source into the wings, place the actors just offstage of the legs, and project 15’ and 25’-high shadows onto the cyc. In order to get the clearest shadow, we used units without lenses. The final piece of our storytelling vocabulary was the magic. In our production, there were two types of magic: that which Prospero generated from his knowledge of the magic of Sycorax and the magic that Ariel does at Prospero’s bidding. Since our Ariel was confined to a trapeze, ten other per-
formers were cast as “Ariel’s Qualities,” and they served a wide variety of functions. In addition to their acrobatics, they doubled as stagehands and formed a musical ensemble that scored the entire production. The Tempest has room for a great deal of music, and in fact, some scholars now speculate that it may have been Shakespeare’s only true “masque,” with near continuous sound throughout. Our music, composed by Scotty Arnold, was played and sung live by our AQs, and as it lined up with the majority of the magical moments in the play, it helped define the magic. It was important that we not forget that Ariel is
trapped, and so a couple of template washes (Rosco 77564 Loose Weave and a horizontally mounted 77798 Cracked) became a dominant part of these moments, as they reinforced the idea of entrapment. Two cyc washes (77797 Thicket and 77903 Reflected Water 1) also became part of the vocabulary of magic. Two other significant gobo washes were a soft focus 77732 Realistic Leaves colored in R370, creating a wonderfully watery front-fill and a set of side fills with a vertically mounted G326 Water 1 that helped the opening scene on the boat. Once our vocabulary was defined, cueing the show became pretty straightforward. Dreyer placed one front light systems (R02) along the angle of the boat and pushed the other one (R52) as close to perpendicular as he could.
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The music helped define the magic, and the type of magic defined the lighting. The clowns and jugglers played off the audience, so we added house lights into those scenes, which then gave us permission (establishing and following rules) to have the house lights on at a low level for Prospero’s final speech, an appeal to the audience that he be granted release from the island just as he has released Ariel moments before. We made use of a significant number of follow cues so that any time we turned on the fans, it could happen as a bump within a slower change to the conventional fixtures. When all is said and done, it was, after all, simply a play, a play with fans and jugglers and aerialists and acrobats and one of the greatest tales of revenge overcome by benevolence and redemption. The lighting plot comprised almost exclusively conventional fixtures from the ETC Source Four family. The only dynamic units were four Rosco I-Cues, paired with DMX irises, six Wybron scrollers in a backlight system, and a Rosco X24 projector for the opening wave effect we created with a full stage piece of silk and three rows of fans. The ground row comprised ETC Selador Vivid-R 42’’ units, while additional 11’’ units were hung on various electrics for lightning effects. Two low-profile commercial floods mounted inside the boat and two lensless Fresnels provided the lighting for the shadow play. 84
We ran the show from the house’s ETC Ion console, and the theatre is equipped with ETC D20 Sensor dimmers that did a remarkable job controlling the fans at various intensities, and despite conventional wisdom, nothing burned up. Kevin Dreyer is a professional lighting designer and a member of the United Scenic Artists 829. Dreyer’s lighting designs for theatre, opera, and dance have been seen throughout the US and in Europe, South America, and Asia with such companies as Paris Opera Ballet, La Compañia Nacional, Opera Teresa Carreño, Ballet du Nord, MOMIX, ISO, DanzaHoy, ABT, Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, and the Joffrey Ballet. His design work in Venezuela was nominated for a national critics award, and he has been heralded as a “wizard lighting designer” by The Village Voice. The New York Times called his work with the Joffrey Ballet “brilliant,” and it is featured in Paramount Pictures’ Save The Last Dance and the Robert Altman feature, The Company. Dreyer is an associate professor at the University of Notre Dame, where he has been on the theatre faculty since 1989. He lives in northern Indiana with his wife and three daughters. He will moderate two panels on dance lighting at LDI2016: “Why Is Dance Lighting So Hard To Get Right?” and “How To Break Down A Dance.”
AARON NICOLS
BUILD ///
For the “air tornado,” Dreyer incorporated a few units (36°) from the second and third ladders to light the air above the fans.
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LIGHTING PLOT
THE TEMPEST LIGHTING GEAR LIST 16 44 79 36 27 43 2
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ETC Selador Vivid-R (42’’ and 11’’) ETC Source Four 19° ETC Source Four 26° ETC Source Four 36° ETC Source Four 50° ETC Source Four PAR 6’ Fresnel without lens
6 4 4 1 2 1
Wybron Forerunner Rosco I-Cue DMX Iris Rosco X24 Effects Projector Commercial Flood ETC Ion Console
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So You Think You Can Dance? BELLYDANCE EVOLUTION CHINA TOUR 2016 /// BY C OEN VA N DER HOE V EN
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S
eventy days on tour through China with a group of 20 dancers: I really had to think it over. It was going to be a once-ina-lifetime experience and a chance to really explore a country that is somewhat unknown by many, but on the other hand, China wasn’t exactly at the top of my bucket list. I was contacted in January by my friend Ben Spronk, who is the lighting designer for California-based Bellydance Evolution (BDE), a dance group led by the renowned belly dancer Jillina Carlano. Spronk couldn’t do the tour, so he asked me to take over the tour of Alice In Wonderland, a bellydance adaptation of the well-known story with different dance styles. After being introduced to Lauren Bold, who was going to be the tour manager and lead dancer in China, we started to prepare for the journey. The first and biggest problem for a dance company is to get all visas arranged for, in our case, 20 people coming from all parts of the world. I am 90
Dutch, and the dancers were coming from the US, Argentina, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Germany, Cyprus, Latvia, Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, and Slovenia. To get a tourist visa for China is one thing; when you’re doing a tour this long, you need a work visa and a work permit. Every Chinese embassy in every country has its own rules, and it took a huge effort to get the visas arranged in time. BDE was invited and booked by the Poly Theatre Management Company in Beijing. This company is just a small part of a huge, state-owned company that has real estate, a finance branch, an auction branch, international trade, and an energy business. There are more than 30 Poly Theatres spread all over China, and we were going to visit most of them. We were not going to tour with any equipment, only with a set of drapes and a lot of props and costumes. Every theatre was equipped with the lights I needed for my design.
THE LIGHTING The plot contained 18 Philips Vari-Lite VL3000 Wa sh l ig ht s a nd si x VL3500 Spots, 16 ETC Source Four Ellipsoidals, 16 RGBW LED wash units, 16 2kW Fresnels, two followspots, and a set of additional front lighting, depending on the venue. It turned out to be absolutely no problem to have this set in every theatre, as all the theatres have a large stock of equipment, and if not available, the equipment was easily rented. Because there was no standard lighting console in each theatre, Poly provided an MA Lighting grandMA light for the whole tour. This board, and all costumes and props, were transported in a truck while the company traveled by plane, bullet train, or bus. The distances in China between some venues are huge, and sometimes it was a miracle that the truck arrived in time, especially considering the local traffic. The first theatre on the tour was in Shenyang, north of Beijing.
Nanjing Theatre
BDE was invited and booked by the Poly Theatre Management Company in Beijing. This company is just a small part of a huge, stateowned company that has real estate, a finance branch, an auction branch, international trade, and an energy business. Coen Van Der Hoeven
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Upon arrival, the sight of the theatre made clear that Poly has a very distinct idea of the function of theatre in a city. A theatre has to be the eye-catcher of the town, an overwhelming and inviting place, radiating art, culture, and wealth. The Shenyang Grand Theatre is an enormous glass rock on the border of a river containing an 1,800-seat opera hall and a concert hall. The halls are connected with a huge glass-covered foyer, offering spectacular views of the city and river. The stage plan in all Poly theatres is the same: a big main stage with average dimension of 20x15 meters (66’x49’). The main stage is divided into five or six elevators that can be lowered into the basement or rise up to 4m (13’) to reveal a second floor. Left, right, and upstage are side stages with the same dimensions. The decks of the side stages all have platforms that can travel on stage when the main stage is lowered. The back stage always has a revolving floor that can be moved to the main stage or can be used backstage to rotate whole sets or heavy pieces. The front of the stage is divided into three elevators so three sizes of orchestra pits can be realized.
Telescopic side booms
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Nanjing Theatre
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For opera with a full symphonic orchestra in the pit, this is great, but for performances like ours without an orchestra, this means a huge distance of at least 7m (23’) to the first row of seats. Without exception, this created a big distance to the audience, and after one week of performances, we decided to move some of the solos to this front stage to get more contact with the audience. Since Alice In Wonderland is a dance show, the design needed a lot of side lighting. In European tours, normally this is done with movable carts that can be placed in the wings. In China, many theatres have a much better system; on every side, there are five or six telescopic towers that can be lowered from the top of the stage tower right onto the stage deck. These towers also move up and down stage, so side lights can be situated at every height and depth of the stage. The movement of the towers can be controlled with the same desk that operates the flys and the stage elevators. The biggest challenge working as a foreigner in China is the language. It is very unlikely to find somebody who speaks English in a theatre, so it is absolutely necessary to work with an interpreter and preferably, as I did, with a local assistant who learns the show so he can do the focusing, masking, etc. All corrections I gave in sign language, and translation apps on the smartphone turned out to be must-have. Because China has 10 different languages, even my Chinese assistant sometimes had great difficulties being understood.
Stage control room
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Zhoushan Theatre
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THE VENUES Most Poly Grand theatres are architectural masterpieces and very wellequipped, but we encountered a lot of curious problems. Front curtains often open so slowly that you’ll miss the complete first scene if not cued in time. Once, we had a complete pre-show quiz with audience participation, not previously reported to us, all done on a dark front stage with dancers getting cold behind the curtain. House lights in most auditoriums didn’t have dimming, so curtain call meant immediate blackout. Clear-Com-type headsets were not available, so every communication during the show was done by Porta Phone, even for the followspots. On a musical show like ours, this was not a big problem, but imagine doing a dramatic play and then cueing someone on stage. One of the biggest challenges was working with the fixtures in the front-of-house lighting bridges. Almost without exception, all theatres had knock-off Source Fours with 5° or 7° lenses. For one gobo wash, 12 lights were needed; add three color washes and some specials, and you’d need 50 lights. This takes a lot of focusing time and very uneven washes. Strange also were the DMX lines with 480 channels instead of 512. Patching channels became a mathematical challenge, and the permanent absence of any lighting plot didn’t make it any easier. Maintaining visual continuity turned out to be a challenge, too. A black Marley floor sometimes was light blue, while black masking varied from gray and blue to dark green. FOH control room
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The grandMA turned out to be a very valuable and powerful tool, since every theatre had its own, often very big, stock of automated lights, but all had their own types and brands. There were a lot of western brands— Harman Martin MAC 2000s, Philips Vari-Lite VL3000s, Robe ColorWash and ColorSpots, Clay Paky Alpha Wash and Spot fixtures—but also some Chinese fixtures, like the PR Lighting 5000 series, a 1,500W beast, with 19 gobos and a 10° to 68° zoom. Or Fine Art, which makes fixtures that use exactly the same fixture libraries as Martin. For most LED fixtures, I had to make my own fixture definitions; sometimes even the local technicians didn’t know the name of the brand. Chinese theatres have very different ideas of how to behave, not only for the audience but also for visiting artists and companies. First of all, during the day, there is always an usher sitting in the auditorium on a plastic chair. He is there to check if everything is going according to the rules. I once made the mistake of sitting on the first row to check the masking. Immediately, I was given another plastic chair, since it is forbidden to sit on the chairs that are intended for the audience. In front of the proscenium, all theatres have a large LED screen that shows upcoming events but also tells the audience the dos and don’ts. Also a tape is started half an hour before curtain time that tells people to behave decently and to dress appropriately in order “to maintain an elegant environment.” Maintaining visual continuity between the theatres was a challenge.
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Most Poly Grand theatres are architectural masterpieces and very well-equipped.
Once the houselights are switched off, it immediately shows that nobody reads the signs or listens to the rules because a sea of lit telephone screens appears, and many audience members film the show or start messaging on WeChat, the Chinese social network. Ushers are equipped with very bright laser pointers and try to make filming impossible by pointing at the lit screens while colleagues walk around with portable LED screens that tell people not to film. Another interesting phenomenon is the arrival of the audience. Most shows start at 7:30pm. This is when the last gong sounds, and without any other notice, the houselights are switched off. It doesn’t matter if people are still looking for their seats. Often, the show starts with only one quarter of the audience present. Most people arrive late, and within
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BellyDance Evolution’s production of Alice In Wonderland
half an hour, the auditorium fills up in the dark, and by the intermission, suddenly the house looks to be sold out. The biggest surprise was always the extravagant architecture of the theatres. We made the joke that, if you didn’t know how to find the theatre, just look for the most outrageous building, and you’re there. The Culture and Art Centre Grand Theatre in Handan is a giant 120,000sq-m, hatshaped building with several theatres and a library. Then there is the giant stainless steel cocoon of Shenzhen, the crashed space ship in Dalian, the five golden eggs of Zhengzhou, each containing a theatre, cinema, or event hall.
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BellyDance Evolution’s production of Alice In Wonderland
And how about Nanjing, with its theatre and two skyscrapers, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects? Both interior and exterior are beautiful, organically shaped, with a spectacular auditorium. Shanghai has its Poly Grand theatre designed by Tadao Ando: a 100x100m (328’x328’) glass box, 30m (98’) high and bisected by several tubes with different diameters and angles, surrounded by infinite pools and a lake. And our last stop was Wuxi, with a more than 100
50m (164’) high structure, located on an artificial peninsula. The exterior consists of enormous bent leaves covering the massive building, with an interior completely made out of bamboo. My favorite, though, has to be Zhoushan, on an island south of Shanghai. Designed by American architects GS&P, it has a free-formed concrete shape and is covered with a metal filigree space frame. This frame houses thousands of LEDs that project onto the white concrete. At night, the theatre constantly
changes its façade, with a variety of natural elements like flowers, clouds, and ice crystals. After ten weeks and 35,000km (21,747.992 mi) of traveling, I have to conclude that my ideas of China were completely wrong. It is an extremely modern countr y with the most impressive and beautiful theatres, technically very progressive and very well-equipped. In Holland and other European countries over the past years, dramatic cuts have been made in
Nanjing Theatre
government art subsidies, but China spends millions on new theatres and performing arts centers. Culture is still the biggest value in this country. In the afternoon, it is a joy to go to the immense squares neighboring the theatres and experience the Chinese way: people flying their kites, playing chess in the shadow of a tree, and small groups waltzing with friends. The squares are used as community places, very clean and filled with happy and relaxed people.
Sometimes I have the feeling that things are going much too fast for most people, but China doesn’t want to keep up with the West; it is aiming to run miles ahead. While skyscrapers and highways are growing by the hour, bullet trains and monorails traverse the country, LEDs light every inch of concrete, and people on the squares dance. For more than 30 years, Coen van der Hoeven has worked in Dutch theatre. Working his way up from stagehand to stage
manager, he made his first lighting designs for the National Theatre in The Hague in 1997. Since then, he has created more than a hundred designs for theatre, opera, and musicals. For several years, he designed for the Chinese State Circus and created many designs for productions in South Africa. He was awarded the Dutch Musical Award for Best Light Design for his work on Good Hope and Amandla! Mandela. He is a guest teacher at the Amsterdam Academy of Arts. SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\ 101
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Suzhou Culture and Arts Centre
Shenyang Theatre
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Shenyang Theatre
Dalian Theatre
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Nanjing Theatre
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Handan Theatre
Shanghai Theatre
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For more than 30 years, Coen van der Hoeven has worked in Dutch theatre. Working his way up from stagehand to stage manager, he made his first lighting designs for the National Theatre in The Hague in 1997. 108
Shenzen Theatre
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Shenzen Theatre
Zhoushan Theatre
Suzhou Theatre
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Wuxi Theatre
Wuxi Theatre
Dancing in the square
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LDI 2016: PRODUC T NE WS
LDI 2016: Product Preview /// B Y M A R I A N S A NDBE R G
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PLATINUM SEVEN™ ELATION PROFESSIONAL
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he new Platinum Seven™ is a high-power, seven-color wash luminaire housing 19 25W multi-chip LEDs (RGBW, plus amber, mint, and 400nm wavelength UV) and featuring a fast 5° to 50° zoom. The fixture comes with a selection of linear color temperature presets from 2,700K to 8,000K. Effects include pixel ring-control with color pixel ring macros included for when programming time is limited. The fixture also offers linear dimming with selectable dimming curves and high-speed electronic strobe, as well as high-efficiency, low-noise cooling, and movement control systems for noise-sensitive environments. Refresh rate frequency and Gamma brightness are also adjustable. Controllable via multiple DMX channel modes, the fixture can also be controlled using KlingNet™ or Art-Net and is RDMready. The unit features a full-color menu display with a six-button touch control panel. ELATIONLIGHTING.COM
GT-1 GLP
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he GT-1 is a hybrid fixture that acts as a spot, beam, and wash, using a high-powered 470W discharge lamp. It features a 22:1 ratio zoom range from 2.5° to 55°, and its optical design does not require different modes of operation, but rather all feature functionality is available at any time. In spot mode, the unit offers CMY color mixing, eight rotating gobos, 14 fixed pattern gobos, additional beam reduction gobos, a variable-speed animation wheel that can be repositioned within the beam, three rotating prisms, and a fixed color wheel with CTO/CTB filters. In beam mode, it produces a parallel beam of light at 2.5° through its 145mm diameter front lens. In wash mode, its soft edge comes from a variable filter that can be inserted into the beam to give the desired level of wash. Additional features include a baseless design, inbuilt wireless DMX control, 16-bit pan and tilt movement, full range dimming and shuttering capability, built-in battery for fixture setup, and auto-sensing power supply. GERMANLIGHTPRODUCTS.COM SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\ 113
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LDI 2016: PRODUC T NE WS
PRODIGY® P75 SELF CLIMBER HOIST ETC
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he Prodigy® P75 Self Climber Hoist features the same technology as all Prodigy hoists, repackaged in a custommade, heavy duty Tomcat® 20.5” truss with a working load limit (WLL) of 2,000lbs (900 kg) and vertical travel of 75’. Developed to meet the needs of a segment of the rigging market that cannot rely on traditional hoist solutions, this hoist was built to accommodate venues and installations that may have domed or peaked roofs, plaster ceilings, tight spaces, and corners, such as historic buildings, houses of worship, theatres, and arenas. All Prodigy hoists contain high-level safety features, such as slackline detection, load cell, load profiling, and dual-brake systems, and all are fully tested and prereeved. ETCCONNECT.COM
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RUSH SCANNER 1 LED MARTIN BY HARMAN
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he Rush Scanner 1 LED offers multiple colors, gobos, and prism effects based around a 90W white LED engine. Effects are via two separate color wheels, one rotating gobo wheel, one static gobo wheel, and a three-facet prism. Additional features include high-speed pan and tilt (170° and 75°, respectively), motorized focus, DMX control and standalone operation, as well as auto-trigger and music-trigger standalone modes. MARTIN.COM
OVATION B-2805FC AND B-565FC CHAUVET PROFESSIONAL
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he Ovation B-2805FC and Ovation B-565FC battens feature an RGBA-Lime LED system for largescale color wash and cyc lighting applications. The B-2805FC model is powered by 280 8W LEDs, while its smaller counterpart, the B-565FC, is powered by 56 8W LEDs. Both battens come with a holographic filter that seamlessly blends colors at the fixture’s aperture and locks into place, so it can be used in any orientation. Control options include RDM, Art-Net, and sACN, in addition to standard DMX, and up to 10 sections can be controlled individually. The fixture also features a virtual color wheel matched to Rosco gels and color temperature presets. CHAUVETPROFESSIONAL.COM SEPTEMBER 2016 \\\ 115
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LDI 2016: PRODUC T NE WS
RENTALWORKS 2016 DATABASE WORKS INC.
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wo new features are available in RentalWorks® software. The first is the QuikRFID app for touchscreen tablets with RFID portal integration, which allows rental companies to manage and check in and out large quantities of inventory via a touchscreen tablet app that works in conjunction with an RFID portal. Database Works has also partnered with Intermedia to offer its second new feature: interactive reporting, customized specifically to the user’s business. The reporting feature offers a fully transparent view of operations, using visual analytics with dashboards. DBWORKS.COM
SPARKTACULAR SPARKTACULAR DISTRIBUTION INC.
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parktacular is patented equipment for creating the special effects of an indoor fountain. Developed to reduce the time and cost involved in a traditional pyrotechnics show, the effect is produced from granulated grains, and the volume of sparks and height can be adjusted up to 5m (16’) in height and shoot in intervals for 90 seconds. The unit can shoot up to 10 minutes per granulated grain pouch, and its volume is adjustable. It can be controlled via DMX. SPARKTACULAR.COM
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LQ SERIES UPDATES CLEAR-COM®
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lear-Com has introduced new LQ software and three new IP connectivity devices to add to the LQ Series family. LQ devices can also now connect directly to the Eclipse HX matrix, enabling routing of intercom audio and signals across large distances and providing universal connectivity between any industry-standard two-wire or four-wire intercom system or audio source, anywhere over the IP network. The new models add a third connection type to the LQ series: four-wire audio with GPIO signaling in a nine-way connector. The Core Configuration Manager software (CCM) for setting up and linking the LQ devices has also been updated with faster and more efficient system edits. Users can also upgrade existing LQ units to the latest software. CLEARCOM.COM
PHOENIX EP CHRISTIE®
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hoenix EP (Embedded Processor) is a compact, scalable solution for managing content on single or multiple panels. The processor installs directly into compatible Christie displays and connects directly to a network using CATx cable. One unit processes networked sources, decodes and manages audiovisual and data sources on up to two Christie flat panels, and eliminates the need for AV extension and distribution equipment. CHRISTIEDIGITAL.COM
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KRYO.MORPH™ BLIZZARD LIGHTING
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ryo.Morph™ is a hybrid beam/wash/spot moving head that uses a 280W HRI discharge lamp and features two gobo wheels: rotating and static. The rotating gobo wheel has nine rotating, indexable, and replaceable slot-n-lock glass gobos, while the static gobo wheel has 10 metal gobos and four beam reducers. It ranges from a narrow 5° to 20° spot effect to a 2.5° to 10° beam effect, and for wider effects, users can add the six-way linear or eight-way circular prisms that move in either direction at variable speeds. Other features include 540°/270° pan and tilt movement, a color wheel with 13 dichroic filters plus white, motorized zoom and focus, four-button LCD touchscreen menu, PowerCON®-compatible input, and dual ¼-turn omega mounting brackets. BLIZZARDLIGHTING.COM
VECTORWORKS SPOTLIGHT 2017 VECTORWORKS, INC.
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he latest version of Vectorworks features several user-experience enhancements, including a new Resource Manager that enables designers to create, find, edit, and apply resources to projects. Designers can find what’s needed via search and filtering, attach metadata tags, and access resources directly with the parametric tools. Also new are data visualization features that bring together graphic abilities with enhanced information modeling capabilities, allowing control of smart objects’ graphic attributes based upon data and parametric values and providing the ability to visually differentiate between objects based upon the data/information attached to an object. Cable Tools, created by Sam Jones of AutoPlot, aids in the planning of cable runs and counts, while users can now surpass algorithmic methods of modeling a venue’s seating with the Create Seating Section command. Additional new features include enhancements to project sharing, new Vision software capabilities, 3D label legends, new lighting and audio symbol libraries, and new tools for rope and stanchion modeling and dimension tape. All Vectorworks software packages now include Renderworks. VECTORWORKS.NET 118
SPIKIE ROBE
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pikie is a small LED WashBeam based around a single 60W RGBW light source with a specially designed 110mm wide front lens that produces a solid beam. The fixture zooms from a soft, wide 28° wash to a sharp-edged 4° beam or one of two new air effects. The new flower effect creates sharp multicolored spikes of light, rotating in both directions at variable speed. Additionally, a beam effect engine transforms the output into a ray of three narrow beams. The fixture features continuous rotation of pan and tilt, and it comes with one Omega bracket. ROBE.CZ
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POWER SURGE
POWER
THE SEQUENCE GROUP ON THE M THAT KICKED OFF THE DALLA
/// BY M E L E A H
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MAKING OF THE ICE PROJECTION AS STARS PLAYOFF SEASON
H M AY N A R D
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re at ing pregame shows where projected visuals will be seen by fans watching from all angles requires experience and a solid understanding of how to think of the court or ice as one big canvas. That’s why the Dallas Stars tapped The Sequence Group to handle the ice projection that kicked off the 2016 playoff season. Vancouver-based Sequence, which also has offices in Melbourne, specializes in visual effects, design, and animation. Over the last five years, the firm has created a wide range of captivating entertainment and motion graphics, including pregame shows for the Regina Pats and the Canucks. Projected across t he entire 200’x85’ ice rink, the Dallas Stars pregame visuals were made primarily with Maxon Cinema 4D and Adobe After Effects and Photoshop in a little more than a week, following the concept phase. The show 122
opens on a dark rink with a slowly rotating neon planet at its center. The pace picks up when the camera dives through a pulsing wormhole that whisks the audience through Dallas’ glowing cityscape, into the stadium, and out onto the ice. Three members of the Sequence team—Ian Kirby, founder and creative director; Dan Sioui, executive producer; and Eric Wada, associate creative director— explain the making of the high-energy show. LIVE DESIGN: How di d Sequence connect with the Dallas Stars for this project? IAN KIRBY: I’ve worked with Jason Farris in the past, the Dallas Stars’ chief operating officer, and we keep in touch. We reached out to him, wanting to talk with the Dallas Stars’ internal team about live production work. We told them what we’ve done and how we find solutions to the challenges that come up on these kinds of projects.
THE PROJECTION SYSTEM IS DIFFERENT IN EVERY ARENA. IN THIS CASE, WE HAD 12 PROJECTORS OVERLAPPING. MORE PROJECTORS MAKE THE FINAL RESULT BRIGHTER. Ian Kirby
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Sequence incorporated the Dallas Stars current logo into the show, as well as historical elements, images of the 1999 Stanley Cup win, and the team’s former Minnesota North Stars logo.
LD: What kind of direction did you get from them? IK: It was a blank slate in the beginning. Jason Danbe is the senior director of game presentation, and he was leading the creative. He was looking for broad-stroke concepts, so we pitched a range of ideas that captured and intensified the energy of an NHL opening. Jason put together more of a brief over time, and once we got the green light, we had about a week to deliver it. One thing that came up was that they wanted the projection to be in 4K. Due to the short timeframe, we worked at 3K and scaled up to 4K for the final. We’ve got an internal C4D render farm set up, so we’re able to manage large renders with relatively short notice.
LD: How many people were on your team, and what software did you use? ERIC WADA: We split the whole project between three people: one person doing UI, or user interface, and the other two doing 3D and comp. We used Cinema 4D for modeling, lighting, and animation. Adobe After Effects was used for color, UI, the light streak, and the final comp. A bit of the UI design was done in Adobe Photoshop. LD: Describe what happens in the pregame show. IK: The design aesthetic fits with the existing creative direction of the Dallas Stars. To get people excited before the game, we wanted to show Dallas within that aesthetic. We start very wide with a spinning planet, and
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OCTOBER 17-23, 2016 LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER
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POWER SURGE
then go through a wormhole, before focusing on the earth and locating Dallas. A streak of light appears and flies through the city, going past landmarks like Reunion Tower, before going back into the arena, and out onto the ice. Inside, we highlight the blue line and the center ice, emphasizing the physical patterns on the ice. There’s a relation specifically to Dallas and a journey with a constant building of energy. LD: The lightning in the energy core under the ice was created using Video Copilot’s SABER plug-in, right? EW: We really wanted to highlight the physical regions of the ice. We wanted to say, “Here’s the ice in front of you, and it’s burning with energy.” There are the face-off circles, and then a door opens up to reveal the energy core below, which is powered by the energy of the fans. We built the door in Cinema 4D and made all of the light glows and streaks in After Effects. We used a 126
lot of the symmetry mode in C4D, which was really great, because due to time constraints we had to build it really quickly. We were able to build one top corner and duplicate it vertically and horizontally. This was also important because everything on the ice has to be viewed from different perspectives; symmetry is vital in ensuring nobody is enjoying a better view than anyone else. IK: One of the things that was fun was getting the shakes and tilts and other subtle movements right, so the ice seems like it’s shifting just before the energy builds up. This is when we used our massive canvas to really play with people’s senses and make it feel as if their seats are shifting within the arena. We had to be careful with line weights because ice softens the look quite a bit by absorbing a ton of light. LD: This looks a lot like a video game. Was that intentional? DAN SIOUI: Yes. We put together a retro, video game
look and made sure that whatever we were doing fit into the entire piece. The client wanted this glowing look, something reminiscent of Tron. LD: What are some of the challenges to creating a projected show like this where everyone in the audience needs to be able to see what’s happening? IK: It takes a lot of technical expertise, and you have to maintain symmetry, so there’s not a bad seat in the house. For some shots, we actually flipped a few renders to be sure that both sides of the arena can see and understand what was happening. DS: There are a lot of things to consider when you’re projecting on ice. It’s a 200’long, white surface, and colors and luminescence create a totally different game, compared to broadcast or online work. EW: In the beginning, we built a fake ice surface and took the camera in Cinema into After Effects to look at it from different perspectives. We put our animatics
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OCTOBER 17-23, 2016 LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER
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TECH ///
POWER SURGE
through that, so it’s like an environment previz. You have to be careful how much detail you put in because it doesn’t always come through. You can’t make things too minute. LD: With such a tight deadline, did you buy some of the models or make them all? IK: We bought a 3D model of Dallas online. We used the model for the street layout and then enhanced the main landmark buildings ourselves. It worked well, and we easily dropped that in, did all of the camera moves, and quickly got approvals. LD: What sorts of things do you have to consider about the projection system when designing a show like this? IK: The projection system is different in every arena. In this case, we had 12 projectors overlapping. More projectors make the final result brighter. One tricky thing is getting the arena to be as dark as possible, so the effects will look good. That’s not easy because you need to get sponsors’ logos turned off and box lights off, if possible. LD: How much testing did you get to do before the event? DS: We were able to get one test run in with Jason and his team. They said it was looking great as it was and only asked for a couple of
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C4D’s symmetry feature was used to ensure the ice projection was viewable and in the correct proportions, regardless of where people were seated in the American Airlines Center.
The door projected onto the ice was inspired by the movie Tron and opens up to reveal a power core below.
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The Sequence team used C4D to build the geometry needed to create a more complicated representation of what was already physically on the ice.
tweaks to pump up brightness in some spots. We were fortunate because we didn’t have the luxury of multiple tests: There was no ice the day before because the arena was set up for a basketball game. Sometimes you have to be willing to rely on previous expertise to get through a project. It certainly paid off here. IK: We felt confident because we’d done it before. If this had been our first event of this nature it would have been more challenging. It’s fantastic having a broad range of mediums under our belt as it really allows us to apply what we’ve learned previously to every future production. There are always tricks, pipelines, and perspective that grow with every collaboration. Meleah Maynard is a writer and editor in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dallas Stars Fan Footage Montage
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C4D’s wireframe cell renderer helped give the visuals a retro feel. Ambient occlusion and depth passes composited over the top in Adobe After Effects were added to give the city more volume.
Ice projection is challenging because of the size of the canvas and the unique nature of the presentation.
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T HE 2016 V M A S
MICHAEL LOCCISANO, GETTY IMAGES
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BOB BARNHART LIGHTS
THE 2016 VMAs /// BY ELLEN L AMPERT-GRE AUX
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eyoncé, Rihanna, and Kanye were all in the house as the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards were broadcast live from Madison Square Garden in New York City on August 28, with lighting by Bob Barnhart of 22 Degrees, in a production directed by Hamish Hamilton, with production design by Tom Scutt. On a night when the music industry celebrates its own video victories, the lighting and set were LED-infused for some spectacular looks.
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T HE 2016 V M A S
MICHAEL LOCCISANO, GETTY IMAGES
“When you just take the 2016 VMA set by itself, you see that it had an enormous amount of LED products built into it,” says Barnhart, who lists everything from video blades in the floor to the custom LED product in the tunnel and the wing walls flanking the main LED screen. The LED screen closed down, creating a “hive” that served as a backdrop for the awards portion of the act or the reveal of a performance. “All of these elements had some sort of lighting built into them, and they were controlled by Laura Frank,” notes Barnhart.
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“The set was a series of octagons, so we continued that theme with a series of octagon truss positions throughout the overhead rig,” the LD adds. “In addition, to give the ‘wing walls’ more punch and dynamics, we populated them with rows of Philips Vari-Lite VL2500s and rows of Clay Paky Mythos. The producers wanted to feel that Madison Square Garden was being embraced and shown off, so the set was maybe more open than it has been in the past few years. This left us with the challenge of getting tools in the areas where we need them and not destroying the overall production design of the set.”
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T HE 2016 V M A S
For Barnhart, “one of the challenges with lighting a music awards show like the VMAs is that you have to design a light plot before you know anything about the musical acts that will be performing. So you have to predict where you will need tools and what tool to put there. For accent and dynamics, Travis Hagenbuch, my lighting director, and I chose an array of Clay Paky Mythos. This allowed Pete Radice, the lighting director on the PRG V676 console, to have a series of highaccent beams, that make a statement and direct your focus.”
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MICHAEL LOCCISANO, GETTY IMAGES
Another workhorse on the dynamic accent side was a large number—132, although they needed more, according to Barnhart—of TMB Solaris Flares spread out over the entire Garden, controlled by lighting director Patrick Boozer on an ETC EOS console.
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“Now I needed to place a series of ‘tools’ that would allow us to pick out unknown performancerelated scenic elements and/or sidelight unknown dancers, etc. For this, we chose a vast array of Philips Vari-Lite VL3000 and VL3500 Spots. This left us with the critical element, the key and back light system for the talent,” says Barnhart. “For this task, we relied heavily on the PRG Best Boy HP in both the GroundControl [followspot] version as well as the normal fixture. In addition, we had Strong Super Troupers in the arena. Even with all of this, you find yourself standing on the stage in the 90 minutes you get to light a performance, looking into a dark area and thinking, ‘I wish I had just one light over there to cover this.’”
The first number that stood out for Barnhart was Rihanna’s nightclubinspired performance. “The first approach for this production was to have the scenic hive down and cram more than 120 cast members into this now tiny room, leaving no room for lights,” Barnhart explains. “Because the hive LED material is so porous, we started jamming every spot fixture we could through the hive. The result on the other side was a fantastic series of tiny beams of light that moved around the cast members’ faces. In the end, they decided to fly the hive up, as the camera shots became too restricting.”
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The other number that stands out was Beyoncé’s mid-show performance. “I’m not sure where to even begin with this discussion,” admits Barnhart. “If you think of all the things I have mentioned above and remember having to predict the unknown, this was the epitome of that very issue. She went from end zone to end zone and back again, during her performance. In addition, she faced in every conceivable direction throughout the entire journey. It’s been two days since the show ended, and I think I am still trying to fix some of those areas.”
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Overview Lighting Plot
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Trusses Lighting Plot
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Barnhart’s biggest challenge started with the fact that the VMAs invaded Madison Square Garden, “with everything we could afford in a very short amount of time,” he says. “However, NYC Local 1 stagehands took that challenge and made it look easy.”
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Section Lighting Plot
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Floor Lighting Plot
Wings Lighting Plot
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