EVENT FOCUS
TECHS ON THE DECKS Gordon Torrington and the team at Liteup put on a unique event, with industry professionals offering their services for a 24-hour show, all streamed live on Facebook, YouTube and Twitch. TPi finds out more…
Let’s be honest – there are more than a few roadies, technicians and people behind some of the biggest bands in the live events industry, who were musicians in a previous life. Perhaps the world wasn’t ready for their talent and they swapped the guitar and drums for a walkie-talkie and a crew T-shirt… And as it turns out, there are just as many crew professionals who are also fairly handy on the DJ decks. For those who missed the livestreamed event in early July, the concept was simple: A 24-hour stream with individuals from across the live events spectrum putting in hour-long shifts, all in aid of Backup – the technical entertainment charity which provides financial support to industry technical professionals working in live events, theatre, TV and film. “Obviously, in the past few months, we have not been working on any live events,” stated Gordon Torrington, as he was on route to make the final preparations for the 24-hour stream. He explained to TPi that the company had to diversify into some rather different realms, including utilising staging elements for the infrastructure of a temporary mortuary. “While this other work kept us going, we were interested in some of the streaming projects that were popping up online. It sparked the idea that we could use Liteup’s warehouse to create our own streaming studio for clients.” The result was a two-stage streaming solution on the Liteup premises. The smaller – Studio 2 – is a more compact setup, ideal for DJ sets and corporate events, with a second that could accommodate a live band. The Studio 1 lighting setup is modelled on a festival main stage, although
scaled back somewhat to fit in the confines of a warehouse. The lighting setup for the Techs on the Decks livestream included 16 Robe ESPRITES – seven in the front truss, four on the mid for both back and front key lights plus effects, chosen for their “power, optics versatility and great on-camera look,” explained LD Warren Hutchison, who was brought in for the event. A total of 24 Robe Spiiders were also utilised, while seven LEDBeam 150s and 12 Pointes across the back and mid trusses completed the moving light count. Added to that were four upstage truss towers, each fitted with 10 pixel-controllable LED battens – programmed and running via the lighting console – and some Flare strobes with the choice of a ChamSys MagicQ or an Avolites Arena console. At the core of the video system in Studio 1 was a Grass Valley Korona, which received inputs from three GV LDX 86 4K cameras fitted with a variety of Fujinon lenses and two 4K Panasonic robo-cams. This was all coordinated by Paul ‘Macca’ McCauley for Solotech UK. “We were incredibly thankful for Solotech’s involvement,” stated Torrington. “The cameras and switcher form part of a larger fully 4K system that will support Solotech work here in the UK and the Global touring market when it returns.” Torrington also commented on the advantage of the Robo camera setup, which avoided the need for cameramen in the space, with just one operator capturing the shots from a distance. Studio 2, on the other hand, featured eight Robe MegaPointes on a goalpost truss above the DJ booth, a number of Magic Blades, some 14
