EVENT FOCUS
DREAMING HEARTS Sound & Vision By DJ Nick deploys an ADJ lighting rig for a livestream juxtaposing the old and the new in support of Cyprus Autism Association.
Organised by local event and production company, Sound & Vision By DJ Nick in celebration of World Autism Awareness Day on 2 April, Dreaming Hearts livestream was broadcast from the historic Kourion Ancient Theatre on the island of Cyprus. The hour-long broadcast featured short, high-impact sets from four local DJs performed in front of an epic backdrop with an all-ADJ lighting rig. More than 70 ADJ lighting and atmospheric fixtures were positioned around the theatre, which has stood on the site for more than 2,000 years, creating a unique juxtaposition between the old and the new. The idea for the event came from DJ Nick himself, who has a passion for increasing awareness about autism and wanted to help raise much-needed funds for the Cyprus Autism Association. To ensure that the livestream was as visually stunning as possible, Nick and his team approached the Cyprus Department of Antiquities for permission to film in the Kourion Ancient Theatre, which was granted free of charge due to the charitable nature of the project. “The venue is used for lots of live concerts by famous performers from around Cyprus and Greece,” explained Lighting Designer, Dimitris Nicolaou. “The audience usually sits on the ancient stone tiered seating, looking towards the stage, which has the sea as its backdrop. Since we wouldn’t have an audience, my first idea was to reverse this and allow people to see the historic venue in a way they have never seen it before. We positioned the DJ in the centre of the main floor, with the control position where the stage
would normally be, and then used the tiered seats both as a backdrop and as a canvas for the lighting.” Nicolaou’s design involved positioning four lines of Vizi Beam 5RX moving heads spread across the arc of the tiered seating. Each line comprised four fixtures, which were spaced equally, starting a few rows from the front and ending on the very back row. This allowed for the creation of impressive aerial effects involving piercing beams that shot up into the night sky and also down to the DJ booth – an ADJ Pro Event Table – positioned in the centre of the theatre’s ground floor. In the centre of the curve of tiered seating, directly behind the DJ position, Nicolaou added a line of seven UB 9H linear LED fixtures. These were then flanked, between the lines of moving heads, by two lines of seven 12PX HEX LED pars. These static fixtures not only provided rear colour washing but were also used for a variety of colour chase effects throughout the broadcast. When all illuminated at the same time, they gave the impression of airport landing lights, an effect that was very effectively captured using drone footage at the beginning of the livestream. On the theatre floor, a semi-circular arrangement of eight Vizi Beam RXONE moving heads was placed at the bottom of the tiered seating, fanned out behind the DJ position. These fixtures were used to generate additional mid-air beam effects, as well as to create aerial texture through extensive use of their rotating prism feature. “I love the RXONE,” stated Nicolaou. “First of all, because it is ultra-light, weighing just 20lbs. Secondly, 30
