Astera Titans light Hozier in Croke Park
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The event united the cream of Irish comedy and entertainment to raise a laugh and much-needed funds for the Irish charity sector on Friday 26 June.
In a tribute to all HSE (Ireland’s health service) staff and other key frontline workers, Hozier performed the Simon & Garfunkel classic, Bridge Over Troubled Water, a highly symbolic song that made significant impact in concluding the fundraiser, for which he was backed by a 16-piece orchestra.
Peter designs and lights numerous television and entertainment shows bringing his own distinctive style, and proposed lighting the video piece during the ‘blue hour’ – that magical window at dusk where the sun is falling while the moon is rising and there is still light in the sky - for maximum dramatic impact.
He suggested starkly illuminating the whole 85,000 capacity stadium to emphasise its vastness and emptiness juxtaposed against Hozier, dominating and dwarfing him and the musicians as they stood isolated and small in the middle of the pitch.
To achieve the precise lighting effect, the quality of the low-level light fill from the Titan Tubes - daylight white in this case - was paramount as well as the brightness. “Astera ticked absolutely all the creative and logistical boxes”, states Peter.
As well as looking spectacular combined with the fading daylight in the sky evoking the haunting look that Peter wanted, the idea was to light with enough latitude for the footage - shot in S-Log3 - to be graded by Dublin post-house Piranha Bar.
The 24 Asteras were supplied in four eight-way packs, complete with all the stands and rigging accessories, and the only other extra lighting on the shoot were three follow spots, all supplied by the Dublin branch of PSI Productions and project managed by Ciaran Tallon.
This very compact lighting package fitted neatly into a small van for convenient delivery to Croke Park.
The shoot involved three cameras and a drone was directed by Alan Byrne and the segment was produced by Páircéir for RTE. Peter’s team included gaffer Terry Mulcahy and chief LX Kate Bermingham.
