Initially there is a substantial amount of video to entertainthe audience before the fighters come out. During this portion of the evening, the lightsare minimally used to provide an atmosphere for optimal video viewing. Then, when the fighters come out, the full lighting production begins. Smith said that onechallenge for lighting these shows is that the fighters request that there is very littlesmoke. As a result, he has to use as little df-50 as possible, but still somehow achievethe same result. He accomplishes this by only releasing the smoke at key lightingmoments.
For Smith, another challenge revolves around the actual quantity of equipment he has towork with. "UFC lighting used to be similar to that of WWE- complete with lasers, LED screens,pyrotechnics, etc," he explains. "Then, when the UFC decided to revamp the show toa more traditional boxing experience, they took away about 60% of my lighting but stillexpected the same element of excitement as before." In order to achieve this, Smith added four audience trusses with Martin MAC 2Ks. Thisallowed him keep the main focus on the boxers, but also bring the crowd into the show.
Another key lighting element is that the main rig features a substantial amount of LEDs.Smith incorporated the LEDs to draw attention to the fighters as they are introduced. TheLEDs turn the truss red for the red corner fighter walk and blue for the blue corner walk.Then, during fight action, the truss is usually gold. This provides Smith with anotheropportunity to keep the focus on the fighters but still add an extra flair to the overalllighting design.
For this show, Smith chose Martin MAC 2000 Profiles and Washes, MAC 600s, High EndSystems StudioColor 575s, ETC Source Four PARS, Pixel Par 90s and AVO 72 Way2.4K dimmers to light the show. Lighting was controlled by an AVO Pearl 2004.Bandit UK Chief Executive, Lester Cobrin says: "It is very exciting to be workingwith George Smith, Allan Connal & everyone within the UFC organisation. I am lookingforward to continuing the relationship between UFC and Bandit Lites in the future."
Jason Eible acted as board operator for the Manchester event. Bandit and the UFC willteam up again in Belfast, Ireland on 16 June, for the UFC's first appearancein Ireland to date.
(Chris Henry)
