Lighting designer, Simon Tutchener has lit London Fashion Week (LFW) for the past ten years and 2006 marks Bandit's fourth season on the case, working for production company S2 Events. The production was managed by Bandit's business development manager, Lester Cobrin at the Bedford-based lighting company. The event's production manager was Tom Brunsdon and S2 Events MD, Wolter Dammers provided technical coordination.
For the 2006 autumn show, the BFC wanted the option of having a straight or u-shaped catwalk in the tent. To achieve the desired result, Tutchener added an additional two 30m Slick Litebeam trusses - complete with 80 ETC Source Four 36 degree profile fixtures - increasing the total number of units supplied by Bandit to over 250.
A centre 'spine' consisting of 50 Source Four PARs gave Tutchener the option of a tighter focus over the centre catwalk. Additionally, Tutchener's front light array was increased, giving him the ability to light three catwalks at any time.
Tutchener reports that the gear provided by Bandit is consistently in perfect condition, making the task a lot easier and more predictable, "This is a great advantage to us, because the pace and pressure on site is so intense as soon as the load in starts".
In addition to the main runway lighting rig, Bandit also supplied a substantial amount of equipment, for each show's specific lighting requirements and for the foyer/reception area. This ranged from Martin and High End moving lights to 200 ft tabtrack systems to a stack of colour correction filters.
Tutchener worked with a team led by crew chief, Mike Humeniuk, Matt Jensen on dimmers, technician Mick Freer and riggers Bryan 'Bad Dog' Wilson and John 'Hotpants' Ashton. Also integral to the LFW production's success was the presence of S2's production assistant, Nicola Hopwell and RH Electrics' Dicky Hinds.
(Jim Evans)
