Chauvet lights Save Your Culture livestream
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Today, almost a century later, a local music label, Lukins, is breaking through a new and different kind of barrier by organising Save Your Culture, a series of livestream events that highlight Eberswalde artists and venues that have been impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown.
On 21 and 23 April, these broadcasts, which are livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube, emanated from the city’s popular (and temporarily closed) indoor climbing centre Bloc48. Accentuating the distinctive climbing walls and innovative obstacles of the facility, while supporting the online show’s DJ performers, was a collection of Chauvet Professional STRIKE and COLORado fixtures supplied by KINGSIZE.events.
Christoph Neumann, event technology specialist at Kingsize, ran the shows on his ChamSys MagicQ MQ80. Drawing on the performance features of six STRIKE 1 and 16 COLORado Panel Q40 fixtures, he created harmoniously balanced shows that served both the unique character of the venue and the dynamic performances of the four DJs who performed there during the two livestreams.
“For the project it was important for us that we not only focused on the artists, but also highlighted the location,” he says. “So, the climbing centre, with all its facets, was part of the greater whole. To accomplish this goal, we wanted to hide all the technical instruments and really put the focus on the DJs and venue. The background consisted of decoration and lighting highlights, so we could create a complete picture.”
Drawing on the edge-to-edge RGBW colour mixing of the COLORado Panel Q40, which he controlled via WDMX, Neumann used the fixture to highlight Bloc48’s labyrinth of angled walls speckled by a quilt of uniquely designed protrusions. In so doing, he helped convey a sense of actually being in the immersive venue.
“The Q40s were used to set a colourful setting within the room,” explained Neumann. “They were the basic light, if you want to say. The Strike 1 functioned as a practical effect. I used it for blinding effects - and also to create a second visual layer behind the DJ. Two Strike 1 were placed on the ground behind the DJ - simply because I ran out of tripods - but they had a great effect too.”
With at least four cameras videoing each livestream show, Neumann had to take a different approach to lighting these events than he typically follows at festivals and other live performances. “Everything that looks amazing live doesn’t necessarily appear that way on camera,” he said. “With all the different camera angles, we had to make sure that the image looked perfect from a variety of perspectives. It was also very important to achieve the right depth effect. Without additional lighting for objects in the background, the image on the camera looks just flat and boring. So, for a streaming we use much more lighting than on regular jobs.”
