Lighting designer Oliver Wilkinson contributed to the festive mood, creating a memorable and colourful lightshow that was anchored by 10 Rogue R1 Spot and 22 Q-Wash 560Z-LED moving fixtures from Chauvet Professional, as well as six MotionOrbs and 12 PiXPar 24 par fixtures from its sister company Chauvet DJ.
Having designed the LUSU grad ball twice previously, Wilkinson - who is a fulltime designer and chief LX for local production company Arranpaul - understands the expectations of the students all too well. "From previous years, I know that these students want to go out with a bang," commented Wilkinson. "For this reason I needed to create the most impressive lighting design possible with the resources at hand. Needless to say, the Chauvet Professional and DJ fixtures were the perfect tools for the job."
Wilkinson placed the Rogue R1 Spots on above stage truss to provide even coverage over the entire stage. "The Rogue R1 Spot is a fixture I keep utilising for several reasons," commented Wilkinson. "Not only is the fixture extremely bright, the colours are very rich and the various gobos look fantastic over the crowd and on stage."
The Rogues also provided aerial effects, which were employed throughout the evening to give the students flashes of the 19th century elaborate roof construction of the ballroom.
"As the Blackpool Tower Ballroom's architecture is simply spectacular, I decided to utilise the bright and far reaching spotlight and three-facet prism of the Rogue to show off some of the elaborate Victorian-era ceiling decorations," commented Wilkinson. "Not only did this have the effect of making the whole production seem more grand, it gave the graduating students an opportunity to reflect upon the magnificent surroundings."
Wilkinson also employed his PiXPar 24 and Q-Wash 560Z-LED fixtures to paint the stage with deliciously saturated wash lighting.
Wilkinson's piece de resistance, however, came in the form of six Chauvet MotionOrbs, hung from truss at the sides of the stage. "The MotionOrbs provided a fantastic visual element to the overall look of the stage," enthused Wilkinson.
"It was a great party. The Blackpool Tower Ballroom is an absolutely memorable location, and I felt I was able to put on the best show I could for the students in the impressive venue," he concluded. "I couldn't have created such a special atmosphere without my amazing crew and my production LX technician Anastasiya Tsyntaryuk, who worked tirelessly during one of the most difficult venues in the UK to load into."
(Jim Evans)
