The director of photography Vittorino Piccolo comments: "The set is a sort of circular 'canister' consisting of strips of simple white plastic that house LED strips. They may also be illuminated by the studio lights. Since the show consists of six different games on a single set, the lights have to be used to try to differentiate as much as possible. My task is precisely to characterise the different sections of the game with various colour effects."
The lights include Alpha Beam 700s, Alpha Profile 1200s, Alpha Wash 1200s, Alpha Spot 575s, CP Color MHs and Super Scan Zooms. Almost all the lighting equipment is Clay Paky. "I've insisted on Clay Paky for years, because they are extremely reliable lights, and the support service the company provides is priceless," says Piccolo. "The design entails a batten around the whole studio perimeter, fitted with washlights and scanners, while above the stage, right in the middle of the studio, there are beam shapers, spotlights and other washlights. The CP Color MHs are instead used to backlight the studio."
Among the best known characteristics of the programme are the use of a circular LED tile under the host's desk and a high resolution LED table (3mm pitch). These are especially picked out in shots from above with an agile Jimmy-jib.
(Jim Evans)
