A total of 100 Clay Paky moving heads, including Alpha Profile 1500s, Alpha Profile 1200s, Alpha Beam 700s and Alpha Beam 300s, were installed around the whole theatre stage, to set off the artists' performances, together with the imposing LED wall.
The scenery, once again designed by architect Gaetano Castelli, had a futuristic appearance. The classic staircase was replaced by a long spiral ramp that looked almost like the course of a video game. It conveyed the message that "tradition and modernity merge at Sanremo and set trends".
Work on the set and fittings started back in November and entailed the services of specialised scenery technicians and riggers. The result was one of the largest sets for television in recent years.
The Alpha Profile 1500s and 1200s were used for special effects on the stage, artists and orchestra, while the beam lights were used in particular for backlighting with some powerful and extremely bright 'light tubes' that added value to each performance. This year, lights were also installed on the floor.
Director of photography Ivan Pierri comments, "Accepting the challenge of lighting a stage that was crowned by a spectacular scenographical LED spiral that almost completely obstructed the theatre ceiling was exciting and formed the core of my undertaking at this year's festival.
My lighting design was created around this innovative three dimensional shape, designed by Gaetano Castelli, which I tried to use to my advantage by mounting Clay Paky moving head beam shapers inside it."
(Jim Evans)
