Sharpy is currently on tour with Usher, the Foo Fighters, Peter Gabriel, Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson, Bruno Mars and others. Now, Sharpy is being recognized by the TV production community for its small footprint, fast response and laser-like beam.
The much-anticipated X Factor, whose franchise originated in the UK, marks the return of Simon Cowell who created the high-stakes singing competition's format and is one of four judges who each mentor a finalist in a particular category while judging contestants in the other categories.
Lighting designer Tom Kenny travelled with lighting director Brian Klunder and programmer Dirk Optende as the new show made talent stops across the country in Chicago, New York, Miami, Dallas and Seattle. Then they settled into LA's Pasadena Theatre for two weeks of production with four trucks of lighting gear from PRG.
Kenny was introduced to Clay Paky Sharpy moving heads in London and was eager to use them on The X Factor. "They are such a small unit and very easy to put anywhere," which comes in handy with set designers and directors who don't want to see lighting units on camera," he notes. "The output of the Sharpy surpasses any other light. I had them alongside 3K and 4K units, and they just cut right through."
For The X Factor, Kenny deployed 18 Sharpy fixtures on the floor and another 18 on the rig. "They provided this big, graphic, powerful, stadium look that the producers wanted," he recalls. "The days for the live auditions were very long, but the Sharpys performed brilliantly - they would be on for 16 hours with no problems. Their focusability and shape were amazing. The judges were very impressed with the look of the show."
Kenny also decided to use Sharpy fixtures on the MTV Video Music Awards show, which aired live from LA's Nokia Theatre on 28 August.
"I had 6,000 bulbs on the VMAs this year, so the show had a lot of lumens," he says. "VER purchased 40 custom-made platinum Sharpys that stood out against the white set. The compact size of the fixtures also helped with the low-profile lighting plan that production designer Florian Wieder and I came up with."
(Jim Evans)
