Comics Station entertains with Chauvet
- Details
To highlight the zones and multiple interactive elements within the theme park, Belgian creative visual design practice Luc Peumans and his team at Painting with Light drew on their multi-disciplinary experiences working on theatrical shows and attractions to implement a comprehensive lighting concept. Peumans and production lighting designer Kristof Devriese turned their vision into reality with some help from over 200 Chauvet Professional fixtures, which they used to create engaging looks in several areas including the foyer and theatre.
For the hallways adorning the huge 22.5m high atrium space within the station – which houses the world’s tallest indoor slide, Devriese specified an array of Chauvet Professional Ovation E10WWZ and E260WW fixtures. “The Ovation E-260WW IP fixture offered us exactly the kind of flat field of light we were looking for to illuminate the vast atrium space,” he commented. “The incredible optics combined with the 750W source offers intense brightness, and as a result works well highlighting certain elements within the entrance zone.”
Offering further highlighting within the atrium areas were the Ovation Min-E-10WW fixtures, specified because they combine a smooth even light output with an extremely small and discreet footprint. “While the Min-Es are punchy in their own right, their tiny size ensured that the architecture of the building and the artwork within it are not visually disturbed,” said Devriese.
In the 2000 capacity theatre within the theme park theatre where visitors can see a variety of plays, films and special events, Devriese and his team were also tasked with designing a suitable lighting concept. To this end, a solution was achieved involving a number of COLORdash PAR 1, Maverick MK2 Spot, Rogue R1 Spot, Rogue R1 Wash and Ovation C805FC fixtures to provide a variety of theatrical looks in this venue within the venue.
“The COLORdash fixtures are the backbone to the lighting plot in the theatre,” commented Devriese. “The combination of lens, saturated colours and even distributed output make them ideal for general house lighting.”
Providing another kind of backbone – this time at the cyclorama at the back of the stage, were the Ovation C805FC fixtures. In addition to the saturated RGBA-Lime colour palette, which renders nearly any colour with tremendous realism and saturation, an even flat field of projection is assured thanks to advanced optics.
Building upon this lighting ambience, Devriese selected a number of Maverick MK2 Spot and Rogue R1 Wash and Spot fixtures to provide a versatile toolkit of looks within the theatre. Hung from ceiling truss, the fixtures serve a variety of functions in support of the theatre’s varied programme.
While the Mavericks perform a key role within the creation of powerful visuals thanks to their sheer brightness, CTO colour mixing and gobo and prism effects; the Rogue wash and spot combination delivered a variety of attractive effects. Thanks to Painting With Light’s concept in Belgium’s newest theme park, Antwerp’s railway station has been transformed into an attraction in its own right.
(Jim Evans)
