Dream Sets was the chief technical supplier and an influential creative force on this production, commissioned by VL Productions to supply the full technical for the show, all except for the sound which was taken care by Audio Logic.
"You can create anything you want with the right people," said Robert Hoey from Dream Sets. Dream Sets subcontracted AV Unlimited to supply the video elements of the show including video mapping which played a massive part in this year's awards. MGG supplied additional lighting gear while LaserX worked their magic with a display of lasers.
As early as November last year, Robert Hoey started working on the set design and concept with colleague Wayne Pettit-Sproule. When Wessel Albertse, the creative director from Enjoy the Company, came on board in January this year, he finalised the conceptualisation and all was set to go.
"The show looked great," said Hoey, who has worked on the SAMAs twice as a technician and twice as a director for Dream Sets. "It was such a play of lights," he said. "Both lighting and projection interplayed and combined to create different effects and looks."
Coolux Pandora's box were the media servers used for the AV and Barco HD14 for projection. The AV Unlimited team, Guilluame Ducray, Dave Thompson, Clive Maake and Sazi Mgaga agree that while getting the content right onto the surfaces is always a challenge. Pandora's box was solid and stable, helping them to get over any trials thrown at them. "The show was great and it's satisfying to work with such a great team," said Ducray.
Joshua Cutts from Visual Frontier worked on the SAMAS for the second consecutive year as lighting designer. "I'm very proud that I've reached this level in my career," said Cutts. "It's a privilege and this has been the biggest show I've worked on to date."
The greatest obstacle to overcome was his decision to programme and operate video on the grandMA2. He incorporated all the video cues into lighting cues. "A lot of content was created and specified for each song and we had to trigger this with time code. 60% of the show was triggered via time code."
Cutts worked closely with musical director James Basingthwaighte from Thatch Music and also with creative director Wessel Albertse.
Some 48 x Clay Paky Sharpys were used in the lighting rig. "If I'm not mistaken, this was the first time such an amount has been used in a show in South Africa. It allowed me to fill the entire Superbowl with crisp, clean light at a touch of a button. The Sharpys have such precision that it meant I could do well, orchestrated moves with large batches of fixtures."
LED fixtures were used for a giant structure which had to be internally lit, and the outside trimmed with lasers. "LaserX were very energetic and keen to try new things," said Cutts. "They did an effective job in terms of mapping the set."
(Jim Evans)
