GLP JDC Lines light Factory of Dreams
- Details
But the Ehrlich Brothers would not be the Ehrlich Brothers if they simply left it at that. And so Andreas and Chris Ehrlich started planning the two-part TV show Factory of Dreams together with Gerdon design in May. Also included in the set were 24 of the new JDC Lines from GLP, which would serve the two show magicians well.
Factory of Dreams was finally produced on 2 and 4 October in a hall on the premises of Ehrlich Entertainment GmbH in Bünde, North Rhine-Westphalia. The show was a mixture of new and known illusions as well as some highlights from the past few years.
Gerdon design from Wiesbaden came on board as the creative and implementation partner. “The year 2020 has also been an incredible challenge for us,” said managing director, Thomas Gerdon. “We were all the more delighted to be able to realise this wonderful project for such a committed customer. It was a real concern for Andreas and Chris Ehrlich to get numerous employees and freelancers at least temporarily out of short-time work during this difficult time. Consequently, the Factory of Dreams has been fun for everyone involved.” In addition, 99 spectators were also able to attend the production under the strictest hygiene requirements.
Thomas Gerdon and his team were responsible for the set and lighting design as well as the camera concept for the 360° show, although Gerdon noted that Andreas and Chris Ehrlich are involved at every stage and introduce their own ideas. “I always know exactly how my customers think and so the route to achieving the objective is usually an easy one,” he said.
Despite the basic 360 ° design, the large LED wall in the set indicated the main direction of travel. The GLP JDC Lines, which Thomas Gerdon was using for the first time, were placed in front of the LED wall in various vertical groups (individually, and as groups of two, three and four) as background lights.
The JDC Line is the new hybrid product from GLP and combines a powerful white light LED strobe with a particularly intensive LED pixel mapping line. Several devices can be strung together to create continuous lines of light.
Thomas Gerdon believes the JDC Lines served the Ehrlich Brothers well. “They are illusionists and you have to support that by over-exposure in the camera every now and then. That worked really well with JDC Lines. On the one hand, they allow a beautiful, harmonious play of colours that, if necessary, turn into ultra-bright flashes of light very quickly, only to immediately appear again very discreet and classy in the camera.
The designer had been introduced to the JDC Line by GLP's key account manager, Oliver Schwendke, during the early stages of development, and his curiosity was aroused. He was all the more pleased to be able to try out the new lighting effect in practice: “You become accustomed to designing with [conventional] LED sticks,” he said. “You have seen it a hundred times and have always accepted the disadvantages. But with the JDC Line, there is, for the first time, a solution that creates a truly continuous line of light. On top of that there is the versatility.”
Factory of Dreams was broadcast on RTL at the end of last year. The production design was a co-operation between Thomas Gerdon (who was also lighting designer and DoP) and Chris Ehrlich. Marek Papke from Gerdon design was responsible for the set design. The on-site lighting crew consisted of Rene Gamsa (head lighting operator), Klaus Kubesch (effect light operator), Florian Schmitt (Ehrlich Brothers operator), Marek Papke (white light operator) and Leon Schwerdt (Depence visualisation operator).
