Since Branton doesn't run consoles, he deferred to lighting director and programmer Felix Peralta's choice of the grandMA, a choice that was seconded by lighting director and programmer Kevin Lawson and upheld by Branton himself. "When we do these shows we're caught between two worlds: we need to do something in music TV that looks like a rock concert, but we have to be in total control, constantly editing light levels and programs. More than half of what we do is refining the TV product. The grandMA is great at working in that kind of creative environment where we have a high tempo, excruciating attention to detail, and massive editing and reediting of cues and values."
Scharff Weisberg provided two pairs of grandMA full-size consoles and eight grandMA NSPs for the VMA show (a total of eleven NSPs were used). One pair ran the majority of automated lights and lights driven by action or music. A second pair controlled the remaining lights, audience lights, backlights and anything tied to close-up photography and utility functions.
The main lighting package contained a large complement of Vari*Lite moving fixtures, including 62 VL500, 54 VL2500 spots, 10 VL1000 TSD, 51 VL2500 washes, 40 VL3000 spots, 41 VL3000 washes, and 30 VL3500 spots plus numerous non-standard gobos. Additional lights included 25 Atomic Strobes with Color Scrollers, a quantity of Color Kinetics LED fixtures, 60 Altman Spectra PARs, and 70 Color Blast 12s. Conventional fixtures included 36 Source Four ellipsoidal spots, 30 Source Four PARs, 30 Par 64 Blacks, plus fresnels and Xenon follow spots. "The grandMA is the most versatile console for TV out there," says Peralta. "I couldn't imagine doing these shows on any other system."
For the VMA show, "there were a lot of elements involved, including moving set pieces, moving LED streams, changing camera angles. The grandMA gave us the flexibility to adjust to the complexities of the broadcast within a very short time. We used group masters a lot which allowed us to inhibit a group of lights. They enabled me to shade on the fly and work with the video engineer to monitor light levels."
The grandMA's multi-user environment also made it easy for Peralta, Kevin Lawson and head gaffer David Oakes to share cues and patches. "The support from A.C.T. was fantastic," Peralta continues. "When we ran into a problem, grandMA's manufacturers in Germany fixed it with fresh software, giving us a very stable system that was essential for a live show."Peralta and Lawson each manned two grandMAs to control lighting for the Fashion Rocks special which proved to be a less complex production.
An extensive supply of Vari*Lite fixtures once again came into play with 30 VL500, 10 VL1000 TSD units, 24 VL2500 spots, 24 VL2500 washes, 20 VL3000 spots, 12 VL3000 washes and 20 VL3500 spots. Also provided were a quantity of Color Kinetics LED fixtures, including 150 Color Blast 12s and 12-inch iColor Cove MX. Conventional fixtures were a complement of Source 4 ellipsoidal spots and PARs, 132 Par 64 Blacks, and fresnels.
In addition to Peralta and Lawson, Tom Beck also served as lighting director. Brian Tylke was the assistant to Allen Branton, and the lighting technical crew featured Brad Hafer, David Hunkins, Russ Keitel, Brett Puwalski, McClain Moss and Michael Lee.
Support from A.C.T. came from Bob Gordon, Joe Cabrera and Mario Collazo. "Allen is so experienced in both the live concert and television environments. He really gets it. Also, he has assembled such a crack team around him, and I know that if we can please him, we
