Traditionally festival organiser Michael Eavis has given free tickets away to people living in the villages of Pilton, Pylle and Sticklynch. The idea behind the give-away is to make up for disruption to roads when about 200,000 people arrive for the event at the end of June. The spokesman said: "No other major festival looks after people who li
Both Lightfactor's stands will be replete with a wide selection of products aimed at core theatre and live performance orientated applications from high profile manufacturers like SGM, LDR and Novalight from Italy; SFAT from France and LightProcessor from the UK. Lightfactor is the exclusive UK distributor for all these products.
One of the highlights from SGM is the new Giotto Digital 1500 fixture. Using a special patented application of DLP technology, the Giotto Digital 1500 combines digital effects generation with a fully-featured moving head fixture. It offers the features of a moving light with an innovative all-digital system for generating graphic eff
As we reported in January, Martin Professional A/S is in the process of creating a regional sales organisation, Martin EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) based at Martin's headquarter office in Aarhus, Denmark. During 2009, Martin's current European subsidiaries will be integrated into the new structure while Martin's distributors within the area will be served by the new European regional organisation at a later stage.
Villads Thomsen, previously managing director at Martin Professional's Scandinavian subsidiary, heads the organisation as vice-president EMEA.
Browne commented: "These are challenging times that are creating man
This one-hour session, which takes place at 12pm on Wednesday 29 April at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, will provide freelancers with an overview of a wide range of areas relevant to their working lives, including an examination of key legal requirements and responsibilities.
Its main focus will be an introduction to Health & Safety law for freelancers, including a review of risk management, individual levels of responsibility and risk assessment practices. It will also provide an understanding of financial issues such as IR35 and what it means for an individual's self employment status, outlining the measures that can be taken to protect it. There w
Featured on the stand will be the StageWash range of LED pars. With a massive 108 Watts of LED power in a compact housing, these units give unmatched light output in their price range, says the company. The StageWash 108 has 36x 3W LEDs with a 25 degree beam and the 108T tricolour unit gives a beam angle of 38 degrees. Both units are suitable for professional and school stage applications.
Also on display will be the PixStrip LED screen and PixFloor video dance floor. These units are designed for club installations and corporate rental work, being easy to install and strike after a show. The PixStrip screen uses ultra-bright 3mm LEDs, ideal for use in bright foyer and atrium situations.
MilTec will also be showing from the ranges of followspots and high-load wind-up t
Adapted from the novel by Michael Morpurgo, War Horse is set at the outbreak of World War One and tells the story of Joey, the beloved horse of young Albert, who is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. But Albert cannot forget his horse, and embarks on a treacherous mission to the trenches to find him and bring him home.
The story is told by actors working with spectacular life-size puppets created by the Handspring Puppet Company who, along with designer Rae Smith, won an Olivier Award for the show last year; the design is completed by an Olivier-award nominated lighting design by Paule Constable.
Supplying the lighting rig for Paule Constable's design, entertainment lighting supplier
Already pledging to donate their royalties for 24 April are the lighting designers of some 40 international shows, many of them - like Howard Harrison's Mamma Mia! and Mary Poppins - in several different productions. Joining Rick Fisher, Ken Billington and Ken Posner, the day's co-sponsors, are Neil Austin, donating his royalties from the Frost/Nixon US tour; M
Production designer is Paul Guthrie of Toss Film & Design Inc. of Minneapolis who handled lighting, set, video and content for the tour. "I decided early on that I wanted a clean, simple look that complemented the band," he says, "and I wanted to use technology in a way that enabled us to create modern versions of retro themes. We wound up using a lot of high tech equipment to try and make it look low tech."
He commented on the decision to use the Martin LC panels in the design, "I spoke very early on to Brad Haynes at Martin US about incorporating EvenLED (LED panels) into six large scale curved light boxes that are the centerpiece to the design but ran into some logistical obstacles
"The Creative Stage Lighting approach taking on new products, along with its strong dealer network has made CSL a natural choice for Compulite. We are delighted to establish together a significant presence for our products in the market," said Compulite CEO Yehuda Shukrun.
"This relationship with Compulite is very exciting and rounds out Creative's portfolio of the high quality products we distribute." said CSL president George B. Studnicky III.
Creative Stage Lighting recently announced its hiring of Michael Nevitt as product manager. Nevitt's responsibilities at CSL include supporting Compulite products sold i
O2 owners, AEG Europe, sought a new lighting scheme for the successfully revived multi-purpose venue. After an original lighting proposal proved cost prohibitive, Philips Lighting was contacted and their creative director Rowena Preiss tasked with creating a new solution based around the latest technology and energy savings.
Animation and colour wash schemes across the roof were subsequently proposed but the vastness of the structure made those solutions impractical. "We decided to concentrate the colour inside the masts which are fundamental to the design of the Dome," Preiss says. Although the original intent of the owners was to
The A.C. Lighting division will be displaying a selection of products from the Chroma-Q LED range. Following the success of the Chroma-Q Color Block LED fixture with rental companies and end users alike, the manufacturer has combined the product's core elements of modularity and versatility with new single colour RGBA optics, 530 lumens output (almost double the original model) and theatrical grade dimming to create the exceptional feature set of the Color Block 2 fixture.
Other Chroma-Q LED products featured include the Color Punch fixture for a 'punchy' light output from an extremely compact unit. In addition, the stand feat
Neville chose to use a purely Vari*Lite moving light rig for the main venue - Royal Hall of Industries (RHI) - which looked spectacular for all ten hours of the party. The venue took on the theme of It's a gay world after all complete with elaborate set and giant rotating technicolour globe in the centre of the space. The RHI's lighting design took a different turn this year, with Neville choosing to lower the trim height of all the trusses to create a less cavernous
Version 2 brings major changes to the underlying software engine, increasing the power of the software and providing a more sophisticated operating platform for future releases. Utilising a host of Ethernet, USB and Software accessories, LightFactory offers the power of any lighting desk from a familiar user interface.
The launch of Version 2 also brings a host of new features and a new aesthetic design providing a more intuitive and powerful set of tools for the user.
A new fixture library engine provides a hybrid of 100% dynamic fixture and generic fixture control and inherits almost 2000 fixtures from the Zero 88 library. This means that not only can LightFactory handle complex fixtures with any number of attributes but can also control fixtures of m
Theatre consultant Richard Stuart was engaged to plan and oversee the fit-out of the theatre. He explains: "Originally the theatre was going to be a large cinema but halfway through construction they developed the idea of making the largest cinema a live theatre. Consequently the building design was put on hold for a while whilst the theatre design evolved. As the developer started to think about theatre equipment and machinery, I was brought in as Theatre Consultant for the project although the building structure was well and truly locked in design-wise."
The main issue to be addressed was turning a large rectangular box cinema
"We are very proud of the international growth our business is experiencing," says Wildfire president John Berardi. "Trendco will do an excellent job bringing the Wildfire magic to customers in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The people at Trendco recognise the importance of good customer service and integration. They operate on the understanding that technology is only as good as the people who design, select and apply it - or as they put it, 'Technik kann nur so gut sein, wie die Menschen, die sie auswählen, einsetzen und bedienen'."
"We are very excited to add the Wildfire brand to our line-up," says Martin Wickel, w
The first project for these is on the innovative percussion spectacular Noise Ensemble's UK theatre tour, which features 27 SGM IDEA 250 spot and Wash fixtures.
Snap to Black were brought onboard the tour by Noise Ensemble's lighting designer Ben Rogers to provide production management, staffing and the 2009 tour's lighting package.
Snap To Black's James Henshaw decided to make the investment in the 13 IDEA Spot 250s and 14 IDEA Wash 250 units because he saw it as a "Cost effective compact unit that would deliver the show's specific design requirements". Additionally, they will now be available in hire stock for future projects.
The IDEA 250 features that were specified by Ben Rogers included the twin gobo wheels and prism of t
GLP appointed A.C. due to its proven track record of helping to launch innovative new technologies into the UK market. The company has invested in extensive demonstration & training facilities and a fully equipped service & repair centre, ensuring it provides the highest standards of customer care, both pre and post sale.
GLP's business director, Kasper Gissel, commented: "We appointed A.C. Entertainment Technologies due to its renowned expertise in the UK lighting industry. They have the infrastructure in place to ensure our products are backed by the highest levels of service and support at every stage of the customer experience."
A.C. Entertainment Technologies will have full access to the GLP product range and carry stock of the Impression
AMG's group technical manager, Ed Jackson said the decision to invest in the high-powered fixtures became self-evident after seeing them turn up increasingly on touring productions. "Numerous technical managers across AMG venues were also commenting on them, so we knew these were the lights to invest in," he said.
"The reason we are seeing their impact in both the touring and TV industries is because they are the first moving LED light that lighting designers seem unanimously confident in using," he added. "As a result, these fixtures will improve the house production values."
Jackson said he was particularly impressed
Well-known lighting designer Rick Fisher, who instigated Light Relief Day in 2007 in honour of the late Tony Gottelier, co-founder of Light Relief, said: "The link with Behind The Scenes has given the day a much higher profile and as a result we have a record number of designers joining in the fund raising. Anyone who has links with the industry is welcome to join us, including rental companies
The project to improve safety and access around the Hospital was undertaken by Milton Keynes Council who had become concerned that people were making unnecessary diversions because the main pathways were badly lit in places. WSP were commissioned to undertake a redesign and upgrade of the existing lighting arrangements. They chose a bespoke column fitting from local lighting manufacturer Holophane, who cleverly integrated EcoLEDLighting's cutting-edge, energy saving LED technolo
Martin's rapidly expanding range of LED lighting solutions will feature prominently at PLASA Focus 2009. On display in the foyer will be the LC Plus Series of LED video panels with new generation technology using the new P3-100 Processor that is DMX controllable and an IP65 rating. On display on the stand will be Martin's first LED moving heads, the MAC 401 Dual, a powerful LED washlight with a double-sided design that gives it dual functionality; and the MAC 301 Wash, a compact, high-power LED washlight with powerfully fast zoom. Martin's highly successful 1500 watt MAC III Profile will also be shown.
Control solutions in the form of the new Maxxyz Modular series will feature as will the ne
The Philips MASTER LED MR16 is a 4W LED replacement for the popular low-voltage halogen spot lamp. With light output equivalent to that of 20W Halogen MR16 lamps, it offers the key benefits of up to 80% energy saving and a 40-times longer lifetime. MASTER LED MR 16 employs three Philips Lumileds Luxeon Rebel LEDs and is available in both 2700K (true warm
Sharing the stage with Borsato are some innovative LED technologies developed by Element Labs and supplied and supported by XL Video. Making its debut is the Helix P1 pixel string, which dominates the design of the 'road', which forms a video carpet that takes Borsato to the midst of his fans, and i
In just 5-weeks of pre-production and four days on site, production company WRG had the responsibility of transforming the blank canvas that London's ExCel centre provides into a multi functional environment for the Summit to take place.
Key spaces included the Plenary Meeting Room, lounge and dining areas for the summit's main business, a press area that included a 700-seat press briefing theatre and six smaller theatres, and working environments for country delegations and the international media centre.
The key spaces were all connected by a 100m long corridor that acted as a central artery for the event flow and movement. Working alongside WRG, Essential Li
