Switzerland - From 26 November 2010 to 2 January 2011, Geneva illuminated its lakeside promenade thanks to the tenth edition of the Festival Arbres et Lumières.

One of the artists invited, Italian director and lighting designer Simona Braga proposed a mini eight-minute son et lumière with music and recitation. Le souffle du monde is a sequence of projections and lighting effects that develop the basic themes of the festival (nature and light). The projections have been achieved using high resolution photo gobos for the graphic designs created by the author, and Clay Paky metal gobos to produce some of the effects, such as the woods and fog which appear to come from the lake and disperse with the sunrise.

The lighting effects are projected onto four fan-shaped screens between 16 and 20m from the ground. The Alpha Profile 1200s have been hung on a tree in front of the s

USA - Martin US has already logged hundreds of miles on the first leg of its 2011 Engineered for the Eye road show and has thousands of miles and months to go.

The 2011 road show includes a newly revamped truck and trailer full of the latest Martin Professional dynamic lighting and visual effects products for the entertainment, commercial and architectural lighting markets.

Over the next several months, the Engineered for the Eye road show will cover an impressive 15,000 miles while hosting some 110 events in 33 cities. As a first, the schedule also includes stops in Canada.

(Jim Evans)

Fraud Busters - Two of the biggest live event organisers in the UK have agreed to a police idea to protect people from fraudulent ticket websites. Festival Republic and Live Nation will send out tickets as soon as possible, rather than waiting, sometimes for six months, until just before performances. Police say the delay makes it difficult to prove fake sites did not have the tickets to sell in the first place. The National Fraud Authority says £168m is lost annually through ticket scams.

Genuine ticket sellers claim the delay in sending out tickets is meant to limit the time counterfeiters have to copy the originals. But an unintended consequence of this has allowed tens of thousands of people over the past five years to buy tickets from fraudulent websites, without realising the tickets will not arrive at all until it is too late, according to BBC Radio 4's You and Y

Brazil / France - A new documentary on the native Kaiapos of Brazil produced by the French channel TF1 was shot using IaniLEDs 54 portable, low-weight units, capturing the lives of Amazonian Indians in their own environment.

Suitable for location filming, IaniLEDs 54 are designed for use where mains power supply is unavailable. In such locations, a fast and discrete technical set-up is often all-important. For this South American production, TF1 used two IaniLEDs 54, 54W 12V, powered simply by camera batteries, fitted on board by a gold mount bracket. The absence of leads and external packs made the lights highly manoeuvrable.

IaniLEDs are tested on the road and offer a reliable and powerful daylight source in extreme shooting conditions, making life for the lighting cameramen considerably easier. The specially designed housing, married to the low temperature of the lamp body

UK - PLASA's forthcoming European AGM and Members Lunch is expected to attract a strong turnout on the back of a significant 12 months for the organization.

It's just a year since members of PLASA voted overwhelmingly to merge with leading North American trade association ESTA, and on the 1 January this year, the two formally came together under the PLASA name, creating one of the largest membership organizations in the industry with over 1100 members worldwide.

Though still in its early stages, the merger has already greatly strengthened PLASA and given it a new profile in the industry, reinforced by a new PLASA logo and brand identity. The first phase of a new PLASA website has gone live and the first meetings of the new Regional Boards and over-arching Governing Body have also taken place. New services and research projects have been introduced, and the teams are currently

UK - Continuing its busy spring season of new shows, entertainment lighting specialist White Light has been chosen to supply the lighting to Shrek, the musical adaptation of the hit Dreamworks Animation film that has already been greeted with acclaim in New York and on its current US tour.

The stage version of Shrek has been created by an experienced theatrical team, including directors Jason Moore and Rob Ashford, choreographer Josh Prince, designer Tim Hatley and lighting designer Hugh Vanstone. Shrek marks White Light's second 'green' collaboration with Vanstone this year, having also supplied the lighting equipment for his design for The Wizard of Oz!.

Vanstone is once again making full use of White Light's extensive lighting rental stock, his rig based around a core of Vari-Lite equipment: VL3000 Spots, VL3000 Washes, VL3500 framing spots and V

USA - Alfred University's new Miller Theatre has opened in Alfred, New York with a pair of Robert Juliat Topaze followspots.

Barbizon Lighting NY was the integrator and supplier for the theatre, working with Milford, Ohio's Beck Studios, which was responsible for the venue's rigging. The Miller Theatre is the latest addition to the Miller Performing Arts Centre, which features the C.D. Smith III Flexible Theatre, a black-box space; The Rod Brown Acting Studio; dance and instrumental music rehearsal halls; a scene shop; and faculty offices.

The new proscenium theatre is a multifunctional venue designed to host larger theatre, dance and music performances. Both the Performing Arts Centre, which opened in 1995, and the new theatre are the gifts of Dr. Marlin Miller, class of 1954 and former chair and current member of the Board of Trustees. The 498-seat Miller Theatre has a stage

USA - grandMA2 was out in force when the New World Symphony opened its new Frank Gehry-designed home in Miami Beach. The New World Centre is the first American concert space built from the ground up to integrate sophisticated video, theatrical lighting and flexible stage space, and a grandMA2 full-size and a grandMA2 ultra-light play a key role in lighting control on the campus.

The New World Symphony is an elite training orchestra for musicians who go on to work at major symphony orchestras; it's known as one of the most innovative organisations in the country, and the new concert hall is a testament to its state-of-the-art outlook.

"I chose the grandMA2 because of the amount of control we need," says lighting designer Stefan DeWilde, a veteran of the famed Cirque du Soleil. "We have 300 conventional fixtures and hundreds of LEDs in the atrium which run off

Czech Republic - Clay Paky Alpha Beams 1500 have been used as the key lighting tool for a technically ambitious, 360-degree staging of Pietro e Lucia, based on the 1920s anti-war novel by French novelist Romain Rolland. Focusing on the impact of the First World War on the lives of two lovers, the show is a multimedia combination of dance, film, rock and opera, featuring soloists from Russia's Bolshoi Ballet, Italian opera stars, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic Choir, together with rock musicians.

The production involves a circular stage and uses 3D animated film in place of traditional scenery. The Alpha 1500 Beams were chosen by the designers for their ability to provide powerful but high-definition mid-air beams. They form the key component of the lighting rig, and are used as a complement to the cinematic scenery - in one instance the Alph

Europe - Two things stick out about the Martin MAC 101 for lighting/production designer Travis Shirley on the current Enrique Iglesias tour.

"Rarely do you get the colours that we get out of these. Across the board I've never seen such good saturated colours," he says about the LED wash light, adding, "And the speed - it is limitless with a fluid motion all the way through. It really changes how you think."

Travis, who has been with Enrique Iglesias for six years, is using an all Martin rig on the current Euphoria world tour, a rig that includes over 200 of the remarkably small and super light MAC 101 washes.

As the show's overall visioneer, Travis works closely with Iglesias as far as what the show will look like. He comments, "The tour design represents the emotional impact of the music and Enrique is involved in the production design more s

UK - Point Source Productions' presence at the 50th ABTT show will mark the fourth consecutive year of exhibiting for the company, and the first year as a member of the ABTT ISG (Industry Supporter Group).

"ABTT is our favourite show as it gives us the opportunity to meet our customers face to face across every facet of the Entertainment industry. It's a relaxed yet professional environment in which to talk through their project requirements and the services Point Source Productions can provide for them," says MD Stephen Capel.

Point Source Productions will be promoting its full range of Event Services which range from the supply of a single piece of equipment to full turnkey solutions. The past year has seen Point Source Productions involved in events such as the Chatsworth Attic Sale for Sotheby's, screenings of Lawrence of Arabia and Blade Runner for

UK - Goboland has chosen ABTT 2011 to launch its new website. The new user-friendly layout gives easy access to all the information you need about Goboland gobos and products including the Black Steel Gobos, the Credit Crunch Gobo, GoboSlides, film slides, Black Holes, Tweakers and its bespoke etching service, Gobo Creative. Details of Goboland's specialist services for image size calculation, keystone distortion and pincushion correction and its unique Green Scene gobo recycling scheme are also to be found here.

To coincide with the new website, Goboland is also presenting a new catalogue at the show which can be downloaded directly from the website. Choose between Black Steel, Premier, Designer and Glass Gobo Collections.

Following its launch at PLASA 2010, Goboland will be promoting its GoboSlides, the economical film-based alternative to full colour glass gobos. Goboland c

The Netherlands - With its new Platinum Wash LED Zoom, Elation Professional is combining some of its most cutting-edge features - all in one compact, energy-efficient DMX moving head LED colour wash with a built-in zoom. Featuring a 300-watt Quad Color LED system and built on Elation's space-saving Platinum base, the Platinum Wash LED Zoom offers "brilliant RGBW colours in a trimmed-down fixture that's as ideal for concerts and stages as it is for churches and theatrical applications".

Powered by 30 x 10-watt RGBW CREE LEDs, the Platinum Wash LED Zoom produces an output comparable to a 575-watt discharge moving head. Yet it draws only 360 watts of electricity at maximum use, offering great energy savings over fixtures with conventional lamps. Its powerful LED source emits 1,672 lux/ 155 foot-candles at 16 feet -- for a bold, bright wash in any color under the sun. Not

Germany / Ukraine - Lightconverse recently presented its Lightconverse 3D system at the international Prolight+Sound fair in Frankfurt.

Visitors to the company's stand enjoyed a show facilitated by six projectors shooting perfectly mapped video onto a four-sided surface. Total screen space was 9sq.m with the distance between the projectors and screen surface a short 1.5m. The blended projection was made possible due to the software's new 3D mapping engine automatic adjustment method.

The 3D mapping engine is used to solve common video projection problems such as shooting video or images onto objects of any geometric complexity.

Also shown at the show was the Lightconverse Server-Studio, a new hardware solution that can visualize up to 1536 fixtures (96 Universes) in real-time in conjunction with the 3D Show Platform software.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The ABTT (Association of British Theatre Technicians) Theatre Show has always been a showcase for the latest technology in the theatre and presentation markets and this year's event will be no exception, say the organisers. A highlight among the many new products and emerging technologies that will be on display at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London from 15-16 June is LED lighting.

LEDs have been making inroads into the production sector over the past five years. Architectural and scenic systems have been used for both the theatre and corporate events to create atmospheres and backgrounds and now LED-versions of more traditional-style luminaires, such profiles, are coming on to the market. LED solutions are also emerging for aisles and emergency exits.

Visitors to the ABTT 2011 Theatre Show will have the chance to see a variety of LED lighting systems. ETC recently l

UK - Since partnering with the Phoenix Artists Club in February this year, Cooper Controls has been running regular and bespoke courses on its Orb Series theatrical lighting consoles at their central London training venue.

Located in the heart of the West End, the Phoenix Artists Club is conveniently placed for lighting designers, lighting programmers and theatre technicians to get hands on with Zero 88's flagship lighting control range. Orb Specialist Richard Lambert explains, "We're very lucky to have such a brilliant training venue that's right in the heart of Central London and to be able to show the Orb on this newly installed theatrical moving light rig."

The training courses are proving very popular with participants attending from a wide range of venues and productions. Last month's session included lighting designers Richard Hillier, Chris Withers and Maximi

UK - Entec Sound & Light was approached by Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) to supply a lighting design and equipment for a very special one-off collection of royal wedding dresses dating back to 1816, including that of Queen Victoria, Princess Margaret and Princess Charlotte, which was put on display in the drawing rooms of the late Princess Margaret's apartments in Kensington Palace.

Too fragile for public exhibition, the display of dresses was open to the world's leading media in order to allow a wider audience to experience them. Ahead of the Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey, the dresses received global coverage, filmed by BBC, ITN, Channel 4, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN as well as Australian, Canadian, French, German and Japanese broadcasters.

The extremely delicate and intricate task of lighting the six wedding gowns fell to Richard Lambert

UK - Mongrels is a British puppet-based sit com series first broadcast for BBC Three. It has recently been commissioned for a second series.

Richard Martin Lighting (RML) embraced the opportunity to be involved in something fresh, exciting and 'different from the norm', by supporting lighting designer Jamie Cairney who chose VL3000 Spots for the show.

(Jim Evans)

France - The Zero 88 Orb Lighting console from Cooper Controls was chosen by lighting designer Chris Withers for the Warner Brothers hospitality events at MIPCOM 2010.

Held every October at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes and its surrounding areas, MIPCOM is the world event for co-producing, buying, selling, financing and distributing entertainment content. It provides the people involved in the TV, film, digital and audiovisual content, production and distribution industry a market conference and networking forum to discover future trends and trade content rights on a global level.

Warner Brothers International Television hired the private beach belonging to the Hotel Majestic Barriere for the duration of the show, creating an exclusive venue that consisted of the hotel beachside restaurant and a specially constructed bar area as well as a private pier for meetings and rel

Europe - Martin EMEA is hosting local events across Europe on an Engineered for the Eye road show tour that brings Martin directly to customers for an up close look at dynamic lighting and visual solutions.

The Martin Road Show van will soon be in Italy, hosting local events in Milan (10, 13 May) and Rome (19 May), before heading to France for a number of dates. Those events will be followed by a visit to the Lounge exhibition in Antwerp (31 May 31-1 June) and then additional stops in France, including the Stadia & Arena trade show in Marseille (15-17 June), before heading to the UK. In late summer and fall, the Martin Road Show will be visiting Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Scandinavia.

(Jim Evans)

Thailand - The Bangkok office of Acoustic & Lighting System has provided 144 PR XLED 590 moving head washlights to Light Source for use on the 30th anniversary tour by local rock legends Carabao. These meet the lighting design by Tanat Pitiporntapin.

The band's lengthy One Province One Concert (OPOC) tour, which started on 1 April and runs until 15 December, will take in all 76 provinces throughout Thailand.

Acoustic & Lighting System, who have been working with PR Lighting products since July 2005, took the opportunity to expose the new LED heads, which have been programmed into the scenography alongside conventional spots and washes by Chaiwut Panomchon and operated from a Road Hog Full Boar console.

Acoustic & Lighting System are headquartered in Selangor, Malaysia, and their Bangkok-based branch manager, Veera Lee, says, "We like the XLED 590 as it is extreme

UK - Black Light has played a key part in the recent revamp of the studio theatre at the Maltings Theatre in Berwick-upon-Tweed. Working to a very tight deadline, the company provided a full package of light and AV equipment to turn an unequipped rehearsal space - the Henry Travers Studio - into a fully-functioning professional studio theatre for small scale theatre and dance performances.

"Black Light did a superb job," says Dr Miles Gregory, the Maltings' chief executive & artistic director. "They were courteous and professional to deal with, and the finish they achieved was exactly to the specifications we demanded. The new Henry Travers Studio is a beautiful room, which delivers the flexibility we wanted as well as looking like a high-quality theatre space. We love it."

The project involved reviewing the plans for the refurbishment of the 100-seat studi

France - The French National Railway Company (SNCF) has instituted an important change aimed at improving its position in the face of stiff competition from other European transport companies. The first element that SNCF has put significant effort into is renovation of its many key railway stations.

At the Austerlitz Railway Station in Paris, the process has just begun and will last until 2025. An important part of the new look is illumination of the lattice structure of the main hall in order to visually bring it in step with the 21st century.

During initial contact with the Austerlitz managers, the frame of the project was already well developed - to bring animation to the station without disturbing the daily activity or altering the architecture. Starting from this brief, Martin France was able to propose several ideas, including the decision to use the main structure as a

Czech Republic - Robe lighting's marketing team has expanded with the addition of graphic designer Bo Hyun Choi who will be taking care of the visual aspects and design of all the company's branding and marketing collateral, including the overall corporate identity, together with logos, merchandising, brochures, newsletters and all other printed and promotional material.

She will also be involved with exhibition booth design and potentially with future product lines.

Hyun Choi studied industrial design at Hongik University in Seoul, renowned as the best design academy in Asia, specializing in product and interior design.

After graduating, Bo continued her studies at Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Art (ENSA) in Dijon, France, studying 2D, 3D and spacial design, before moving to Prague in 2010. She speaks English, Czech, French Italian and Korean.

Bo joins Robe's market

Latest Issue. . .

Save
Cookies user preferences
We use cookies to ensure you to get the best experience on our website. If you decline the use of cookies, this website may not function as expected.
Accept all
Decline all
Analytics
Tools used to analyze the data to measure the effectiveness of a website and to understand how it works.
Google Analytics
Accept
Decline
Advertisement
If you accept, the ads on the page will be adapted to your preferences.
Google Ad
Accept
Decline