It was recorded in Kew Studios in Johannesburg with lighting supplied by leading SA rental company, Blond Productions.
Robe moving lights - including new Robin LEDBeam 100s, MMX Spots and 600E Beams plus ColorSpot 250E ATs, ColorSpot 700E ATs and 575 XT Scans - were used extensively. The fixtures were a major element of an impressive lighting design by Peter Reick, while Anolis ArcLink optic 4 LED strips were used to illuminate key parts of the set.
Centurion based Blond Productions was involved right from the outset through their close working relationship with Endemol South Africa.
They came up with a staging concept and supplied the full technical production as well as production management and co-ordination, including running the specialist games computers and software, the scenic pod screens.
Wayne Sproule from Pendragon Designs was asked to create the set - based on Endemol's brief - which was built by Pendragon Designs, and Blond commissioned Julio Costa and Peter Furstenburg to develop the bespoke software and systems required for the game play.
This included how the amounts of money placed on different play areas was calculated according to weight, and then physically dropped into the bins below by MIDI triggers releasing trap-doors. MIDI was also used to fire 90% of the lighting cues.
With the set and lighting installed for a month in the studios the opportunity and the budget were available to ensure that the very best quality solutions were found to all the visual and live staging challenges.
When it came to the lighting design, it was vital that texturing, depth and definition could be added to the set, so Peter Reick and Blond's MD Christiaan Ballot met with Duncan Riley from Robe's South African distributors DWR to identify which fixtures might combine best with the set design.
New Prolyte trussing was acquired for the project together with a new Grand MA 2 Light console, also from DWR.
(Jim Evans)
