Robe BMFLs keep cool for the Snow Queen
- Details
The brainchild of Melissa A. Thompson who has worked as a creative lead for Cirque du Soleil, director / choreographer Reija Wäre, composer Tuomas Kantelinen, costume designer Erika Turunen and set, lighting and projection designer Mikki Kunttu, a talented creative team was involved in the delivery and imagineering of this production.
Prominent on Mikki’s lighting rig were 105 x Robe BMFL moving lights, a combination of BMFL Blades and Spots which he used for key lighting, specials and effects throughout this fast moving and highly visual show which finally premiered on 30 December 2022.
Postponed from the previous year due to last minute covid restrictions, the time arrived for ice fans to enjoy five performances, with the New Year’s Eve show going out on live television via national broadcaster YLE’s Channel 1.
Mikki’s brief included creating video projections onto the ice and scenic elements, which combined with the lighting to bring the frozen magic and sub-zero beauty of Lapland right into Tampere Arena.
The task of visuals involved reinforcing the narrative, highlighting the various skating skills, and adding drama and depth to the bigger picture, along with perfect key lighting for TV, all of which needed a combination of Mikki’s experiences from multiple lighting genres.
The BMFLs were a core ingredient of Mikki’s lighting and were positioned on six trusses. Two were directly above the ice and the other four were in the ‘advanced’ position on each of the four sides of the auditorium, just off the ice and above the audience. This way they could be used over the entire performance area.
His biggest challenge with lighting The Snow Queen was the one day of on-site rehearsal time.
Instrumental to making the most of that one long rehearsal day at the Nokia Arena were Mikki’s two programmers, Alex Hautamäki on lighting and Saku Väänänen who programmed the video. They all used the grandMA3 consoles provided, together with all the lighting kit by rental company, Akus Factory Oy. Mikko Linnavuori created the video content.
The projections were delivered using the arena’s in-house system of six Digital Projection Titan Laser 37 000 WUXGA machines, and apart from the arctic landscapes, projections also set the scene for some of the warmer acts like the rose garden.
