Manuel was lighting the series for the fourth time and was also the director of photography, so getting the right mix of lighting for both TV and live elements was crucial. While it's a 'given' for these type of shows that the runway has to be optimised for naturalistic flesh tones and shadow-less illumination of faces, it was also an interesting mix of aesthetics - fashion meets live arena show!
He used 44 x CycFX 8s in total, mostly rigged to the side stage wings and used to wash parts of the catwalk as general illumination and also to create some bold and distinctive effects.
"I was very interested to test them in an arena environment," explains Manuel, who is the LD for a host of leading TV shows including German Idol and The Voice. "I wanted to assess their brightness, functionality and performance over long distances and at height."
Joining Manuel on the lighting team were moving light operator Jonas König and TV lighting operator Adam Balke. Video was operated by Björge Block, content created by Falk Rosental and both video and lighting was run from grandMA2 consoles. The eye-catching set was designed by Florian Wieder.
(Jim Evans)
