Lighting designer Ole Boinamo chose 48 x Robe LEDWash 600s, 12 x LEDBeam 100s and 16 x Robe 300E Spots for the moving light elements.
The high profile event was staged at the Ballroom in Montecasino, Johannesburg, and produced by socialite Edith Venter's company Edith Unlimited. An evening of entertainment and goodwill was presented by actress and TV personality Ashley Heyden, all adding to the glitz and glamour.
For the first time, the main stage was built in the centre of the room for the presentations and some of the entertainment including stand-up performances by comedians Goliath & Goliath and others, plus assorted MCs.
MJ Event Gear's project manager Theo Rood had been wanting to stage the event in-the-round for some time. "This year the line up and running order made it a relatively straightforward exercise," he explains, "And the benefit was that everyone felt more involved in the action and it became physically a much more intimate environment."
A DJ booth was set upon a small stage backing onto one of the walls with a direct line-of-sight to the centre stage, and the music line-up included DJ Darkness who is blind, and DJ Mello Yellow.
A small Prolyte box truss was flown above the centre stage to facilitate lighting and audio positions. Further around the room they used the larger house box truss to position lights for the tables and general room washes, plus a T-shaped trussing section which was installed to rig projectors for beaming onto screens showing various video footage behind the DJ booth and around the room.
All the Robe units were picked for their small and unobtrusive dimensions - essential with the low ceiling height. They were also ideal with their low power consumption and good range of colour temperature whites. The event was recorded for the Association's archives, so it also had to look good on camera.
The LEDWash 600s were used for general stage washes and to bathe the room and all the tables in a rich variety of colours. "The LEDWash 600 is our favourite fixture," confirms Rood, "The zoom is excellent and you can basically use these fixtures anywhere."
The LEDBeam 100s were all rigged on the small box truss above the stage - which at the end of the evening also became part of the dancefloor.
The 300E Spots were used for creating attractive gobo patterns and texturing around the room and for projections across the ceiling and break-ups on the tables, all greatly adding to the ambience and creating a great mood!
LED PARs were used to up-light the walls of the room, and MJ also supplied the d&b Q-Series sound system.
This year was not just one of the best productions to date, it also proved to be the most successful in raising money in the eight years it's been running - with over 600,000 ZAR pledged to SA GDA.
Rood concluded, "We are all very proud to be involved in this event as a technical sponsor, working with a great team of people as well as being delighted with creating a great sounding and looking show."
(Jim Evans)
