The championships, which took place in March this year at Stratton Mountain, Virginia, were to be televised, so a bright, sharp image was called for to ensure the logo of the world's leading snowboard manufacturer, and founder of the championship, was presented to best advantage, for both broadcasting purposes and to the surrounding audience.
"I needed a fixture that would project a sharp image at a distance of 500ft," explains Gruber, who was project lighting manager for the event. "My research indicated that a Robert Juliat Lancelot 4,000 watt HTI followspot would be the best choice, and that proved to be the right choice.
"For the TV shoot, the logo was projected onto the Quarter Pipe landing zone, but during setup the night before the event I was able to project a clear bright gobo onto the lodge 1,200ft away. On the day of the event I was able to read the gobo starting at 6:00pm, despite the sun being directly behind the spot position."
The Lancelot caused quite a stir and successfully brought the logo to onlookers' attention: "Everyone on the mountain was talking about the Lancelot, or, as the snow cat driver called it, the B.F.L.," continues Gruber. "I knew it was a success when Jake Burton went out after the event to have his picture taken in the projected gobo."
(Jim Evans)
