Star Design lights 4th of July show with Chauvet
- Details
Unlike the usual summer concerts, he’s worked on, which take place before large crowds at a park or music venue, this one happened in front of only a few fans in the parking lot of a motorcycle dealership. Most of the fans who saw this show viewed it on a large drive-in screen at a nearby park. Others who saw it through the social media platforms of the 18 country music stations that carried it in West Virginia.
“This was probably the first time we did a multi-site hybrid show that was ‘live’ before a small group of people and livestreamed over different formats,” said Robin. “Like everyone in an industry that is changing all around us, we are adapting to a new normal.”
Among the adaptations made by the Star Design team, was the positioning of the stage’s video wall, which was made of Chauvet Professional F2 Panels. Given the space available in the motorcycle dealership’s lot and the limitations created by the need to video the show for streaming, the team had to have a wall measuring three panels high by 10 wide, instead of the taller configurations it’s accustomed to.
The design team accommodated this restriction by positioning the wall to the right of the band. This not only fit the stage, it also provided an unobstructed view for fans and the cameras.
“Pikewood Creative provided us with all video content from their trailer,” said Robin. “They also controlled the cameras and the sponsorship roll for the entire broadcast for WKKW Radio in West Virginia. It was important that this content always remain crisp and clear. The resolution and brightness of the F2 Panels worked out very well for the human eye and the camera. We started the show at 7:30 and the panels showed up well even when it was still bright out.”
Another change made to accommodate the special circumstances of this hybrid show was the addition of four Ovation E-260WW ellipsoidal fixtures to the rig. “The Ovations were included because they allowed us to ensure great skin tones for the video,” said the Davisson Brothers lighting designer, Chris Vincent, who positioned four of the units on downstage booms, divided evenly between stage left and right, to get even coverage on each of the four band members.
Vincent relied on dramatic colour changes to create a sense of dynamic energy on stage. He often saturated the entire performance area with shades of the same color by coordinating the output of his COLORado M Solo RGBW and COLORdash Par H12 RGBWA-UV wash lights with the output of the video panels.
“The COLORados were always on the lead singer,” said Vincent. “I highlighted the other band members using a few beams in the rig.”
(Jim Evans)
