"The light had to have a big zoom because of where the truss had to hang and based on what had to be lit," said Tom Thompson, account executive of Island Creative Management, contractor and a supplier of automated lighting for the event. "Because of its shutter capabilities, the VL1000 ERS was able to cover the entire area, yet avoid the various video screens that were also being used."
The primary purpose of the fixtures was to light with colour and texture, a pair of 20ft-tall fabric pieces that curved and wrapped around the stage. Close to the surface of the scenic pieces were video projection screens. The VL1000 ERS allowed Berner to light right up to the edge of the screen without any colour bleeding onto the screens. Because the VL1000 ERS has colour mixing, automated wash, super zoom and hard-edge shutter features, no other fixture could have accomplished the task as easily and effectively.
"For this particular client, I used a large range of magenta through blue and out to aqua and teal," said Berner, who worked with show producer Pedersen Media Group on the presentation. "The frost capabilities were critical. I only wanted a fixture with variable frost. The intensity from the VL1000 ERS is quite remarkable, and the colours are unbelievable."
Berner and programmer Rodd McLaughlin split the units into two systems of 25 luminaires. One system worked as wash units, using the shutters and dialing in diffusion, while the second system added pattern and texture on top of the color. With the truss 20ft from the target, a 30-35° beam spread was mandatory. A 10-12ft beam was needed from each light to cover the area. Zoom was a big factor," Berner said. "I would never have put up a zoom conventional for something like that."
Vari-Lite president Clay Powers commented: "The developers’ conference was the first major event to use a significant number of the VL1000 luminaires. If this event is any indication of things to come, people are going to be amazed by the things they can accomplish with this luminaire."
Other dealers that provided Vari*Lite equipment included Alumifax, California Stage and Lighting, Hollywood Lights, Live Light Inc and Take Two.
(Lee Baldock)
