Swiss Music Awards shines with Elation
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The awards show, which took place in Zurich’s Hallenstadion, is a tribute to national and international musicians in over 10 categories.
Gerdon, who lit the awards show for the first time, worked together with associate LD Nik Evers of stage/lighting design firm HELL Studio. Gerdon and the design team, which included stage designer Timo Martens from HELL Studio and content designer Roger Staub, were entrusted with creating a great atmosphere in the arena. Production company Habegger was responsible for the lighting, sound and all the technical for the show and provided the Elation gear for the event.
The main visual element of the set design were large scenic video cubes that gave the set both height and depth and were used to color the space in dynamic graphics as well as uniform looks of colour.
Positioned in the largest scenic cube directly above centre stage were 20 ACL 360 Matrix fixtures that Gerdon used for a variety of purposes. He explains, “We pixel mapped all the ACL 360 Matrix fixtures, so we used them for pixel mapping effects. We also used them as generic wash lights in some songs and in other songs as a back light. So they really had a lot of jobs and they worked really well.”
Gerdon, who values multi-functional fixtures and the many options they open up, used 12 Platinum FLX fixtures on the awards show and calls them the best hybrid on the market.
Flexible intelligent fixtures, especially intelligent hybrid fixtures, are especially suited to customizing looks on variety format shows like the many different types of artists that performed on the Swiss Music Awards. “We had the chance to create a lot of different looks in one show,” Gerdon stated. “There were young artists and old acts, up-tempo techno and rock songs to slower numbers, so for some songs we used lots of colour and effects while on others only white light.”
Also used on the show were 12 Platinum HFX, a mid-sized spot/ beam/wash moving head with the same intelligent optical system as the award-winning Platinum FLX. The FLX and HFX were positioned on two vertical trusses each side of the stage – 12 total on each side – with the FLX working from the outer truss. The hybrid modes of both fixtures were used throughout the show from backlight washes of color to big beam barrages to big gobo looks.
Gerdon used Elation’s Fuze series on the fall Verstehen Sie Spass show in the form of the Fuze Wash Z120 moving head and this time turned to the larger Fuze Wash Z350. “It looks so much like a traditional moving head wash you would think there were VLs in the rig!” he exclaimed of the single source PAR moving head. “I really like the idea of this fixture and it’s something I’ve wanted for years.”
The 10th anniversary awards show was a big hit with Gerdon reporting that feedback from the producers and directors was extremely positive, stating that they have never seen a show like this in the 10-year history of the awards.
(Jim Evans)
