For the second consecutive year, David Horner of VCL worked closely with lighting director Andy Cottey and lighting gaffer Gafin Riley of NEP Cymru to create a special look for the ceremony, hosted on the night by the The One Show's Alex Jones at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff.
2012 is a momentous year for BAFTA Cymru, which is celebrating its 21st anniversary. With this in mind the lighting team created a high gloss, Hollywood feel for the evening, devising layers of different looks which changed throughout the night to keep up audience interest.
Andy Cottey said, "The winners at BAFTA Cymru are receiving the highest possible accolade in their field, so we went for a celebratory style of show. This is a tough project, but a great one to work on when you have the confidence of knowing you have the right team of people there on the night. David is great at interpreting my ideas as well as bringing plenty of his own."
There were impressive visual effects and range of treatments to suit different segments of the evening, including a play on the iconic James Bond imagery featuring silhouetted dancers for the opening number, which was sung by special guest Phantom of the Opera star John Owen Jones, as well as a more sombre look for the memorable obituary section.
To deliver the show, VCL supplied the new MA command wing and custom configured touch screen PC for control of all the moving lights and media server, and an MA 2port node and laptop as back up. VCL also supplied a custom built Catalyst media server running eight layers of media content for display on the onstage LED wall.
VCL's recent investment in the new MA command wing has given the company even more flexibility to be able to create high impact shows at one off events and in smaller environments including TV studios: the command wing networks remotely into lighting desks and is compact enough to be used in almost any location.
The show benefitted from the new Clay Paky Sharpy - a moving beam light with incredible brightness, which set the tone in the opening numbers and added to great effects throughout the show.
David Horner, managing director of VCL commented, "It's always a pleasure to be involved in a high profile event like the BAFTA Cymru Awards and we were delighted with how the show looked this year. VCL's programming expertise, alongside a great creative relationship with Andy and Gafin combined to produce a fantastic evening's entertainment. Our investment in some of the best equipment available means we can continue to deliver at the highest level."
Gafin Riley of NEP Cymru, lighting gaffer for the project added, "David and VCL surpassed themselves with this show. The BAFTAS are a highlight of the year for us, and we always go for the best possible outcome in relation to the time and money available. David's extensive preparation and pre-programming meant that the day ran very smoothly and was completely stress free, particularly because he was able to bring along VCL equipment so we had no complications with hiring in kit."
(Jim Evans)
