White Light have been working with European Events on their HAC Summer events for a number of years; White Light's Jason Larcombe says: "Every year we have built upon the design to offer more dynamic and stylised lighting, keeping a fresh appearance to the marquee interiors. This year our theme was 'summer in the city', and we made use of the latest automated and colour changing technology."
These changes have been well received by European Events, with the company's Adam Austin noting: "The changes that were made based on White Light's recommendations have made a huge difference - we are all very pleased with the flexibility and atmosphere created for our Summer events."
With the season up and running, themed events specialists Private Drama, contacted Jason Larcombe to light their Circus Cabaret evening in the HAC Marquee. "Private Drama were trying to create a spectacular end to an evening of entertainment, with a fifteen minute performance that combined five different acts, including aerial and rope artists, jugglers, stilt-walkers, fire artists and even performers using angle-grinders to carve showers of sparks choreographed to the music," Larcombe explains.
The lighting brief was, he says, "to combine all of these different styles of performance - which used the entire venue space - into one presentation, seamlessly moving from one act to the next all while gradually building excitement and energy to a spectacular finale, a rope spinning act followed by an eruption of pyrotechnics - every table was fitted with a candelabra concealing a device that projected sparks high into the air!"
To complement this, Larcombe used a colour scheme that he describes, "started with rich blues and purples and finished in warm reds and ambers. Patterns projection using kinetic, geometric shapes was used to create different looks and styles to the individual performance areas."
For this event, White Light expanded on the standard system that they had already supplied for the season, Larcombe using seventy additional moving light fixtures to create a fully flexible palette. "I aim to lead the audience on a journey with my lighting - tell a story. It's about creating an illusion as much as about allowing people to see," he explains.
"In this case the design process was extremely pressured due to the limited time available to rehearse the performance," Larcombe notes, "but the end result was exciting and received very well by guests and client."
Adam Blackwood of Private Drama concurs. "I had been set the task of creating an unforgettable fifteen minute dinner closing spectacular. Achieving this in a marquee was never going to be easy, however the client was absolutely over the moon with the results and this was in no small part due to Jason's creativity, and the way he made it all happen under pressure. A truly superb piece of work that made everyone look good."
The HAC Summer Season is just one of many projects, ranging from corporate presentations to weddings and private parties, served by White Light's Corporate Events Lighting team, who oversee all aspects of lighting for such projects including design, logistics, crewing, health-and-safety and risk assessments as well as the supply of equipment.
(Chris Henry)
