Set & Light: Winter 2015 (Issue 116) by STLD_Magazine

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www.stld.org.uk

Issue 116: Winter 2015

Set & Light from the Society of Television Lighting and Design

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Editorial

A cracker of an issue for you – in time for Christmas We’re approaching the end of 2015, where did it go? PLASA is over and now we’re working towards Christmas. This issue is filled with a mixture of articles, from trade show reviews – including PLASA, of course! – excellent visits such as our trip to The Voice and funny member stories – Doctor Who among them. I’m always on the lookout for recollections from members, whether you are still working or retired. It’s great to hear your stories, so please do send them in. The next issue of the magazine will be out in March 2016. (Time flies past far too quickly!) The deadlines for the issue are 15 February for advertising and 26 February for editorial, which includes Sponsor news. There are a few exciting visits coming up. Hopefully you will have had the invitations by email; if not, please contact us so that we can update your details and ensure you don’t miss out. Finally, I would like to give a warm welcome to our new members LCC Lighting and Lupo Lighting. We hope to see you at an event soon.

Emma Thorpe Editor

Contents 4

STLD visit: The Voice

In memoriam: Teddy Fader & Colin Peck

Event: PLASA 2015

Letter to the Editor

Recollection: Doctor Who

Awards: KOI

Sponsor focus: Cirro Lite

Lighting: A view from across the pond

Information: Showlight 2017

Sponsor news

Recollection: EastEnders

Society sponsors

Event: ABTT Theatre Show

Index of advertisers

Tribute: Duncan Brown

Membership application form

Set & Light is the journal of the Society of Television Lighting and Design and is published three times a year. ISSN 2055-1185

Editor: Emma Thorpe and Bernie Davis E-mail: editor@stld.org.uk Web: www.stld.org.uk Production Editor: Joanne Horne Sponsor News: Emma Thorpe E-mail: sponsornews@stld.org.uk Advertising: Paul Middleton E-mail: adverts@stld.org.uk

Cover photo: The Voice at Elstree Studios by John O’Brien Printed by: Gemini Print Deadlines for the next issue: Editorial: 26 February 2016 Advertising: 15 February 2016 Advertising is accepted only from sponsor members of the Society © Society of Television Lighting and Design 2015

Set & Light | Winter 2015

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STLD visit

The Voice

A lot of technology and a lot of talent Words: Paul Middleton Photos: Paul Middleton and John O’Brien With all the discussion surrounding the future of the BBC, the STLD visit to Elstree Studios on 26 March to see the preparations for this year’s live semi-final of The Voice UK was an appropriate time to consider what the broadcaster can offer in the continuing battle between the BBC and its rivals. Many people cite the BBC’s skill at generating new programme ideas, which can then be syndicated around the world, generating new sources of income, as one of the BBC’s raison d’etres. However, contrary to many people’s belief, The Voice was not created by the BBC but was instead the brainchild of John De Mol Jr, of the Dutch production company Endemol/Talpa Media, back in 2010. The format has been sold to 59 countries to date. Endemol is also responsible for Big Brother, Deal or No Deal and The Million Pound Drop. Shortly before our visit, it was announced that ITV had purchased Talpa Media for £355m, giving the strange situation of the BBC having a hit show that was owned by ITV. The highly expected change of broadcaster of The Voice UK was finally announced at the start of November 2015, with the BBC revealing that the 2016 series would be the last to be broadcast by the BBC before it transfers to ITV in 2017. The STLD first visited The Voice set back in 2012, when the Lighting Director was Mark Kenyon. Gurdip Mahal took over the reins in 2013 and has settled well into his role by winning two Knight of Ilumination Awards for his lighting of The Voice Finals in 2013 and 2015, alongside longtime collaborator Ross Williams. Having started out doing a degree in stills photography, Gurdip’s ethos is that you can learn something new every day and you can always improve on your next job. This year’s STLD party was greeted at Elstree by the team from Panalux, which has provided most of the equipment for this year’s event. David Baker and his colleagues also had a chance to show off their LD90 and HiLo fixtures, which, co-incidentally, featured prominently in the lighting design for the Welsh coverage of the General Election results this year by Andy Cottey – another KOI award winner. The evening started with Gurdip and his lighting team chatting informally to STLD members while enjoying the buffet provided by Panalux. Gurdip took great pains to explain that the show relied on ‘a lot of technology, with a lot of very talented operators’, who were essential to turning his ideas into reality on screen, week after week. This year, there are three lighting consoles and operators, with a backup for each of them during the live shows, making for a very full control room. An ETC Congo Junior driven by Ges Smith looks after generics and followspots; Ross has a Hog 4 for the moving 4

Set & Light | Winter 2015

lights and lasers; Julian (the live graphics creator) has his MacBook and Ian Reith (the live graphics operator) a Vector Purple. All the desks are linked by MIDI so that lighting can synchronise moving-light effects, graphics, lasers and SOUND FX cues. The red laser battons are a new addition this year, with 70 laser fixtures – each with 10 individually controllable laser beams – providing a unique visual experience and specifically positioned to get the maximum effect when viewed from the Technocrane and the jib cameras used on the show. For safety, there is an operator in the audience with a big red emergency button to cut power to the lasers should there be any danger to the audience. In the early days of the show, Gurdip would sit down with each song and break it down into bar counts and music changes. However, each show might have 22 songs, which made the three days of studio time available for each show very tight. The graphics for every song are custom generated and they can motivate the lighting as much as the music. Some songs might have 50 different cues, but Gurdip now favours doing one look for a song, with a limited colour palette of just one or two colours unless he is specifically asked for something more. Costumes can heavily dictate the look of the lighting, so he doesn’t often go into the studio with a fixed idea of what the song should look like. Storyboarding an entire song is rarely done due to time constraints. The production team and the artists’ management may give input to the design, and as Gurdip pointed out, since they are the people that hire him, if they ask for something specific he will usually agree to it, unless he feels very strongly that they are wrong. Some days he may walk into the studio and just see one beam on that looks just right. The hard part is deciding to stick with that look, and then wait to see if anyone tells you off. However, Production has hired him to do a job and the team usually trusts his decisions. The politics of designing for large shows like this are one of Gurdip’s strong points and this has been echoed by other designers such as Durham Marenghi (who has recently been announced as the Lighting Designer of the 2016 Rio Olympics) who admit they can spend more time in meetings than on the event. The usual process for each show is that Gurdip will start each song with a black space approach with the least amount of FX and then build on that as rehearsals proceed. Seeing the artists and the judges’ faces are the key aims of the show and this is achieved by a combination of follow spots and fixed lighting. The set designer Julian Healey is a key collaborator for this show and the two common factors of all set designs around the world are the LEDs and the giant Silver hands

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This picture: Showgun Red FX; top left: truss on deck; bottom left: Full Boar FOH for setting

Set & Light | Winter 2015

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STLD visit

holding a microphone, which is the logo of The Voice. The effects that are going to be used on the LEDs built into the set and the video screens are decided by Gurdip and Motion Graphics Designer Julien Rigal With two vision engineers looking after cameras and an additional engineer for the wireless Steadicam, along with all the console operators, the control room can become quite packed. There are 10 to 11 people in the room, which used to be a dressing room when the studios were originally the George Lucas film studio stage. Cameras and monitors were relocated from TVC when it closed in 2013. Open talkback is used to the followspots and the sparks in the studio so that everyone knows what is going on all the time. If a song requires lots of tight lighting cues, then the band are cued using a time-coded click track. As well as lighting cues to change the mood between songs, the scene files on the cameras are used, with up to five different files per show. The lighting gallery has a Grade 1 OLED monitor and also a Harding PSE checker in the corner. Failures are not always the fault of lighting and can be the fault of particular costumes or actions, such as drummers’ fast movement causing strobing. The Ofcom ruling that a song during the 2014 final had breached the code by allowing flashing images to be transmitted without any prior warning to viewers after a complaint from a viewer was upheld. The range of fixtures in the studio varies from show to show, with VL3500 and Sharpys being a mainstay of the rig. Red is the colour of the show and this is highlighted by 96 Panalux Tektiles covered in LEE 106 gel, which surround the back wall of the audience. A row of Alphabeams is used to help give the illusion that the audience is in a far larger stadium setting, rather than a TV studio. What may not be apparent to the average viewer is that there are different sets used for the different phases of the show. To help the variety of looks on the show there are seven Kinesys controlled pods, which can be flown around the stage. Control of the pods is via an operator, who sits in the auditorium so they can spot any problems immediately. The pods can be loaded with different fixtures for different shows, and for the semi-final they each had eight LED wash lights and 12 Sharpys. As well as the laser blades, another signature light for this year was the row of Dino’s around the back of the stage behind the band. These were arranged in blocks, with the PAR 64s being individually controlled in six by four blocks. Sandwiched between the laser blocks were lines of RGB battens, which can continuously revolve through 360 degrees as well as rotate to give a modern take on the original Clay Paky disco lights of the 1980s. To complete the variations possible, there are six High End Showguns across the floor. Everything is more complicated as technology offers so many choices, which is a big challenge for the lighting designer. Gurdip half-joked that he doesn’t even know how to switch on the lighting desks – that’s why he likes to keep things really simple! Costumes are seen for real for the first time on the dress run, but they usually see photos beforehand. Gurdip mused that other departments think that the lighting 6

Set & Light | Winter 2015

Centre stage

Ian Dow Gurdip o

Spotlight on ... Ross Williams, Moving Light Programmer Ross (pictured left) has worked with Gurdip for 19 years and describes himself as ‘kind of Gurdip’s assistant’. He does all the programming for the FX, with a little bit of crossover with the generic operator. He gets an insight early on as to what’s going into the rig and knows the purpose of everything before they get into the studio. On some shows he also draws the plot, but this was done by Gaffer James Tinsley on this show using AutoCAD. Ross likes that tungsten on faces is flattering, and control of the cameras means they get different looks each week. Creative meetings are held where the concept for each song is discussed. Sometimes Gurdip has ideas, sometimes its Production led – for example, they might want a song to look like a 1930s nightclub. Ross then makes it happen in broad terms of whether a song is busy, quiet, simple look, etc. They get three passes at each song

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The Voice

Lighting array lowered

Dow and Gurdip Mahal rdip on stage with STLD members

on camera, with everything decided on the day. It’s not planned in advance and there is no time to pre-program. Ross has his own hard-disc recorder to be able to review rehearsals and then make changes, but there are few breaks during rehearsals and once one song has been finished, they will be doing links and then going straight into the next song. He programs in a style that anyone can follow his notes, and complicated sections are automated with macros, along with comprehensive notation on the cues in the desk itself. Ross started in the theatre, working as a showman on Miss Saigon at Drury Lane in the early 1990s and progressing to dayman. One of the daymen was the Varilite operator, and when he decide to move on, Ross was offered the job. He stayed there for nearly four years and then went freelance in 1995 after deciding that programing interested him most. He had no favourite desk at first and used 20 different desks in his first year as a freelance. He was one of the first to buy his own Hog after getting a bank loan. He also used Compulites from Richard Martin and, as he already knew the Varilite, they became his trademark desks. When asked about his ambitions, he said he was lucky doing what he does now. He shares the stress with the LD to make it look good and admires Gurdip for the way he

deals with people. It is very much underestimated how stressful the political side of the process is and Gurdip has to support the entire Lighting team with the Creative team. Ross feels many youngsters have unrealistic expectations of how to progress in the industry, but acknowledges it’s hard to get a foot in the door. He gets disheartened that some of them expect to step straight into their ideal job. While that can happen with exceptional talent, or very good contacts, for most it can take a long time to get the job they really want. His advice to students: Learn as much as you can, at your own pace, and away from TV ideally. Try cruise ship, theatre, corporate or touring work to get the level of experience you need, and learn from others in your team to build knowledge and confidence. You will often have more time to get things right or learn how to do something. Typically you don’t have that luxury in TV! Get to know as many people as possible. Don’t be too proud to do anything, even if it’s not your dream job. Get to know about media servers, networking and improve your organisation, planning and people skills. Most importantly don’t give up!

Set & Light | Winter 2015

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STLD visit

Dino’s

Console for setting Full Boar and above, a Showgun

The Voice

department just turns up with a disk that has everything on it ready to go, but as we all know, that disk doesn’t exist – but they still expect it all to happen there and then. The problem is that the more you try to make things work, the more Production will ask for next time. It is hard to design by numbers for a budget; Gurdip’s rule of thumb is to ask Production for what the show deserves. As a result, one thing that has pleased Gurdip is that the show has a very good lighting budget, but a lot is expected of it. The trouble is that a lighting designer is only considered as good as the last show, or the last act. You have to deliver week after week and you have to be very careful to stay true to yourself with your design choices. Oftentimes the judges will tell you what they want for their acts, and then you have to convince them that what you are offering is actually your interpretation of what they thought they wanted. The face lighting is the base for all the other lights. For the acts, this consists of six followspots, two tungsten out front, two tungsten at the sides and two HMI at the rear. The tungsten spots are set to a colour temperature of 3,200K. Followspots are used as much as possible to keep the saturation in the rest of the shot, and can also act as ‘get out of jail’ coverage on lots of occasions. For each of the judges, there are three double keys, with Source 4s providing keys for different camera angles and covering the obstruction the Kinesys pods can cause when they are flown in low. To allow for the judges, who tend to get up and wander around, there are two 5K, providing general cover, and a number of other 5Ks providing a general stage wash. For the live shows, Gurdip has a number of emergency settings he can call up to cope with unexpected changes of positions for judges and presenters. The schedule each week is for three days in the studio – Thursday, Friday and Saturday, starting at 8am each day. The four DF50 hazers are switched on then and run continuously. As the show is live, power for lighting is from twinset generators. For rehearsals, they use the house power. There is no time for previz. Originally, keylighting was done with VL1000s, but it was found they were not bright enough, so fixed keylights are always used now. The plot contains about 20 per cent additional fixtures just in case, as the restrictions of using a film stage instead of a TV studio mean that there is no convenient lighting gallery around the edge, unlike the old TVC Studio 1. Everything has to be adjusted using cherry pickers. All the kit is hired and Gurdip praised Panalux for its ability to cope with his requests. The video walls are supplied by Adrian Offord at VER and are a mixture of 4mm pitch in the centre of stage and 12mm at the rear. The video floor is 8mm pitch. A final snippet from Gurdip was that the judges’ chairs cost £18K each and the ones from the first series were sold off. They have speakers hidden in the sides so the judges can hear the songs. As usual, many thanks to Gurdip, Ross and the rest of the crew, who gave their time to demonstrate all the toys they have to play with in creating a hit TV show.

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Gurdip talking to Paul Middleton and Andrew Dixon

Spotlight on ... Bryn Williams, Director, Light Initiative Light Initiative manufacture all their own controllers in Park Royal. The LED itself is manufactured in China to their specifications. They have stock of about 10km of video tape and 12km of standard tape as there is a threemonth lead time on manufacture and delivery of new stock. Bryn commented that the Chinese have a habit of trying to save money wherever possible and as a result, they have to do their own rigorous quality control when they receive new stock to make sure it matches the standards of previous deliveries. Over the last four years they have worked to see how to turn their designs into a hire product. The aim is to get at least eight hires out of any strip of LED; unfortunately, it is a fragile product. One of their ruggedisations is to put the LED strip into silicon tube and then inject epoxy into it. Problems can occur as it is fragile when it is cold, and to get around that they now have a winter LED with a different formulation that will flex rather than crack when attempting to be removed from a cold set. The LEDs in the set are a mixture of Videoflex (where each pixel can be individually controlled) and normal LED strip (where each 5m length of strip is just one pixel). There is more than 1km of Linear LED built into The Voice set. The LED strip can be used in many different ways: in light boxes to create a neon effect; in light pipes where Perspex is lit from the edge, such as stair treads; edge lighting to give detail to a scenic piece; or, finally,

with Videoflex. The Videoflex is used more in the audition rounds of the show than in the finals. There are actually three different sets used on The Voice: the live set, the audition set and the knockouts set. Bryn explained that when LED Videoflex first appeared, a 5m strip used up an entire universe of DMX. Now with hardware and software developed by Light Initiativem their controller uses just 20 channels of DMX when used with a Catalyst media server. Now LED can serve as a lighting product, a video product and a design product. The protocol used to interface between their controllers and the physical LED strip is called BMX (Bryn’s MultipleX). Bryn is a software and electronics engineer and writes all the software and designs the hardware to control the LED. The controllers allow the LED to be up to 100m away from the controllers. The controllers receive a video feed from the Catalyst and it is converted to S-CAN or Artnet and then distributed around the set. The mapping of the video feed is done by Light Initiative as it is a headache to map the physical layout of the video flex to the video input when attempting to play live video over a 3D set. Light Initiative have 15 permanent staff and a regular core of about 20 outside freelancers. Their work is 50 per cent TV (other shows include Strictly and The BRITs), 20 per cent corporate, 20 per cent events and 10 per cent Art Installations. The BRITs was their biggest job recently, with over 1.4km of neon flex.

Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Event

PLASA 2015

Sponsors’ success at PLASA Words & photos: Chris Harris This year’s PLASA Show at ExCeL in London in October had a different format: three days instead of the usual four, with the exhibition divided up into three distinct areas of Lighting, Audio Visual and Sound. Some STLD sponsors did not exhibit in their own right and instead shared stand space with their distributer, while some manufacturers did not attend. Two of our sponsor members were winners of PLASA Awards for Innovation and Sustainability. They were: Eaton – Zero 88 for the FLX Lighting Console. The judges said it gave ‘a revolutionary approach to colour and movement for the tablet generation as part of a well-thought-out desk package aimed at an accessible price point for

entry-level and more professional users’. ETC won the Gold Award for the Eos Version 2.3, which the judges called ‘a game-changer’. They said: “It unlocks the potential of LEDs and matches the way lighting designers think in terms of colour. It returns colour mixing and colour fading back to a conceptual level rather than maths and numbers. It allows the designer to choose the way a colour changes rather than letting the control decide.” A main meeting point was the Robe stand, which resembled a town square, while the main topic of conversation was the decision to move PLASA 16 back to September and Olympia London. The show dates are 18–20 September – see you next year.

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Recollection

Doctor Who

Secrets of the TARDIS Words: Les McCallum A few years ago, my friend Victor Meredith, a fellow designer with whom I worked at the BBC, rang to say he was clearing out his loft and had come across a drawing I did of the TARDIS for Doctor Who in the 1970s. Would I like it back? Well, my grandson Myles and granddaughter Indi are both Doctor Who fans, so could I really say no? Good to his word, the drawing arrived the next day. It was a construction drawing to make a new TARDIS as the old one was falling apart and needed some additions and alterations. Vic and I had been working on a new storyline called ‘Shada’, but unfortunately, this new series was never completed because of an industrial strike at Television Centre. All the sets had been made, the location scenes set in Cambridge were all in the can, and we were about to record the final episode when all work came to a stop. Sadly, as the leading actors were contracted to work on other shows, it was impossible to get them back to finish the final episode. All that work was for nothing. When he was about six years old, my son Spencer was a great fan of Doctor Who, but that didn’t stop him from hiding behind the sofa when terrifying monsters appeared on the screen each week. While working on the show, I mentioned this to Tom Baker, the Doctor at the time, who said: “Bring him and his sister to the studio to see me next week.” The following Saturday, my wife brought him and his older sister Faye up to Studio 4 and, as promised, Tom came out to the Crush bar to see them. “How are you both?” he boomed. Spencer’s eyes popped as his hero towered over him. “Have a card.” The Doctor spread out the left side of his overcoat to reveal many inside pockets. Retrieving signed postcards, he offered them to Faye and Spencer. He then opened up the right side. “Have a badge.” Back to the left again to produce yet another memento. After several cards and badges had been given, Tom bade goggleeyed Spencer and Faye goodbye and vanished off into the studio, with us following a few moments later. No sooner had we got to the set than a monster without his mask on offered Spencer his arm and invited him to have a feel, explaining that it wasn’t real but a costume. Stuart Fell, the stuntman, also put Spencer at ease, showing him that it was all foam rubber. Completely relaxed by now, we walked over to the space shuttle. On our way we passed another monster, who frightened Faye with his huge lobster clawed

arm and caused a few tears. Moments later, a Frankenstein-like character sidled up to Spencer and gave out a loud ‘Whaahh’ in his face. My son went rigid with fear; in fact, we had to take him and Faye out of the studio! All that good work completely ruined by a blasted humpbacked hairy monster and a huge prawn! During that story, which was a Gothic horror called ‘The Brain of Morbius’, Tom was tied to a stake in the studio and, in the script, a fire had to be lit around him. Plaster logs were placed in a pile around him and a long, flexible, clear plastic tube hidden beneath them, connected to a smoke machine some distance away. The smoke created from this machine is, in fact, vapourised oil, which is pumped to the scene on cue from the floor manager. However, a flaming torch, held by an actor, ignited the smoke oil and the flames shot up the clear plastic tube heading back to the box – all plainly visible to cast and crew. Panic! The actors were the first to run, followed closely by scene crew and make-up. I was frozen to the ground and I could see Tom’s hands trying to pull the rope away as he was stuck on top of the pyre. Everyone must have thought an explosion was just about to happen when the special effects designer walked over to the box and coolly switched it off! Another story I remember was when the robot dog K9 was first brought into the studio; everyone was delighted – that was, until they started rehearsals. The frequency for the radio control caused chaos with everything technical, especially with the cameras (or it may have been the other way round!). After some red faces and some out-of-sight work, the robot was brought back and rehearsals continued. A while later, the said robot was required to enter the TARDIS. ‘Whoops’; the TARDIS is trucked around the studio on large castors at least eight inches high, add the thickness of the floor and you have a base height of nine or more inches. Well, the Daleks had aproblem with steps and so did the little robot dog as it couldn’t hover or jump. The carpenter was sent for and a ramp hastily made for the canine to be dragged up. Never did see what the edited version was like. Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Sponsor focus

A range including Kino Flo’s latest offering Words & photos: Bernie Davis

If I had to name my top 10 game-changing lighting fixtures – which I won’t in this article! – it would have to include the Kino Flo. Such a simple idea of using fluorescent tubes as a light source for camera was developed into a relatively simple and lightweight housing to make a versatile soft light with beautiful wraparound quality. It was coping with a difficult interior on the film Barfly that Gaffer Frieder Hochheim and Best Boy Gary Swink separated the ballasts from the tubes to make a housing that was so light it could be taped to walls. But the real strength behind the design was the meticulous development tubes, which could produce light of a high enough quality to render good colorimetry, compared to the variable colours delivered by the range of domestic tubes we usually meet. The result proved to be a winner for film and TV alike. Cirro Lite became the main European agents for Kino Flo, and the resulting relationship saw Cirro Lite’s David Morphy increasingly advising the company on how the product should develop from a European perspective. David’s broad experience with large-scale rock and roll touring, together with ventures into film and TV work, gave him a practical experience and attention to detail that has served Kino Flo well, helping them extend their range to cater for the broader needs of the film and TV industry. When LEDs started to become more accepted as a light source, they suffered from a reputation for poor colour rendition – some people still condemn LED lighting as being harsh or having poor colour rendition. The truth is that there is a wide range of LEDs available and it soon showed 12

Set & Light | Winter 2015

that it was important to select the LED sources carefully if quality really matters. And that is what Kino Flo did when they made their first ventures into the LED market. The Celeb was produced, and has proved to be a very popular light source with its high-quality colour rendition. I was recently invited to Cirro Lite’s West London base to see the latest offerings from Kino Flo. Building on the success of the original fluorescent fitting, but filling the recent demand for LED lighting, they have now followed the Celeb with the Select. This unit is based on the housing used for the original Kino Flo modular lightweight location range, but now with an LED source. Like the Celeb, they went for variable colour temperature using bi-colour LEDs set behind a diffuser panel. But the aim with the Select was to exploit

The Kino Flo Select

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Cirro Lite

the LED light source and its control to make life easier on the studio floor. The unit also contains multi-colour LEDs, giving a shift from full green to full magenta to enable the source to be matched with anything else that might be in use, without having to resort to gel and clips. The resulting unit is very bright – about the same or brighter than the original 4x4 – but it could be even brighter if they chose. It is a matter of trading off how hard you drive the LEDs against how long they will last, against the weight of heat-sinks or thermal management. Currently, they are under-driven to give long life over brightness, ensuring they can withstand the rigours of the hot studio environment.

The rear of the Select showing the detachable ballast

A lot of attention has been given to the design of the driver, or ballast – the controller on the back. The aim was to make it very intuitive to operate, while at the same time giving full control and functionality to the crew. Eight-bit dimming gives very smooth control right down to the lowest level, with 16-bit control available through the menu, and of course there is no colour shift associated with this. Further controls let you select colour temperature and green shift, and up to four presets can be stored on each ballast. The units can be controlled by DMX or by LumenRadio, and they can be powered by battery or mains. A nice touch is that the ballast can be detached from the housing and connected by an extension cable to get the head weight back down to levels that give the unit the original versatility of mounting. Some of the original features of the housing have been re-engineered to improve the operation: the springs in the folding barn doors have been improved and the clamp on the ball-fitting has been redesigned. I think we would all agree that these improvements were well worth doing. The Select is still being developed, and it is unusual for Kino Flo to let people see the almost-finished product, but there are already plans for a much broader range, including a Diva Lite equivalent. The Select is due for its public debut in January, so appearing at a trade show near you! Another quality product Cirro Lite is known for is the highly-desirable Dedolight. Another product of German descent, the original, very compact units with surprisingly good optics quickly became must-have lighting tools soon after Dedo

Dedolights

Weigart developed them. Again, Dedolight have recognised the demand for LED lighting and, as reported previously in Set and Light, they now provide a range of units from 20W to 90W, all featuring the characteristic excellent build quality and light quality. I am still impressed by the way you can just add an imager lens to change a five-degree to 50-degree spot into a crisp profile spot with pin-sharp optics. But coming to the range are a few innovations. Already surprisingly compact for the light delivered, Dedolight are about to bring out the turbo range, effectively providing 40W in the 20W housing and 90W in the 40W housing. To cope with the added power, the body will now include a very quiet fan. Dedolights come in such a broad range, from individual lights to inclusive camera kits, it is impossible to do justice to them in a short article. I would recommend looking online, or Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Sponsor focus

DLED 2.1

even calling in to Cirro Lite to see just what is available. However, two products caught my eye on this visit. First of all, the largest in their range – the DLED 12.1 is a 225W LED unit with a 65-degree to eight-degree zoom, available in either daylight or tungsten colour temperature (bi-colour will be available soon) and delivering nearly 400 lux at 5m full flood. Go to full spot and you get over 2,000 lux! The other was the new LEDrama: a very punchy bi-colour LED panel light.

Cirro Lite

Dedolight LEDrama

To find out more about these products, or any of Cirro Lite’s range, visit the following websites: Cirro Lite www.cirrolite.com Kino-Flo www.kinoflo.com Dedolite www.dedolight.com Matthews Studio Equipment www.msegrip.com And, of course, links to all these sites can be found at the STLD website at www.stld.org./uk/sponsors

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Information

Showlight 2017

The next Showlight conference will be in the beautiful city of Florence from 21 to 23 May 2017, with Clay Paky as the main sponsor. The host venue for the four days will be the glorious Palazzo Dei Congressi: a state-of-the-art conference venue inside a historical and charming Italian-style villa in the heart of the city. As before, the STLD will be supporting Showlight, and we will be sponsoring a limited number of members to attend in return for writing up some of the papers for the magazine and for help to run the STLD stand. You pay for your flight – Ryanair fly to Pisa, for instance, so it’s quite affordable – and for your hotel. We pay the registration, and almost all your meals are provided at Showlight. The only downside is that Florence is an incredibly popular destination, particularly in May. Hotels are already taking bookings for May 2016 and it won’t be long before they start taking bookings for 2017 too. Many people like to book for Showlight at the last minute because of the nature of our work, and although you are quite likely to be able to get last-minute hotel rooms, they might not necessarily be where you want. To try to help with this problem, the STLD is aiming to try to book 10 rooms for the conference period at an affordable hotel near to the conference venue. We can then offer them to any STLD members on a first come, first served basis. Registration for Showlight is on Saturday 20 May. The conference is on 21 to 23 May. We are going to book rooms for 20 to 23 May, departing on 24 May. Hopefully, knowing this now will help you plan your time. To avoid risking any losses, we will have to allocate these rooms well in advance or hand them back, so we urge you to plan well ahead if you want to go to Showlight 2017. And who would not want to? Don’t forget to follow https://www.facebook.com/ showlightevent on Facebook to keep up with all the latest news. Calls for papers will follow early next year. Potential exhibitors should contact Jane Cockburn or Derek Gilbert on exhibit @showlight.org for more details. Exhibitor numbers are limited and allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Recollection

A Square is born Words & photos: Les McCallum It was 30 years ago that my friend Mike Hagan, a construction manager at the BBC, was given the task of creating Albert Square at Elstree Studios. The set designer was Keith Harris and the producer Julia Smith. The brief: to turn a muddy patch into an East End community with Victorian houses a pub, laundrette, café and railway bridge, not forgetting the market. Mike was to construct the Victorian terraces, the pub, garages, roads and various shops, etc. The work started in July 1984 .The roads were to have drainage and street lights and the whole location would have a lifespan of five years. The houses, which had lighting and power sockets, were about 8ft deep and the pub even less. A steel structure supported the scenery, and slippery metal stairs at the back gave access to the bedrooms upstairs. This is known as the ‘lot’. Of course, when an actor was filmed going through the doorway, the action would be continued in the studio, so it was essential that the camera didn’t see too far inside the doorway and it was always shot at an angle. The walls were panels of plaster made to look like brickwork. This was fixed to plywood backing and painted and aged, but with the programme being popular, five years passed and the weather started to have an effect on the scenery .The carpenters and painters had a never-ending job of keeping it in good repair, constantly replacing rotten timbers and crumbling plaster brickwork. A few years ago it was thought a good idea to move the ‘lot’ to Pinewood Studios and build Albert Square and the surrounding sets with real bricks and of a lasting construction. Anna Marchant and I were employed to draw up the whole lot area and make a huge model for discussions on how to achieve the move. It was subsequently thought to be too costly and disruptive and the plan was dropped. The show had been running for 10 years when I was sent to Elstree Studios as a set designer and my first job was designing Dot Cotton’s kitchen, which was to be almost unchanged from when it was first built. By a stroke of luck, someone in my area told me that a house had just come up it was of the same age and layout, including a copper water heater made of bricks with a wooden top, which had to be included in the set. This proved to be an excellent reference and was used on set. There was talk of turning this house into a local museum but, sadly, it was sold and extensively modernised; we only seem to preserve grand houses at great cost and forget about the recent history and how the majority of ordinary people lived. Perhaps we don’t want reminding. EastEnders has two studios, which contain all the interior sets. At the time, some sets never moved, such as the Queen Vic, the Fowlers’ house and the laundrette; other sets were set in or struck according to the script for that 16

Set & Light | Winter 2015

week. Sometimes, the story line involved quite a few sets, so every bit of scenery had to be planned well in advance. If you could leave just a corner of a room standing and keep the actors seated, that would enable you to squeeze another set into the unused area. As the sets were so close, seeing through the window would be a problem; looking at the back of a scenery panel just wouldn’t look right. The solution was to stretch and staple a fine white gauze mesh to the back of the window reveal and light it. The effect was a glare as though the sun was shining through; add some decorative nets and it looked real enough. At any one time there would be three episodes on the go at the same time. A few memories from that time are of Arthur Fowler [Bill Treacher – the first actor to be cast in the series]. In the script he had been stealing from the Christmas club funds and had been exposed as a thief. The money had been found in a shoe box – several thousand pounds in fact. My daughter and son-in-law provided all the signs, graphics and graphic props for the show in those days and were asked to make enough fake fivers to fill the box. I collected them from their studio to take to the set. It occurred to me that I would have some explaining to do if I were to be stopped and searched by the police. If I remember correctly, Arthur was arrested and we had to make a cell for him to be held until his court appearance. The walls of the cell were made from vacuum-formed PVC sheets and stapled to a plywood panel known as a ‘flat’. As the story developed, Arthur was to have a haemorrhage outside his allotment shed and collapse to the ground, dying. Bill was a great joker, full of fun, and didn’t take things too seriously. He couldn’t keep a straight face as we slowly zoomed in and it took several takes for him to stop hamming it up and making us all laugh before finally getting one in the can. I think you can see the crew all laughing in the photo (opposite page). In one episode in 1995, the D-day celebrations were to be included in the script. A steam train had to be seen crossing the bridge, which, of course, is just plywood and brick plaster. Designer Shaun Moore and I drove down to the Bluebell Railway to set out Albert Square with wooden pegs in front of the railway line. The train was supposed to be viewed from the gate of the Albert Square park. Now the cameraman knew where to place his camera, film the steam train passing and the boundaries not to be crossed or there would be a camera shoot off. The following week, the scene was shot on the lot from the park gate and the two videos were matted

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EastEnders Main picture: the cast of EastEnders; pictured bottom: Bill Treacher hams it up as he films his final scene as Arthur Fowler, who collapsed and died of a brain haemorrhage in the long-running BBC soap opera

Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Recollection

EastEnders

Pictured: Arthur Fowler, played by Bill Treacher, in his cell. He had been exposed as a thief (pictured right) after stealing from the Christmas club funds

Tricks of the trade: how to do graffiti on location

together by the technical whizz-kids. It then appeared that the train was chugging along over the bridge. Another trick of the trade I can let you in on is when graffiti was required on a real location wall. How would you do it? After the recce had taken place on location and the area of graffiti to be applied had been established, the wall was coated with a liquid rubber solution. When this had dried another coat was applied until there were at least four coats. This dried completely transparent and could then be sprayed with aerosol paint; it was always fun to write a friend’s name on the wall. At the end of filming – a wrap – the rubber could then be peeled off, leaving the wall cleaner than when we started. I was told that some of my friends’ London-born relatives who lived in New York loved to watch EastEnders when it was shown over there. I got their names sprayed on to the wall with NYC underneath. I didn’t tell anyone. Some time later, my friend got a call saying his brother and sister-in-law in the USA fell off their chairs when they saw it. It could only be them for whom the graffiti was aimed! One morning, as I was coming out of the cafeteria after breakfast, I saw Barbara Windsor looking lost and nervous. I offered to direct her to the producer’s office and she struck up a conversation, saying she hadn’t worked for some time and was nervous about taking on the role of landlady of the 18

Set & Light | Winter 2015

Special effects: setting out Albert Square using wooden pegs at the Bluebell Railway for an episode featuring the D-Day celebrations in 1995

Queen Vic. As we walked along the corridor, I pointed out all the black-and-white framed photographs of her from when she had worked at the studios some years before. She felt a little bit more at home and, within a week, had settled into her new role, becoming a most convincing landlady. I imagine the cast and crew really miss her now she is no longer in the show, especially her laughter. A little story I often tell friends is that once, when filming had finished, a minicab was called to collect Barbara from the studio and take her home. When, 10 minutes after the arranged pick-up time, no car had arrived, a call was made to the mini cab office. “He’s on his way.” Ten minutes later, no car. “He’s waiting outside, been there 20 minutes” Still no car and after another irate call, the cab office rang the driver. “Where are you?” “Outside the Queen Vic, been here ages.” Somehow the driver had managed to find his way onto the lot, past the barrier and was sat waiting outside the scenery pub. Barbara took it in good humour when she heard and the rather sheepish driver was instructed to drive around to the dressing rooms and pick her up. It just goes to show how realistic the sets are. This year sees the 30th anniversary of the show and it is still as popular as ever. Will it still be with us in another 10 years? I suspect the answer will be ‘yes’.

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Event

ABTT Theatre Show

Historic location for forward-thinking show Words & photos: Matt Maller Alexandra Palace played host to the Association of British Theatre Technicians’ annual Theatre Show on a warm 24 and 25 June. Now in its 36th year, the show provided a great atmosphere, with companies displaying new and innovative products from all aspects of technical and creative theatre making. Previously held in Truman’s Brewery, Brick Lane, the new Ally Pally location proved a real hit. Both visitors and exhibitors found it a positive two days and it has since been announced that it will continue to be the show’s home for future years. For both students and professionals alike, the show provided endless possibilities of networking and exploring new kit, indulging in a forward-thinking environment while being surrounded by so much history. On offer were seminars and workshops, which took place throughout the two-day event, giving demos of new kit or philosophies on ways to use the products. Seminars on industry standards such as health and safety were also part of the show. Among the highlights of the event, the ABTT 2015 Theatre Awards took centre stage towards the end of the first day. To mention one of the award winners, the recipient of the ‘Lighting Product of the Year’ was the Colour Source PAR manufactured by ETC. The judges concluded that it was an extremely useable product for the pricetag and they were particularly impressed with the unit’s high output; a worthy winner. Also in this category, a special mention went to Robert Juliat for its Roxie LED profile, represented by Ambersphere Solutions. Another of the event’s highlights was the offer of a guided walk around Alexandra Palace’s Victorian Theatre, which originally opened in 1875. The theatre tour offered a step back in time – ironically, just as the complex has sourced funding for a major redevelopment. The space had a very rustic feel; one could easily imagine the place bustling with performers with the

This picture: The ghostly auditorium of Alexandra Palace Theatre taken during a tour – just one of the highlights of this year’s ABTT Theatre Show (pictured above)

warmth of gas lighting fixtures bouncing around the auditorium. The guided tours brought to life the space and made what is often seen in text books on the ‘history of lighting’ accurately come true, with water dimmers still in their cupboard and gas pipes running

down the proscenium to the floats. With next year’s show set to take place on Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 June, I am already looking forward to spending a positive two days learning, interacting and enjoying in a constructive and exciting atmosphere. Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Tribute

‘He had a wonderful way of seeing light’ Words: Ian Hillson A realist who produced results that a perfectionist would envy. Not my words, but those of BBC Sound Supervisor John Howell about Duncan Maxwell Brown, proving that when a lighting director can keep the sound department on board, as well as his own team, then he’s got the mechanics cracked and can concentrate on his art. Michael McCarthy says Duncan ‘was the most artistically creative Lighting Designer’ that he knew, at ease with everyone, and had exceptional lighting talents. Duncan was born in Surbiton in 1941 and he had an older sister, Wendy, who emigrated to Canada when he was 17. He attended Tiffin School in Kingston but, after a couple of years, was dismayed to learn that his parents were to move to Addington. After struggling with an impossible journey, he bought a motorcycle – appropriately, an Ariel – having sought permission from his headmaster to ride it to school, thereby setting a precedent (the first of many). The bike, too, was to be the first of many: at one point he owned five classic machines, including one with a sidecar. He shared many interests with his peers: bus spotting, the Goons, photography, motorcycling and generally having fun. He’d visit bus garages and photograph the buses with their drivers, selling them prints to enable him to buy more film. Future wife Kaye was fated to meet Duncan at a Tiffin School fête in the science lab, when she asked him to explain what he was doing with a bunsen burner. He looked at her intently, answered quietly, precisely and in great detail. Won over, they married in 1964 and their daughter Eleanor was born in 1971. He joined the BBC straight from school in the Swinging Sixties, along with other friends from Tiffin’s, took to it like a duck to water and was soon swimming in the lighting pool. A long and productive career followed. By the mid Seventies he had lit Madame Bovary, When the Boat Comes In and The Duchess of Duke Street. He then went on to do four series of Doctor Who. For Genesis of the Daleks, Producer Philip Hinchcliffe singled out his work for special attention and, describing the production’s aim of having the Daleks emerge from the gloom and shadows, he reflected ‘that takes 20

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a very good lighting director because that means there’s more work to be done in the studio recording time. It needs someone with an artistic sensitivity but also someone that can work quickly and do it’. John Howell adds: “I was Sound Supervisor on The Leisure Hive and there were many challenges for sound coverage but very few of them related to Duncan’s lighting. If I paid a visit to the lighting gallery we would end up talking motorbikes.” On his website, Doctor Who aficionado Toby Hadoke says “The Leisure Hive is one of the most remarkable looking stories in the entire classic run, the hive itself [is] a mixture of eerie greens and soft pinks depending on the exact location.” It was the era of standardisation in BBC studios, quick turnaround and of the saturation lighting rig of dual source lamps. Many complained about the soft end being ‘not very soft’ compared with the old fibreglass ten-light but Duncan, in typical ‘turn a disadvantage to your advantage’ mode, found that the new egg crate on the front allowed him to control where the light fell. And in common with one or two other pioneering drama LDs of that era – when any sane person would have used a hard key – he used a soft key. And where others would use a soft fill. he would use an even bigger soft, either bounce or through diffusion. Describing this band of brothers of bounce, one wag commented that any hard shadows in their studios always fell outside the set. However, on Duncan’s audience shows, their view of the action was rarely obscured with a bounce board. Duncan was given entertainment shows to light, too, such as The Songwriters series featuring Ivor Novello, Lionel Bart, Lennon and McCartney, and Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. In the 1980s, during 13 episodes of Are You Being Served? and seven of It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, his relationship with Producer David Croft became established and he went on to light 34 episodes of Hi-de-Hi!.

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Duncan Brown

Roy Gould takes up the tale: “One week, Duncan came into David Croft’s office when I was the Production Manager and asked me if he could try something out on the next recording of Hi-De-Hi!. I said that David and I trusted him completely and to go for it. When I arrived in the studio that Friday, I looked up at the staffroom set and saw three or four bits of poly clipped to the top of the set at various angles and some foil stapled on some of the flats. I looked at the lighting grid and noticed that he had hung just one light. When he saw me he asked his assistant to turn off the ‘working lights’ and bring up the staffroom lighting. The one light came on and and its beam bounced from the foil to one bit of poly to another. The set was lit perfectly – with one lamp! Genius. Adored the man.” During the mid-Eighties, Elstree called and he lit over 50 episodes of ‘Allo ‘Allo!, including the exterior of the café square, created not on the back lot but indoors where EastEnders’ Stage One now stands. The advantage of it being indoors was the ability to do night scenes during the day just by re-colour-balancing the cameras and using common lamps within the scaffold rig for both day and night files, rather than having to re-gel lamps or rig more. I remember him saying that you needed to get the colour temperature right first before adding more colour, and somewhere in a back issue of this magazine is an article explaining all this. In about 1986 or 1987 I first worked with him on children’s drama Jonny Briggs, where he and Ken MacGregor lit different blocks of the same show. My inability to keep track of out-of-sequence scene recording was never noticed but resulted in someone leaving the kitchen in the evening to arrive upstairs to a gloomy dusk. Years later, I was to find out why I needed to push the cameras quite so hard around the edges when I was volunteered to assist with the finelight on a similar kitchen. Duncan used just two interior softlights to light it and had let the designer use a ceiling piece. After that I seemed to work with him more and more and I became aware that I was on his ‘approved list’. In the late Eighties I did the pilot of You Rang, M’Lord? , followed by, in the early Nineties, a couple of the series – Duncan lit 26 in total. For the pilot I actually managed to get him to set a hard backlight and use it just for an instant. In my defence, I would point out that this was on a close-up of a troupe of very black poodles that soaked up soft light so much that they looked like the Gregory hole in the centre of the lineup chart. Duncan insisted that the lamp was out by the time the gag was over and they cut back to the wide shot, so, despite all my efforts, his reputation remained intact. Why do pets, and pianos, only come in black or peak white? On another occasion, my cunning plan was thwarted with ‘you’re right, of course’ – and then he didn’t use my idea. He always encouraged you to contribute but also had the gift of being able to let you down gently. Interspersed with all this fun were dramas in the Performance series: Absolute Hell and The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd with other teams, and we then met up again for Tales from Hollywood. Duncan had decided that he would light the latter in the style of the works of David Hockney and the American artist Edward Hopper, emptying Ewell public library of its entire

stock of books on the subject in the weeks leading up to recording. In that time he immersed himself, and us, in the images he wanted to get on tape. After a bit of pre-recording at Ealing Studios (still owned by the BBC back in 1992) including its tank, we assembled in TC6 to commit the drama to oxide. As some of the action was set in an early film studio, Brutes had been hired in as set dressing, but when a 110V generator truck pulled up in The TV Centre ring road outside our studio, it became apparent that Duncan intended using them in anger. Oh, and Dedolights, of course – another favourite lamp of his (see below). To say we were lighting with mixed colour temperature would be an understatement: at times it looked like steel and rust, and the only way was to let them rehearse, light and then, just before recording, to white balance the cameras for that scene within that set. Added to this, Howard Davies needed to be happy with the constraints that arc lights put on his directing, regarding the length of time he could record before the carbon rods needed attention, and Alan Machin in sound tolerated the noise they made. You soon realised why they dubbed music over those early films. The first Contre-jour scene of the day put the wind up me with a Brute shining through Venetian blinds and straight up the low-angle camera lens. Much fighting of flares ensued but when cut into the show it looked stunning. It said hot Hollywood sun in no uncertain terms. Over the next few days we painted many Hockney’s and Hopper’s in Bob Crowley and George Kyriakides’s sets, plus a few that had not been painted before. Duncan rightly won a BAFTA for his lighting. Kaye recounts the night of the 1993 awards. They had only just sat down. Duncan’s name was the first to be called. The steps and rostrum floor were covered in Martac (other slippery surfaces are available). What could possibly go wrong? The nation was treated to the sight of Duncan gingerly sliding towards his award in shiny soled shoes like an Olympic skater – shoes which Kaye now tells me were bought for his 1964 wedding. She adds: “He was passionate about art and used his knowledge and creativity to make some spectacular programmes in his career, and was utterly overwhelmed when he won that BAFTA.” Later that year, back in the day when we made comedy pilots, I did a short run of them in TC8 with various LDs all using the same industrial interior, redressed. Mike Manning lit one set in a garage, and Duncan’s was in a bakery – I don’t think any saw the light of day. The exterior establishing shot for In the Dark was done at night outside a real bakery and whether by dint of no budget, not wanting to wake the neighbours with a generator or both, Duncan went round all the local hire shops in a BBC Land Rover and collected all the roadworks gas lights they could muster. The street was lit beautifully, and the locals, who ‘made the Krays look like Boy Scouts’ according to Director Roy Gould, were lulled to sleep by the gentle hiss of gas mantles. I can remember little of the studio recordings but those location opening titles were memorable, consisting of w/s bakery: stunt dog enters shot, wees and leaves. Roy also tells me that he had to restrain the handler, who was not happy Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Tribute

with this canine improvisation. Six episodes of a proper (transmitted) sitcom, Nice Day at the Office, followed and then more drama in the Performance series: in 1993 The Maitlands with Eileen Atkins and The Changeling with Bob Hoskins, and in 1994 A Summer Day’s Dream with Sir John Gielgud. The set for the latter was a country house and garden constructed in TC8 and Duncan would have liked to have used cracked oil to give the garden even more depth but feared using it might have resulted in Gielgud’s early demise. He didn’t and Gielgud enthralled us for another six years, although this was to be his last small-screen performance. Lighting in the garden was so naturalistic that people found it a relaxing place to Pictured, clockwise from top left: Duncan’s Henry IV Part I; enjoying the last pint served at the BBC Club at Television Centre in 2013; with Roy Gould on location at Arley: “We stood like this many times quietly contemplating a shot,” come and eat their sandwiches at lunchtime if it says Roy; don’t try this at home: Duncan stopping a train was wet in the Blue Peter garden just outside. In 1994 in another drama – Two Oranges and a Mango – Duncan was far too nice a man to have any foes!” this time in the Stages series, The Ganges was recreated in Critic Michael Brooke described some Henry IV scenes as TC1, and in Which Way to the War, a Croft and Perry having ‘crepuscular lighting’ – from the Latin crepusculum comedy pilot for Yorkshire TV shot in TC6, he did use meaning ‘evening twilight, dusk’. Yes, I needed to look up cracked oil. Lots of it. that one, too. Some animals are also crepuscular; they tend All this makes it sound as though Duncan went from one to be most active in the evening (particularly in the BBC big show to the next but in between was the bread and Club) and Duncan was the last to lift a pint in the Club at TV butter stuff that was considered to be entertainment back in Centre before it closed in 2013 and then – ‘time gentlemen, the Nineties: P’s & Q’s, Pets Win Prizes... I could go on! please’ – they knocked the place down. By now the quantity of BBC programmes was also starting In 1996 he lit the comedy series The Legacy of Reginald to decline, with more and more being outsourced, and this Perrin and then Death of a Salesman with Warren Mitchell as particularly affected studio drama. The House of Eliott was the Willy Loman: a reprise of his 1979 Olivier Award-winning last drama series to be made at Television Centre (with Chris stage role. This TV version was directed by David Thacker in Townsend as LD) and Performance – Henry IV Part 1, lit by TC6 and was intended to teach the book in schools, but it Duncan in TC1 and TC3 in 1995, is cited as the last big budget proved to be just so good that it was subsequently edited (£1m) single drama to come out of TVC... or was it? into a complete drama and transmitted as such. It thus John Caird directed, Anthony Ainsworth designed, appears on the IMDb website as a TV movie and so qualifies assisted by Jane Shepherd. She says: “I can still picture him as yet another last TVC drama. [Duncan] in his leathers, with a crash helmet under his arm, From 1995 to 1997 it was 20 episodes of the David striding into the studio every morning exuding an infectious Croft and Richard Spendlove sitcom Oh, Doctor Beeching!, relish for the day ahead. Anthony Ainsworth did a brilliant charting the trials and tribulations of the staff at Hatley job as Designer but I think Duncan’s lighting was superb. To railway station. Roy Gould directed, Charles Garland also misquote Edna St. Vincent Millay shamelessly: ‘But ah, my produced and I’m pleased to report that, way down the foes and oh, my friends – he gives a lovely light’ – although pecking order, I was asked, on the second series, to do 22

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Duncan Brown

‘racks’ and grade the location footage shot on the Severn Valley Railway – with Arley station standing in for ‘Atley. Duncan must have been in his element there: travel, lighting, steam trains and a lovely show to work on with all the usual crew and many Croft/Perry principal actors. I can still see Duncan in my mind’s eye: waiting patiently for an actor in a drama to complete delivering his rehearsal lines, then moving quietly on to the actor’s mark and raising his palm slightly as if to stop traffic, whereupon his sparks crew would nip in and put a floor lamp where Duncan’s palm had just been placed. Most LDs had to decide should they listen to switched or full lighting talkback but Duncan listened to neither. He never cluttered his person, or his mind, listening to a radio; his SPE (Gaffer), often Les Lamont, would follow him around the studio wearing cans. And if you ever tried to hand him such technology, the two would spring apart as like magnetic poles do. There was a simple way to tell if he was within the set and lighting in the jumble of close-ups. For long dramas he had a wide selection of easily spotted (in shot) check shirts! Always aware of others and what they were trying to achieve, he was precise in his descriptions. On one occasion he used the word ‘apposite’ to me, possibly only the second occasion in my life that I had heard the word used – by him and John Thaw in Inspector Morse. In the lighting gallery he was precise and lateral thinking. On long dramas he had a small monitor rigged within reach on the desk in front of him: no long descriptions of some shadow he wanted lost, he could simply touch it on the screen. Our studio engineers always went the extra mile on this kit, such was his unassuming charm. Indeed, some would even forgo their usual schedule and volunteer for a run of several long days to give continuity to line-up and colour balance on his dramas. Many of them have gone on to greater things as a result. It’s only in the last 20 years that we’ve had lightweight studio CCD cameras; before then, each lightweight (plumbicon tube) camera had to be booked out of BBC Stores, and they all needed to be assembled and matched together in time to record the first scene of the morning. Sometimes, this was a herculean task. As I’ve mentioned, Duncan was a great fan of the Dedolight for its small size and efficiency, and he was instrumental in creating even more fans for it along the way with missionary zeal. Dedo Weigert, the inventor, eventually met him and recently writes: “Indeed, I felt very close to Duncan; I had not only huge respect but felt some close relationship with him. He had a wonderful way of seeing light and talking about it. I have often mentioned his name as one of the few people I ever met who had the incredible gift of being able to see light. “One would think that everybody working in our profession is born that way, but unfortunately, very few people ever learn to see light during their entire life. I remember every moment of his presentation at Showlight, where he showed three little videos that were absolutely stunning. It was the most impressive presentation I have ever seen. “He was a little bit shy to talk about himself and his work, but once he started doing it, it was not only the professional perfection but the deep artistic understanding

that I valued so much and made me feel really close to him. His motorbikes, his lighting, his attitude, his love for good wine: all of that was very close to my heart.” To which I would add: his love of art – keen to share his enthusiasm with others, he devised the STLD tour of Tate Britain in 2011 – and his love of travel, the more challenging the better. Thank you Duncan, you allowed me to see another world from the warmth of your studio. I will miss you greatly. Kaye finishes with this: “His study was floor-to-ceilinglined with maps, timetables and guides. And if you ever casually mentioned you might like to go somewhere, then he would plan you a complete trip down to the finest detail without a second thought. “Duncan often ventured alone to explore the suburbs of European cities, especially Eastern Europe, travelling by public transport and staying with the locals despite his lack of languages. He returned with armfuls of photographs of atmospheric, desolate streets. That’s what he loved. “He had a huge practical talent and could solve, maintain, mend and renovate anything in his path, from fixing the central heating to keeping his old motorcycles and beloved Citroën Dyane on the road. “And since the arrival of his grandchildren, Anna and William, he loved helping them with their homework projects. Duncan was a quiet, loyal, devoted man with a generous nature. He was extremely sensitive, and sometimes shy. He was never one to follow trends. He was his own man.” I shall not look upon his like again (Hamlet)

Set & Light | Winter 2015

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In memoriam

Teddy Fader: A life that revolved around film and TV With a life as long and as interesting as Teddy’s, it is tempting to try and tell his whole story, but that just wouldn’t capture what made him the kind, generous, funny and talented man we all knew. He was born in Basel, Switzerland, and came to England when he was two years old. He lived and worked here all his life, retaining his Swiss nationality, of which he was proud. He was diagnosed with TB as a youngster and sent to a sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland, to be cured. While there he learned to speak Swiss German, making life-long friends there. He would take the family to Switzerland in his old Hillman Minx, and his children fondly remember the time they had a puncture on the car ferry. The time it took him to change the wheel would have put McLaren to shame! Apart from a brief spell at a merchant bank, which he hated, Teddy’s working life revolved around film and television. It seems to stem from a childhood spent in the cinema, watching Saturday morning films again and again until he was booted out. As a Swiss national, he was ineligible for military service during the war, being called a ‘registered alien’, which he found rather amusing. Instead, he got a job as a camera assistant, working on films for the war effort. This culminated in a trip to India, working with a cameraman, George, to make a film about tea plantations. It was a defining moment in his life

and he often talked about about it. Sadly, George died shortly after their return, which deeply affected Teddy as he had been a great friend and mentor. Much of what he learned from George equipped Teddy for his future film and TV work. As a film cameraman, Teddy continued to work on documentaries and drama. Highlights included filming the first jet aircraft to land on an aircraft carrier, and shooting all the screen tests with Alec Guinness for Kind Hearts and Coronets. Teddy’s brother Ronnie had seen an advert for the new independent television service. Teddy applied and got a job as a video camera operator: the start of his long and successful TV career. It was a hugely exciting time but fraught with peril as almost all the shows were live; if it wasn’t actors forgetting their lines, it was the equipment breaking down on air. Teddy used to tell the story of a live panel show where all the cameras packed up one by one until his was the only one working, requiring some skill on his part and a swift in-vision change to a wider turret lens! He progressed rapidly into the role of lighting director. Clearly a bit of a natural, his expertise saw him in demand, and although he could turn his hand to most genres, including drama, it was music and entertainment that became his forte. At Rediffusion he lit numerous episodes of music show Ready Steady Go! and a programme called Around the Beatles. As he adjusted a light in rehearsals, John Lennon

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Teddy Fader and Colin Peck

handed him a cigarette butt and said ‘put that out, mate’. With the change of ITV franchise, Teddy transferred to London Weekend Television. The advent of colour, new studios on the South Bank and large budgets made this a purple patch for Teddy. A long-lasting collaboration with Designer Bill Macpherson produced stunning settings for LWT’s highprofile – what we now call ‘shiny floor’ – shows, the Stanley Baxter specials perhaps marking the high point. Teddy and Bill worked instinctively together: meticulous pre-planning allowed Bill free rein to be creative, knowing that Teddy would be able to achieve the results and colours to complement the sets. Clear for all to see was Teddy’s talent for the job but also the skill with which he worked with artists and colleagues such as electricians, makeup, stagehands and so on. He had a warmth and humour that made him popular to work with and he treated everyone the same, with no ego or airs and graces. He understood it was a team game and respected other’s jobs, with only the occasional irritation shown to the sound department, but that is traditional! He was also generous about sharing his knowledge and skills and genuinely enjoyed the success of others. Teddy took early retirement from LWT, but for a number of years he was even busier as a freelance lighting director, working on numerous Hat Trick Productions, including, of course, Have I Got News for You. With impeccable timing, he decided after one particular series that he was ready to stop and settled into full retirement. But television was important to Teddy. He possessed this unusual combination of creativity in his work but also his utter practicality in life. He could fix almost anything and had every screw, nut, bolt, tool, bulb, fuse, cable and small thing that you didn’t know you needed, until you needed it. He was always the go-to person for practical support, always happy to drop everything and help. He would be delighted if any of the family needed things doing and would turn up armed with a comprehensive tool kit ready to fit that new thermostat or tap. There is so much to say about Teddy, so this next bit is rather like the ITV commercial break that comes before the important last part: a few short, sharp memories of Teddy that we can talk about later with affection. Here we go: black coffee; Gauloises Cigarettes (ignore that one, you youngsters!); Extra Strong Mints; laughing at Bristow cartoons, wink wink; not eating fish or even letting Pam cook it in the house (he wasn’t perfect!); The Telegraph crossword; not liking suits and ties; distinctive handwriting in turquise Quink ink; fondue and custard creams; pen knives; Giles the Budgie; tennis and motor racing on the telly; and, above all, his love of jazz, soul and motown music. Teddy’s timing was always perfect and although one might say his final departure was beyond his control, you can’t help feeling he knew it was time. Just as his independence was becoming a bit fragile, he succumbed to pneumonia. Teddy, much more could be said, but with so many happy memories we will often talk about you in the future with huge fondness and love. Thank you so much for everything; we will miss you and your kind, generous heart. A gentleman and a gentle man. Stuart Gain

‘He went to the dark places’ It is with genuine and great sadness that we report the death of our friend and supporter Colin Peck. A journalist and lawyer, based at various times in Moscow, Paris and Cologne, Colin freelanced for most major networks as a producer, cameraman and print journalist, working on conflicts in Russia, Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhazia, Chechenya, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. He spent five years in Russia, working with his brother Rory before his death in 1993, and was interim Director of Afghan Aid. His close friend, Sonia Mikich, said Colin was ‘a keen journalist with a lawyer’s mind and an adventurer’s heart’. “He went to the dark places because he wanted the world to understand what was going on. Fearless and cheerful. What a joy working with him, being around him.” Colin’s involvement with the Rory Peck Trust began soon after it was founded and continued until his death. He was a warm and engaging companion who understood the freelance world, cared deeply about the Trust and gave meaning to its link with his brother. We shall miss him very much indeed. In recent years, he made a life in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, working on the restoration of the family home, Prehen House. He leaves his daughter Virginia, his long-term partner Alison Hancock and their two young children, Rowell and Beatrix. Our thoughts are with Colin’s family. We share their sorrow. Tina Carr Director, Rory Peck Trust The Rory Peck Trust is the only organisation dedicated to the support, safety and welfare of freelance news-gatherers around the world. Its principal objectives are to provide practical assistance and support to freelance news-gatherers and their families worldwide, to raise their profile, promote their welfare and safety, and support their right to report freely and without fear. Freelancers play an important and integral role within news-gathering and the Trust sees its role protecting and supporting them as a practical and significant contribution to independent journalism and the free flow of information. Based in London, the Trust was set up in 1995 by Juliet Peck and a group of friends in memory of her husband, freelance cameraman Rory Peck, who was killed in Moscow in 1993. It is totally independent and relies on contributions from corporations, trusts, foundations and individuals to carry out its work. To find out more, visit rorypecktrust.org

Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Letter

East End view: when wildlife meets set design Albert Square – to many millions of viewers this conjures up visions of market stalls, Dot Cotton and the Queen Vic. But after spending four months on the EastEnders set, I think about the other side of the square, the one the viewers cannot see. Is Dot being poisoned by her son? A dramatic scene that calls for silence as Ethel tries to convince the others of the truth, but did the viewers notice the blackbird that burst into song in the background? The squawking sound of young starlings can be heard but where are they? Then an adult bird flies out of a hole in an apparently solid stone cornice. The scenery is beginning to show signs of wear and tear. Opening a wooden door behind the Vic, I come across a ‘secret garden’ just behind the railway bridge that comes to an abrupt end. It is an area of about 20ft by 40ft, sitting untouched behind a high hoarding. Weeds blanket the ground and sycamore saplings stretch up towards the limited light. On the framework you can see the nests of pigeons, blackbirds and house sparrows, all completely safe in this undisturbed sanctuary. Filming over, the lot will be silent again for another week. Carrion crows swoop down and strut around the roads looking for the odd biscuit dropped during the tea break. It may not be a lot of birdlife, but there is always something around,

and if you watch the programme, keep an eye out for the RSPB robin collection box on the bar of the Queen Vic! A couple of years later, while once again working on EastEnders, I got a phone call from Lizzie Bewick, wildlife producer at Bristol BBC Natural History Unit (yes, she is related to the famous Thomas Bewick, bird artist and engraver), who was making a film about the wildlife of EastEnders and Neighbours. As an art director/designer, my job includes designing sets, drawing construction elevations, working on location with the cameraman and drawing plans for the studio and the studio lot. As luck would have it, I had just finished drawing up a new plan for the EastEnders lot and I sent her one with all the nests marked on it, where to see the fox and the robin nesting in a garden shed from where peacock and small tortoise butterflies emerge. They wintered in the false houses on the lot, but when the sun came out they were unable to get out, so I went round the lot opening windows to release them. I met the crew some weeks later and got on really well with them – in fact, so well they cajoled me into appearing in the film. My life has been spent behind the camera, and to be looking down the lens was a rather unnerving experience, to say the least. They had extras in the documentary playing me letting butterflies out of the windows. They brought in several boxes of live butterflies to release. They also brought in tame foxes to film at night in front of the café. I had to organise runs so they didn’t stray off course. A hedgehog was also employed to wander around the lot toilets. Wild hedgehogs are often found in them – perhaps they like the warmth. I found a robin’s nest in Arthur’s shed on the allotment. A camera was set up outside, with another inside. The eggs all hatched and everything was going well until one of the adult birds vanished. One of the many cats or the local sparrowhawk may have been responsible. For 12 hours the producer watched from inside the shed, but the remaining adult refused to feed the chicks despite the constant calls. A crisis meeting was called and it was decided to remove the nestlings and feed them live crickets rather than let them die. Two months later I was on location in Birmingham on a new sitcom and the wildlife film Streets Ahead was to be screened that evening. I told the director I would like to leave the filming half an hour early so I could watch it in my hotel room. With that he called out: “Les is on the box tonight, 7.30pm. We are ahead of schedule, so that’s an early wrap; we can all go back to the hotel and watch it.” Imagine, if you can, the embarrassment to find that I hadn’t been included. I had been cast aside, ending up on the cutting-room floor. Well, at least I had worked on a wildlife film and even had been given a credit – my first and a first on a nature film. Les McCallum

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Awards

KOI

Record number of entries for awards’ 8th year This year saw the 8th Knights of Illumination Awards held at the Troxy in London’s East End. This event, on 4 October, has grown each year and, this year, was attended by more than 400 people from the lighting world. The STLD was again involved in organising the Television Awards and had a difficult time choosing the winners. We had a record number of entries, which had to be reduced to a shortlist of three for each section for the judges to review and then vote on. I was fortunate enough to be Chairman of the judges again and, as such, had the task of announcing the winners. This is a job that I enjoy immensely and it’s a great feeling opening the envelope on the night to reveal the winners. Although it would be great to be on the other side of the fence and be nominated, I actually prefer being involved in organising. The only other thing to report is to encourage everyone reading this to get involved with the 2016 KOI Awards. Anyone can nominate a programme they think warrants recognition. All you have to do is go to the KOI website and fill in the form. One problem we do have, however, is sending in the video footage of the show in order for the judges to evaluate it. This has given us problems each year, and it is not getting easier. Some material can be found on the internet, and occasionally we actually receive a DVD, which is the best format for us. Unfortunately, productions are getting more and more protective over programme material and this gives us problems with the judging process. I would be happy to hear from anyone who may have any suggestions of how to resolve this problem. I would urge you all to get involved next year as this event is very much the lighting directors’ awards, awarded by lighting professionals.

Chairman Stuart Gain

For the list of winners, see overleaf

Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Awards

KOI

Highlighting ‘the true excellence of lighting design’ The eighth Knight of Illumination Awards once more saw representatives from the professional entertainment lighting and video industry come together to celebrate the creative achievements of lighting and video professionals working on shows across the UK. Organised by the Association of Lighting Designers (ALD), the Society of Television & Lighting Design (STLD), The Fifth Estate Ltd and Clay Paky, the awards were hosted by Lighting Designer Mark Jonathan and the winners were announced as:

Theatre

Dance – Lucy Carter for Woolf Works, Royal Ballet. Musicals – Amy Mae Smith for Sweeney Todd, Harrington’s Pie Shop Opera – Alessandro Carletti for Guillaume Tell, Royal Opera House Plays – Tim Mitchell for Taken at Midnight, Minerva Studio, Chichester Projection Design – Paul Barritt for Golem, Young Vic

Television

Small Studio – Andy Cottey for Election 2015 Wales Light Entertainment – Gurdip Mahal for The Voice Final Drama – John Daly for Up the Women Events – Nigel Catmur for Young Dancer Competition Video Graphic Display – David Newton, Alberta Torres and Jessy Wang for Strictly Come Dancing

Concert Touring & Events

Concert Touring Arena – LeRoy Bennett for Lady Gaga Concert Touring Stage – Will Potts for Sam Smith Club – Tom Campbell for Anna Calvi Live Events – Terry Cook for Secret Cinema, The Empire Strikes Back Video Electronic Content – Nina Dunn for Alice’s Adventures Underground

Lifetime Recognition

The winner of the Lifetime Recognition Award was Fred Foster, CEO of Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc. (ETC). 28

Set & Light | Winter 2015

The award was introduced by Durham Marenghi, who said: “The committee was unanimous in our decision to present this year’s Lifetime Recognition Award to Fred Foster for his astounding influence on performance lighting technology and to celebrate the innovations achieved with his colleagues at ETC. “Also, we wanted to recognise Fred’s support of theatre across the board, from training and all the way through to manufacturing.” Fred said: “It’s a great honour to receive this award. I’ve always been proud to work with ETC and within this great industry. The most important people, however, are you, the lighting designers, who make the industry so good. Thank you to you all, and to the KOI Awards.” Previous winners of this award include Lighting Designer Richard Pilbrow in 2011, Bryan Leitch in 2012, Ian Dow in 2013 and Brian Croft in 2014. The category is named in recognition of former Clay Paky Commercial Director Enrico Caironi (1947–2011), whose inspiration and enthusiasm created and subsequently shaped the Knight of Illumination Awards. Commenting on the awards, STLD Chairman Stuart Gain, who chaired the TV category, said: “This year has given us a record number of entries, so the competition was keen. As with previous years, there was an incredibly high standard of entries, particularly in the Drama and Small Studio sections. I would like to thank all those who put in entries this year.” Awards co-coordinator Jennie Marenghi, added: “It seems hard to believe that it was nearly a decade ago that Durham, Enrico Caironi and I sat down with Pasquale Quadri and presented the idea for an awards ceremony that not only recognised the mainstream lighting designers but those exponents of the art that remained out of the limelight. This year’s awards have reflected that aspiration perfectly

and the committee would like to thank all those involved in making the awards a success.” Clay Paky CEO Pio Nahum said: “In a world where we are bombarded by an excessive and often unjustified triumphal communication, distinguishing what is truly special and beautiful has become difficult. An event like the Knight of Illumination Awards is essential to give due importance to the true excellence of lighting design. I am proud to see how this event has become important and the respect that the award has earned.” This year’s event was sponsored by Ambersphere Solutions, Ayrton, FIX8Group, Hawthorn, Light Initiative, MA Lighting, OSRAM, Robert Juliat and XL Video, and supported by ABTT, ET Now, Lighting and Sound America, Lighting and Sound International, Mondo*dr, The Theatres Trust and Total Production International. Table sponsors included AC Entertainment, Avolites, Chauvet Professional, Creative Technology, d3, ELP, ETC, GLP, GLS, Green Hippo, Howard Eaton Lighting, Martin Professional, Panalux, Philips Vari-Lite, PRG, Richard Martin Lighting, SGM, Stage Electrics, TMB, TSL and VER. Behind the Scenes – the charity that supports entertainment technology professionals in times of need – was presented with a £5,000 cheque from Clay Paky at the awards. Lighting Designer Rick Fisher for Behind the Scenes UK said: “Clay Paky’s generosity recognises the collaboration required to create our work, and the fragile nature of those working in our industry. Behind the Scenes UK is now fully up and running, and supporting people coping with extreme hardships in all aspects of the entertainment world and the supply of the technology we all use. We welcome this generous support and urge all to join Clay Paky by contributing and alerting us to those who may need assistance.”

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Lighting

A view from across the pond

To light the ear... or not! Words & images: Bill Klages The face-to-face interview is one of the most fundamental setups in television broadcast. The basic lighting of this setup is heavily covered in all TV lighting ‘how to’ manuals and texts. But while watching an interview on a national channel, I was reminded that even the best of intentions can backfire in an interview situation if there is an unexpected consideration. In this case, it was the talent. The talent was a very attractive woman of slight stature and certain age, who, as a result, had very prominent neck cords. These were heavily accented by the fill light, which was in proper textbook position and acting as a cross light. The unfortunate result was that the talent was, literally, cast in an unflattering light. The face-to-face interview can take place on location or in the more controlled environment of a studio. The shots are very simple: a waist or closeup shot of the guest with matching shots for the interviewer. There may be a slightly wider cross shot across the back of the one person in the foreground, with the other person in the background. (Don’t ‘cross the line’.) This establishes the physical relationships. The shot of the interviewer, however, shares only a small part of the total programme time, and many of his questions are voiceover. Sometimes, on location, there is only one camera and the interviewer’s closeup is shot separately and is required for editing purposes. Usually, there are no other views as they do not add anything to the programme flow; in fact, they can be destructive because they take time to execute. This may disturb a creative producer, who will then try to contribute to TV production history by showing a wide shot of the room. This shot only serves to reveal the hardware of the lighting setup and removes the mystery. This is not to say that a clean and interesting establishing shot is not possible on location, but it may become quite time-consuming and compromise the budget by requiring additional personnel and a rigging structure. This 30

Set & Light | Winter 2015

shot is practical and more achievable when shooting the interview in an installed television studio. The fill light is set in the centre position shown above and must be relatively wide angle to fill both principals. Another reason for choosing the main light position on the upstage camera side is that the fill light position, opposite side from the main lights, is out of the shooting area and, as a result, its elevation can be set for the most opportune height – at about lens height. We do not want our fill making any contribution to picture contrast. In other words, it should act as a fill light only (Principles of Lighting 101). For this discussion, let us consider the main lights in our basic setup and not worry about them serving as backlights. Most time should be spent on these instruments to position them correctly and to set their intensity carefully to insure that the talent is presented in their best light. Remember, if you are on location, some kind of boom arm will be required to keep the light stand out of the second camera’s shot. If this is the case, safety and security are the order of the day. In ‘Principles of Lighting 102’, we will discuss the placement of the backlight and the use of a ‘kicker’ as a substitute as well as lighting the background. At this point, enter The Ear. One of the early rules of portraiture practice (with apologies to George Hurrell) was that when a person’s face was in a three-quarter position to camera, the

side of the head facing the camera should be darker to emphasise the front plane of the face, the eye, mouth and nose. The ‘downstage’ ear should be dark. The main light of our textbook setup can be positioned to do this. Now, let’s return to the ‘the Case of the Unflatteringly Lighted Talent’. The fix would be to move the fill more in line with the axis of this camera. Yes, if the two angles are to be lit at the same time, you will need two (horrors!) fill lights, both close to the camera lens, with no spill on the opposite talent. If softlights are used, egg crates will become the lighting lan’s best friend. Are we done with the neck? Not really. We must also lower the contrast from the main light, and so the ‘don’t light the ear’ rule is out the window. The main light will have to be moved to be more on the camera axis to help the neck problem. Yes, I know, this is a gotcha. The downstage ear is now lit. But we are not finished! When we went to the host, he was not lit anywhere near what we expected – a main light from the textbook position. He ended up in two cross lights of equal intensity and no pleasing face light. Not only did he appear cross-eyed, but his picture – being seriously unmatched to the guest’s lighting (notwithstanding the neck problem) – gave a conflicting sense of place. With only the background to tie the two shots together, the two could have been on different planets. I am truly at a loss as to why this occurred. The cure for the solution to these problems is simple. Any standard setup should be considered as a starting point, not fully developed and something to be improved upon. Unanticipated problems should be expected. The setup as well as the personality of the lighting man should have built-in flexibility to accommodate corrective adjustments as problems are realised. Nothing should be assumed to be fixed in stone or automatic. Accept the fact that most critical moments will be just before you roll or go live. Don’t go for coffee until after the shoot.

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Sponsor news

Sponsors: don’t miss out on being featured here. Email your news to sponsornews@stld.org.uk for inclusion in the next issue of Set & Light.

AC-ET

AC-ET launch dedicated film & TV division

A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd have launched their new sales division, A.C. Film & TV. They showcased the division’s portfolio of specialist brands and related services at the PLASA 2015 Show on 4 October. Products within this division include Chroma-Q®, Fiilex, MoleRichardson, ARRI, Jands, Manfrotto, Avenger and LumenRadio, among others. Drawing on the company’s extensive experience supplying to this sector, the new division has been formed to offer a comprehensive one-stop inventory of lighting and related equipment solutions for film, television, studio and location applications. A.C. Film & TV will promote a range of key brands – many of them exclusive to AC-ET in the UK – which have been selected for their class-leading performance and expertise in this market. The portfolio includes a complete range of solutions to meet all users’ LED-based and traditional tungsten, HMI or fluorescent lighting needs. For applications requiring the latest energy-efficient, easy-to-use LED sources, the award-winning Chroma-Q® Studio Force Phosphor™ range provides a beautifully soft, even light source with a massive output, available in a choice of colour temperatures. For location work, the Fiilex hard light source range utilises multiple colours of LEDs to produce a fuller spectrum than is traditionally experienced from single colour LED light sources. The high-quality, colour-tuneable light output produces exceptional colour rendition on camera. All models run off standard V-Loc batteries, come with a versatile accessories kit, and range in size to suit different applications. For film lighting applications, Mole-Richardson have taken their vast experience in traditional tungsten-source Fresnels and Spacelites to create a range of LED-based models producing comparable outputs to their traditional tungsten source equivalents, yet consuming up to 80 per cent less power. The brand’s full range of traditional lighting models is also available. A.C. Film & TV also provide a range of studio lighting and 32

Set & Light | Winter 2015

control solutions, including the multiaward-winning Jands Stage CL console for extremely simple control of LED systems, and the award-winning Jands Vista console range for more sophisticated, multiple light source setups. In addition, the award-winning LumenRadio range of wireless DMX and RDM lighting control products is also available. A.C. Film & TV also offer an extensive catalogue of grip equipment, including Manfrotto’s vast range of lighting support solutions, and Avenger range of equipment meeting the strictest quality standards and performance criteria demanded by the cine market. In addition, the division stocks a full range of all popular and leading-brand consumables. AC-ET’s Cable Express service provides fast delivery on specialised and custom cable assemblies such as Powerlock, BAC, Socapex and Head to Ballast extension cables. Other services include Gel Express for speedy supply of colour effect and lighting correction filters, and Lamp Express for fast delivery of replacement tungsten, discharge and other lamps at competitive prices. Other consumables and accessories available include textiles and fabrics, gaffer, camera tape, sash, croc clips, plugs, sockets, smoke fluids and replacement Fresnel lenses up to 625mm. Contact the company now to discuss how the A.C. Film & TV division can help you achieve your aspirations on +44 (0)1494 446000, sales@ac-et.com or visit www.ac-et.com to access a dedicated film and TV division section on the company’s website.

AMBERSPHERE Lighting the locomotives is a teamwork triumph at National Railway Museum

The Great Hall at the National Railway Museum at York was the singularly impressive location for the seventh annual Locos in a Different Light competition. Sponsored jointly by Ambersphere Solutions and Pulsar Light of Cambridge, the aim is to challenge six teams of students from different colleges across the UK who are studying technical lighting at Further and Higher Education levels, to each light one of the iconic locomotives in the museum’s Great Hall. Each team is given a selection of lighting fixtures, an MA dot2 console and two hours to rig and programme their chosen design. Even for those not smitten by the sight and smell of these gigantic engines, there can be no doubting the very real challenge of successfully illuminating one of these heaving beasts of yesteryear. With a limited number of fixtures, and with some of the locomotives up to 60m in length, not to mention being a 360-degree canvas to cover, the teams had a real challenge on their hands. To guide them on their way were Chris West,

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Compiled by Emma Thorpe – sponsornews@stld.org.uk

Pictured: Students from York College and Stratford scooped first prize for their lighting design for the Pannier Tank engine from The Railway Children (Copyright: Paul Kingston, North News)

Ambersphere’s Training & Support Manager, and Dave Cowan, International Sales Manager for the architectural & entertainment department at Pulsar. A busy day began with an introductory talk from Chris and Dave. The teams were each allocated a locomotive: this year, there were four steam engines, ranging from the smaller Aerolite and Pannier Tank to the massive streamlined forms of Duchess of Hamilton and Winston Churchill. From the diesel age is the Western Fusilier and, finally, the 1st generation Eurostar train. Each team was given a set of lights from Pulsar and Ambersphere that comprised a combination of static architectural LED floodlights, battens and a PowerPix from Pulsar, and moving fixtures from Ambersphere: Clay Paky K20 Washes and NandoBeams and MagicDots from Ayrton. There were also a selection of generic lights and a six-way dimmer pack if they wished to use them. After a generous lunch kindly provided by the National Railway Museum, each team was given a timed tutorial by Chris and Dave, explaining the features of all the fixtures and showing each one in action. Dave was careful to describe the possibilities of each one. Then Chris spent the second stage of the tutorial running through the basics of the MA dot2 console and demonstrating how best to use the board to achieve their planned design. The rest of the afternoon saw huddled groups of students looking over their allocated locomotive and then scribbling

apace as they came up with a design. At 6pm the museum closed to the public and the teams began a frenetic couple of hours putting their ideas into practice, watched over by West, Cowan and their accompanying tutors. “We are there to smooth any technical difficulties they may run into,” explains Cowan, “not to make any design suggestions. It is a real privilege to see how the students perform. You often see kit being utilised in a really fresh and innovative fashion as they are not influenced by years of conventional perspective on what to use where.” “I jumped at the chance to be a part of this,” says West, “and not simply because these machines present such a unique challenge. In a few years, some of these students may well be clients looking to invest in hardware or designing for productions that use our fixtures.” The results proved their adherence to the guidelines and enthusiasm for the competition: Rose Bruford College used their colour choices to highlight the Winston Churchill as the locomotive that carried the great statesman home to Blenheim after his funeral in London. Their gobo was handmade from a drinks can. The University of South Wales had some distro issues with lighting the huge length of the Duchess of Hamilton but used their lights to delicately emphasise the art deco design of the locomotive. But proving that teamwork was the all-round winner of the day, it was a hybrid group of students from York College and Stratford Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Sponsor news

who scooped first prize, using the dot2 to programme a sequence of different lighting scenes on the Pannier Tank engine that starred in the film The Railway Children.

ANNA VALLEY Anna Valley work closely with Blueprint Partners on prestigious ChildLine Ball

London’s Old Billingsgate was lit up using the latest state-ofthe-art technology for the annual ChildLine Ball in partnership with the NSPCC. The event, which was sponsored by Suzuki and raised over £920K on the night, was hosted by Ant & Dec, with special guests Clare Balding, Stephen Mulhern and 1980s music act Doctor and The Medics. Blueprint Partners, the production team behind the highly successful project, once again chose to work exclusively with Anna Valley, the leading AV rental specialists for the broadcast and events sector, for their camera, projection and LED requirements to create outstanding visual effects. The equipment included a central showpiece screen measuring 4.3m by 4.3m in AV4 LED, complemented by a further two side screens utilising four Panasonic 21K projectors. Anna Valley also supplied a five-channel camera systems PPU, playback vision mixers and Barco screen pro switchers, which are regularly being featured in high-end productions around the UK and Europe.

Shooting Partners Ltd in management buyout: founders to remain with business

Shooting Partners Ltd, the industry’s leading broadcast and displays integration and rental supplier, has been sold by its founders Phil White and Sue Robinson to a team of six of its directors and senior managers in a strategic management buyout. The business, which owns Anna Valley Ltd as well as Shooting Partners, has been bought by Steve Jones, Nick Hart, Mark Holdway, Peter Jones, Tim Oliver and Shaun Wilton, who are all directors of the new company, Shooting Partners Holdings. Phil and Sue will remain within the business, continuing to take an active role in the company. Steve, who leads the team, said: “It is business as usual. Even though the ownership of the business has changed, this will not have any impact on our customers, service or relationships. We have all been closely involved with the management and operation of the business for many years and have been preparing for this change for many months, so we are confident of achieving a seamless transition.”

Shooting Partners is the market-leading supplier of cameras for hire to the TV and film industries and numberone studio displays integrator in the broadcast market. Anna Valley is the leading AV rental specialist for the broadcast and conferences/events sectors, working with major broadcasters and production companies. Among the projects it has supplied equipment for are Sports Personality of the Year, The X Factor grand final and the BBC General Election studio.

ARRI ALEXA 65 hits theatres with Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

The first production to use ARRI Rental’s ALEXA 65 largeformat digital camera system has hit theatres: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. Primarily shot with 35mm film cameras by Academy Award® winner Robert Elswit, ASC, the fifth installment of the successful blockbuster spy series features a major underwater sequence, which was captured with prototype ALEXA 65 cameras in special HydroFlex housings by Pete Romano, ASC. Elswit, Romano and their crew spent a month shooting the scenes in the underwater tank at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden earlier this year. Romano advocated for the ALEXA 65 to maximise image quality for the heavy visual effects. The ALEXA 65 workflow, developed with key technology partner Codex and based on the Vault platform, consisted of ARRI Rental’s purpose-configured Vault S utilised for on-set QC and local backup to eight TB transfer drives. The transfer drives were then shuttled to Company 3 in Soho, London, for processing out to full resolution, uncompressed ARRIRAW 65mm format images by ARRI Rental’s high-performance version of the Vault XL, the Lab 65, which was linked into Company 3’s dailies and archival infrastructure. Available exclusively through ARRI Rental, a global network of ARRI equipment rental facilities, the ALEXA 65 is being used on a number of high-profile productions that are due for release in theatres over the coming months.

New high-speed ballasts for high-speed filming Pictured from left: Shaun Wilton, Peter Jones, Steve Jones, Tim Oliver, Nick Hart and Mark Holdway

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ARRI introduces the EB 12/18 HS and EB 6/9 HS AutoScan ballasts, allowing easy, flicker-free, extreme slow-motion

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filming with discharge lamps in the 9kW, 12kW and 18kW power classes. With digital cameras now capable of filming at frame rates of 200fps and beyond without any sacrifice of image quality, sophisticated new lighting tools are required for high-speed shooting. Earlier this year ARRI announced the EB 12/18 HS: a new high-speed ballast that allows 12kW and 18kW discharge lamps to be used at frame rates exceeding 1,000fps. As the first ballast of its kind, the EB 12/18 HS offers a new autoscan mode that scans the lamp and determines the frequency that will minimise light fluctuation. Requiring very little effort, this advanced feature sets the optimum lamp frequency according to each specific setup, since the behaviour of discharge lamps may change with the tilt angle and the number of burn hours. Since the introduction and rapid industry take-up of ARRI’s M90 M-Series lamphead, the 9kW power class has become the new standard for high-powered daylight fixtures. Following many customer requests, ARRI is now offering the popular autoscan mode in the 9kW class with its new EB 6/9 HS AutoScan ballast. Users of both the EB 12/18 HS and EB 6/9 HS AutoScan ballasts can select between fully automatic operations (autoscan) and manual frequency control (man), or combine manual frequency setting with automatic monitoring and adjustment (automan). Well-established features such as Active Line Filter (ALF) and DMX control are also included. For maximum ease of use, the indicators on the ballasts’ front panels display the lamp wattage, DMX channel, operation mode and the selected lamp frequency.

New accessories for the SkyPanel family of LED soft lights

SkyPanel is a versatile family of compact and fully tuneable LED soft lights, introduced at NAB this year. The S60 is the mid-range model, while the S30 is smaller and more portable. Both are available in fully colour controllable (C) and remote phosphor (RP) versions. New accessories now greatly enhance the light controllability, mounting options, portability and application possibilities of these groundbreaking LED lights.

New tools and features for the Electronic Control System

The Electronic Control System (ECS) is a complete, modular toolset for wireless remote control not just of ARRI cameras and lenses, but literally any camera and any lens. Alongside free software update packets (SUPs) for the Wireless Compact Unit WCU-4 and Universal Motor Controller UMC-4, ARRI is introducing the new CLM-5 lens motor and an on-board monitor mount for the WCU-4. For more information, visit www.arri.com

AURORA Aurora Lighting Hire proudly return to the studio with Lighting Director Chris Rigby for premier BBC music show,

Later... with Jools Holland. Recorded in front of a live audience at The Maidstone Studios, Later is serious about its music, and key consideration is given to the lighting throughout all aspects of the production. With the studio audience instructed to wear dark clothing so not to detract from the performance, the brief for the show is to allow the music to speak for itself and for the lighting to subtly complement, rather than overpower the musical content. To achieve the range of looks required to accompany the eclectic mix of artists and musical styles, Aurora has provided Chriswith a range of automated heads and a selection of LEDs that allow the versatility to illuminate both the ‘floating’ set pieces and the stage floor, whether it be large-scale rock or an intimate choral performance. The installation features over 100 automated heads, including Martin MAC 575 and Vari Lite VL300 spots, which allow Chris the creative freedom to quickly shift between moods. Martin MAC Aura Washes and Rush PAR 2s assist in illuminating the minimalist set, while the LD added Clay Paky Goldenscan HPE for classic ice-cold HMI beams that dissect the layers of colour. Aurora also supplied a host of LED fixtures, plus Martin’s MAC Quantum Wash – both of which help the company fulfill its commitment to seeking out energy-efficient solutions compatible with the Albert sustainability programme. Now in its 47th season, Later... with Jools Holland remains a flagship vehicle for some of the worlds finest and farreaching musical performance.

Aurora join with LD Chris Rigby for new series of Chatty Man

Aurora Lighting Hire have returned to the studio with awardwinning Lighting Director Chris Rigby for the new series of Alan Carr: Chatty Man. Recorded in front of a live audience at the ITV London Studios, Chris has used a variety of light sources across the stage to perfectly complement the stylishly decadent set. Versatility is key throughout the installation, with proceedings staying clear and bright in Alan’s sofa area, while the audience also remain illuminated. Additionally, a ‘rock and roll’ approach has been taken to lighting up the weekly musical performances. To help keep things looking suitably glamorous, Aurora supplied an extensive LED package, which has been integrated throughout the interview area. Pulsar Chromabatten 300 and Chromastrip X3s have also been incorporated to light up the set pieces, with Martin Aura Wash units hung overhead to provide additional wash to the set flats. The live stage has been fitted out with a selection of Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Pictured: Chroma-Q Color Force 48 and 72 LED Battens

automated fixtures, including Martin Viper Profiles and Rush MH3s, which give the LD the necessary flexibility to create individual moods that complement the show’s eclectic mix of performances. Alan Carr: Chatty Man is currently airing on Channel 4 on Fridays at 10pm.

Mack back with a quack

Aurora return to the studio with LD Oli Richards for SKY 1’s new series of Duck Quacks Don’t Echo. Quick-fire comedian Lee Mack is back on prime-time screens with a new series of the popular factfinding panel show. Filmed live in front of a studio audience, Oli is taking care of the lighting installation, with assistance from Crew Chief David ‘Frankie’ Francis. Set Designer Markus Blee has created the backdrop to the show, using an array of pictorial acrylic blocks arranged to form a cascading effect. Aurora worked closely with the designer to populate the boxes with hundreds of metres of LED ribbon, adding colour and depth to the set pieces. Elsewhere, to wash the set, Aurora supplied Martin MAC Auras augmented with a selection of Viper Performances that add versatility with their superb framing and focusing capabilities. Martin Rush Pars are also included in the installation to keep the audience illuminated during camera sweep and wide-angle shots.

Aurora help serve up an extra slice of The Great British Bake Off

Aurora Lighting provide all the ingredients for Lighting Director Oli Richards at The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice. Following the success of the BBC phenomenon that is The Great British Bake Off, Jo Brand has been welcoming a panel of guests each week to enjoy An Extra Slice of cake related discussion. Filmed with Love Productions in front of a live audience at The London Studios, An Extra Slice reflects on the week’s baking, with guest interviews with departing contestants, 36

Set & Light | Winter 2015

behind-the-scenes clips and a selection of audience-based cake-related triumphs and disasters. To help lighten up the serving, Aurora have provided Oli with an array of Martin Auras and Viper Performances, which are kept fresh by Moving Light Operator David Francis and Tech Simon Willet. The show features a number of set practical pendants, which have added an atmospheric homely warmth to the installation. Meanwhile, to help slim down the power requirement, Aurora have also supplied low-energy LED ribbon fixtures, which Production Designer Markus Blee has blended and mixed into his kitchen creation.

CHROMA-Q Chroma-Q Color Force LED battens provide premium performance for Full Circle Lighting Atlanta’s clients

Chroma-Q® Color Force™ premium performance LED battens have been added to the inventory of Atlanta-based Full Circle Lighting & Productions. Full Circle is a leading provider of theatrical lighting equipment, production support and design services to companies throughout the United States. Full Circle’s President, Noah Hammer worked closely with Chroma-Q’s North American distributor, A.C. Lighting Inc, on the investment, which included 48-inch and 72-inch long battens from the versatile and comprehensive Color Force LED lighting solutions range. Featuring a radically increased RGBA colour-mixing palette, the Color Force range provides outstanding colour blend across the spectrum and a high CRI of 92 for equally impressive bold saturates, subtle pastels and a complete range of beautiful whites from 1,000K to 10,000K. The super-bright fixture can light a 26ft drop cyclorama, making it ideal as a single-fixture solution for concert touring, corporate events, exhibitions, television and theatre. In addition, the range offers theatrical grade dimming, emulating the extremely smooth dimming curve of tungsten fixtures, from completely off to completely on, and with no visible stepping or jerkiness. The Chroma-Q range of premium performance solutions is designed and built to exacting standards in North America,

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and has been adopted by many leading designers and specifiers for some of today’s most demanding and prestigious lighting applications. As a result of this, the brand has received awards from several industry associations.

CIRRO LITE Kino Flo goes wireless, updates colour and expands portable line

Kino Flo’s Celeb 201, 401 and 401Q LED fixtures take a step forward with an updated Kelvin scale from 2,700K to 6,500K and a built-in LumenRadio wireless link. The family of new LED softlights marry the best of the Celeb LED’s flicker-free colour and dimming controls, with the versatility and artistic quality of the Academy Awardwinning 4Bank, Double and Single lighting systems. Like all Kino Flos, the new portable LEDs deliver the same cinematic texture, colour subtleties and contrast from intimate closeups to wall-to-wall production sets. Kino Flo’s newest Diva-Lite is ready to ship. Devotees of the Kino Flo’s leading field production lighting fixtures, the Diva-Lite, will be able place orders for the new Diva-Lite 415 Universal (100VAC-230VAC). The light has lost some weight and the electronics have been streamlined for improved operation on any power source, from 100VAC to higher voltage markets Kino Flo’s award-winning fluorescent lights have also been improved, including – on display for the first time at IBC – the new Image 87 & 47, the new Imara S100 & S60 and the new ParaZip 415 & 215 fixtures, all with power factor correction and universal power input. All Kelvin-variable Celeb and portable LEDs promise more lumens per Watt without sacrificing Kino Flo’s signature True Match® colour (CRI 95) and soft light aesthetic, while new, enhanced electronics update the line’s classic Kinos to a refined level of efficiency on par with the company’s LED lighting products. Kino Flo Lighting Systems designs, manufactures and sells the largest selection of cool, energy-efficient luminaires in the motion picture and television production industry. All Kino Flo lighting systems and fixtures, are made in Burbank, California, USA.

CLAY PAKY Clay Paky welcomes Alfonso Zarate Takano

Alfonso Zarate Takano is the new Clay Paky Area Manager for the Asia Pacific region (APAC), comprising all countries in the Far East, South Asia and Oceania. He will report operationally to Sales Manager Alberico D’Amato, and is based at the OSRAM offices in Singapore. “The markets in Asia and Oceania are growing fast, and the appointment of Alfonso is a strategic move to ensure a constant fixed local presence,” said Alberico. “It will now be easier for Clay Paky to visit customers in the region and provide top-class timely technical and commercial support.” Alfonso was born in Peru, but has lived for many years in Japan and in Singapore and speaks English, Spanish and Japanese. He has excellent technical experience in the industry, having worked for important manufacturers of stage and architecture lighting, as well as detailed knowledge of customers in the region. Alfonso has already been to Clay Paky for a training course, where he had the opportunity to study the corporate guidelines and all the company products. He has been operational in the region since July 2015, where he has already visited all the main local Clay Paky distributors, with whom he will be working closely to optimise product promotion and marketing. At his main international appointments, Alfonso will always be accompanied by a Clay Paky sales support engineer. The entire Clay Paky team offers Alfonso their best wishes on his appointment!

Clay Paky Mythos fixtures shine on Lighting Designer Matt Ford’s reality television projects

Clay Paky Mythos has become the go-to fixture for Lighting Designer Matt Ford, who recently deployed Mythos on truTV’s Fake Off, The CW’s Penn & Teller: Fool Us and NBC’s Food Fighters. Ford is President of Magic Lantern Creations, an entertainment lighting company in Woodland Hills, California. A.C.T Lighting, Inc is the exclusive distributor of Clay Paky fixtures in North America. Ford was introduced to Mythos at a demo held at A.C.T Lighting, where he felt he found the answer to his need for a fixture that combined Clay Paky Sharpy effects with a hardedged gobo fixture. Ford also finds Mythos easy to use oncamera for television shows. Ford rents his Mythos fixtures exclusively from PRG. Fake Off, now in its second season on cable’s truTV, is a reality competition show where contestants recreate and reimagine moments in popular culture in 90-second routines. Contestants perform elaborately-staged production numbers. Ford explains: “Typically, we might rehearse an hour for a variety show or spend an hour programming the show, but for Fake Off we spend upwards of two to three hours per group. Instead of five to eight cues per number, Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Pictured: The opening ceremony of the 2015 Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament, which took place on 21 June, was purely a Clay Paky affair in terms of lighting, featuring 24 Clay Paky Mythos, among other fixtures

we get 30–40 cues in 90 seconds, so it’s almost like Broadway adapted for TV.” Penn & Teller: Fool Us is also a reality competition series now airing on The CW. Contestants try to stump the famed magicians with magic tricks of their own. Ford has several dozen Mythos fixtures on this show too, using them as floor lights that serve as mid-ground elements with the set in the background. Food Fighters, a reality-based cooking competition that pits a home chef against five pros, just began its second season on NBC. Ford upgraded the existing design with eight Mythos on the big, two-level kitchen set: the home chef works in the upper-level kitchen and the pros cook in the kitchen below.

Clay Paky illuminate the NAS Sports Tournament Opening Ceremony

Protec supplied HQ Creative with lighting, video and rigging for the opening ceremony of the 2015 Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament, held at NAS Sports Complex on 21 June. The lighting aspect of the event was created using 24 Clay Paky Mythos and 14 Clay Paky A.leda B-Eye K10, working together alongside the Sharpy, Sharpy Wash 330 and Super Sharpy, making it a purely Clay Paky fixture list. The venue had to function as a sports arena post-show, so the design had to take this into account, staying out of the way of overhead house lighting so as not to form shadows for the TV sports broadcast or interfere with the games being played below. The stage had to be lit for TV as well as a live audience. A balance was needed between what looked good on TV and, more importantly, the theatrics for the live audience and His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai.

Clay Paky delivers ‘maximum versatility’ on Sky Arts Sessions

Clay Paky Mythos, Sharpy, Alpha Spot HPE 300 and Sharpy Wash 330 fixtures are performing crucial lighting roles during filming of season two of music show Sky Arts Sessions, allowing Sky TV Lighting Designer Richard Bowles to create fresh and dynamic looks for the varying acts in each episode. Filming so far has seen performances from the likes of Django Django, Gaz Coombes from Supergrass and The 38

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Vaccines, with not only each act requiring significantly different lighting looks but also each of their tracks. Supplied by Richard Martin Lighting (RML), Bowles chose the 12 Mythos, eight Alpha Spot HPE 300, 24 Sharpy Wash 330 and six Sharpy fixtures to meet the versatility requirement. Bowles has positioned the Sharpy Wash 330s in a horseshoe formation, mirroring the shape of the set. Additional Sharpy Wash 330s are applied as backlighting. The award-winning Mythos fixtures are placed at various heights at the rear of the studio, delivering both absorbing gobo effects and tight pencil beams to complement the Sharpy floor package. Bowles would like to thank RML and Ambersphere for their invaluable help in supporting this production. Also, Lighting Programmers Alan Boyd and Andrew Harris for their speed of operation, even with acts changing songs at the last minute.

ETC ETC mourns Bullen Lagerbielke

ETC is morning the loss of Pontus ‘Bullen’ Lagerbielke, who passed away following a battle against cancer. A professional lighting designer, console programmer and media server wizard, he truly loved working in this industry. He was an extremely valued member of the ETC Cobalt development team and was also involved in the development of Congo. Sarah Clausen, who was a close personal friend as well as colleague, says: “Bullen has been an incredibly valuable contributor to the development of ETC lighting control products. He brought real-world production experience to the table every time we discussed the further development of both families, and through his wisdom affected every Congo and Cobalt user’s experience in a positive way. “He was well known as a teacher and as a support resource for all users in Sweden. Bullen was a pioneer among European lighting designers in embracing moving lights and media server technology for large music productions. His knowledge and experience are thought by his colleagues to stem from an abundance of creativity and patience, insatiable curiosity and a will to cross technical and artistic boundaries, not least in his grim and purposeful sense of humour. “He is fondly remembered for his pragmatic approach and will to fearlessly bring beta software on tour to test its limits. He will be remembered for his passion for the art of lighting and high professionalism, as much as his humour, great personality and friendship.” He will be sorely missed.

ETC packs ColorSource PAR off to school

Staff and students at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (RCSSD) in London became the first users in Europe of the award-winning ColorSource® PAR from ETC, when they used it for a show at the beginning of the year. The school used the fixtures on their musical theatre production of Big City Dreams, performed by students on its MA Music Theatre course. The production ran over three days in Central’s Webber Douglas Studio, a black-box studio theatre with fixed lighting catwalks, which allow for flexibility, both in terms of design and staging. The ColorSource PAR mixes the red, green and blue LEDs found in traditional low-budget fixtures, and adds a lime-green emitter and a little extra red to obtain rich, natural, flattering light. The ColorSource PAR was awarded Product of the Year at the ABTT show in June, with the judges commenting that they provided an application for situations where quality colour-changing LED optical fixtures might have previously been out of budget, but where increased sustainability and improved run costs are desired. They added that they were particularly impressed with the smooth dimming and high light output.

ETC reveals 2015 LDI Student Sponsorship recipients

Every year ETC invites students with an interest in lighting design and stage technology from around the world to apply for the company’s annual LDI Sponsorship as a part of its commitment to nurturing young people looking to launch professional careers in the industry. Sponsorship recipients – five from North America and two international students – are awarded an all-expense-paid trip to the 2015 LDI tradeshow in Las Vegas in October, in addition to receiving exclusive ETC swag, backstage access to ETC’s show stand and newest products, and will get to attend a special networking reception with the industry’s leading professionals. Each student is also paired with a lighting designer mentor, who will offer them guidance and support for one full year in order to help them get their fledgling careers of the ground. The recipients of the 2015 LDI Student Sponsorship are: Tiana Alderson – Currently working on her master’s degree in lighting design at the University of Florida, Tiana recently completed her bachelor of arts from Biola University in 2010. She has extensive experience in lighting design and has designed shows such as William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, Noises Off, The Diary of Anne Frank, Metamorphosis, In the Next Room, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Odd Couple, and many more. Tiana has also twice won the Special Achievement in Design and Technical Production Award from Fullerton College. Kolby Clarke – Studying theatre and speech education at Brigham Young University, Kolby graduated magna cum laude in 2013. He is currently pursuing a master of fine arts in stage design from Southern Methodist University and is expected to graduate in May 2017. Kolby has designed lights Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Arts. In addition to lighting design, Lee has experience in stage management and art direction for film. She has designed lights for venues such Comedian Workshop, the National Theater of Taipei, the National Grand Theater of China, Cuadro Flamenco Dance, and the Solo Taiwan Theatre Company. Her specific show credits include Other People’s Money, The Importance of Being Earnest, Like Father, Like Son, Lonely Island and L’Elisir d’Amore. Markus Fadum – Currently earning his bachelor of arts in lighting design from Rose Bruford College in London, Markus has already had significant experience designing for a variety of performance types, including theatrical productions, live concerts, art installations and dance performances in Manchester and London, England, and Norway. Most notably, he was chosen as the lighting designer for Arcola Theatre’s Creative Engagement 2015 Season as well as A Triptech in the Cities for the Hoxton Gallery. His other favourite projects include Tree of Codes: a dance piece in collaboration with Rob Halliday and Olafur Eliasson, and The Beauty Above: a lighting installation that drew attention to light pollution around the world. Markus is expected to graduate in 2016. for many shows including Burial at Thebes, The Tempest, Over the River and Through the Woods, Bielzy and Gottfried, and has co-designed for The Mikado. He has worked with venues such as the Utah Symphony, the African American Repertory Theater, Kitchen Dog Theater and the Dallas Actor’s Lab. Lynsey Manley – Lynsey received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southeastern Louisiana University in general studies with a concentration in theatre in December 2013. She is currently working on a master of fine arts in theatre and lighting design from the University of Houston and is expected to graduate in 2017. Lynsey has worn many hats in her theatrical career, including technical director, master electrician, stage manager, video programmer, carpenter and, of course, lighting designer. Production credits include The Miser, Insecta, The Liar, Playboy of the Western World, Our Town, Blood Wedding, The Bacchae, Seven Deadly Sins, ’Night Mother and many more. Keenan Molner – Keenan is currently a graduate student studying electrical engineering at Stanford University after completing his undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering and theatre. His interests lie in the intersection of technology and design. Keenan would like to pursue a career developing tools and technologies for other theatre designers and artists to use. He has designed shows at Stanford, Zip Zap Circus School and for various theatre companies around the San Francisco Bay Area. He has also previously done engineering work in the television and film industry for Sumolight GmbH. Lee Pei-Hsuan – Originally from Taipei, Taiwan, Le Pei-Hsuan received her bachelor’s degree from Fu Jen Catholic University in 2010 and is currently studying to receive her master of fine arts from Taipei National University of the 40

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Megan Winter – After graduating in 2007 with a bachelor of science in theatre arts with a German language minor from North Dakota State University, with an emphasis in theatre technology and lighting design, Megan began her master of fine arts in theatrical lighting technology and design in 2013 at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Megan has been focusing on all roles pertinent to the realisation of a lighting design: that of an electrician, a master electrician, a programmer, an assistant lighting designer and, finally, as a designer. She will graduate in spring 2016. Professional electrician and programmer credits include Dreigroschenoper at the Cologne Theatre and Cipollino at the Cologne Opera. Megan was master electrician for the Great River Shakespeare Festival’s 2015 Season: Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet and The Glass Menagerie. Professional designer credits include Weiße Rose at the Cologne Chamber Opera and Ship of Fools at the Interact Theatre Company.

HSL HSL extends the family

Leading European lighting and visuals rental company HSL, based in Blackburn, is delighted to announce that GLS Lighting is joining the group in an exciting and invigorating new partnership that further expands the dynamic reach of HSL’s operation. The union sees GLS’s very successful and well-established Southampton-based business – which is celebrating its 20th year – continue to function exactly as it is but with access to HSL’s vast resources of equipment, personnel, knowledge, expertise, backup and support. The day-to-day operation will further benefit from sharing HSL’s administration infrastructure. Simon emphasises that there are numerous synergies

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between the two companies, and that fundamental to the deal is that ‘all the things that have made GLS a respected, distinctive, stand-out rental company and such a hit with its clients will continue’. This is part of HSL’s planned medium-term commercial strategy, built on solid partnerships and embracing an innovative, creative and lateral business model, which unites and energises talented people and great teamwork into delivering the best tour, show and event productions. This will help shape and drive HSL forward over the next decade. It also gives HSL the massive geographical advantage of now having a facility located on the South Coast, in addition to the Blackburn HQ and the satellite operations in Belfast and Dublin. This will further streamline HSL’s physical structure, provide more opportunities for growth and be an ideally placed operational base to service London, the South of England and Wales, as well as parts of Western Europe with access to nearby ports.

HSL extends the family with Video Illusions

Blackburn-based lighting and visuals rental company HSL underlines its commitment to providing full video production and touring packages to its clients by announcing a strategic working partnership with live event video designers and specialists, Video Illusions. Based in Canterbury, Kent, Video Illusions was formed in 2006 by brothers Dave and Nick Whiteoak and has rapidly built a reputation for imaginative and innovative video solutions – from hardware to content creation – for all sectors of the entertainment industry, encompassing live music, touring, theatre productions, special events, corporates, sports competitions, etc. Prior to this, Dave and Nick started their industry careers as freelancers working in the world of corporate AV on high-profile events, which constantly opened doors to new and interesting projects. Simultaneously, they were honing their live video and VJ’ing skills, which were unleashed on the underground club scene, working with a series of cool collaborators, including a collective called ‘Inside Us All’. This is when they also started purchasing kit and offering bespoke show designs. Recent clients have included the Arcadia Spectacular, Nitro Circus, Gravity Thailand, Knife Party and many others, including a project involving Chase & Status, David Rodigan and Shy FX, which won last year’s Red Bull Sound Clash.

On the equipment front, this special collaboration gives HSL access to a full range of HD camera and projector packages, PPUs, switching and processing and an additional 400 square metres of LED screens, as well as production facilities. On top of that, there’s the vast fund of experience brought to the party by Dave and Nick, as well as the effervescent creativity, infectious enthusiasm and zeal for their work. In turn, Video Illusions can use over 500 square metres of HSL’s LED video screen, which has been purchased in the last two years, plus a massive amount of softLED products and an enormous rigging department. Between the two companies, all the popular tour and event media server platforms, including AI, Catalyst and Green Hippo, are supported. The alliance with Video Illusions encompasses all elements of the HSL Group, including PSI in Ireland and GLS in Southampton, which will also have access to the additional resources.

HSL invests £2 million in new lighting kit

Leading UK lighting and visual rental specialist HSL has invested over £2 million in new lighting kit – primarily moving lights, LED fixtures and control – to help service its busy summer season. The addition of over 500 moving lights and 400 additional LED products brings HSL’s current available moving light inventory to one of the largest in the UK and also supports and includes all the top brands. The new moving lights are a combination of products from premium brands Robe, SGM, Martin by Harman, Ayrton, GLP and Philips. Forty SGM G-Spots join the HSL stock – an IP-rated fixture perfect for outdoor shows. The new SGM P2 has also been added to complement the ever-increasing range of IP-rated units in the architectural lighting rental division. Joining the already extensive stock of Robe luminaires are 30 DLX LED Spots, 60 DLF LED Washes and 40 DLS Profiles. There are also another 20 new Robe MMX Blades and 10 MMX Spots, coupled with over 80 Robe Cyc FX8 and 16 of the very latest DL4Xs. Boosting HSL’s Martin moving light count are 25 MAC Viper Performances and 12 Viper DXs, together with 24 MAC Aura XB LED washes. Set & Light | Winter 2015

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markets, we’re looking forward to building up our current customer base and bring the many brands and products we represent to these areas.”

LEE FILTERS Zircon filters

They have also purchased 30 GLP X4 LED washes and 70 Ayrton Blades. The latter went out with The Prodigy on their summer festival rig, specified by LD Andy Hurst, together with 300m of the new Martin Sceptron VDO 10mm LED strips also bought for Andy’s innovative design for electro gurus, Faithless. The Philips range of Showline products continues to expand in numbers within the HSL Group, with over 150 new Showline SL350 Wash units joining the already-strong line-up of Showline products currently available, which includes SL640 LED Battens and another 120 SL150 LED Pars. With all these new fixtures rocking-up at the warehouse in Blackburn, HSL also needed to boost their stock of lighting consoles, including six new High End Road Hog Full Boar consoles, four Road Hogs and four Hog 4s. Two Avolites Sapphire Touch consoles with Wings, two Titan Network Processors, four Avo Quartz’s and another four Tiger Touch IIs, and, lastly, two 64 DMX universe Martin M6s. The vast majority of the new kit has gone straight out the door on a huge variety of projects and to rental partners within the group.

With LED lighting now becoming more and more common, LEE Filters has introduced Zircon – a new range of lighting filters that is designed to offer quality, consistency and, above all, durability. It’s no secret that conventional lighting filter struggles with fade times when used in conjunction with LED lighting setups. Zircon filters are able to circumvent this problem thanks to a new technology that gives them an increased lifespan of up to 200 times longer than standard lighting filters. It’s not only their fade-resistant characteristics that distinguish Zircon filters from their more conventional counterparts. They are also easy to handle and fix in place, thanks to being produced on a 180-micron substrate that is more than double the thickness of standard filters. With three types of filter in the range, Zircon filters provide a reliable and durable way of modifying LED lighting: Warm Amber – Designed to correct a variety of white tones, Warm Amber comes in a range of four strengths, so you can find the right one to produce the level of warmth you require. Minus Green – There are five Minus Green filters in the range to allow photographers/cinematographers to remove green colour casts of varying intensities. Diffusion – With three different strengths, the Diffusion filters act to blur pixels when placed in close proximity to the LED chip. Sturdy and long-lasting, the Zircon range sets a new standard in LED lighting filters.

LCA Spencer Newbury joins LCA Lights Camera Action

Lights, Camera, Action is delighted to announce the appointment of Spencer Newbury as International Business Development Manager. Spencer brings a wealth of knowledge of the film, TV and broadcast industry and will help to develop international markets covering Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Working as a lighting technician for 25 years, Spencer has travelled globally advising on his specialty: lighting car commercials for advertising in studio or location. In the last seven years, he developed business for Litepanels in the EMEA and APAC Regions. Managing Director Nick Shapley said: “Spencer is a wellrespected figure and we’re excited he has decided to join our team. With his extensive knowledge of international 42

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PHILIPS Philips Entertainment Lighting sees major install into National Forum of Music

More than 100 Philips Entertainment Lighting products have been installed into the National Forum of Music (NFM): a new, state-of-the-art concert venue in the heart of Wrocław. Dubbed the most advanced facility on Europe’s cultural map, the NFM was conceived as a new home for the

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Pictured: For the 2015 Pan American Games, Martin Labrecque created a hybrid lighting design between theatrical and rock ’n’ roll using 60 VL4000 Spot luminaires from Philips Vari-Lite

majority of Wrocław’s initiatives, productions and artistic projects. Located in the city’s Liberation Square, it is also the headquarters for numerous assemblies, including the Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. Philips distributor PS TEATR was responsible for the delivery and installation of the Philips lighting package, which included multi-featured luminaires from Vari-Lite, Selecon and product line Showline, with PS TEATR’s Marek Gumiński in charge of the project. Fifty tried-and-trusted Philips Vari-Lite VL1100 luminaires were installed as workhorses in the 1,800-capacity concert hall’s rig, alongside 54 Philips Selecon RAMA 150 Fresnel units. In addition, PS TEATR worked alongside the Wrocław Philharmonic to specify a wide range of loose equipment to be used as part of temporary installs for the orchestra and choir’s various events and productions. This included 24 Philips Selecon PLcyc2 RGBW luminaires, 20 Selecon PLprofile3 luminaires, 30 further Vari-Lite units and six of the incredibly popular Showline SL NITRO 510 LED strobes. Commissioned by Andrzej Kosendiak, the Managing Director of the Wrocław Philharmonic and the Wratislavia Cantans International Festival, the NFM’s design was developed by Pracownia Architektury Kuryłowicz and its associates. The building opened on 4 September, just in time for Wrocław to take its place as European Capital of Culture 2016.

Philips Vari-Lite VL4000 Spot Luminaires create a hybrid design at the Pan American Games

As the one of the world’s largest international multi-sport competitions, the 2015 Pan American Games hosted close to 7,000 athletes from across North America, Latin America, South America and the Caribbean. To inaugurate the opening of the games in Toronto, event organisers enlisted the assistance of 45 DEGREES, who brought on Martin Labrecque to oversee the lighting design. Working with Solotech, Labrecque would be challenged to create a hybrid design between theatrical and rock ’n’ roll, and he did so using 60 VL4000 Spot luminaires from Philips Vari-Lite.

Philips Selecon and Showline deliver crucial LED versatility on The Addams Family

Philips Selecon and Showline LED luminaires have performed a range of crucial lighting roles while complementing a traditional tungsten rig on macabre musical The Addams Family at the John McIntosh Arts Theatre in London. The Wimbledon Light Operatic Society production was based on an original story by Jersey Boys authors Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, which has been described as an ‘offbeat take on 19th century gothic’. The plot line is a ghoulish romp, involving ancestors of the family making their annual visit from the grave, only for chaos to ensue. Lighting Designer Paul Flook’s theatrical brief was to Set & Light | Winter 2015

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differentiate between the living and dead characters using coloured light. He added 10 Philips Selecon PLprofile1 luminaires, four PLcyc1 luminaires and eight Philips Showline SL WASH 180 movers to a basic rig, creating a versatile mix of traditional and LED fixtures. As the play did not feature any major set transformations, Flook was also tasked with using lighting to convey change in location. The Philips luminaires were also applied to create looks ranging from the moody and intimate to the bold and vibrant during some of the bigger musical numbers. The Addams Family was co-directed between Helen Flook and Janet Huckle.

PHOTON BEARD New products via Photon Beard

With the launch of our LED Redhead, and the ability for it to be powered via batteries, we have been looking at the battery market. We are pleased to announce a major distribution agreement with DSM Power, who manufacture a range of high-quality batteries for the broadcast market. About DSM Professional Video Camera Power: Established in 1973, our core business was making battery belts and OEM battery packs for cine cameras and lighting. With the invention of portable video and, later, the camcorder, we quickly realised that all video equipment was very power hungry. We responded quickly, by producing a range of long-lasting battery belts with connecting cables to fit every video camera. It was DSM, together with the patent owners of lithium ion technology AEA Technology plc, formerly the Atomic Energy Authority, who made the first Li-ion NP1 batteries. Also, DSM and Keene Electronics, working closely with AEA, produced the first range of commercially available Li-ion chargers. Today, all DSM batteries are Li-ion, spearheaded by our very high-quality, competitively-priced 98 and 160Wh VMount or Gold MountTM batteries, with their accurate five LED fuel gauge and compatibility with most Li-ion V-Lock, VMount or Gold MountTM chargers. We offer a two-year guarantee on our Li-ion batteries, and our charger AC adapter units are guaranteed for three years. DSM battery belts and packs have been selected and successfully used on over 25 Mount Everest expeditions and countless other expeditions to some of the most remote and inhospitable regions of the world. All the major names in TV have DSM batteries. We have invested in state-of -the-art battery test equipment that comprehensively tests each type of battery we produce, at each stage of assembly. The equipment tests the battery protection circuit board functions are working perfectly, including short circuit protection, cut off voltage, over/under temperature protection, over voltage protection and the fuel gauge. Every battery goes through a full test sequence three times before the top of the casing is attached, after the casing is attached and finally after screwing and sonic welding the casing. 44

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PRG PRG in the air and on the ground for VE Day

Production Resource Group (PRG) was proud to provide lighting and rigging equipment to the celebrations in London that marked the 70th anniversary of VE Day – the victory of Allied Forces in Europe and the end of the Second World War. At 9.32pm (BST) on Friday 8 May, PRG’s team lit the capital’s sky with vibrant ‘V’ beams to coincide with the lighting of over 200 beacons around the country in commemoration of the exact moment in 1945 that Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared peace. Requested by Production Manager Chuck Crampton, of Horsepower International, PRG deployed two banks of 16 Icon Beam moving heads at St Paul’s Cathedral and beside Big Ben at the Houses of Parliament, along with two banks of 12 Clay Paky Supersharpy moving beam heads in Trafalgar Square, to replicate the air raid searchlights seen over London during the Blitz. The results were spectacular. PRG account manager Mat Ilott, who worked alongside PRG colleague Mick Healey, says: “When we’re asked to provide equipment for a searchlight application, we normally tend to suggest traditional, large exterior fixtures, but those are very bulky, power-hungry units and we wanted to reduce our footprint by using multiple Icon Beams, which are much smaller but powerful enough to deliver the tight, bright beam that was required.” Exclusively available from PRG, the Icon Beam is a compact beam luminaire that offers rapid, fluid movement with a tight ACL beam producing 10,000 lumens. All of the fixtures were driven by ChamSys MagicQ MQ100 controllers – pre-programmed by Lighting Designer/ Operator Chris Scott at PRG’s East Molesley office – and powered by a single, small generator on a trailer in each location. “We were working on a Friday and Saturday when the city is especially busy. At St Paul’s, we were very conscious of minimising our footprint as much as possible, and likewise at Trafalgar Square. Our choice of equipment was key to maintaining a discreet presence and keeping the local authorities happy. It was the first time we had responded to a brief with a much smaller solution but still achieved at least the desired result, and I think we set a very good standard for future projects.”

A Party to Remember

The ‘V’ beams were also a major element of the BBC’s A Party to Remember concert on Saturday 8 May, which was broadcast live on TV from London’s Horse Guards Parade Ground. Hosted by radio and TV personality Chris Evans, the 1940s-themed spectacle united stars of rock, pop, opera, dance and the movie world in a wave of respectful nostalgia. PRG played a key role in the show, with Project Managers Kelly Cornfield and Mick Healey, along with Crew Chief Dave Hallett, working closely with Event Production Manager Steve Nolan to deliver a lighting and rigging package to LD Dave Davey’s specification. Davey chose a range of well-proven fixtures to light the

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show. They included 25 of his favoured PRG Best Boy Wash, five PRG Bad Boy Spots, Philips Vari-Lite VL5 Arc, VL3000, and VL3500 automated heads, Clay Paky Sharpy Beams and Washes, and a generous helping of LED units in the form of GLP impression X4s and Philips Color Kinetics ColorBlast IWs. Ninety 2-lite Molefay blinders, along with Robert Juliat D’Artagnan 2.5kW HMI and Strong Super Trouper spots, highlighted both the artists and the crowd, while 65 SGM P5 LED wash fixtures lit the historic architecture surrounding the parade ground. The MA Lighting grandMA2 was Davey’s choice of lighting console. Partnering with him were Moving Light Operator Alex Mildenhall and Jack Linaker, who ran the Green Hippo Hippotizer media server. Music from Chas & Dave, Gregory Porter, Status Quo, Alfie Boe, Katherine Jenkins, Blue, Elaine Paige, Pixie Lott, Collabro and others were interspersed with readings by actors Jane Horrocks, Martin Shaw, Richard E. Grant, John Simm and Bernard Cribbins, as well as a special message from Dame Vera Lynn, the original Forces’ Sweetheart, who was unable to attend. Chromatic Productions’ Nolan said: “VE Day 70 was a truly fantastic show to be involved with and something to be really proud of. The stage and set looked amazing and I think the show content properly remembered those few to whom we owe so much. Hopefully those who are too young to remember now have some idea of the sacrifices that were made. PRG provided all of the lighting and rigging for the show and did an absolutely amazing job, supplying a really great crew and a lot of equipment.” The icket sales from the show went to the Royal British Legion.

PRG UK announces new Government-backed live event technician apprenticeship standards

In an effort to support the future growth and success of the live events industry, Production Resource Group (PRG) has announced its participation in the UK Government’s Apprenticeship Trailblazer scheme. The Government has committed to delivering three million apprenticeships by 2020, and is giving employers a greater say in designing high-quality apprenticeships that meet the needs of their respective industries. Trailblazer groups create the standards, which become the blueprints for apprenticeships. PRG has taken the lead on the standard for the new live event technician apprenticeship, supported by AdLib Solutions, Britannia Row Productions, Entec Sound & Light, Fineline Lighting, Hawthorn, HSL Group, LS Live, Neg Earth Lighting, Nitelites, Skan PA, SSE Audio, XL Video, Wigwam Acoustics and White Light. The group has also had substantial involvement from Andy Lenthall, General Manager of the Production Services Association (PSA), who has been central in bringing together all the companies involved, and in helping to write the standard. This standard has been approved and the next step is the creation of the assessment plan, which will detail the highlevel end-point assessment methods to ensure apprentices

are fully competent in their job on completion of their apprenticeship. In addition, PRG are one of the supporting companies for the live event rigger apprenticeship, which has also been approved and announced by the Government. For more information on the live event technician apprenticeship standard, visit https://www.gov.uk/ government/publications/apprenticeship-standard-live-eventtechnician. To find out more about the live event rigger apprenticeship standard, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/apprenticeship-standard-live-event-rigger

PRG extends brand in Germany and UK to include XL Video: Integrated company will be branded PRG XL Video in both countries

PRG, the world’s leading provider of entertainment and event technology solutions, has announced it will extend its branding in Germany and the United Kingdom to integrate the brand of the recently acquired XL Video Group. The integrated companies will be known as PRG XL Video for a transition period while the operations are being merged. PRG will continue to use its brand name in all other countries across Europe and North America. XL Video teams in those territories will be immediately transitioned into the PRG family. “Part of our decision to acquire XL Video was the premier value of its brand in many of our markets,” said Jeremiah J. Harris, PRG’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We recognise that the XL Video name and logo are synonymous with outstanding quality, customer service and technical expertise in some of our territories, equal to that of PRG, and so, after careful consideration, we have decided to operate with integrated branding for a transition period in those locations.” “Our aim when joining the two companies was to create a strong foundation for continued growth,” said Stephan Paridaen, PRG’s President and Chief Operating Officer. “We believe integrated branding in Germany and the United Kingdom is a terrific introduction of our combined capabilities to our customers and markets.”

PULSAR Genprise banked on Pulsar products when it came to illuminating Bahrian Islamic Bank (BiSB)

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BiSB) was established in 1979 as the first Islamic Commercial Bank in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It is an architectural landmark located at the main intersection/junction in the Diplomatic Area. The landmark building now boasts more than 600 Pulsar ChromaRange LED fixtures, comprising of ChromaStrip25, ChromaPowerline 50 and 100, ChromaIn-Ground 50, ChromaStrip X3 around various areas of the building, with TriColour Chroma AR111’s providing the up and down ‘spark’ light on each facade. The products for the scheme were chosen after a competitive process of finding the right solution for the complex brief. MSCEB were carefully selected by the client as the key

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consultant to design a lighting scheme for BiSB that would reflect the values and traditions of the bank, and make the building an iconic feature in an area densely populated with numerous multi-storey buildings housing ministries, legal offices and other government & financial organisations. Genprise Co. W.L.L called on various lighting manufacturers to submit proposals that would do the building justice, highlighting the key features of the building and adding value to the brand. The selected product would also have to be capable of withstanding the extremely harsh climate of the Middle East, coupled with the issues that being so close to the sea brings. While the main elements of the design were easily accommodated by Pulsar, the real value was added by the Pulsar R&D team, who developed a customised fitting for the AR111’s located around the building, following various light tests examining beam-angle and light output. The solution offered by Pulsar was chosen by the client because of its superior light distribution, ability to produce any shade and colour temperature of white, smooth dimming and ability to produce and generate a wide range of effects . Other practical components offered by Pulsar included the integrated cable-management solution of Quicklink: a single lead carrying both power and DMX data that produced a considerable saving on installation time and cost, plus the ability to address and configure the fixtures remotely through PFM (Pulsar Fixture Management). The lights are controlled by ShowCAD Artist software and Pulsar’s data distribution infrastructure of DS5 DataSplitters to the numerous controllers. The project was a joint effort between Pulsar and its consortium partners Genprise Co. W.L.L. The latter projectmanaged the entire operation through efficient resource deployment and co-ordination with tenants and electrical sub-contractors. They also designed the data distribution system methodology based on system specifications. Delta Construction Co. W.L.L., which undertook the

installation of the electrical and mechanical systems (under guidance from Genprise), has been an industry veteran since its establishment more than 30 years ago and is recognised as one of the leading civil, electrical and mechanical contracting companies in Bahrain. Delta Construction were also the chosen sub-contractor when Genprise and Pulsar worked together on the Bahrain World Trade Centre, and for both projects produced high standards of engineering throughout, with zero failure on the first day of commissioning.

e-Luminate wine tasting experiment.

The e-Luminate Cambridge Festival team organised a most unusual experiment to explore whether lighting conditions influence our perceptions. The experiment consisted in tasting wine under different lights in the prestigious Fellows’ Dining Room at Gonville & Caius College. With e-Luminate being in the business of light not wine, the team engaged the services of Mark Anstead from the Cambridgeshire Wine School to host the evening. David Cleevely, Chairman of Cambridge Wireless and Raspberry Pi, said “It was a brilliant evening; very entertaining and an great opportunity to find out more about the work the e-Luminate Foundation does in Cambridge through their educational programme and the light festival.” Guests enjoyed a selection of Italian sparkling wines by Bosca, whose cellars are UNESCO World Heritage Site. The spectacular and immersive lighting effects were achieved using products by Pulsar Light, a local success story started 45 years ago and still innovating today. The company is also a key sponsor of the e-Luminate Cambridge Festival. All of the money collected from the tickets sales went to the e-Luminate educational programme. Since 2012, the Foundation has been working in Cambridge to raise a greater appreciation of light and lighting technologies. Their engaging educational programme, the Light Lab, has grown from strength to strength, producing high-quality activities involving light at the crossing of art and technology.

RML Don’t panic

The London Studios on the South Bank are well known for hosting light entertainment and comedy shows. However, LD Martin Kempton was faced with a rather different challenge in studio one recently: a lecture on world poverty by Swedish statistician Professor Hans Rosling. Despite sounding very dry indeed, this was in fact surprisingly upbeat and a thoroughly entertaining presentation for BBC2 using a virtual reality graphics system called Musion. This state-of-the-art equipment enables the presenter to appear to be surrounded by objects, graphs, numbers and other images – all in a visually stunning way. Exactly how the system works is a bit of a secret but it placed extra demands on Martin as the LD as he had to avoid light falling on certain areas, while allowing the presenter the freedom to move almost anywhere. Martin requested that some set elements were placed 46

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around the sides of the studio and he used these to project coloured gobos from Alpha Spot 575HPEs. He said they gave a lot of flexibility in beam angle and choice of gobo. Also, they are very quiet, which was important. Floor lighting, backlights and side kicks all came from MAC Auras – Martin’s first choice for this sort of work. He said that they are perfect for not only colouring floors and scenery; they can also be used as very flexible key lights. The lighting spec also included two Sharpies, but they weren’t used for producing beams. They created steerable, intense coloured spots on the studio wall, enabling the presenter to adjust his eye line, making sure that the graphics looked perfectly real on camera and in the studio for the live audience. While there was a number of interesting points made throughout the programme, one of the more eye-opening was the mention of an ‘ignorance survey’, which demonstrates how British university graduates would be outperformed by chimpanzees in a test of knowledge about developing countries!

For your viewing pleasure

When it starts to get dark and the nights are drawing in, you can rely on us to bring you some of your favourite shows. Here is a review of just a few of them: In It To Win It – The National Lottery game show is back for another series. Dale Winton hosts the show, which has been broadcast on the BBC since 2002. Each week, five contestants compete to win a big money jackpot. The tension keeps rising, right up to the final moment. One player could take it all, end up sharing or lose everything on the very last question. The players must first get into Winners’ Row, and once they are there, each correct answer adds £5,000 to the prize fund. One wrong answer, however, and they not only risk their cut of the jackpot, they let another player in to share it. Each answer affects the outcome of the game and the show is constantly changing. The show is now filmed for the BBC in Pacific Quay, Glasgow. However, Richard Martin Lighting (RML) continues to supply the lights, in association with Tony Kennedy and TSL. Martin Kempton designs the lighting rig. This includes MAC 500s, VL1000TS, Chroma Banks, Chroma Panels, Sharpys, Pixel Par 90s, Alpha Wash 1200s and Pixel Brick kits. Eggheads – Dermot Murnaghan is back to host another season of the ‘eggcellent’ popular teatime quiz show. Two teams go head-to-head through five rounds of gruelling questions and intense brain teasers, with the Egghead teams, consisting of highly-regarded quiz and game show champions (rotating each episode), pitted against five challengers. Lighting Designer Martin Kempton continues to originate the show, with lights provided by Richard Martin Lighting and supported by TSL Glasgow. The design specification now includes one of our most recent purchases: the VL4000 Spot. Alongside these are MAC Auras and Chroma Banks. It’s no ‘yoke’ that we are very ‘eggcited’ about the new

series and our continued involvement with the show, although we much prefer to watch the show rather than put together our own RML ‘challenger’ team because, quite frankly, some of the questions completely ‘scramble’ our heads. A Question of Sport – On your marks, get set... Britain’s longest continuously-running game show, A Question of Sport, is back for another series. Remarkably, it was aired for the first time in 1968 and is still considered prime-time TV. Having run almost uninterrupted since 1970, they have filmed over 1,000 episodes. Each week, two teams of sports stars, headed up by resident team captains Phil Tufnell and Matt Dawson, battle it out in numerous topical rounds, which include the picture round, home or away, what happened next and on the buzzer. LD Roger Williams continues to light the show. RML have been providing the lights for this show for a number of years now and have worked hard to make sure the transition from filming in London to Dock 10 in Salford has been a smooth one. Roger’s rig is relatively basic in terms of moving lights but the effect it has with the vibrant set works brilliantly. Roger uses Robe ROBIN 600 LEDWashes, Robe ROBIN 100 LEDBeams, LED Par Cans, VL1000TS and Alpha Spot 575 HPE. Blue Peter – Blue Peter is one of the longest-running shows in television history. So much history, it is a national treasure. RML are lucky enough to have been involved in the show for a long time now and continue to support Lighting Designer Lee Allen, who is hugely influential in the studios and TV world. He has always been so keen to keep at the forefront of technology and uses their special guest features as an ideal opportunity to test our most recent products, in addition to the usual in-house look. Although there have been some changes in the format of the show, and how many times it is aired throughout the week, there is no doubt it is still an icon, and long may it continue! Watchdog – Now in its 36th series, the long-running BBC show investigates viewers’ reports of problematic experiences with traders, retailers and other companies around the UK. However, this series sees its most dramatic change ever – no more Anne Robinson! The whip cracker has gone and has been replaced with a fresh new presenting panel. They are Sophie Raworth, Michelle Ackerly, Matt Allwright and Chris Hollins. LD Chris Kempton designs the lights for the studio show and his simple, yet effective rig comprises of 26 Pixel Par 90s, MR16 Kits, Batten 50s, Choma Flood TCs and Stage Bars. In recent years, Watchdog has been filmed at The Hospital Club, which is the perfect state-of-the-art small studio. This new eight-part series will cover topics such as illfitting baby car seats, eye surgery and inadequate aftercare. They also set up undercover investigations identifying rogue traders, including a group of intimidating gardeners who march old and vulnerable pensioners to the bank to withdraw money. Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Pictured: Music Bank, aired on the Korean Broadcasting System and across a further 72 countries worldwide, featured 24 of Robe’s new BMFL Blade moving lights. It was lit by LD Kim Jung Hyun

ROBE Adam Camp appointed as Western Region Sales Manager in the US

Czech Republic-based lighting manufacturer Robe Lighting has appointed Adam Camp as Regional Sales Manager of the Western United States. Due to customer demand and increased popularity, Robe Lighting continues to expand its reach in the US under CEO Bob Schacherl. This is one of several strategic steps the company has taken to provide Robe’s clients with excellent sales support and coincides with the opening of a new technical support office in Burbank, CA. Camp, based in Las Vegas, has more than 15 years of industry experience, including two stints with Barco/High End Systems, as well as Neu Visions Design.

BMFL Blades for Korean music TV shows

Two high-profile Korean music TV shows have recently featured Robe’s new BMFL Blade moving lights. Music Bank and Yoo Hee Yeol’s Sketch Book – both produced by and aired on the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) network – had lighting designed by Kim Jung Hyun, with the BMFL Blade fixtures provided by rental company, RGB. 48

Set & Light | Winter 2015

Music Bank is one of the most popular TV shows in South Korea. It airs every Friday night at 6.30pm and is broadcast across a further 72 countries worldwide. Yoo Hee-Yeol’s Sketchbook is a K-Pop music programme combining a chat show with live performance. Its celebrity host Yoo HeeYeol, also known as Toy, is a one-man band! Both shows are recorded at the TS15 studios in Seoul, Korea, with a live audience of about 300. Kim Jung Hyun used 24 BMFL Blades for Music Bank and 16 fixtures to light a recent episode of Sketchbook. In each case, the BMFL Blades were hired in, allowing him to thoroughly test and assess their impact on the lighting scheme. Kim Jung Hyun is one of KBS’s top LDs and was extremely keen to try the BMFL Blades in situ after hearing so much about them and having used Robe products regularly in his work for some time, including MMX Spots, LEDWash 1200s and the ColorSpot/Wash 700 series. He used most of the BMFL Blade’s features and functionality during the shows, including gobos, dimming, colour mixing, the CT whites and the zoom, and came to the conclusion that the lights were a huge enhancement to the rig for all styles and tempos of music. The challenges of lighting Music Bank include switching at a moment’s notice to light a different genre of music. For Sketchbook, a variety of different sources and approaches are needed to light the ‘magazine’ elements of the programme,

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as well as the live performances. Both shows need flexible and adaptable lighting in the roof.

Robe BMFLs help kick off NBC Sunday Night Football 2015 season

NBC’s 2015 ‘Sunday Night Football’ Open with Carrie Underwood features 34 Robe BMFL Spots, which were specified by Los Angeles-based LD Benoit Richard from Millennium Lighting Design, Inc. who was charged with creating all the theatrical and effects lighting for the shoot. This follows his great success utilising Robe Pointes and CycFX 8 fixtures for last year’s intro. The high-energy 2015 SNF Open features another new and rousing rendition of ‘Waiting All Day for Sunday Night’, sung by Underwood. The shoot location changed this year as the production team took over one of the large sound stages at Warner Brothers Studios in LA. The creative concept revolves around showing numerous behind-the-scenes situations, including player interactions with Carrie and even a cameo of Benoit weaving his magic at the lighting controls. The build-up leads to Carrie’s exciting performance in front of thousands of cheering fans. After the great experience of using Robe fixtures last year, Benoit again wanted to use innovative lighting and visual technologies for the two-day shoot, and chose BMFLs as part of this. The basic idea for the lighting scheme was that the BMFLs and other principal theatrical lighting fixtures would come together in a much larger virtual environment to produce a high-impact opening for each week’s prime-time national football game. The main performance stage for the shoot was arranged in a diamond shape, where 14 BMFLs were rigged in the air and nine more were placed on the floor. At the opposite corner of the sound stage, a second setup featured 13 vertical 6mm LED ‘pillars’, each measuring 11ft tall by 2ft wide. These converging video panels had another seven BMFLs rigged above. In the third corner, a green-screen area was established to capture the various NFL players in action. The remaining areas were used for interviews and for some of the behindthe-scenes shots. In addition to the aforementioned BMFLs, Benoit used four more units as key and back follow spots. The physical layout of the sets in the sound stage made this a practical as well as a good aesthetic choice. Benoit had wanted something with real power, punch and presence. This was actually his first time using BMFLs and he was extremely impressed. In the immense virtual environment created for the 2015 SNF Open, the BMFLs contributed hugely to the vibrant rave party feel, as intended. Benoit programmed and operated the lighting fixtures and a Hippotizer Media Server from the Road Hog Full Boar 4 console. The theatrical rigging gaffer was Walton Rowell, working alongside a great crew from IATSE local 728. NBC Sports’ Executive Producer was Fred Gaudelli and the Head of Production from Bodega Studios was Michael Flexner. The intro was directed by NBC Sports’ Tripp Dixon; the

Creative Director was Haley Geffen from Bodega Studios and the Director of Photography Chuck Ozeas from IATSE Local 600. Production Designer was Evan Rohde and the Art Director Gill Gayle (both IATSE Local 800), Gaffer Chris Conway (IATSE Local 728) and Key Grip David Richardson (IATSE Local 80) were all integral to a great collaboration. The whole project was co-ordinated by Producer Rayna Saslove for Bodega Studios. All the theatrical lighting fixtures, LED panels and the media server were supplied via Fred Waldman at VER’s Burbank facility, with Warner Brothers providing the film shoot lighting kit.

Strictly Robe in South Africa

Strictly Come Dancing SA has just concluded its eighth spectacularly successful season on our local screens. Broadcast on SABC 3 and produced by Rapid Blue, South Africa’s leading independent production company, this international format is produced in nearly 50 countries around the world and sets the ballroom floor alight every week with a sparkling display of dancing and lighting. The series was lit by Gearhouse’s Robert Grobler, primarily using a selection of Robe’s moving and static LED lightsources – nearly 150 in total – all supplied, together with other lighting and rigging elements, by Gearhouse South Africa. Strictly SA was recorded at SABC’s Renaissance Centre in Auckland Park, Johannesburg. Robert was keen to continue using mostly LED fixtures: a path he took when lighting the show the previous year. He was given a free rein to create appropriate lighting by the producers based on certain givens, such as the fact that the dancers needed to stand out at all stages of the competition and their impressive array of eye-catching costumes should also be prominent in the visual picture. Taking that and Michael Gill’s set design into account, Robery crafted the look and feel for each episode and, within that, each of the individual dance sequences thoughtfully, utilising 24 Robe DLX spots, 24 DLF washes and 27 Pointes for moving lights, together with 48 Robe LEDForce 18 PARs and 16 CitySkape 48 LED floods for base illumination. The studio is an empty warehouse space into which all the production infrastructure had to be installed. Gearhouse South Africa constructed and flew a mother-grid and subhung a network of production trussing on 60 points, which facilitated all the drapes and masking needed to make the Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Sponsor news

Pictured: Strictly Come Dancing SA was lit by Robert Grobler, primarily using a selection of Robe’s moving and static LED lightsources – nearly 150 in total – continuing the path he took the previous year when lighting the show

space workable for Strictly, the flying of some set pieces, as well as providing the lighting positions. The DLF washes – a popular choice from Robe’s DL LED theatrical range for replacing 2K fresnels due to their power and excellent colour temperature emulation characteristics – fulfilled that exact role once again. Robert thinks they are an ideal and far more flexible replacement for the classic studio light source in this context. Trimmed at about 8m for the Strictly run, he was consistently running them between 50–80 per cent depending on the zoom, leaving plenty more headroom had he needed it. The DLX Spots were new for this season and definitely proved themselves, replacing the previous 2500 series lightsources. Eight DLXs lit, coloured and textured the famous Strictly upstage set arches, with the band positioned behind, while the rest were deployed as floor specials. For the elimination rounds, these floor-based units also provided dramatic backlighting on the dancers. Robert found that gobos projected onto the floor crisply without interfering with how cameras were reading light levels on the dancers. The Pointes were positioned behind the audience seating for effects across the audience and on the floor behind the judges, mainly to act as fillers from these different angles when cutting to reverse shots from two specific cameras. 50

Set & Light | Winter 2015

There were also a few scattered across the floor of the main stage and the rest around the set arch for fluff, eye-candy and some general beam-work behind the performers. Robert had initially introduced 12 Pointes at last year’s final show for additional bling. These went down extremely well with everyone on the production team, so they decided to integrate them into the main show this year, together with an additional 15 around the second arch further upstage. The LEDForce 18 PARs were dotted liberally all around the stage and set and were useful for multiple tasks, including – with their beam flattening – as a general profile source. Robert used a grandMA2 console for control. His main challenge was in comprehensively and effectively lighting the big production numbers, which were intricately choreographed by various choreographers for each of the 10 episodes, featured the full cast and used every millimetre of the dancefloor. Using a careful balance of short throw lensed follow spots and the DLX Spots, they were able to reduce light levels for the cameras during these, reintroducing more colour and enhancing the richness and vibrancy of the look. Being LED driven – apart from the Pointes and follow spots – also enabled the lighting department to reduce its overall power requirements from the previous series, dropping from a 450KVA to a 200KVA generator, which impressed everyone.

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Compiled by Emma Thorpe – sponsornews@stld.org.uk

ROSCO

STAGE ELECTRICS

We have launched a new LED fixture, Silk 210, in Europe and already got many customers’ elated feedback for the high-quality light this unit is able to deliver. Silk 210 is a lightweight high-output soft light with a nonglare diffuser creating an attractive single light source, easy to work with, and easy on the eye for your subject. The unit has many advantages for filmmakers, as well as broadcast professionals. Silk 210 utilises the latest tungsten and daylight balanced LED emitters to produce a high volume of soft white light. The fixture is capable of producing 2,400 lux and colour temperatures from 2,800K–6,500K. Silk 210 has been tested and validated as a source of the highest quality, scoring a 97 at 3,200K set point on the TLCI (Television Lighting Consistency Index). The resulting metrics demonstrate that Rosco Silk will need negligible correction of lightness, chroma and hue, making it the perfect fixture for illuminating feature films and television productions, on stage or on location. Power consumption is 120W max. Power supply is 100–240v AC and additional options are facilities that allow V mount and Anton Bauer batteries and a four-pin XLR input for battery bricks. Other Silk features are on-board dimming and colour temperature controls, as well as DMX control, accessories for beam-shaping control, magnetic eggcrate louvres, barn doors (set of four), softbox case, a pole-operated yoke and rain cover.

Stage Electrics invests over £1m in lighting and projection

RoscoLED™ Tape

RoscoLED™ Tape is the latest addition to our LED lighting solutions, designed to add attractive accent lighting into set pieces for broadcast studios, and television & feature films. RoscoLED™ Tape comes in easy-to-use kits, with multiple reels of high-quality, high-output, 24VDC LED and pre-configured, plug-and-play connectors for easy installation. Flexible, field-cuttable and fully controllable configuration options offer designers and filmmakers an easy way to integrate LEDs into their next project. We have designed four different kits: a Pro Gaffer Kit, available in Tungsten (3,000K) or Daylight (5,600K) configurations, contains multiple, short High CRI (>90) strips, from 8cm to 70cm, that have a protective silicone coating for repeated use indoors or outdoors. 12VDC Power is provided by AC mains adapter, AA battery pack or car adapter. The pre-soldered, 2.1mm, Quick-Barrel connections allow the LED Tape inside the Pro Gaffer Kits to work seamlessly with our LitePad product-range. Additional sets are Static White, Variwhite and Varicolour kits of pre-configured 5m reels, with water-proof, multi-pin connectors. Every RoscoLED Tape Kit includes a balanced RoscoLED Control Box that provides power control and flicker-free DMX dimming to the LED Tape. Featuring plug-and-play connectivity, global 100–240 power input and DMX control via 5PXLR & RJ45, the RoscoLED Control Box makes installing RoscoLED Tape easy into any environment. Additional components are available to fully customise into your project.

Photography by Paul Coltas

2015 has seen Stage Electrics invest over £1 million in new Martin Professional lighting fixtures and Panasonic projectors. The company is one of the first rental companies to stock the Martin MAC Aura XB, which are currently on a UK tour with Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert. It has also invested heavily in MAC Quantum Profiles and Washes, as well as MAC Viper Performances and Washes. Currently, Stage Electrics has over 150 MAC Vipers on seven productions, including UK tours of Priscilla, Guys and Dolls, The Bodyguard Musical, Shrek The Musical, plus international tours of The Sound of Music and Singin’ in the Rain in New Zealand and Manila. Tim Mitchell is the Lighting Designer for Singin’ in the Rain and is a confirmed fan of Martin Pro fixtures, the MAC Viper in particular. “If you need a light that is compact, bright, flexible and quick, then I think you should look no further than the Viper Performance,” he says. “They have been the backbone of two major UK tours of mine this year and will be going into my future work in the coming months. As well as established shows, the investment includes equipment for Stage Electrics’ free stockholding to cover short-term requirements. This means the company can respond instantly to any rental needs. A further investment has been made in Panasonic’s new PT-RQ13K/RZ12K Series projectors. Claimed by the manufacturer to be the world’s lightest three-chip DLP™ laser projector with 4K+ resolution, the unit’s immersive image quality, low running costs, reliability and installation flexibility means it is suitable for many applications.

TIFFIN Tiffen International announces the new 138mm rotating multi tray

This exciting new solution produces up to three effects in one unit: a rotating Tiffen 138mm Circular Polariser, a VND Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Pictured: White Light helped to build three studio and two pitch-side sets for the ITV Sports Team, which toured to each stadium around the country, providing the lighting and technology and overseeing each setup

(Variable Neutral Density)* and a warm to Cool FX fader*. Its features include: n Geared 138mm Tiffen ultra-thin Circular Polariser, which delivers the greatest field of view possible. n Up to six-stops of Tiffen VND (focal length dependent) starting at two-stops. n Incorporates a geared ring for rotating (M8 compatible). n Quick-release tray for use with the Tiffen 4x5.65 UltraThin Circular Polariser.* n Designed to be used with Sunshades and Matte boxes from ARRI®, BrightTangerine™, Chrosziel®, Movcam,Tilta, TLS Optics and Vocas. The new multi tray comes complete with a protective case. * When used with optional Tiffen 4x5.65 Ultra-Thin Circular Polariser, which is engraved to aid direction of use. The rotating multi tray can be used as either a VND or Cool/Warm FX.

WHITELIGHT Rugby World Cup kicks off with White Light

Held in Great Britain for the first time, the Rugby World Cup 2015 was one of the biggest ever. Twenty nations played at 13 stadiums across the UK, with the final being held at the national rugby stadium, Twickenham. In a tournament watched by millions worldwide, White Light provided the production support on the event for the first time. WL’s role in the Rugby World Cup is reflective of its recent expansion in the fields of audio and visual technology. Earlier this year, the company acquired video and lighting technology firm Shock Solutions – a forerunner in the field of LED lighting and audio-visual equipment solutions with over 10 years in the industry. As a result, WL is able to offer a greater range of production services than ever before, as 52

Set & Light | Winter 2015

visible at this year’s Rugby World Cup. Andy Hook, founder of Shock Solutions and now Technical Solutions Director at WL, comments: “This year, we’ve helped to build three studio and two pitch-side sets for the ITV Sports Team, which toured to each stadium around the country. As well as providing both the lighting and technology to create each set, we travelled across the UK to oversee the logistics of each setup.” While WL’s unparalleled range of equipment and skills has made such an ambitious project possible, the facilities it has available also played a significant role in creating the sets Earlier this year, WL also announced the launch of its very own audio department, appointing an expert team and investing significantly in new audio equipment. As well as helping to construct the studio sets at the Rugby World Cup, the company also provided its audio services. WL also provided the production support for ‘Home from Home’, which saw the tunnel beneath Twickenham’s South Stand transformed into an immersive experience for those attending a match. Drawing on all of WL’s expertise, ‘Home from Home’ featured different colour schemes for each game, along with a live AV feed from the stadium above. WL’s Project Manager Richard Stirzaker comments: “We were given the brief of transforming an ordinary tunnel into something which would become a unique part of the Rugby World Cup and give the fans something to remember.” The lighting effects were created by using equipment from Elidy, Martin Professional and Chroma-Q, while the audio support included 22 EM Acoustics EMS-61 Speakers.

White Light makes the right noise with EM Acoustics

Following the inauguration of their new R&D facility, leading loudspeaker manufacturer EM Acoustics recently announced a range of new state-of-the-art products, which include the M-C12 and M-C15 monitor loudspeakers. Moving away from

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Sponsor news

Compiled by Emma Thorpe – sponsornews@stld.org.uk

the traditional EM Acoustics monitor design that has always consisted of dedicated wedges, these 12 and 15-inch coaxial monitor speakers work just as effectively when used either on a stand or flown, and feature hidden pole mounts and flying points for cradles. These pieces of revolutionary technology will help fulfil the audio requirements of any occasion and their first sale has been made to White Light (WL), with the company continuing to establish itself as a leading audio solutions provider. Since its formation at the start of the year, WL’s dedicated audio department has gone from strength to strength. Following the appointment of Lee Dennison as Head of Audio, the company has appointed a hand-picked team of audio experts to ensure that those using the company’s audio expertise receive the best service possible. This year has already seen WL’s audio team deliver to highprofile London venues, along with the corporate and events market. After heavy investment in audio equipment, WL was appointed as a dealer for EM Acoustics, Full Fat Audio, Shure, Sennheiser and Yamaha Commercial. Both the M-C12 and M-C15 are revolutionary speakers that push the boundaries of what is achievable with modern audio technology. Both monitors use a bespoke waveguide designed by EM Acoustics’ Ed Kinsella, which was prototyped in house using the company’s 3D facilities. In what was the very first delivery of the speakers, WL received 16 M-C12s and eight M-C15s for its rental stock. An additional eight M-C12 loudspeakers were also sent to WL to continue the recent audio infrastructure upgrade at Thorpe Park, which included a HALO-C line array system, MSE-218 subs and AQ & AD series amplifiers.

Serving time on Shawshank Redemption UK tour

Upon its initial release in 1994, The Shawkshank Redemption achieved critical acclaim and it is still considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made. It was nominated for seven Oscars and earlier this year was named as ‘The Nation’s Favourite Film’. Now, on the film’s 21st anniversary, renowned production company Bill Kenwright Ltd is touring a theatrical version of the show across the UK. As the leading lighting supplier to West End and touring theatre, White Light was called upon to supply the lighting support for what promises to be a spectacular production. Starring television’s Ian Kelsey and Patrick Robinson, The Shawshank Redemption tells the story of Andy Dufresne: a man serving a life sentence in the notorious Shawshank prison. Realising he cannot survive life behind bars, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with prison fixer Red and soon begins to hatch a plan to escape. Based on the Stephen King short story, it is directed for the stage by David Esbjornson, with the lighting design by Chris Davey. Chris drew on White Light’s extensive equipment range to help him light the world of The Shawshank Redemption. The equipment used included Martin MAC Viper Performances, Martin MAC TW1 80v and Phillips Showline SL Par 150s. The Shawshank Redemption differs from the majority of theatre tours, due to the fact that it is based on such an iconic film; with this year marking 21 years since it was originally released.

White Light sponsors WhatsOnStage Awards

Since its formation in 1996, WhatsOnStage has become the trusted source for theatre information and editorial content. It offers a database of some 5,500plus performances, along with reviews, interviews, gossip, blogs and exclusive video content. Alongside this, each year the organisation hosts the WhatsOnStage Awards: the only major theatre awards in which the audience are the judges across all categories. With its origins in theatre, complete productions solution specialist White Light is once again sponsoring the event. WL has previously sponsored the awards concert, where the available accolades include Best Actor in a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical, Best New Play and Best Lighting Design, which is sponsored by WL and whose previous recipients include Mark Henderson, Adam Silverman and Hugh Vanstone. Hannah Longman, Commercial Manager at WhatsOnStage, comments: “We are extremely fortunate to have companies such as WL sponsor the awards. It is through their support that such an evening is made possible and we are extremely grateful for their contribution”. In a year which has seen WL continuously expand its services and resources, the company still has an extremely strong presence in the world of theatre. Not only does it continue to be the leading lighting supplier to the West End and UK touring theatre, but this year, WL has also worked at the Edinburgh Fringe, the Manchester International Festival and provided its support on a series of immersive theatre projects. The WhatsOnStage Awards’ official charity is the Kevin Spacey Foundation, which enables the creation of new work via KSF Grants, designs bespoke education opportunities through KSF Learning, and offers subsidised university places via KSF Scholarships. This year’s concert marks the 16th anniversary of the awards and promises to be the biggest one yet. Nominations opened on 30 October and closed on 27 November. A shortlist will be announced on 3 December, at which point the public voting will also open. This will close on 31 January before the winners are announced at the Awards Concert itself on 21 February 2016.

XL VIDEO XL Video Screens for Mock the Week Series 14

Working with Designer Jonathan Paul Green, XL Video has supplied a package of video projection, screens and LCDs for the latest series of the topical panel game Mock the Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Sponsor news

Compiled by Emma Thorpe – sponsornews@stld.org.uk

Pictured: XL Video created a new rigging solution for the central LED scoreboard in BBC One’s Pointless game show. It was used for the filming of 136 new episodes of the show

Week, produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two. The show, which is hosted by Dara O’Briain and features panellists Hugh Dennis and Andy Parsons, is filmed before a live studio audience shortly before its air date. This ensures that the topics for improvisation are relevant to current news subjects. The studio incorporates a range of different video elements. The show logo incorporates a world globe, inspired by the show’s theme tune, ‘News Of The World’, by The Jam. This is recreated using a 6ft diameter Repro H screen, located behind O Briain, which is built into the set and rear-projected via one of XL Video’s Panasonic 10k projectors. Upstage of the main improvisation area, a 16ft by 9ft Repro H screen, with Barco R12 unit supplying rearprojection, creates the backdrop for the comedians and displays info and graphics for the topics being performed. XL Video’s Senior Manager, TV & Film, Jeff Bailey selected Repro H screens for both broadcast projection screens as these minimise projection hot spots, which can be picked up by the TV cameras. To ensure the audience has a good view of all the action, XL Video also supplied a 10ft 8in by 6ft relay screen with a feed from the broadcast cameras. This is flown above the set at the front of the audience area. Additionally, XL Video also provides three 15-inch LCD monitors for the host and panellists, set into the desks. 54

Set & Light | Winter 2015

XL Video creates a smart solution for Pointless scoring tower

Continuing its work on Pointless, created by Remarkable Television, part of the Endemol Shine Group, XL Video has created a new version of the show’s LED scoreboard. For the latest recordings, filmed at the BBC’s Elstree Television Studios, the production team asked XL Video to create a new rigging solution for the central LED scoreboard. To create greater efficiency in the set-building process, the new rigging system aimed to substantially reduce the build time for the scoreboard tower. XL Video’s TV and Film Manager, Jeff Bailey, worked with XL’s specialist LED team in Oostende, Belgium, to specify the new tower support design. The three-section custom metal column, fabricated by Shapes in Belgium, enabled the Barco NX6 LED to be preloaded into the curved scoreboard at XL’s warehouse, along with the matching base section, and transported to the studio in a single custom-built flight case. Once on set, the LED tower can be bolted together and ready for filming in about two-and-a-half hours – one third of the time previously taken to construct the scoreboard. This new solution was used for the filming of 136 new episodes of Pointless and Pointless Celebrities. XL Video also supplies the projection for the quiz’s questions screen, and a number of LCD screens used by the presenters and contestants as video relays.

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Society Committee

Chairman Stuart Gain 07774 161 996

chairman@stld.org.uk

Treasurer Mike Le Fevre

Secretary John O’Brien

07956 305 662

07717 170 288

Magazine Editor, Sponsor News + Assistant Sponsor Liaison

Emma Thorpe 07850 709 210

johnobrien@stld.org.uk

treasurer@stld.org.uk

Sponsors Liaison Bernie Davis

Membership Chris Harris 07775 846 972

07860 662 736

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Exhibitions, Diary + Advertising Sales

Paul Middleton

07720 446 921

sponsors@stld.org.uk

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07973 745 583

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07860 759 294

Picture courtesy of Chris Capstick

publicity@stld.org.uk

Robert Horne 07762 562 434

roberthorne@stld.org.uk

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jonathantaylor@stld.org.uk Set & Light | Winter 2015

STLD_116 SOCIETY SPONSORS:TL 85 Spring 2005 30/11/2015 09:10 Page 56

Society sponsors

A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd (Ian Muir) Centauri House, Hillbottom Road, Sands Industrial Estate, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire HP12 4HQ Tel: 01494 446 000 ~ Fax: 01494 461 024 ~ Email: jono@ac-et.com ~ Web: www.aclighting.com

Ambersphere Solutions Ltd now incorporating MA Lighting (Glyn O’Donoghue) Unit 13 Alliance Court, Alliance Road, Park Royal, London W3 0RB Tel: 020 8992 6369 ~ Email: glyn@amberspere.co.uk ~ Web: www.ambersphere.co.uk

Anna Valley (Part of Shooting Partners group) (Mark Holdway, Doug Hammond) Unit 13, Mount Road Industrial Estate, Feltham, Middlesex TW13 6AR Tel: 020 8941 4500 ~ Fax: +44(0)1932 761 591 ~ Web: www.annavalley.co.uk

ARRI CT Ltd (Andy Barnett, Siobhan Daly, Lee Romney) 2 Highbridge, Oxford Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 1LX Tel: 01895 457 000 ~ Fax: 01895 457 001 ~ Email: sales@arri-gb.com ~ Web: www.arri.com

ARRI Lighting Rental Ltd (John Colley, Mike O’Hara) 2 Highbridge, Oxford Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 1LX ~ Tel: 01895 457 200 ~ Fax: 01895 457 201 Manchester 0161 736 8034 (Jimmy Reeves) ~ Email: mohara@arrirental.com ~ Web: www.arri.com

Aurora Lighting Hire Ltd (Nick Edwards) Aurora Lighting Hire Ltd, Unit 21, Ockham Drive, Greenford Park, London UB6 0FD Tel: 020 8813 2777 ~ Mobile: 07710 261 838 ~ Email: nick.edwards@auroratv.co.uk ~ Web: www.auroratv.co.uk

Barbizon Europe Ltd (Tom McGrath) Unit 5 Saracen Industrial Area, Mark Road, Hemel Hempsted, Hertfordshire HP2 7BJ ~ Tel: 01442 260 600 ~ Fax: 01442 261 611 Email: tmcgrath@barbizon.com ~ Web: www.barbizon.com

BBC Studios and Post Production Ltd (Danny Popkin) 77–79 Charlotte Street, London W1T 4PW Tel: 020 3327 6900 ~ Email: danny.popkin@bbc.co.uk ~ Web: www.bbcstudiosandpostproduction.com

BBC Academy (Tim Wallbank) Room A16, BBC Wood Norton, Evesham, Worcestershire WR11 4YB Tel: 0370 010 0264 ~ Fax: 0370 010 0265 ~ Email: bbcacademy@bbc.co.uk ~ Web: www.bbcacademy.com

CHAUVET® Europe Ltd (Michael Brooksbank) Unit 1C, Brookhill Road Industrial Estate, Pinxton, Notts NG16 6NT ~ Tel: 1773 511115 X.204 ~ Mobile: 07977 208435 Skype: michael.brooksbank.uk ~ Email: mbrooksbank@chauvetlighting.com ~ Web: www.chauvetlighting.co.uk

Chris James & Co. Ltd (Barry Frankling) 43 Colville Road, Acton, London W3 8BL Tel: 020 8896 1772 ~ Fax: 020 8896 1773 ~ Email: info@chrisjamesfilter.com ~ Web: www.chrisjamesfilter.com

Chroma-Q (James Bawn) Hawksworth Commercial Centre, Elder Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS13 4AT Tel: + 44 (0)113 386 9118 ~ Fax: + 44 (0)113 255 7676 ~ Email: james.bawn@ac-et.com ~ Web: www.chroma-q.com

Cirro Lite (Europe) Ltd (John Coppen, David Morphy, Frieder Hockheim) 3 Barrett’s Green Road, London NW10 7AE Tel: 020 8955 6700 ~ Fax: 020 8961 9343 ~ Email: j.coppen@cirrolite.com ~ Web: www.cirrolite.com

Clay Paky S p A (Davide Barbetta) via Pastrengo 3/B, 24068 Seriate (BG), Italy Tel: +39 335 72.333.75 ~ Fax: +39 035.30.18.76 ~Email: davide.barbetta@claypaky.it ~ Web: www.claypaky.it

Dedo Weigert Film GmbH (John Coppen, David Morphy) 3 Barretts Green Road, London NW10 7AE Tel: 020 8955 6700 ~ Fax : 020 8961 9343 ~ Email: info@cirrolite.com ~ Web: www.dedolight.com

Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Please mention Set & Light when contacting sponsors

Doughty Engineering Ltd (Julian Chiverton, Mark Chorley) Crow Arch Lane, Ringwood, Hampshire BH24 1NZ Tel: 01425 478 961 ~ Fax: 01425 474 481 ~ Email: sales@doughty-engineering.co.uk ~ Web: www.doughty-engineering.co.uk

Eaton – Zero88 (David Catterall) 20 Greenhill Crescent, Watford Business Park, Watford, Herts WD18 8JA ~ Tel: +44 (0)1923 495495 ~ Fax: +44 (0)1923 228796 Mob: +44 (0)7802 464484 ~ Email: DavidCatterall@eaton.com ~ Web: www.eaton.com

ELP (Ronan Willson, Barry Denison-, John Singer, Darren Fletcher) 15 North Gate, Alconbury Airfield, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 4WX Tel: 01480 443 800 ~ Fax: 01480 443 888 ~ Email: info@elp.tv ~ Web: www.elp.tv ~ Elstree Office: 020 8324 2100 ~ Manchester Office: 0161 300 2922

Electronic Theatre Controls Ltd (Mark White, Jeremy Roberts) Unit 26-28, Victoria Industrial Estate, Victoria Road, London W3 6UU Tel: 020 8896 1000 ~ Fax: 020 8896 2000 ~ Email: mwhite@etceurope.com ~ Web: www.etcconnect.com

Film & TV Services Ltd (Julie Fegan, Eddie Fegan) Unit 3, Matrix Park, Coronation Road, Park Royal, London NW10 7PH Tel: 020 8961 0090 ~ Fax: 020 8961 8635 ~ Email: mail@ftvs.co.uk ~ Web: www.ftvs.co.uk

Fountain Television Ltd (Mariana Spater) The Fountain studios, 128 Wembley Park Drive, Wembley HA9 8HP Tel: 020 8900 5800 ~ Email: Mariana.spater@ftv.co.uk ~ Web: www.ftv.co.uk

Havells-Sylvania Ltd (David Hogan) Havells-Sylvania Ltd, Avis Way, Newhaven BN9 0ED Email: david.hogan@havells-sylvania.com ~ Web: www.havells-sylvania.com

Hawthorn Lighting (Dave Slater, May Lee) Head Office: 01664 821111 ~ London Office: 020 8955 6900 info@hawthorns.uk.com - www.hawthorns.uk.com

HSL Group Holdings LTD (Simon Stuart, Mike Oates) Unit E&F, Glenfield Park, Philips Road, Blackburn, Lancashire BB1 5PF Tel: 01254 698 808 ~ Fax: 01254 698 835 ~ Email: hire@hslgroup.com ~ Web: www.hslgroup.com

Jands (Jack Moorhouse) Centauri House, Hillbottom Road, High Wycombe, Bucks HP12 4HQ Tel: +44 (0)1494 838 323 ~Fax: +44 (0)1494 461 024 ~ Email: jack.moorhouse@ac-et.com ~ Web: www.jands.com/lighting

Key Light Hire Ltd (Alex Hambi) Unit 24, Sovereign Park, Coronation Road, Park Royal NW10 7QP Tel: 020 8963 9931 ~ Fax: 020 8961 236 ~ Mobile: 07949 686 802 ~ Email: alex@keylight.tv ~ Web: www.keylight.tv

Kino Flo Lighting Systems (John Coppen, David Morphy) 3 Barretts Green Road, London NW10 7AE Tel: 020 8955 6700 ~ Fax : 020 8961 9343 ~ Email: info@cirrolite.com ~ Web: www. kinoflo.com

LCC Lighting (Lee Rickard) P.O. Box 78, Guildford, Surrey GU3 2AG Tel: +44 (0)1483 813 814~ Email: sales@lcc-lighting.co.uk ~ Web: lcc-lighting.co.uk

Lee Filters Ltd (Eddie Ruffell, Paul Topliss, Ralph Young) Central Way, Walworth Industrial Estate, Andover, Hampshire SP10 5AN Tel: 01264 366 245 ~ Fax: 01264 355 058 ~ Email: ecruffell@leefilters.com ~ Web: www.leefilters.com

Lighting Logic Ltd (Mick Cocker, Matt Miles) The Hopkilns Building, Goblands Farm Business Centre, Cemetery Lane, Hadlow, Kent T11 0LT Tel: 0845 260 0540 ~ Fax: 0845 260 0541 ~ Email: mick@lightinglogic.co.uk ~ Web: www.lightinglogic.co.uk

Set & Light | Winter 2015

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Society sponsors

Lights Camera Action (Nick Shapley) Unit 14, Fairway Drive, Greenford, Middlesex UB6 8PW Tel: 020 8833 7600 ~ Fax: 020 8575 8219 ~ Web: www.lcauk.com

Litepanels Studio Lighting EMEA (Spencer Newbury) 16152 Saticoy St, Van Nuys, CA 91406, USA Tel: +31 629 29 6575 ~ Email: Spencer@Litepanels.com ~ Web: www.litepanels.com

LSI Projects (Russell Dunsire, Nick Mobsby) 15, Woking Business Park, Albert Drive, Woking, Surrey GU21 5JY Tel: 01483 764 646 ~ Fax: 01483 769 955 ~ Email: nickM@lsiprojects.com ~ Web: www.lsiprojects.com

Lupo Lighting (Damien Lovegrove) Fir Tree Farm, 59 North Street, Nailsea, Bristol BS48 4BS Tel: 01275 853204 ~ Email: damien@lovegroveshop.com ~ Web: www.lupolight.it

Martin by Harman (Mike Walker) Martin Professional PLC, Cranborne House, Cranborne Road, Potters Bar EN6 3JN Tel: 02030 021170 ~ Email: michael.walker@martin.dk ~ Web: www.martinpro.co.uk

Matthews Studio Equipment, Inc. (John Coppen, David Morphy) 3 Barretts Green Road, London NW10 7AE Tel: 020 8955 6700 ~ Fax: 020 8961 9343 ~ Email: info@cirrolite.com ~ Web: www. msegrip.com

MEMS Power Generation (Mark Diffey) Beechings Way, Gillingham, Kent ME8 6PS Tel: 08452 230 400 ~ Fax: 01634 263666 ~ Email: sales@mems.com~ Web: www.mems.com

OSRAM Ltd (Terri Pearson, Andy Gilks) OSRAM House, Waterside Drive, Langley, Berkshire SL3 6EZ Tel: 01753 484 175 ~ Fax: 01753 484 165 ~ Email: displayoptic@osram.co.uk ~ Web: www.osram.com

Panalux Limited (Ed Pagett, David Baker) Unit 21, The Metropolitan Centre, Derby Road, Greenford, London UB6 8UJ Tel: 020 8832 4800 ~ Fax: 020 8832 4811 ~ Email: info@panalux.biz ~ Web: www.panalux.biz

Philips Entertainment Group Europe (Amber Etra-) Rondweb Zuid 85, Winterswijk 7102 JD, Netherlands Tel: +31 611 030 083

Philips Lighting UK Ltd (Stuart Dell) Philips Centre, Guildford Business Park, Guildford, Surrey GU2 8XH Tel: 07774 122 735 ~ Fax: 01296 670 956 ~ Email: stuart.dell@philips.com ~ Web: www.lighting.philips.com

Photon Beard Ltd (Peter Daffarn, Mike Perry, Simon Larn) Unit K3, Cherry Court Way, Stanbridge Road, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire LU7 8UH Tel: 01525 850 911 ~ Fax: 01525 850 922 Email: info@photonbeard.com ~ Web: www.photonbeard.com

Pinewood Group (Simon Honey – Head of Studio Ops, Peter Lawes – Production Lighting Manager, Paul Darbyshire – Operations Director) Pinewood Road, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH Tel: 01753 785 200 ~ Fax: 01753 656 103 Email: simon.honey@pinewoodshepperton.com ~ Web: www.pinewoodshepperton.com

PLASA (Norah Phillips) The Professional Lighting and Sound Association is a trade association representing companies and individuals who work in the TV, film, entertainment, installation and leisure industries. Its aim is to develop and promote all aspects of the industry on a worldwide basis, acting in the common interests of its membership. Redoubt House, 1 Edward Street, Eastbourne, Sussex BN23 8AS Tel: 01323 524 120 ~ Fax: 01323 524 121 ~ Email: norah.phillips@plasa.org ~ Web: www.plasa.org

Set & Light | Winter 2015

STLD_116 SOCIETY SPONSORS:TL 85 Spring 2005 30/11/2015 09:10 Page 59

Please mention Set & Light when contacting sponsors

Production Resource Group (Mick Healey,Kelly Cornfield, Jon Cadbury) The Hoover Building, Western Avenue, Perivale UB6 8DW ~ The Cofton Centre, Groveley Lane, Longbridge, Birmingham B31 4PT Tel: 0845 470 6400 ~ Fax: 0845 470 6401 ~ Email: prglighting@prg.com ~ Web: www.prglighting.co.uk

Pulsar Light Of Cambridge Ltd (Andy Graves, Paul Mardon, Snowy Johnson) 3 Coldham’s Business Park, Norman Way, Cambridge CB1 3LH Tel: 01223 403 500 ~ Fax: 01223 403 501 ~ Email: andy@pulsarlight.com ~ Web: www.pulsarlight.com

Richard Martin Lighting Ltd (Steve Wells) Unit 24, Sovereign Park, Coronation Road, Park Royal NW10 7QP ~ RML Admin: Lantern House, Old Town, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire GL56 0LW Tel: 020 8965 3209 ~ Fax: 020 8965 5562 Email: info@richardmartinlighting.co.uk ~ Web: www.richardmartinlighting.co.uk

Robe UK Ltd (Ashley Lewis, Mick Hannaford, Steve Eastham) 3 Spinney View, Stone Circle Road, Round Spinney Industrial Estate, Northampton NN3 8RQ Tel: 01604 741 000 ~ Fax: 01604 741 041 ~ Email: info@robeuk.com ~ Web: www.robeuk.com

Rosco (Cristian Arroyo, Tom Swartz) Blanchard Works, Kangley Bridge Road, Sydenham, London SE26 5AQ Tel: 020 8659 2300 ~ Fax: 020 8659 3153 ~ Email: marketing@rosco-europe.com~ Web: www.rosco.com

Schnick-Schnack-Systems GmbH (Erhard Lehmann) Mathias-Bruggen-Strasse 79, 50829, Germany Tel: +49-221-992019-0 ~ Email: erhard.lehmann@schnickschnacksystems.com ~ Web: english.schnickschnacksystems.com

Sony UK Ltd (Daniel Robb) The Heights, Brooklands, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 0XW Tel: 01932 816 368 ~ Fax: 01932 817 014 ~ Neil: 07774 142 724 ~ Email: Jane.Green@eu.sony.com ~ Web: sonybiz.net/uk

Specialz Ltd (Dave Smith) Unit 2, Kingston Industrial Estate, 81-86 Glover Street, Birmingham B9 4EN Tel: 0121 766 7100 & 7110 ~ Fax: 0121 766 7113 ~ Email: info@specialz.co.uk ~ Web: www.specialz.co.uk

Stage Electrics Partnership Ltd (Adam Blaxill, Russell Payne) Third Way, Avonmouth, Bristol BS11 9YL Tel: 03330 142100 ~ Tel Adam: 07799 862 652 ~ Tel Russell: 07887 824241 ~ Fax: 0117 916 2828 Email: event.services@stage-electrics.co.uk ~ Web: www.stage-electrics.co.uk

The Hospital Club Studios (Samantha Dunlop) 4 Endell Street, London WC2H 9HQ Tel: 020 7170 9112 ~ Fax: 020 7170 9102 ~ Email: samd@thehospitalclub.com ~ Web: www.thehospital.co.uk

The London Studios (Dave Stevens, Jerry Kelleher) Upper Ground, London SE1 9LT Tel: 020 7157 5555 ~ Fax: 020 7157 5757 Email: dave.stevens@londonstudios.co.uk ~ Web: www.londonstudios.co.uk

Tiffen International Ltd (Kevan Parker) East Side Complex, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Bucks SL0 0NH Tel: +44 (0)870 100 1220 ~ Fax: +44 (0)1753 652776 ~ Mob: +44 (0)7545 440973 Email: kparker@tiffen.com ~ Web: www.tiffen.com

TMB (Paul Hartley, Bill Anderson) 21 Armstrong Way, Southall UB2 4SD Tel: 020 8574 9700 ~ Fax: 020 8574 9701 ~ E-Mail: tmb-info@tmb.com ~ Web: www.tmb.com

TSL Teknique Systems Ltd PO Box 3587, Glasgow G73 9DX Tel: 07860 290 637 ~ Web: www.tekniquesystems.com

Set & Light | Winter 2015

STLD_116 SOCIETY SPONSORS:TL 85 Spring 2005 30/11/2015 09:10 Page 60

Please mention Set & Light when contacting sponsors

Unusual Rigging (Mark Priestley) The Wharf, Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire NN7 3QB Tel: 01604 830 083 ~ Fax: 01604 831 144 ~ E-Mail: mark.priestley@unusual.co.uk ~ Web: www.unusual.co.uk

White Light Ltd (Bryan Raven, John Simpson, Jason Larcombe) 20 Merton Industrial Park, Jubilee Way, London SW19 3WL Tel: 020 8254 4800 ~ Fax: 020 8254 4801 ~ E-Mail: info@WhiteLight.Ltd.uk ~ Web: www.WhiteLight.Ltd.uk HireTel: 020 8254 4820 ~ Hire Fax: 020 8254 4821 ~ Sales Tel: 020 8254 4840 ~ Sales Fax: 020 8254 4841

XL Video Ltd (Jeff Bailey) 2 Eastman Way, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire HP2 7DU Tel: 01442 849 400 ~ Fax: 01442 849 401 ~ E-Mail: info@xlvideo.tv ~ Web: www.xlvideo.com

SPONSORS DIRECTORY

XTBA (Chris Cook, Fiona Fehilly, Simon Peers) Unit 2, The Old Curatage, The Street, Caston, Norfolk NR17 1DD Tel: 020 8882 0100 ~ E-Mail: dmx@xtba.demon.co.uk ~ Web: www.xtba.demon.co.uk

The STLD interactive Sponsors Directory has been available for sponsors’ use for over a year now. It is proving a very useful tool for the STLD and, we hope, for those of our sponsors who now use it. Its main advantages are that it enables the STLD to display up-to-date and accurate information about your company on its website. In doing so, it also helps us update our records and ensure that we have accurate mailing and invoicing details. STLD sponsor companies can make use of this facility by contacting Bernie Davis at sponsors@stld.org.uk with the name and email address of the person who will become the company’s ‘sponsor user’. They will be registered on our secure database and will then be able to modify their company’s information within the sponsors directory. Please note that the directory can now enable companies to be searched for by category and area. Bernie Davis – STLD Sponsor Liaison

Index of advertisers ARRI Aurora Cirro Lite Clay Paky 60

Set & Light | Winter 2015

31 BC 14 29

Doughty ELP ETC Lee Filters

24 IBC 10 IFC

Lupo Lighting Unusual Rigging White Light

26 15 23

STLD_116 SOCIETY SPONSORS:TL 85 Spring 2005 03/12/2015 21:17 Page 61

MAPV25-11-2015

Set & Light | Winter 2015

STLD_116 SOCIETY SPONSORS:TL 85 Spring 2005 03/12/2015 21:17 Page 62

MAPV25-11-2015

Annual subscription fee for Membership is: £70 Full; £50 Affiliate, Retired and Overseas; £25 Students. When you join or renew your membership of the STLD, you will receive an invoice that details; your annual membership fee, the STLD's Bank account details and the subscription fee due payment date. Current fees for STLD membership are Full member - £ 70-00; Affiliate/Overseas/Retired - £ 50-00;

Student Members - £ 35-00

The best and the preferred method for paying for your membership is by direct bank transfer to the STLD's account using the following format as the payment reference. YOUR SURNAME/INV**** (INV**** Being the number of the STLD's membership invoice) STLD Bank Account & VAT details: Bank: HSBC Sort Code: 40-07-14; IBAN: GB45MIDL40071411171518;

Account Name: The Society of Television Lighting Directors Account Number: 11171518 VAT Registration: GB 551 463 648

Please return the completed form to: Chris Harris, STLD Membership, 4 Fenbourne Close, Shelfield, Walsall, WS4 1XD Any questions please email members@stld.org.uk

Set & Light | Winter 2015

STLD_116 SOCIETY SPONSORS:TL 85 Spring 2005 30/11/2015 09:11 Page 63

COMING TO MANCHESTER? TA L K T O E L P F I R S T

If your studio or location lighting production is heading for Manchester, Media City or the Sharp Project, then who better to supply your equipment than the crew with the best local experience. • • • • • •

Flexible dry hire and great value production packages Energy saving LED lighting systems State-of-the-art digital lighting and controls Own fleet of mobile power generators and trucks In-house structural design, rigging and staging expertise Local production office, local crew and local knowledge

Contact Darren, Sinbad or Matt on 0161 300 2922 or email darren@elp.tv

w w w. e l p. t v ELP Manchester Gold 60 The Sharp Project Thorp Road Manchester M40 5BJ •

•

STLD_116 SOCIETY SPONSORS:TL 85 Spring 2005 30/11/2015 09:11 Page 64

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