GENOA, Italy — For Costa Cruises’ launch celebration for two new ships, the Costa Pacifica and Costa Luminosa, LD Fabio Maschera of Switch On of Milan used Martin MAC III Profile luminaires for their long-throw output and ability to work well with a stage dominated by an LED wall. The launch event included a concert, the traditional christening of the ships and fireworks. The 3,780-passenger Pacifica and 2,826-passenger Luminosa — each 35 meters high and 300 meters long — were lit from two audience towers and two stage towers, each tower holding five MAC III Profiles in protective domes. An additional 15 MAC III Profiles were used on stage for backlighting.
Maschera was looking for a reliable way to project gobos diagonally and still maintain focus at varying distances and angles, and used the 1500 watt Martin MAC III Profiles which had recently been purchased by Italian rental company Musical Box Rent.
When the fixtures arrived on site, Maschera opened one for himself and commended the design. “It is really quite different from what we see with other fixtures,” he said. “The ease of lamp replacement, the modules and the base, and the idea to divide the fan (cold) from the lamp (hot), tells me that it is really well engineered. The MAC III is really the future.”
Maschera also credited the fixtures for the quality of their red color output and called their gobo focusing and the power “incredible.” He was also pleased with the graphical ability to obtain a “tunnel” effect. Although it wasn’t essential for this event, Maschera also praised the fixture’s quiet operation and ease of handling.
“I am proud to have designed the lighting for such an important event and am happy to have worked with such a professional and skilled company as Musical Box Rent,” he said.
“I am also happy to have had the opportunity to use the MAC III Profile. The time we had to program the show was limited and the weather was very bad but the MAC III helped me to obtain a very good result; the client was very satisfied with the scenography and lighting and that is the most important thing.”
Along with Maschera, who served as LD and director of photography, the crew included assistant lighting designer Claudio di Bellonio and lighting operator Andrea Mantovani. Gio Forma Studio of Milan handled the stage design and scenography, the rental company was Music Box Rent.
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