MIAMI – The Miami Heat welcomed LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh – with an event that Fox Sports described as "a spectacle typically reserved for rock concerts and award shows." With 13,000 cheering fans packed into American Airlines Arena – 10,000 more stood outside – the trio, dressed in white Heat uniforms, made their entrance on stage, then strode down a runway, as music and special effects lighting heralded their arrival.
Everlast Productions, Inc., Dania Beach, Fla., created the rock star-style visual atmosphere for the event, using DMX moving lights from Elation Professional. Twenty-four Design Spot 1400s, 24 Design Wash 1400s and 12 Design Spot 575s were positioned on stage and at front of house.
One reason why the Elation lights were chosen was because they could meet the variety of functions required at an event that was part concert, part pep rally and part speaking engagement
David McCranie, vice president of Everlast Productions, who served as LD with the help of lighting assistant Fred Lyuber, credited the Elation gear for versatility. "We were going for several goals – a conventional lighting look for even illumination throughout the stage and runway, impactful reaction, and some flair."
The Elation fixtures, he said, were used to create spotlights, attention, focus and appeal, along with special effects to complement the scenery, also provided by Everlast.
The Design Spot 1400 is a 1200-watt moving head spot effect with CMY-color-mixing with features and effects including two gobo wheels, an animation wheel, linear zoom, prism effects, an iris and a frost filter. The Design Spot 575 is a smaller 575-watt version that also contains a range of features. The Design Wash 1400 is a 1200-watt moving head color wash.
All three fixtures are equipped with a wireless DMX receiver, which proved especially useful at the Heat event, since it eliminated the setup time that would have been required to run DMX cable.
With the welcome party coming just one night after James announced his decision to join the Heat, "time was of the essence," said McCranie, "and the wireless DMX that's built into the lights was extremely helpful. Elation lights have impressive optics," McCranie added, "and the output was perfect for the application."
For more information, please visit www.elationlighting.com and www.everlastproductions.com.
