LOS ANGELES – GrandMA2 systems and Clay Paky Sharpy moving fixtures have been in demand for such high-profile programs as Simon Cowell’s new “X Factor” music reality show for FOX and the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs). LD Tom Kenny reports success using the gear for both events.
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“X Factor” and MTV Video Music Awards with grandMA2 Control Systems and Clay Park Sharpys
LOS ANGELES – With the awards season and the new TV season getting underway, grandMA2 systems and Clay Paky Sharpy moving fixtures have been in demand for such high-profile programs as Simon Cowell’s new “X Factor” music reality show for FOX and the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs). A.C.T Lighting is the distributor for both grandMA and Sharpy in North America.
LD Tom Kenny traveled with lighting director Brian Klunder and programmer Dirk Optende for “X Factor” as the new show made talent stops across America in Chicago, New York, Miami, Dallas and Seattle. Then they settled into LA’s Pasadena Theater for two weeks of boot camp.
The show required four trucks of lighting gear including a grandMA2 control system which “really impressed” Kenny. “MA obviously listened to programmers and lighting designers in creating updates that have made everything easier with the Series 2 board,” he says. “It worked flawlessly on ‘X Factor.’”
Earlier, MTV aired its Video Music Awards. Kenny had teamed with programmers Mike Appel and Dirk Optende to field four grandMA2 systems to control more than 2,000 lighting fixtures for the “massive” show. “The grandMA2s were a great upgrade and worked perfectly,” Kenny reports.
Kenny was eager to use Clay Paky Sharpy moving heads, which he first saw in London, on a charity event with The Who. “They are such a small unit – with set designers and directors not wanting to see lighting units on camera, they are very easy to put anywhere,” he notes. But their small footprint belies their power. “The output of the Sharpy surpasses any other light,” Kenny says. “I had them alongside 3K and 4K units, and they just cut right through.”
Kenny deployed 18 Sharpy fixtures on the floor for “X Factor” with another 18 on the rig. “They provided this big graphic, powerful stadium look that the producers wanted,” he recalls. “The days for the live auditions were long, but the Sharpys performed brilliantly – they would be on for 16 hours with no problems. Their focusability and shape were amazing. The judges were impressed with the look of ‘X Factor.’”
So was Kenny — so much so, that he decided to use Sharpy fixtures on the VMAs where the lights “were the talk of many an artist,” he reports.
“I plan to use the Sharpy on all my future shows – they are just great to work with,” he says.
