LE CHAMP-PRÈS-FROGES, France – Jennifer Lopez recently performed a stunning rendition of her latest single, ‘Feel the Light’, during an episode of this year’s American Idol, taken from the soundtrack for the latest DreamWorks feature length animated film, Home, featuring Airstar Accent and Crystal LED products.
More details from Airstar (www.airstar-light.com):
In the performance on America’s highly popular television talent show, Lopez’s production design team, Nappytabs were tasked with creating a universe themed look for the set to mirror the themes permeating throughout the film, which sees friendly Aliens from outer space invade the earth.
While the central aspect to the performance was undoubtedly Jennifer’s beautiful, monumental white dress – which was projection mapped with galactic themed content and snippets from the film Home, one of the key methods to achieve the desired space look was the strategic employment within the set of two types of Airstar LED products – the Accent and the Crystal. The spherical and planet-like lighting products offer wireless, rechargeable LED technology within an extremely lightweight orbital body, allowing ease of installation and maximum versatility.
“We wanted to have the images of planets but we didn’t want it to be literal,” said Napoleon D’umo, one half of husband and wife creative team Nappytabs. “So my wife Tabitha came up with the idea of mixing the planet idea with the star look. To achieve this look, we found the Airstar products.”
The placing of the nine Airstar Crystal and four Accent products was of paramount importance to achieve the desired universe effect which Napoleon and Tabitha strived for. As video content from the film was projection mapped onto Jennifer Lopez’s magnificent dress, it was imperative to position the Airstar Crystals and Accents strategically, so as to complement but not clutter the television shot.
Continued D’umo, “Basically, Jennifer and her astonishing dress had to be in a certain place on stage because of where the projectors were hanging, which also dictated where the centre camera was. From there, we strategically placed the Airstar products around the set to make Jennifer look engulfed in the middle of it all.” He concluded, “We were able to work with the camera director to achieve the best shots, which in the end included several panning shots in which the Airstar products really created the illusion of depth and universum.”
Fernando Ramirez, Airstar’s West Coast Film Manager, assisted Nappytabs with their choice of Airstar products for the show. “Napoleon and Tabitha turned up to the Airstar demo room in California to see the products and they absolutely fell in love with them. They were instantly inspired by the creative possibilities of the products.” He continued: “That’s the great thing about the Airstar balloons, their application is extremely versatile: from shows like this to corporate events and branding solutions, the possibilities for the balloons are limitless.”
Although it may have been a first for Nappytabs, American Idol’s Lighting Designer Kieran Healy – former LD for rock bands such as the Who and the Rolling Stones – is no stranger to Airstar, having used them several times throughout his career in television lighting.
“I used Airstar originally on some shows I did working as the Lighting Designer on Good Morning America. They’re great products to use where it is difficult to hang lighting, in venues, for example, with little or no trussing.” He continued, “One of the most beautiful things about these lights is that you can just float these balloons and they radiate a beautiful ambient light. I was worried about that in the sense that in order for the projections to pay off on Jennifer’s performance, we wanted as little ambient light as possible, so I worked with Napoleon and Tabitha in the placement of those balloons to make sure that they didn’t interfere with her face and the projections.”
Healy, linking the balloons to his Philips Vari*Lite 676 console via DMX, specified LED light sources within the balloons instead of halogen lamps. “I wanted to use a cool color palette that would compliment the content on the dress, which I achieved through the RGBW LED lights, changing from blue to purple through green.
“Jennifer is very concerned with the way she looks, and she was extremely happy with how she appeared on the American Idol show. The challenge was to light her and make her look beautiful without getting any light on the dress and not seeing any shadows cast upstage which would have ruined the overhead picture. The Airstar products performed perfectly in this sense, being part of the ambient look to the lighting and adding to the feel that it was galactic.”
Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0v6ITyTWv4
Picture credits: American Idol
