KNOXVILLE, TN – Bandit Lites supplied lighting for the Destination Imagination’s Global Finals.
More details from Bandit Lites (www.banditlites.com):
It was a celebration of curiosity, ingenuity and knowledge as 17,000 attendees, including 8,000 students from 17 countries flooded the city of Knoxville for Destination Imagination (DI). The non-profit organization works to inspire students to be innovators and leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Bandit Lites provided the lighting for the Global Finals, where teams from around the world gathered to compete in challenges created to stretch logical skills and creativity.
Acrobats, astronaut Buzz Aldridge, superstar Paula Abdul, and others took the stage where Bandit General Manager Giff Swart built on last year’s success of an in-the-round design. Hexagonal truss structures ensured every inch of the stage was covered, and Bandit’s GRNLite moving head wash provided lighting that would ‘punch’ even in color washes.
“Setting up in this manner presents specific challenges,” said Swart, “You cannot possibly have any dark spots on stage, because an MC, performer, or group does not have to adhere to traditional “positions;” but instead are free to move about from side-to-side all the way to the edge of the stage. If they walk through a “dark-spot” it is painfully obvious – this is where the GRN Moving Wash come in, as they have a great combination of brightness and beam-spread that has never let us down, and they came through again for us on DI – whether it was for color effects or a balanced daylight wash for live-edit.”
Bandit also supplied Martin Mac 2k Washes with Beam Kits attached to provide the shafts which created incredible looks when combined with the washes. Additionally, twice the number of Mac 2k Spots were used this year for gobo and spots, while Vari-Lite 3k Spots were provided to project custom gobos directly on the stage since there was no backdrop.
Lighting director Shawn Beaulieu used PixelLine 1044s horizontally-mounted and spaced evenly on the top rail of the hexagonal lighting-truss structure as colored blinders and created chases to fly all the way around. “By coordinating these effects with the laser show, it really helped to fill that portion out without stealing its thunder,” Swart explained.
In addition to the lighting for the opening and closing ceremony, Bandit’s lights could be seen at the Innovation Expo, as curved truss in curlicue configurations added another level of whimsy to the students being encouraged to think outside of the box for their challenges.
“It is always a pleasure working with DI, in main part because it involves children, and one cannot help but catch their contagious sense of wonder and design,” he added. “It’s satisfying to give these kids a really cool visual experience – as well as a perfectly executed stage setup for the client.”
“I have to take my hat off to Mr. Pete Sandford of NXLevel, the DI Production Manager who is a world-class gentleman and a sincere pleasure to work with,” finished Swart. “I always appreciate his professionalism and pleasant demeanor, and his vision guides their production every year with a firm but fair hand. I also want to say a big thank you to Britt Dyer, the driving force and energy behind DI Global Finals. It is always a blast to be around her, as she has an intellect, energy, and enthusiasm that helps to make Global Finals the global success that it truly is.”
