NOTTINGHAM, U.K. – For a production of ‘Terrorism’ by Oleg and Vladimir Presnyakov, Lucy Greaves, technical course leader at New College Nottingham, UK, met the need for a lighting effect that could focus on an actor’s face by turning to Glyn O’Donoghue at Ambersphere Solutions. O’Donoghue put Thor Andre’ from the Technical Sales team in charge of the project and he liaised directly with Technical Tutor, Andy Atkin. They worked toward a solution that included Ayrton MagicDot-R and Ayrton NandoBeam S3 fixtures.
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UK – Talk to anyone involved in delivering further and higher education for Technical Theatre or Entertainment Arts and they will all agree that one of the major challenges for colleges and universities is being able to offer students access to the very latest, state-of-the-art equipment. In today’s rapidly evolving industry, new technology can become almost obsolete within a few years. Administrators at New College Nottingham, UK decided to take a pro-active approach to overcome this.
Technical Course Leader, Lucy Greaves, explains, “Our FdA Theatre Arts (Acting) students were preparing a performance of ‘Terrorism’ by the Presnyakov Brothers and the FdA Theatre Arts (Technical) students were providing the technical support required for the play. The director of the performance, Phil Green, who is the course leader of the FdA Theatre Arts (Acting) course, requested a lighting effect that could focus on an actor’s face.
“After doing a bit of research for possible solutions, I decided to contact Glyn O’Donoghue at Ambersphere Solutions. Glyn was very accommodating and interested in helping us and from there a collaboration began.”
O’Donoghue put Thor Andre’ from the Technical Sales team in charge of the project and he liaised directly with Technical Tutor, Andy Atkin. “Thor suggested that the Ayrton MagicDot™-R and the Ayrton NandoBeam™S3 fixtures would be most suited to the needs of our production and that he would drive up and demo the equipment,” says Atkin. “He also offered to bring a MA dot2 Core console to give the students the chance to ‘get hands’ on with a board that opens a whole range of programming techniques and technical advantages. It was wonderful to give the students the opportunity to be working with newly developed equipment and software, enabling them to be experiencing current industry technology. Thor was very generous with his time and advice; his enthusiasm towards the products and the production was exceptional – the students had a fantastic experience working with him.”
Rosie Whitehead, the Lighting Designer and a FdA Technical student in Yr2 comments, “The workshop with Thor enabled me to be able to use the technology in a correct way for theatre and has given our production an extra professional edge. It was a great opportunity.”
Andre’ himself clearly relished the experience, “I was delighted when Glyn asked me to look after this project. Working with the next generation of up and coming lighting designers and programmers is incredibly rewarding.”
The play’s director, Course Leader Phil Green, fully appreciates the extra dimensions that the inclusion of the MagicDot-R and the NandoBeam S3 fixtures afforded. “The provision of the technology from Ambersphere was an invaluable addition to the creative process,” he says. “For student designers it opened so many options that would otherwise have not been available to them. As a director it was a joy to have those possibilities presented that helped define the presentation of the piece. As a consequence of this it was also a fantastic learning tool for the actors – and it looked amazing!”
Andre’ concurs wholeheartedly, “I was lucky enough to see the show, and the design and execution of it was beautiful. Had I not known they were using moving lights, I would not have been able to tell. Moving lights used as repositionable specials instead of effects lights, is a very powerful tool for a lighting designer when it is done right, like it was here.”
Atkin has the final word: “Myself and the students found great pleasure in working with the new and exciting technology supplied in kind by Ambersphere. The collaboration has created a fabulous opportunity for learners to work and experiment with leading edge technology from Ayrton and MA. The NandoBeam S3 moving head LED wash is capable of integrating into our generic rig seamlessly. The range of features built into the fixture were easily accessible by the learners on the MA dot2 Core console. When we are granted any new investment we would certainly be looking to Ambersphere for advice and guidance.”
