LOS ANGELES – The third annual Latin American Music Awards aired live on Telemundo Thursday, October 26th at the renowned Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Lighting Designer John Daniels was brought on for the third year by Darmah Production Designer team lead Rodrigo Proal and Bianca Moncada. John sat down with the VER team to discuss his unique vision for the 2017 lighting design.
More details from VER (www.VER.com):
“LAMA has a fantastic production team bringing this event to life. The Dolby Theatre is just a beautiful venue to fill with lighting, video, and audio- and the team delivered once again” commented John. A lot of elements from the previous stage design were used this year, but the crew wanted to build off the success and bring an energy to the Dolby that would completely reimagine the space. “We wanted to make the audience a big part of the show and transform the Dolby into something people have never experienced. It was all about creating energy in the room. Using Chroma Q Color Force 2 and Chroma Q Color Block 2, we were able to light up the entire house and connect the audience to the performances.”
“Placing 150 GLP X4s around the venue, and in the proscenium arch we were able to add movement, allowing for big looks, and big shifts in an easy way,” comment John, “with the Clay Paky SharBar we really brought the energy. The SharBar were used as a source fixture, but also as beams whenever we needed an extra punch. Both the Clay Packy Mythos and BMFL Wash Beams are both really diverse, we used them together to create completely different looks for the performance. This year’s show was very theatrical, and the design allowed us to create beautiful color washes.”
A massive video wall created the centerpiece and background for most on-stage performances. With such a video-heavy show, John had to balance matching the content without stealing the show with the lighting rig.
“Lighting Designers are having to find our way in this era of new video-heavy show designs. Our design has become somewhat of a supportive role- picking and choosing moments to shine. The good lighting designers find those right moments- when you get them, you really need to be on!”
When it came to working with VER it was a no-brainer for John. “VER was able to provide the proper fixtures for each task. With 3 performance stages, it was essential to have the ability to light from various angles. Anthony Ciampa was the account rep from VER. Early in the design, we spoke about fixtures and what I was thinking. He was able to get the gear available early on, so I could just count on the gear being there- no substitutions. They really do a great job over there” said John.
VER provided lighting equipment for the Latin American Music Awards.
CREW
Executive Producer: Mary Black
Production Designer: Bianca Moncada
Lighting Designer: John Daniels “JD”
Set Designer: Rodrigo Proal
LD/Programmer: Felix Peralta
LD/Programmer: Kirk Miller
LD: Darren Langer
Gaffer: Alex Flores
Best Boy: John Cox
Video Vendor: Darmah
EQUIPMENT:
(70) Clay Paky Mythos
(20) Robe BMFL Spot
(4) VL3000 Spot
(35) VL3500 Spot
(35) VL4000 Spot
(4) VL6000 Beam
(94) Clay Paky Sharbar
(9) GLP X4 XL
(20) GLP X4
(149) GLP X4S
(12) Solaris Flare
(96) Chroma Q Color Force II 12″
(72) Chroma Q Color Block 2 Plus
(8) GLP X4 Atom
(5) Lycian M2 2.5k Spot Light
(4) Lycian 1295 Spot Light
