The Digital Age
Losing a Computer the Easy Way
It is a sad, sad day for me. Earlier this week, I lost a dear friend of mine. For that past six years, Mielziner has been one of my closest and most trusted friends. No matter how I felt or what is going on in my life, I could share my stories, photos and so much more with him and he would not think any less of me. He was always there, ready to help me out.
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The Making of Pepsi’s Grammy ‘Halftime Show’
Pepsi scored a hit among TV viewers and on social networks this year with its Grammy Halftime Show commercial, which aired Jan. 26 for a full 2-minute, 36-seconds halfway through the Grammy Awards telecast on CBS. Despite the spot’s length, it was crammed with a mash-up from the worlds of sports and entertainment. The production company, Holmes Defender of the Faith, with McG as director, worked with Ramsey Nickell, director of photography and LD Todd Roberts of Visions Lighting, which provided lighting, video and staging for the spot.
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Creating a ‘Beautiful’ World
One Cool Show
A look at the lighting, video and pyro for The Pepsi Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show
This year’s Super Bowl was held in MetLife Stadium, located in East Rutherford, NJ. It was the first — and many on the crew hope the last — cold weather Super Bowl in a stadium without a roof. To pull off the potentially cold and snowy Pepsi Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show with Bruno Mars and his band along with special guest, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, it took a lot of pre-planning. Known for high tech lighting and video, the show’s core technology is not exactly comprised of gear that loves cold temperatures, much less Arctic conditions.
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Beyoncé: The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour
The Visual Team Keeps Pace with Beyonce’s Creative Output
As the lead singer of Destiny’s Child, Beyoncé Knowles had already enjoyed considerable success before launching a solo album, Dangerously in Love, more than a decade ago (while Destiny’s Child was in hiatus, in in 2003). By the time Destiny’s Child disbanded, in 2006, the trio sold 60 million albums worldwide. Combining her solo and collaborative efforts, Beyoncé, now 32 years old, has 46 Grammy nominations to her credit and 17 wins.
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Florida Georgia Line
Lighting Director Scott Cunningham Helps ‘The Line” Shine
Country music’s Florida Georgia Line, comprised of Floridian Brian Kelley and Georgian Tyler Hubbard, are hotter than a $10 pistol. Their sextuple-platinum song “Cruise” broke the record for longest Number One on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart, scoring more than 6.3 million downloads in the U.S. alone. It is the second-highest-selling country single ever. Entertainment Weekly magazine called “Cruise (Remix) featuring Nelly” the eighth-best single of 2013. Their first three singles hit Number One for several weeks each, an accomplishment equaled only by Brooks & Dunn. Their debut album, Here’s to the Good Times, earned the highest album sales of 2012 for a new country act.
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iHeartRadio Theater, Burbank, CA
In October 2013, pop music icon Katy Perry held an album release party for her latest studio offering, Prism, at iHeartRadio Theater in Burbank, CA. After making a special appearance at the media and events venue, Perry was interviewed by The X Factor host Mario Lopez for an event that was broadcast by 175 Clear Channel stations across the U.S.
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Atomic Design: Giving Designers a “Blank Canvas”
“How do you keep the creativity going, and how do you find different ways to keep the sizzle — that’s something we ask ourselves constantly,” says Rob Barber, vice president of Atomic Design’s rental division. The answer for Atomic is making sure the common denominator is modularity in all things, providing a level of flexibility in renting scenic pieces that allows for a completely original end result.
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St. Louis Planetarium, Dark for Years, Glows Anew
Architects building cool, inevitably iconic buildings don’t always think about how the heck the exterior will be lit. At least they probably didn’t in 1963. That year, the James S. McDonnell Planetarium in St. Louis, MO was built by modernist architect Gyo Obata. The planetarium, part of the St. Louis Science Center, is where stargazers can sit reclined in a circle, looking up as the interior and ceiling are lit up to show the solar system.
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Merging Art-Net with an MA2
ADJ Vizi Beam Hybrid 2R
It is nice to have a pleasant surprise once in a while. I had just that after ADJ, formally American DJ, sent me one of their latest products, the Vizi Beam Hybrid 2R. Let me start off by saying that this is not your typical DJ fixture. Think of it a crossover between a DJ light and a professional grade fixture — hence the “hybrid” reference in the fixture’s name. It truly is a hybrid, meaning that simple DJ setups can include a light that could also work well in a professional rig.
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