Features

Let me just get this out there right off the bat – I'm not a rigger.

So what am I doing in an automation and control class? I'm glad you asked.

I've been involved in the production industry in one form or another for over twenty years and I've successfully dodged learning much about rigging and automation. Until now.

The Opening and Closing Ceremonies of any Olympic Games is a daunting production task, and the ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C. were no different. David Atkins of Australia-based David Atkins Enterprises (DAE) served as the ceremonies' executive producer and artistic director. 

Over the last decade, stage lighting has taken some extreme curves and turns. What started as a weak source of light in questionable fixtures has emerged as a most viable source of light with new fixtures emerging at a rapid pace. LED lighting has become quite the buzzword with touring productions, bands and management, and is strongly associated with green lighting or environmentally friendly lighting.

Is there any pressure when you sign on to design the Halftime show at the Super Bowl? You are working on one of the highest-viewed televised sporting events in the U.S.; you want something that no one has ever seen before; you are working with the biggest names in music; and it all happens live in a 12-minute performance. Oh, and you have only eight-minutes to set it all up in front of 100,000 people.

For an awards ceremony honoring ear candy, there was plenty of eye candy to behold at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, broadcast live from Staples Center and seen by an estimated 25.8 million viewers.

Daunte Kenner and DK Production Design LLC handled production design for a recent tour that provided audiences with an eclectic mix of comedy and music performances by an Oscar-winning actor, a Grammy-winning musician and a well-known stand-up comedian – all wrapped up in one person, Jamie Foxx.

LD Atul Sonpal chose Clay Paky beam and wash fixtures to light the set for Dance Premier League, a dance reality show produced by Cineyug for Sony Entertainment Television that was broadcast on Indian TV.

The lighting rig supplied by Sonalyst for the U.K. arena tour of Strictly Come Dancing Live included more than 150 Robe moving lights, including the new ColorBeam 700E ATs.

LONDON – The 30th annual Brit Awards took place recently at Earls Court, hosted by comedian Peter Kay and broadcast live on ITV 1. For the ninth consecutive year, XL Video provided LED screens, projection, PPU, camera system and playback content management.

When LD Lee Rose of Design Partners first lit Dick Clark's New Years Rockin' Eve, Ronald Reagan was in the White House and Johnny Carson was the host of The Tonight Show. For 2010, the NYRE show featured The Black Eyed Peas, pictured above, plus Colbie Caillat, Robin Thicke, Keri Hilson, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber – and, once again, Lee Rose as LD.

Paramore's popularity in the U.K. has grown since the film Twilight featured "Decode" on the soundtrack. That left LD Chad Peters with a dual challenge: find fixtures bright enough for arena-sized venues, yet still meet the band's strong "green" preference.

Blackpool's city council was looking to encourage people to linger in the downtown area and take advantage of the area's many restaurants, bars, cafes, clubs and performance venues. They commissioned £3.5 million for a public art projection, Brilliance, which consists of six aluminum-clad arches traversing Birley Street.