SAN REMO, Italy – The televised Sanremo Music Festival, which dates back to 1951, was not only the inspiration for the Eurovision Song Contest, it has also, on occasion, served as the way of choosing Eurovision's Italian representatives, while also launching the careers of a long list of Italian vocalists, including Andrea Bocelli. For the 2011 edition, Ivan Pierri, the show's director of photography, used 100 moving Clay Paky fixtures to light Gaetano Castelli's set. The rig included Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1500s, Alpha Profile 1200s, Alpha Beam 700s and Alpha Beam 300s, incorporated along with an LED wall in Castelli's futuristic set design. Instead of a classic staircase, the set featured a long spiral ramp, embodying the theme of tradition fused with modernity.
The Alpha Profile 1500s and 1200s were used for special effects on the stage, artists and orchestra, while the beam lights were used for backlighting with bright "light tubes" joining the visuals for each performance. This year, lights were also installed on the floor.
Shaped mid-air beam effects added dimension to the video content displayed along with Castelli's futuristic set design, and Pierri credited the Clay Paky Alpha Beam 700s, Alpha Profile 1500s and Alpha Profile 1200s as "excellent tools, together with graphical effects and other technical equipment, for getting sensations across to the audience in tone with the artists' stage performances."
Gianmarco Mazzi served as artistic director for the event. Duccio Forzano was the producer.
For more information, please visit www.claypaky.it.
