EDINBURGH – The festival saw performances from comedians such as Frankie Boyle, Sarah Pascoe and Phil Wang, and was illuminated by Bristol-based lighting company Utopium, who this year utilized a number of new additions to their equipment list. Utopium has once again supplied lighting at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world. The month-long celebration of culture sees thousands of performers take to hundreds of stages all over the Scottish capital with shows comprising of comedy, dance, circus, cabaret, theatre and much more.
More details from Utopium (www.utopium.co.uk/):
Bristol’s Utopium was on hand to provide a range of lighting effects to the BBC’s Big Blue Tent, housing broadcast, theatre, music and comedy performances, was situated in the grounds of George Heriot’s School – a Grade 1 listed building. The school grounds also hosted the Castle Tent, bars, food vendors and production facilities.
Utopium’s project manager, Jon Newman commented:
“We have built a strong working relationship with the BBC over the years and it was great to be back at the Fringe again. We utilized a variety of new and innovative fixtures this year and everyone was extremely pleased with the outcome. This was the seventh year we have worked on the Fringe and our second working on this new site. Creating an event within the grounds of a Grade 1 listed building brought complications. We were very diligent alongside the BBC to respect the historic architecture of the building and minimize the impact on the school.”
In the Big Blue Tent Utopium supplied 16 SGM Q-7 Flood/Binder/Strobes, 16 Martin Mac Aura XB fixtures, 12 Martin Mac Quantum Profiles, 10 ETC Colorsource 25/50 LED Profiles and 11 Arri L5-C LED Fresnels.
They also used six ETC Colorsource LED Fresnels, which are a new addition to their kit. These allow for the creation of white or brightly-colored washes with soft edges and an even blend of light.
Another new piece of equipment used by Utopium at the Fringe was two Chauvet AMHaze Whispers. These haze machines feature a rapid heat up time and discreet operation, allow for fully adjustable haze volume up to a maximum of 7000 cfm and are the kit of choice for television studios and theatrical productions.
As part of the set lighting package, the Utopium team supplied 24 Pulsar Chroma Panels, and another new addition to their stock – 30 Martin VDO Sceptron 10’s. The VDO Sceptron 10 is a linear outdoor-rated LED video fixture with 10mm pixel pitch and an extensive range of optical accessories. It is driven by the Martin P3 System Controller family which allows for easy configuration, mapping and setup and is also backwards compatible with DMX for smaller lighting setups.
Utopium also debuted some further recent technical acquisitions such as the Hippotizer Amba Media Server. The Hippotizer features four codecs to ensure media is played instantly and smoothly, and PixelMapper – a feature rich tool which is capable of mapping many thousands of light points easily and effectively. The Hippotizer also boasts HD and 4K playback as well as 500GB of media storage. Two Avolites Tiger Touch II Control Desks were also new to the Utopium inventory, boasting increased processing power, a faster graphics console and a 100% brighter screen compared to its most recent previous iteration.
Utopium also supplied various aspects of lighting to other areas of George Heriot’s School grounds, consisting of tree lighting, site lighting, festooning, bar lighting and lighting for the bandstand stage.
