LONDON – The 2010 BBC Radio 2 Electric Proms were staged at the Camden Town Roundhouse. Siyan supported the lighting design by Steve Finch and Bryan Leitch with crew and gear, including i-Pix LED fixtures. The three-night weekend event was headlined by Elton John, Robert Plant and Neil Diamond. Along with the crowds drawn to the Roundhouse for the live shows, the lighting design also had to work for broadcasts on television and on BBC I-Player. The shows were also streamed live on Radio 2. One rig also had to meet the needs of the three artists' LDs and three different TV directors.
The artist LDs – Andrew Pygott, Will Thomas and Marilyn Lowey – all worked closely with the Siyan team in an advisory capacity to ensure that unique elements of their respective shows were retained. Finch ended up using 16 i-Pix BB7s, 16 BB4s and 20 of the new BB 2x2s, all from Siyan.
The BB7s were positioned between the venue's structural arches at the back of the stage and used primarily as camera candy, their beam effects easily captured through the lens.
The BB4s were rigged as uprights to the pillars around the rear of the stage and were focused so they had the effect of enlarging both the stage and the room on camera. Like the BB7s, they were also used for a beam effects.
Both BB7s and BB4s were re-focused or re-rigged for each act as required.
The BB 2x2s were attached to the Roundhouse's catwalks and beamed upwards to illuminate the top dome of the venue, and downwards to light the audience.
Twenty-four i-Pix Satellites were used as truss toners for eight spine trusses running upstage/downstage and a front truss, their compact size proving an asset as they were tucked unobtrusively and positioned to shoot neatly along the metal span.
Finch, who first used the new BB 2×2 unit from i-Pix in the Radio One tent at the Reading/Leeds Festival this year, credited them and the BB4s for being flexible enough to work for uplighting cycs and as audience blinders. He also likes how the petal-shaped light source looks on camera and the complex chases the fixtures are able to produce by programming individual pixels.
All the stage lights on the Electric Proms rig, including all the i-Pix units, were controlled by an Avolites Diamond 4 Vision programmed and operated by Paula Trounce. The television lighting elements were run by Ewan McRobb using an Avo D4 Elite.
The three Electric Proms telecasts were directed by Phil Hayes (Elton John), Matthew Amos (Robert Plant) and Janet Crook (Neil Diamond).
For more information, please visit www.i-pix.uk.com.
