Gay Games Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony of the Gay Games was called "Fabulous" and a crowd of about 38,000 attended. Divided into segments titled Welcome, Struggle, Remembrance, Acceptance, Celebration and Finale, the ceremony was a colourful spectacle. Conceived by director Ignatius Jones and produced by Katrina Marton, it was thoughtful, historic, stylish and jubilant.
Iain Reed was the Technical Director, Trudy Dalgleish the lighting designer and the equipment was supplied by Chameleon.
Lighting equipment
SIDE STADIUM: 2 x 100mt lenghts of tri truss, 66 x Martin MAC2000, 30 x Studio Due CityColors, 16 x 5 degree Source 4 profiles, 40 x 2402 VLs ( on feild perimetre) and 12 x Space Cannons.
STAGE: 16 x Martin MAC600, 20 x Martin MAC500, 8 x 5k fresnels, 120 x Par 64 VNSP and 16 x Ministrips.
MOUND: 8 x Martin MAC600
TUNNELS: 20 x Orian 1s
FOLLOWSPOTs: 4 x Gladiators, 4 x Robert Juliets
Control was 2 Whole Hog 11 's linked together.
www.chameleon-touring.com.au

ARIA Awards 2002
The brief from the ARIA Board for 2002 was to create an entirely new model for the ARIA Awards - to create an awards show with credibility and relevance for the music community - a show that could stand alongside The Brits or The Grammys as a world class music event from one of the world's greatest music-producing nations.
The brief also included a return to an event where the industry is seated at tables and is allowed to enjoy food and alcohol - an event where the industry has fun from the outset of proceedings. As well, the Board wished to extend an invitation to the fans who may want to attend on the night.
The final aim of the brief was to create an event that celebrates and promotes Australian music to the widest possible audience. Live bands included silverchair, Holly Valance and Taxiride.
Eric Robinson was the Production Manager, Francesco Calvi the lighting designer and Paul Collison programmed/operated the MA GrandMA desks. Lighting equipment was supplied by Chameleon and included:
Aria Stage Lighting:
36 Martin MAC2000
204 Par 64
8 Source 4 Profile
40 Source 4 Par
16 2kw Fresnel
8 DWE 4-Lite
28 VL Wash
Aria Floor Lighting:.
6 Studio Due CityColor
4 Martin MAC250
4 Martin MAC2000
4 VL Wash
8 Source Four Par
9 Martin MAC300
12 Martin MAC600 NT
12 Single Groundrow
2 Antares Fogger
2 DF50 / Cracker
2 F100 (Dmx)
Aria Band Extras:
8 x Flame lights (supplied by band)
Extra Floor Lights
140 Par 64
12 Blinders
10 x 8-Lite DWE
4 x Handheld Omni Pro
Aria Audience:
8 Studio Due CityColor
32 Martin MAC500
240 Par 64
Front of House
1 Grand Ma + Tracking Console ( all the stage movers) operated by Paul Collison
1 Whole Hog 2 + Wingboard (All stage dimmers + Audience Lighting) operated by me.
1 Jands Hog 1000 (Silverchair Stuff) Operated by Hugh Taranto.
Rigging: Including sound and staging approx. 120 rigging points.
www.chameleon-touring.com.au
Photos: Paul Collison

M-One
The touring rock festival entitled M-One recently visited Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide. Jeff Pavey designed the lighting for the main stage that catered to ten acts including Garbage, Billy Idol, Midnight Oil and Nickleback.
Lighting equipment was supplied by Bytecraft and included:
Lanterns - 264 x Chrome Par 64, 8 x Desisti 5kW fresnels, 12 x Thomas 8-way Par 36 DWE, 19 x LSD 8 way Par 36 DWE, 4 x Lycian HTI 400 Short Throw, and4 x Lycian HMI 1200 Starklite.
Effects - 18 x AF1000 Dataflash, 9 x Coloursette 4 light Scroller and 12 x Wybron 8 lite scroller.
Moving Lights - 43 x Martin MAC2000, 17 x Studio Due CityColor and 21 x High End PC Beam.
Control Dimmers - 1 x Whole Hog II, 1 x Echelon 1000ch Desk, 5 x Bytecraft 48 way touring dimmer rack, 2 x Bytecraft 483 5kW dimmer rack and 12 x Bytesupply 12 x 10a Distro.
Rigging & Support - 26 x 8' Steel Box Truss, 37 x 8' Pre-rigged Truss, 25 x 3m Tri Truss, 25 x Lodestar 1ton Motors and 17 x CM Loadstar Motors.
Fog & Smoke - 4 x F100 Smoke Machine, 8 x DF 50 Diffusion Fogger.
www.bytecraftentertainment.com

click on an image below to enlarge

Road to Perdition
DP Conrad L. Hall Lights the Deep Depression-Era Road to Perdition in Tones Brown and Somber
Since its release in July, Road to Perdition has received critical plaudits for its acting, its powerful and economical storytelling and, not least, for its dark-toned, rain-drenched cinematography. Despite the reviews, DP Conrad L. Hall, ASC, says he didn't intend the film to be perceived as "beautiful." In fact, says Hall, director Sam Mendes and he knew what they didn't want: "A beautifully lit Mafia movie. We didn't want idealized light, or that beautiful bronze that Gordon Willis did in the Godfather movies. People say it's very painterly, but there was no attempt to be painterly. We were after simplicity and honesty of light." Maybe Hall's images just can't help but be beautiful.
Lighting Dimension's John Calhoun reports.

Dame Edna and UV/FX
Harley Medcalf and the Australian production team responsible for "Barry Humphries: "A Night With Dame Edna" was interested in creating a very special effect for this comedy tour. The production, which opens in Miami on September 10th, required a 30'x30' backdrop that was completely white for the purposes of the lighting designer. An assortment of coloured lighting, automated lighting, and projections were to be directed at the drop. The drop had to also be durable, lightweight and manageable for extensive touring and ease of setup and strike. In addition to these standards, the production team wanted the white backdrop to transform to a photo-realistic portrait of Dame Edna on cue.
Harley contacted UV/FX Scenic Productions. UV/FX partner and Creative Director Kent Mathieu hand-painted a billboard size photo-realistic image of Dame Edna that is only revealed with the addition of ultraviolet lighting; under regular lighting conditions the image disappears, revealing a totally white substrate. The image was painted with acrylic on flame proofed muslin, utilizing UV/FX's custom-made fluorescent paints, which appear completely clear under regular light, and then fluoresce brilliantly under UV light.
The picture above shows the 30' x30' under normal lighting and then the same art under UV lighting.
www.uvfx.com

Youth Alive

Lighting Designer Alex Saad put together a lighting design for the August Christian Youth Organisation which featured a host of ULA distributed products, including High End Systems Catalyst Digital Media Server System. 14,000 people attended the event held at Melbourne Park.
The design called for:
24 x SGM Giotto Spot 400
24 x SGM Giotto Wash 400
8 x SGM Giotto Wash 1200
1 x High End Systems Catalyst
1 x Flying Pig Systems WholeHog II
1 x Avolites Pearl2004
1 x Avolites Sapphire2000
Catalyst generated media featured on three 14x10' and two 16x12' screens and was supplied for the event by Bytecraft Entertainment and was operated by ULA's Dave Jackson on a WholeHogII
The event was a fundraiser for the Christian Yoth Organisation. The Youth Alive band entertained along with the New Zealand group The Lads.
Avolites new Pearl2004 debuted at the event also. Alex Saad operated the extensive array of moving and conventional lights with the Avolites consoles.
Alex was truly impressed with Giotto's saying, "When you consider it is usual to use fixtures in this venue which are considerably larger, the Giotto's have been not only adequate, but more than impressive- they rock!"
Lighting Design: Alex Saad
Lighting Production: Phaseshift Productions
Equipment: Phaseshift Productions, Light Lab, Bytecraft Entertainment

The Man From Snowy River

Banjo Paterson's The Man From Snowy River is told in an extravagant two-hour Arena Spectacular; the latest collaboration by two of Australia's leading Promoters David Atkins Enterprises and Jacobsen Entertainment.
The Man From Snowy River Arena Spectacular incorporates in its two-hour epic, a rock concert, rodeo, theatre and equestrian extravaganza; at the scale and grandeur of its inspiration, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.
The famous story of the thrilling chase to catch a prize thoroughbred is brought to life by more than forty horses, a selection of Australia's best horsemen, women and stunt daredevils, and 60-plus of Australia's leading performers.
Producer and Artistic Director of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies, David Atkins, directs this splendid Arena Spectacular which includes wagons, cattle dogs, gigantic moving sets and sophisticated lighting systems.
The Man From Snowy River Arena Spectacular stars the best of Australian talent including two time Gold Logie winner Georgie Parker, multi award theatre and television star Steve Bisley, Platinum album selling Country Artist Lee Kernaghan and the incomparable Australian icon Bud Tingwell.
"The Man From Snowy River Arena Spectacular is enormous in scale and absolutely cutting-edge in its technical sophistication so that audiences get a true sense of the echoes of the stockwhips, of the firelight of the flint stones, of the bold riding and of the rugged mountain side. It's quintessentially Australian in its sentiment and humour, and unabashedly international in its production quality," said David Atkins.

The Electric Canvas designed and operated the PIGI Projection that is so vital to the show. Lighting designer for the show is Trudy Dalgleish. The lighting rig, supplied by Bytecraft, contains:
100 - Nsp par 64s
192 - MFL par 64s
32 - VNSP par 64s
70 - MFL par 56s
16 - 5k fresnels with scrollers
24 - Wybron scrollers for par 64s
16 - 2k Studio Due CityColors
18 - Martin MAC2000
40 - High End Turbo Cybers
16 - VL 2Cs
24 - High End Studio Colors
29 - Martin MAC600's
14 - Martin MAC500s
9 - Lycian truss mounted followspots
3 - DF 50 hazers
1 - MA Lighting grandMA desk
www.bytecraftentertainment.com

AVLA light Big Boys

The Big Boys Toys event, show casing fast cars, gadgets and other testosterone-driven objects, was recently held in Perth with AVLA supplying lighting for the stage area and the fashion catwalk.
For the stage, lighting designer Steve Saunders used two Martin MAC2000, six MAC600 and ten Clay Paky Miniscan HPE as well as various effects such as flame lights and water columns to clutter the stage floor. 48 par cans lighted the catwalk.
"We also placed twelve Clay Paky Goldenscan 3's down the room which was great because they really entertained the kids as they chased the light patterns around the room," laughed lighting designer Steve Saunders. "It wasn't intentional but it kept the kids occupied whilst their parents looked around.
"It also turned out to be a good show for the drive away hire equipment because a lot of people saw the mirrorballs, water columns etc and wanted to put them in their homes!"
The theme of the show was modeled on the James Bond movies and so the entrance had flash cars lit up with more Martin MAC600s and MAC2000's creating an iris-type tunnel effect on to a cyc.
www.avla.com.au

PIGI projection system for Commonwealth Games ceremonies

As with the Sydney Olympics in 2000, PIGI large scale projection systems featured in the recent Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 17th Commonwealth Games in Manchester, UK.
The event was declared open by the Queen and attended by a live audience of 38,000 and an estimated TV audience of 1 billion.
Consisting of 16 x PIGI 7 Kw projectors, the system was the largest yet used in a UK stadium event. E\T\C UK, who supplied the system to the Games' Ceremonies Producers, Jack Morton Worldwide, also provided technicians, programming and technical support services throughout the event.
The projectors were all rigged on trussing under the stadium roof - eight on the East stand and eight on the West, pointing down at the pitch. Their ballasts were actually on top of the stadium's roof, enclosed in weatherproof housings, custom built by E\T\C.
The PIGIs were an integral part of the lighting for both the M2002 Opening and Closing Ceremonies - and were specified by the ceremony project's co-lighting designers, Andy Bridge and Andy Doig.
Fitted with PIGI double-rotating scrollers, the projectors all beamed down onto the playing field - covered by a floor cloth for the shows - creating spectacular images, texturing and patterns for all to see.
The effects created big, bold, mega-bright images on the pitch, ranging from stars and moons and other graphic style effects to colourful patchworks and photographic images.
PIGI projectors were specified because they were considered to be the most suitable lightsource. They had to be powerful enough to create the 115m by 62m images, and simultaneously cut through to the floor cloth amidst heavy lighting from large conventional fixture.
www.etc-pigi.com
www.theelectriccanvas.com.au

Grinspoon on tour

Australian band Grinspoon are on a rigorous Australian tour with lighting designed by Anthony Petruzio. All lighting, apart from the fluoros, was supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems.
Fixtures included:
6 x Martin MAC500 M2
4 x Martin Mac 600 M2
4 x Geni GigaStrobe DMX controllable (2 with hooks & safety wires, 2 on floor stands)
5 x Shakespeare Zoom Profile Spots (4 with hooks & safety wires, 1 on floor stand)
8 x 2k Fresnels, with hooks & safety wires
6 x Colourset Colour Scrollers to suit 2k, with safety wires (preferred colours include lee filters #
106, 158, 180, 181, 119, 132, 139, 117, or comparable colours)
4 x 8 lighters fitted with par 36 ACL lamps
10 x DWE Duets (6 with hooks & safety wires, 4 on floor stands)
2 x Par 64 MFL Stubbies on floor stands
1 x 500w QI (for backstage worklight)
Miscellaneous
1 x Black Backdrop to suit Venue
2 x 3m wide Black Side Drapes to suit Venue
1 x Fogger (DMX Controllable)(NO HAZERS)
1 x A frame ladder
Control, FOH
1 x Jands Hog 1000 / Echelon lighting console with desklamp (No monitors required)
1 x Jands Event Plus 24/48 lighting console with desklamp
1 x Colourset Keypad
Control, Dimmers etc
1 x 48 ch Dimmer System (1x 12ch Rack must be able to provide switch mode output)
1 x Power Distro for Hot Power
1 x PSU for Colour Scrollers
1 x DMX Splitter
3 phase splitters and cables to suit venue
www. chameleon-touring.com.au

Bangarra's Walkabout
Bangarra's evocative new double bill, Walkabout, is currently touring the country. Artistic Director Stephen Page and leading dancer Frances Rings jointly choreograph this major new Bangarra production.
Walkabout traces an extraordinary history of indigenous struggle and survival from the early missions and stations of outback Australia to the neon soaked streets of our modern day cities. The production is a passionate and revealing exploration of the tensions between the spiritual and social forces that shape indigenous life.
The first half of the production titled Rations and choreographed by Rings is set in colonial outback Australia. Lured from their homelands, clothed in cast offs and fed an alien diet of flour and sugar, the people find themselves trapped in a cycle of dependency.
In the second half titled Rush, internationally acclaimed choreographer Stephen Page captures the resilience and energy of youth. They struggle to reconcile old ways with new and cleanse the pain of the past. Fresh songlines are being drawn in the ancient soil. Rush is Bangarra at its most poetic and engaging.
Trudy Dalgleish was contracted by Bangarra to design the lighting for Walkabout; the first time she has ever lit a dance production.
"It was great, I really enjoyed it," she said. "It was very nice to light something that had a bit of 'spirit' in it."
Trudy approached the design by installing quite a traditional dance rig of six booms aside with four shin-busters on the bottom.
"The shin busters had one warm, one cool, one colour scroller," explained Trudy. "The booms were six metres tall and on top of them were also one warm, one cool, one colour scroller. Having the colour changers on the booms meant I could do a colour wash from the side.
"That was a total departure from musicals where I can't use boom bars due to scenery movement. It was a simple rig with no front of house what so ever. Over head I used five Martin MAC500 and eleven Martin MAC600 to supply the 'specials' and saturated colour washes. It was a very good rig."
There was however many cues that kept the stage manager extremely busy and in the future Trudy plans to have her cues triggered by the soundtrack.
One comment that Trudy heard several times was that it was nice to actually be able to see the Bangarra dancers as previous productions were quite dimly lit!
"It was really lovely to enter the Bangarra culture," Trudy confided. "They have some great visual and the story telling is very important to them. I really enjoyed it and I'd love to do some more dance productions."
www.chameleon-touring.com.au

Kylie Fever Tour
The Kylie Fever tour is soon to arrive in Australia with a massive production. Steve Moles of Lighting & Sound International Magazine talked to the creative team behind one of the biggest productions to hit the road this year. Lighting & Sound Magazine kindly gave ALIA permission to run the story which is downloadable as a PDF.
"I'm a cynical old lag who visits maye 4/5 concerts a month; this is a two-hour show and yet it was 90 minutes before I looked away from the stage to check the crowd reaction. Even then what I found was many still slack-jawed in amazement. Without question, this is the most visually entertaining show I've witnessed in ten years of scribbling," said Steve.
The article not only covers Vince Foster's lighting but also the video, stage set, sound and an interview with the Production Manager. Click here to download the article.
ALIA is sill negotiating the date for a backstage tour of the production with Vince Foster when the show plays Melbourne in August.
If you are interested in receiving Lighting & Sound International please contact Sheila Bartholomew sheila@plasa.org for subsciption details or visit the web page www.plasa.org

Man of La Mancha

The SEL production of The Man of La Mancha has just transfered to Sydney's Capitol Theatre. Bytecraft Entertainment have supplied the equipment including: 2x WholeHog II, 3x Cadenza Effects Projector, 183x ETC Source 4, 5x Desisti 5kw fresnel, 4x Alto fresnel, 8x MIZAR, 18x Molefay duet, 8x Iris 4 Top cyc units, 2x Orion 4 cell ground row, 18x LE ministrip 6ft, 31x Wybron Source 4 scroller, 12x StudioSpot CMY, 20x PC Beam, 6x X-Spot, 7x VL5, 5x Twin Spin gobo rotator, MDG Max 3000 and 2x MDG Atmosphere.
Lighting designer is Trudy Dalgleish.
www.bytecraftentertainment.com

Production News until 06-06-02

Production News until 02-03-02