World Class (Industry Suppliers)
The
most technically advanced and aesthetically spectacular Miss World
event to date took place at Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg,
seeing Miss Russia, Kseniya Sukhinova, crowned as Miss World 2008. The
event was broadcast live by SABC to 2 billon people in over 200
countries on 373 TV stations. (17 December '08)
An innovative lighting design by Tim Dunn from Gearhouse South Africa broke new technical and creative ground, on which he collaborated closely with set designer Dewet Meyer to produce a memorable big-picture visuality for the performance space.
The
40 metre diameter stage set was based on an African jewel and finished
in grey tones to allow drama, subtlety, colour, movement, texturing,
etc, to be built up and overlaid with lighting. This gave Dunn the
chance to realise the full potential of the latest digital moving light
technology from Robe lighting in the Czech Republic.
He
used 12 Robe’s DigitalSpot 7000DTs and 32 REDWash 3192s LED wash
lights – the largest number of either fixture to be used to date on a
single event.
With up to 150 people onstage at some points for
the major dance production numbers and up to 109 contestants on the
full parades, care was also taken that no-one was overwhelmed by the
sheer scale of the production when there were only a few people onstage.
(Below) Gearhouse SA's Tim Dunn in design mode
Smart
use of lighting and the creative dynamics and synergies between the
stage, set and lighting designs enabled the space to become very
intimate one minute and have a massive WOW factor the next.
Harnessing
the energy saving potential of the latest LED and arc source lighting
fixtures, Dunn also ensured it was also one of the greenest Miss World
events to date, substantially reducing the amount of electricity needed
to run a world class event.
The lighting rig also featured 230
moving lights plus assorted conventional light sources, and consumed
approximately 30% less electricity than the 1995 event in Sun City,
also lit by Dunn (with double the lights!)
Dunn’s creative team for Miss World 2008 also included Gearhouse Media’s Marcel Wijnberger and Chris Grandin who created a series of bespoke video clips on site on their Final Cut Pro editing suites.
These
were programmed into digital media servers and run through 116
pixel-mapped i-Pix Satellite LED lighting fixtures ensconced into the
set. They also produced clips that were uploaded to the heads of the
DigitalSpots and projected all over the stage and set.
Working
this way ensures continuity between lighting and all the video visuals
utilised onstage in whatever format they are appearing, as well as
bringing a sense of spontaneity and ‘live’ evolution to the whole
creative process.
The Gearhouse Media team also produced the
opening edit and three custom video sections that were played out
during the show’s production numbers on an 11 x 4.5 metre Lighthouse
R16 high resolution LED screen. This was located upstage centre and
supplied by LEDVision.
Johannesburg-based
Gearhouse South Africa supplied full production, technical
infrastructure and crew for the show, utilising the resources, services
and expertise of six Gearhouse Group companies.
The six companies involved were GHSA, LEDVision, SDS, In2Structures, GH Power and Havaseat.
Together
they encompassed 10 technical production disciplines to provide design,
rigging, structures, lighting, audio, video, specialist visuals, set
building, power and seating in SCC’s Pavilion venue.
(Above) Winner Miss Russia, Kseniya Sukhinova
(Below) Winning combination of Gearhouse & Robe
RK
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