LOS ANGELES - October 27, 2006
grandMA consoles were featured in two back-to-back high-profile live broadcasts from New York City's famed Radio City Music Hall: the MTV Video Music Awards 2006 (VMA) and Fashion Rocks, a music and fashion extravaganza on CBS that kicked off the city's semi-annual Fashion Week. Scharff Weisberg Lighting furnished the grandMAs in support of lighting designer Allen Branton. A.C.T. Lighting is the exclusive distributor of the grandMA in North America.
Branton, a 30-year veteran of the entertainment lighting business, has been doing MTV's VMA show since 1989; he won a 1993 CableACE award for lighting that year's broadcast. Branton has designed concert lighting for many top artists and has many TV credits, including dozens of episodes of MTV's UNplugged series and the half-time show for Super Bowl 2003.
Since Branton doesn't run consoles, he deferred to lighting director and programmer Felix Peralta's choice of the grandMA, a choice that was seconded by lighting director and programmer Kevin Lawson and upheld by Branton himself. "When we do these shows we're caught between two worlds: We need to do something in music TV that looks like a rock concert, but we have to be in total control, constantly editing light levels and programs," Branton notes. "More than half of what we do is refining the TV product. The grandMA is great at working in that kind of creative environment where we have a high tempo, excruciating attention to detail, and massive editing and reediting of cues and values."
Scharff Weisberg provided two pairs of grandMA consoles and eight grandMA NSPs for the VMA show (a total of eleven NSPs were used). One pair ran the majority of automated lights and lights driven by action or music. A second pair controlled the remaining lights, audience lights, backlights and anything tied to close-up photography and utility functions.
Branton characterizes the VMA show as "probably the largest and highest-degree of difficulty project I do" thanks to its dense content and the resultant expansive inventory of lighting equipment.
"For a show like this we've arrived at the point where 95 percent of the lights are automated," Branton notes. "You need to have the flexibility and capability to move fast, program fast and change your mind. We don't have time to handle a lot of conventional lights."
The main lighting package included a large complement of VARI*LITE moving fixtures, including 62 VL500B, 54 VL2500 spots, 10 VL1000 TSD, 51 VL2500 washes, 40 VL3000 spots, 41 VL3000 washes, and 30 VL3500 spots plus numerous non-standard gobos.
Additional lights included 25 Atomic Strobes with Color Scrollers, a quantity of Color Kinetics LED fixtures, 60 Altman Spectra PARs, and 70 Color Blast 12s. Conventional fixtures included 36 Source 4 ellipsoidal spots, 30 Source 4 PARs, 30 Par 64 Blacks, plus fresnels and Xenon follow spots.
"The grandMA is the most versatile console for TV out there," declares Felix Peralta. "I couldn't imagine doing these shows on any other system."
For the VMA show, "there were a lot of elements involved, including moving set pieces, moving LED streams, changing camera angles. The grandMA gave us the flexibility to adjust to the complexities of the broadcast within a very short time. We used group masters a lot which allowed us to inhibit a group of lights. They enabled me to shade on the fly and work with the video engineer to monitor light levels." The grandMA's multiuser environment also made it easy for Peralta, Kevin Lawson and head gaffer David Oakes to share cues and patches.
"The support from A.C.T. was fantastic," Peralta continues. "When we ran into a problem, grandMA's manufacturers in Germany fixed it with fresh software, giving us a very stable system that was essential for a live show."
Peralta and Lawson each manned two grandMAs to control lighting for the Fashion Rocks special which proved to be a less complex production.
An extensive supply of VARI*LITE fixtures once again came into play with 30 VL500Bs, 10 VL1000 TSD units, 24 VL2500 spots, 24 VL2500 washes, 20 VL3000 spots, 12 VL3000 washes and 20 VL3500 spots. Also provided were a quantity of Color Kinetics LED fixtures, including 150 Color Blast 12s and 12-inch iColor Cove MX. Conventional fixtures were a complement of Source 4 ellipsoidal spots and PARs, 132 Par 64 Blacks, and fresnels.
In addition to Peralta and Lawson, Tom Beck also served as lighting director. Brian Tylke was the assistant to Allen Branton, and the lighting technical crew featured Brad Hafer, David Hunkins, Russ Keitel, Brett Puwalski, McClain Moss and Michael Lee.
Support from A.C.T. came from Bob Gordon, Joe Cabrera and Mario Collazo.
"Allen is so experienced in both the live concert and television environments. He really gets it. Also, he has assembled such a crack team around him, and I know that if we can please him, we can please anyone," commented Bob Gordon, President and CEO of A.C.T Lighting. LOS ANGELES (October 27, 2006) -- grandMA consoles were featured in two back-to-back high-profile live broadcasts from New York City's famed Radio City Music Hall: the MTV Video Music Awards 2006 (VMA) and Fashion Rocks, a music and fashion extravaganza on CBS that kicked off the city's semi-annual Fashion Week. Scharff Weisberg Lighting furnished the grandMAs in support of lighting designer Allen Branton. A.C.T. Lighting is the exclusive distributor of the grandMA in North America.
Branton, a 30-year veteran of the entertainment lighting business, has been doing MTV's VMA show since 1989; he won a 1993 CableACE award for lighting that year's broadcast. Branton has designed concert lighting for many top artists and has many TV credits, including dozens of episodes of MTV's UNplugged series and the half-time show for Super Bowl 2003.
Since Branton doesn't run consoles, he deferred to lighting director and programmer Felix Peralta's choice of the grandMA, a choice that was seconded by lighting director and programmer Kevin Lawson and upheld by Branton himself. "When we do these shows we're caught between two worlds: We need to do something in music TV that looks like a rock concert, but we have to be in total control, constantly editing light levels and programs," Branton notes. "More than half of what we do is refining the TV product. The grandMA is great at working in that kind of creative environment where we have a high tempo, excruciating attention to detail, and massive editing and reediting of cues and values."
Scharff Weisberg provided two pairs of grandMA consoles and eight grandMA NSPs for the VMA show (a total of eleven NSPs were used). One pair ran the majority of automated lights and lights driven by action or music. A second pair controlled the remaining lights, audience lights, backlights and anything tied to close-up photography and utility functions.
Branton characterizes the VMA show as "probably the largest and highest-degree of difficulty project I do" thanks to its dense content and the resultant expansive inventory of lighting equipment.
"For a show like this we've arrived at the point where 95 percent of the lights are automated," Branton notes. "You need to have the flexibility and capability to move fast, program fast and change your mind. We don't have time to handle a lot of conventional lights."
The main lighting package included a large complement of VARI*LITE moving fixtures, including 62 VL500B, 54 VL2500 spots, 10 VL1000 TSD, 51 VL2500 washes, 40 VL3000 spots, 41 VL3000 washes, and 30 VL3500 spots plus numerous non-standard gobos.
Additional lights included 25 Atomic Strobes with Color Scrollers, a quantity of Color Kinetics LED fixtures, 60 Altman Spectra PARs, and 70 Color Blast 12s. Conventional fixtures included 36 Source 4 ellipsoidal spots, 30 Source 4 PARs, 30 Par 64 Blacks, plus fresnels and Xenon follow spots.
"The grandMA is the most versatile console for TV out there," declares Felix Peralta. "I couldn't imagine doing these shows on any other system."
For the VMA show, "there were a lot of elements involved, including moving set pieces, moving LED streams, changing camera angles. The grandMA gave us the flexibility to adjust to the complexities of the broadcast within a very short time. We used group masters a lot which allowed us to inhibit a group of lights. They enabled me to shade on the fly and work with the video engineer to monitor light levels." The grandMA's multiuser environment also made it easy for Peralta, Kevin Lawson and head gaffer David Oakes to share cues and patches.
"The support from A.C.T. was fantastic," Peralta continues. "When we ran into a problem, grandMA's manufacturers in Germany fixed it with fresh software, giving us a very stable system that was essential for a live show."
Peralta and Lawson each manned two grandMAs to control lighting for the Fashion Rocks special which proved to be a less complex production.
An extensive supply of VARI*LITE fixtures once again came into play with 30 VL500Bs, 10 VL1000 TSD units, 24 VL2500 spots, 24 VL2500 washes, 20 VL3000 spots, 12 VL3000 washes and 20 VL3500 spots. Also provided were a quantity of Color Kinetics LED fixtures, including 150 Color Blast 12s and 12-inch iColor Cove MX. Conventional fixtures were a complement of Source 4 ellipsoidal spots and PARs, 132 Par 64 Blacks, and fresnels.
In addition to Peralta and Lawson, Tom Beck also served as lighting director. Brian Tylke was the assistant to Allen Branton, and the lighting technical crew featured Brad Hafer, David Hunkins, Russ Keitel, Brett Puwalski, McClain Moss and Michael Lee.
Support from A.C.T. came from Bob Gordon, Joe Cabrera and Mario Collazo.
"Allen is so experienced in both the live concert and television environments. He really gets it. Also, he has assembled such a crack team around him, and I know that if we can please him, we can please anyone," commented Bob Gordon, President and CEO of A.C.T Lighting.
About A.C.T Lighting
A leading importer and distributor of lighting products, A.C.T Lighting, Inc. strives to identify future trends and cutting-edge products, and stock, sell and support their inventory. The company provides superior customer service and value for money to all of its clients. For more information call 818-707-0884 or visit www.actlighting.com.
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