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Los Angeles, July 18,
2007
When fans of country music got together at the CMA Music Festival in
Nashville (formerly known as Fan Fair), grandMA was center stage.
Lighting/Production Designer Mike Swinford used five grandMA consoles
and three grandMA video servers to cover the concert portion of the
four-day celebration, which will air July 23 as the ABC special,
“Country’s Night to Rock.” A.C.T.
Lighting is the
exclusive distributor of the grandMA in North America.
The CMA Music Festival, presented annually by the Country Music
Association, regularly attracts more than 161,000 fans from around the
world. The gathering is attended by up-and-coming stars, current fan
favorites and legendary performers and features artist/fan interaction,
autograph signings, photo ops, more than 70 hours of concerts, and
family activities.
“The show is the centerpiece of a huge music festival that
draws
fans from all over the world,” says Lighting
Director/Programmer
Mark Butts. “When ABC started to broadcast it a few years ago
it
really upped the ante in terms of design and production. For us, the
show is an interesting hybrid of on-the-fly, festival-style lighting
and tightly-cued, precise television lighting. It's difficult trying to
work in both worlds simultaneously, but it sure keeps things
interesting.”
Even though the show is a network special there’s very little
camera rehearsal, Butts reports. “We look at everything for
about
an hour the night before the first show. This means that the first time
we see a song, we’re taping. This year they only recorded the
songs marked for potential broadcast so I went to our previz studio in
the morning and programmed all of the songs for that evening's show.
Even with that much work done beforehand, there were a lot of
last-minute tweaks for camera. So we needed gear that was flexible,
responded quickly and was reliable in this type of environment.
That’s why we spec grandMA products on our jobs.”
Two separate control systems were configured plus the system in the
previz studio. Butts used five full-size grandMA consoles, five NSPs,
two full grandMA video servers, an RFU, and an offline server at the
studio. Among the lighting fixtures controlled by the grandMAs were 66
Martin Mac 600s, 42 Martin Mac 2000 washes, 38 VARI*LITE VL3000 spots,
14 VARI*LITE VL2500 spots, and eight Martin Mac 2000 Professionals.
Butts likes being able to see thumbnails in the grandMA’s
smart
window. “It makes programming faster and makes running media
on
the fly a breeze. I set up an X/Y fader for layers one and two and used
it as a t-bar, loading media via the thumbnail buttons on the fly. The
cross communication between the desk and the servers was a big selling
point for me, especially on a show like this.”
He notes that “last year we ran the entire show from one data
pipe and divided the system up using worlds. This allowed Ken Hudson,
the other programmer, to pull back and key lights out of the system as
needed and leave the rest to me to flash and trash. This year, we made
extensive use of inhibitive submasters, speed groups and timing faders
to make the on-the-fly portion of the show much easier. These features
are unique and make running shows of this type so much
easier.”
Butts has been using the grandMA since the console made its debut.
“I like the scalability and flexibility of these
products,”
he says. “This desk has years of development behind it which
make
it rock solid. But this would really mean nothing if the technical
support wasn't there. One of the big reasons I feel so confident using
these products, and especially trying new things with them, is that I
know I'll be supported. The MA Lighting team in Germany, and the A.C.T.
Lighting team in the US, provide me with an unrivaled level of
technical support.”
"Both Mike Swinford and Mark Butts are real pros with a long list of
great credits. For them to depend on both the grandMA and the grandMA
video system, is a real honor. They really pushed the envelope and used
to system to their advantage. I look forward to viewing their work when
this shows airs on July 23," commented A.C.T Lighting President and CEO
Bob Gordon.
Monica Rose was Lighting Director for the show with Ken Hudson the
second system Programmer and Candida Boggs the Gaffer.
MA Lighting is
exclusively distributed by 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.
Copyright © ACT Lighting 2009. All rights reserved.
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