Lighting

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UK - Currently on tour in the UK before opening in the West End in June is Zorro the Musical, a stage production set to the Latin American music of the Gipsy Kings and featuring flamenco dancing, sword-fighting and acrobatics. Based on Isabel Allende's 2005 bestseller Zorro: A Novel, the stage musical is a prequel to the traditional events of the Zorro legend.

The show was lit by Ben Ormerod who is known more for lighting classical theatre, contemporary dance and opera than musicals.

"When I read the script and the novel that the script was based on, it was obvious to me that the show needed to have strong Californian sunlight as a major element, and you can't create that with anything other than tungsten. We might have used par cans but they would have used up the very limited rig space for just that one look".

"Clearly everything had to move to

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UK - Gloucestershire-based LED lighting provider, Greenled, has appointed four new sustainable lighting specialists to its expanding team: Ian Russell, Paul Stearman and Paul Haines join the sales force, and Nigel Thomas joins the technical team.

Based in London, Ian Russell will manage key sales accounts in London and the South East, focusing on the new build and built environment sectors in particular. His duties include business development and delivering tutorials to make the building world more aware of the benefits offered by LED technology. "I have always had a passion for lighting and Greenled ticked all the right boxes," Ian explains. "I hope to earn my green stripes by educating and converting businesses to the benefits of sustainable lighting technology."

Ian ran his own property development business in London for several years after working for

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Switzerland - Gahrens & Battermanns provided over 73sq.m of Mitsubishi Electric IDT series LED screens at the prestigious Geneva Motor Show. One of Europe's leading display hire businesses, the company operates the largest fleet of Mitsubishi's high resolution IDT6 and IDT4 Black Package indoor screens in Europe - all of which were in action over the 10-day event on behalf of Chrysler, Honda, Lexus and Bentley.

Motor shows are notoriously demanding applications for big screen displays, and especially so for LED screens as colour fidelity, contrast and image quality must be maintained over wide viewing angles and close distances. Having already experienced the superior performance of the Mitsubishi screens at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year, Chrysler, Honda, Lexus and Bentley once again specified IDT4 4.00mm and IDT6 6.00mm Black Package screens for the main video features on

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Italy - Griven has introduced the Micro-Clip, a compact spotlight fixture that houses three high efficiency full-colour 3W LED chips.

Ease to install and IP65 weather protection Micro-Clip is adaptable to a wide range of indoor and outdoor environments. Providing a vibrant and brilliant colour palette from a particularly thin and stylish bodywork, Micro-Clip features a straightforward operational efficiency where stand-alone colour sequences are available for spectacular synchronized effects and digital remote control via DMX 512 signal is a standard attribute, says the company.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Artistic Licence has been celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, marking the time during which the company has evolved from its rock 'n' roll origins into a company focused on architectural lighting and installations, whilst simultaneously developing its international presence.

Talking to Robert Bell in 2004 for his book Let There Be Light, managing director Wayne Howell says: " I take the company name quite seriously. Lateral thinking is the most important part of a design . . . (in addition) you make it as future proof and reusable as you can."

By focusing on the two halves of the company - product development and project design & installation - Howell has developed a product range which can be taken both as total solutions or as components for incorporation into individual designs.

Feedback has always been of prime importance to Artistic Licence

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USA - American DJ has introduced the X-Move LED which utilises one super-size 20-watt white LED to create a brawny beam that's powerful enough to project gobo patterns and colours across floors, walls and ceilings, says the company.

Although the X-Move LED's effects are indistinguishable from a conventional moving head to the eye, the unit offers the benefits and ease of LED technology, such as a long 50,000-hour rated lamp life and a low power draw. At 44W, it consumes a fraction of the energy of a traditional 250W effect. In addition to saving energy, this lets the operator hook up more units on a single electrical circuit.

The X-Move LED is also much smaller than a typical 250W effect, weighing only 10 lbs. and standing just 12.5" high. The fixture's compact size allows it to fit virtually anywhere, even in the tightest spaces, and makes it easily transportable for ban

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The Netherlands / Belgium - In an operation involving almost 200 staff in two countries and hundreds of tons of stock and equipment, the Ampco Flashlight Group has just completed a series of office and warehouse moves designed to relocate almost all its operations into three brand new, purpose designed facilities in Holland and Belgium.

Over the course of two months, three buildings have been completed, fitted out and equipped in Utrecht, Holland and Boom, Belgium to house all but two of the group's 14 separate companies including the head office of the parent company, Ampco Flashlight Holding.

The final piece of the jigsaw was put in place when lighting rental company Flashlight Rental moved into the massive 15,000 square metre (162,000 square foot) Rental and Technology building at Proostwetering 50, on a new industrial park outside the centre of Utrecht.

In the same build

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UK - Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean's Dancing on Ice: The Live Tour is a nationwide tour following on from the successful series of Dancing on Ice which was broadcast on ITV1.Durham Marenghi designed the lighting for the tour using two grandMA full-size and four MA NSPs. The idea was to emulate the TV show on a grander scale whilst making everything visible and attractive to an arena audience.

The grandMA is the console of choice for programmer Tim Routledge who comments, "With both a video and lighting element, certain parts were programmed simultaneously using both consoles networked together. Even a last minute request to drive some monitor software over Art-Net was not a problem and easily integrated into the show."

The lighting rig includes 56 x Vari*Lite VL3500Q wash, 34 x Clay Paky Alpha Spot HPE 1200, 20 x Clay Paky Alpha Beam 300, 20 x Clay

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UK - Multiform, known for its Multiphase lighting controllers and dimmers for more than 35 years, has appointed ADELTO to distribute its newly designed LED fixtures worldwide. After 18 months development the new LS-series consisting of three models was launched first at PLASA 2007, London and LDI 2007 in Orlando and featured at Musikmesse, Prolight & Sound fair in Frankfurt this year.

(Jim Evans)

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In the increasingly digital environment we work in, interested parties are making big efforts to explain the potential benefits. The Roland Systems Group (RSG), for example, is to host a series of Open Afternoons to introduce the new M-400 Digital Mixer and the Digital Snake, the latest technologies from RSS by Roland. RSG is recruiting specialist support from allied companies to provide a fully rounded programme for "a day rich in hands-on opportunities".

The major lighting story of the week is Clay Paky's announcement that it has signed Production Resource Group, LLC (PRG) as the exclusive distributor of Clay Paky moving lights in the US, English-speaking Canada and Japan.

China continues to offer great business opportunities for specialist manufacturers and installers. In total, the multiple venues of Guangzhou University City utilised 124 Community R2, 124 R.5 systems,

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UK - The Association of British Theatre Technician's ABTT Theatre Show is approaching its 30th anniversary event in London's Royal Horticultural Halls, 11-12 June 2008.Many new innovations on the lighting front will be showcased this year with an emphasis on energy efficiency in line with the Theatres Trust conference on sustainable theatres to be held on 10 June. Selecon will showcase its new 80V power supply with direct DMX control removes the need for any dimming products. When combined with the Philips 80V 100W energy saving lamp it delivers the appearance of 2kW of white light from the Pacific range or the Rama 175 high performance Fresnel.

ETC will also highlight products that offer low cost of ownership and sustainable solutions. Its highly efficient Source Fours will be on display. These fixtures are currently being deployed in Hackney's Arcola theatre being powered by a

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Dubai - Islamic architecture proved to be the inspiration and motivation for creative architectural lighting specialist Speirs & Major Associates. The international lighting design company garnered two awards at the Middle East Lighting Design Awards, which included the prize for 'Project of the Year', for their innovative lighting design for the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque in Abu Dhabi.

The Mosque which accommodates more than 30,000 worshippers and is the sixth largest in the world also provided the perfect canvas for Speirs & Major to win the best interior lighting design for a 'Public Building'.

Speaking about the multi-award winning project, Jonathan Speirs, director at Speirs & Major Associates commented: "To win not just one but two awards for the same building is a testimony to the talent and dedication within our team as well as the quality of our lig

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Dubai - Having experienced success at the PALME, Dubai exhibition earlier this month, Robert Juliat have decided to return to the region for the Light ME fair, also to be held at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre (25-27 May 2008).

"We attended PALME with the express intention of demonstrating the superb capabilities of Robert Juliat profiles for long-throw projection of images onto building exteriors," explains Robert Juliat sales director, Lionel Garraud. "The response amongst event and advertising companies from all over the Middle East was phenomenal. The full potential of this form of promotion and branding is now being realized and our clients are eager for us to help them fulfill their ideas."

At Light ME, Robert Juliat will be showing clients how to transform their own brand with clear, bright, eye-catching projections. Robert Juliat will be

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Hungary - Nine Miles Down, the new psychological thriller from director Anthony Waller, delves into the human psyche and explores what happens when fears and superstitions triumph over logic and reason.

The story starts in a deserted, storm-battered drilling station in a remote region of the Sahara Desert. Filming the interiors, however, took place in a disused champagne factory in Budapest, where ETC's Source Four luminaires and Congo lighting control desk helped to create some of the special effects. The equipment - which included 21 Source Four 19° and six Source Four 26° profile spotlights - was supplied through Visionteam (Budapest) and TSF (Paris).

Director of photography Roger Simonsz had a few different lighting challenges to overcome. The brief required him to create the feeling of a building surrounded by a sandstorm as well as an ambience of moonlight

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Singapore - Covering an area of four floors of the Suntec City Convention Centre, SAP Asia held its annual field kick off meeting in Singapore. Concept 360, the responsible event management company based in Singapore, organised the convention with the theme of Take it Higher. Bringing customers, partners, top executives and employees from all over Asia and Australia together, the convention gave an insight in SAP's strategy for the upcoming years. The three days of intensive workshops culminated in the Sentosa Gala Beach Party.

Lighting designer and programmer Fares Aljunied used two grandMA full-size, one grandMA light, one MA NSP and two grandMA video media server for the show. The sheer size of the venue made it necessary to consider a network based layout. Several stages and installations were spread out over the various floors which had to be linked. According to Alj

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UK - High End Systems Inc, located in Austin, Texas, USA wants to host one lucky winner to an all-expense-paid trip to Austin to visit their facilities and see some of their latest products - including the DL.3 Digital Light, Showgun, and the Road Hog Full Boar, plus many other exciting tools. Austin is the live music capital of the world, full of cowboy boots, margaritas and sunshine . . .

To enter, simply visit www.highend.com/austintrip

One winner will be selected at random to visit HES' world-class facilities for a private demonstration and be treated to Texas-style hospitality. But hurry! Contest ends June 15, 2008 at midnight BST.

Drawing rules: No purchase necessary. Entrants must be 21 years of age or older and possess a valid passport. Limited to one entry per person. Entries must be received by June 15, 2008. Random drawing will be held on June 16, 2008.

The priz

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Ireland - onepointtwo designed and supplied the interior lighting for the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel which recently opened in Dublin on the Naas Road. A prestigious hotel which is contemporary yet inviting, the lighting had to reflect the character of the hotel.

"We wanted the lighting to blend effortlessly with the rest of the décor but in certain key areas such as in the lobby, bar and restaurant we wanted to make a real statement," says Paul Donegan, design director at onepointtwo.

"The lobby is the visitor's first port of call in the hotel and should reflect the kind of hotel that you are staying in. In the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel, it is modern yet comfortable and the lighting concept needed to complement this."

The lighting design for the four star Louis Fitzgerald Hotel caters for all aspects of the hotel's lit environment including the bar, resta

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USA - Nexxus Lighting reports that Advanced Lighting Systems, a Nexxus Lighting company located in Sauk Centre, Minnesota has completed the lighting for the Norbert F. Beckey bridge in Iowa, which stretches from Iowa to Illinois across the Mississippi River 170 miles west of Chicago. A ribbon cutting ceremony officially marked the occasion on 12 May.

"The lighting system only requires 43 Advanced Lighting Systems LiveLED 100 RGB fixtures to illuminate the fifteen hundred foot bridge including the girders measuring 60 to 90ft high and piers 100ft high," explained Paul Benton, national sales manager for Advanced Lighting Systems. "Using a DMX lighting controller, multiple colour patterns wash the structure and create a stunning picture for this bridge and the surrounding area of Muscatine."

"This project was three years in the making and it was satisfyin

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France - Lighting production company Arpege selected a Jands Vista console to provide lighting control for the 32nd César Awards, the biggest annual film awards ceremony in France.

The star-studded event, which is French cinema's equivalent to Hollywood's Oscars ceremony, has been running for over 30 years and is televised live from the iconic Théâtre du Châtelet in the centre of Paris.

Lighting designer Jean-Bernard Favero-Longo and programmer Didier Dast had worked together lighting live television shows many times before, and recently tried out the Jands Vista to great success on several events. So when Didier suggested they use the Vista for the high-profile Césars live awards, Jean-Bernard had complete confidence in his decision.

The awards ceremony's trademark set featured white suspended panels moving up and down, with the lights colouring and p

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USA - A new on-line Training Centre recently debuted on the High End Systems website. This special section is dedicated to training resources, including new videos and tutorials with specific information about Wholehog consoles, digital lighting products and new automated luminaires. Users can navigate through the information or view short training videos for in-depth tutorials on many topics. Training sessions have also been expanded with added dates to meet the demand, says the company.

"We're excited to debut the new online Training Centre," says Cat West, HES console training specialist. "Our goal was to have a place where our users could not only find information about our training classes, but also learn more about the products through videos and online tutorials. The best part is that these new resources are available free of charge, at any time, to anyone

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UK - Clay Paky has announce the nominations for the 'Knights of Illumination' Lighting Design Awards that are to be awarded in association with the ALD and the STLD at the annual ABTT dinner in London on 11 June 2008.

The awards are being suppored by Clay Paky to recognise the UK's outstanding contribution to live performance and television. The awards are unique in honouring work across such a wide range of music, theatre, opera, dance and television.

Theatre nominees (Dance)

• Lucy Carter for Chroma at the ROH and her work with Random Dance. Her work was remarkable for the quality of light that added so much to the staging.

• Tim Mitchell for Hamlet for the Northern Ballet Theatre. His work was cited for its taste and restraint when so much was going on in the piece.

• Katharine Williams for I am Falling at the Gate theatre fo

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UK - Cirrus Research plc, which specialises in the design and development of noise measurement equipment for health and safety applications has launched its Noise in Action Photography Competition. Cirrus is looking for interesting, unusual or imaginative images of its noise measurement instruments in use, and the winner will receive a pair of Sennheiser PCX-350 Noise Cancelling Headphones. The closing date for entries is 29 August.

James Tingay of Cirrus Research explains, "Cirrus equipment is used in so many different sectors, from mining and industry, to clubs and bars, and we are looking to add colour to our promotional material and website with some really exciting images of our products in use."

The entries can include any Cirrus Sound Level Meter or the doseBadge Noise Dosemeter, and must include the product in use. Full competition rules can be found

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Germany - The LED-Paneel C60 is the latest addition of Schnick-Schnack-Systems' range of LED Media Systems which is distributed worldwide by MA Lighting. The module features the latest RGB LEDs from leading manufacturer Nichia, combined with Schnick-Schnack-Systems' in-house modulation technology. With a pixel pitch of 50mm, it is design compatible with the LED-Paneel C100 and LED-Band and offers the same features in a more compact and lightweight housing, increasing the flexibility available to designers in the creation of LED features in set, stage and lighting designs.

Used as a backlight, the LED-Paneel C60 requires a distance of just 8cms from the diffusion material being lit, to produce a homogenously illuminated area. Alternatively, it can be used without diffusion, to create an LED matrix - the wide LED beam angle of 120° allowing camera shots to be taken from obliqu

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USA - Steve Carson, general manager of Philips Lighting Controls - which includes Vari*Lite, Lightolier Controls, Entertainment Technology, and Strand Lighting - has announced the appointment of Tom Folsom as the general manager of the Strand Lighting division, worldwide. This includes the Strand Lighting operations in Cypress California as well as London and Hong Kong.

"Tom is uniquely qualified for this position. His diverse background and experience as well as his understanding of the entrepreneurial nature of this business make him an excellent choice for this key position," said Carson.

"We have been working quickly since our acquisition of Strand to create the right mix of products and services for the market the past two years. Strand is now positioned to move and establish its position as a world leader in lighting controls. With our recent partnership w

  1. Giving back to Light Relief
  2. Avolites at Oxford's Regal
  3. Focusable FlashLED launched
  4. ADB light up £20m Spa Bridlington
  5. Dancing on Ice with Clay Paky
  6. The Week in Lighting & Sound
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