Signs of the Times - March 2012 - (Page 14)

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE By Darek Johnson Darek Johnson is ST’s Senior Technology Editor/Analyst. Email him at darek.johnson@stmediagroup.com Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Lighting Seven minutes for assembly and disassembly. Tell your install crew. The term “entertainment lighting” describes production lighting for theatres, films, television shows, concert tours, discotheques, exhibitions, awards ceremonies and more. Each year, and with each notable event, the entertainment lighting field and its countless special effects seem to further erupt. Today, it seems, no worthwhile events are without such smoke-and-mirror spectaculars. ike her or not, Madonna put on a spectacular Superbowl halftime show, one that would fascinate anyone with even a mild understanding of Ohm’s law, because the electronics, lighting, electronics, projections and assembly were truly amazing. Most advanced, I think, was the projection system that created the animated, 3-D images that prefaced the stage area. The Moment Factory’s (Montreal) team of 12 multimedia artists created the 3-D projections. This crew collaborated with Bruce Rodgers, the show’s production designer, and lighting designer Al Gurdon, plus Madonna herself, and dozens of other teams that designed and programmed the show effects. Interestingly, these participating lighting teams, although unheralded in the everyday world, are entertainment-industry famous for their stage and event-lighting skills. They often work together on the same project. For example, the resumé of Madonna’s halftime stage builder, All Access Staging & Productions (Los Angeles) also includes the Grammys, the Daytime Emmy Awards, the 2008 Democratic National Convention, the Michael Jackson Memorial and the MTV Video Music Awards. Moment Factory and Tribe Inc.’s Bruce Rodgers worked mutually on many of those projects. Rodgers designed Madonna’s crossshaped stage. The criterion: To present amazing – and unfailing – lighting dynamics, with seven minutes for assembly and disassemble (on and off field). The stage comprised 58 numbered, arrayed and synchronized carts, each individually equipped with LEDlamped tiles, projection systems, spots, step and enclave lighting and other installed, electronic devices. Several contained hydraulic lifts, to elevate the entertainers during the show’s prime moments. The actual stage installation consumed five minutes, not seven, and, get this – the install crew, some 400 bodies that carried gear, pushed carts or plugged in lamp assemblies – shared the space with the incoming and outgoing talent. They must have had traffic cops. The halftime lighting inventory comprised approximately 900 lights and light-related items – consoles, lamps, floods, fixtures, strobes, LED blocks, foggers, hazers, spotlights and flame devices. All lighting was software driven and cued to trigger at the exact moments, once the show began. Tribe, Inc. (Salem, CT) describes itself as a “…full service production design studio creating unique, collaborative, and highly specialized designs for the entertainment industry.” Its staff comprises designers, artists, writers, filmmakers, project managers and specialists. Bruce Rodgers, president, is an awardwinning designer with more than 20 years in the field. His fans say his design influence has helped define the entertainment-lighting visuals we so often see today. The show’s pyro work was conducted by Ron Smith of J.E.M F/X (Valencia, CA); Stage Rigging L Moment Factory (Montreal) provided ST with these rehearsal photos of the XLVI Super Bowl halftime lighting and projection effects. A foreground covering visually enhances the projected (and animated) 3-D images. 14 SIGNS OF THE TIMES / MARCH 2012 / www.signweb.com http://www.signweb.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - March 2012

Signs of the Times - March 2012
Contents
ST Update
Technology Update
Vinyl Apps
Strictly Commercial
Lighting Techniques
The Moving Message
Technology Review
Sign Museum News
New Products
The 2012 International Sign Contest
Get Smart
The Value of Signs
Industry News
Advertising Index
Editorially Speaking

Signs of the Times - March 2012