Poetry in motion

The set design of production house Pyramedia’s Prince of Poets and Million’s Poet programmes demonstrate the importance of lighting technology in broadcast production. Digital Studio spoke with the lighting design and operating team behind these productions.

With US $270,000 up for grabs and contestants performing for five scrutinising judges, a studio audience and millions of viewers across the Gulf, you would think it impossible to add to the tense atmosphere inside Abu Dhabi's Al Raha theatre.

However, that is exactly the challenge handed to Pyramedia's lighting design team. As a lighting designer and production manager working in the live events sector, Nigel Holbrough has gained vast experience of the pressures associated with operating lighting rigs for live performances.

Paul Nancollas has 10 years experience in broadcast engineering and another 10 years as a lighting director including a stint with ITN's flagship programme, The News at Ten, in the UK.

More recently the pair has been working together on Pyramedia's Million's Poet series, combining their experience of the two industries.

"There is a lot of crossover between lighting for concerts and events and the Million's Poet install, largely because it is broadcast live from a theatre," claims Holbrough.

"From a lighting control and operation point of view, it's the same thing. There are scheduled operations you know you want to happen, things that will be led by a visual or verbal cue and other action you have to take to cover something totally unexpected."

Holbrough points out that lighting a theatre production only involves lighting for the benefit of the audience, whereas for TV a host of possible viewing angles and camera positions must be considered.

The Million's Poet set includes a desk for the panel of judges who face the stage and have their backs to the audience. This immediately alters the dynamics of the lighting set-up.

"We have had to put some light into the audience because they appear in the reverse shot with the judges. Also if the camera wants to take a reaction shot of the audience, they need to be sufficiently lit. In a traditional theatre show, however, you are unlikely to ever light the audience," claims Holbrough.

Nancollas adds that the steadicam can go anywhere these days. "As a result, we have actually had to light the backs of all the sets in case the camera crews wander back there," he says.

The sets for both the Poets shows incorporate a large numbers of LEDs. This technology has progressed from its early use as a low resolution display screen to a far more flexible prospect, offering video quality graphics and sophisticated effects in almost any shape or configuration desired.

"We have 2500 LED fixtures in the stage design, each with 10 diodes. That's 25,000 individual points of light. 95% of them are from Schnick-Schnack Systems. They are brilliant, they are high brightness, coherent LEDs and are so small you just see the overall colour, you don't see a red, green and a blue one, just a dot in the colour you programmed," says Nancollas, who is also the lighting designer for the Prince of Poets programme.

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