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Robe: the Coolest Fixtures in Lapland
Robe ColorWash 1200 fixtures proved they’re the coolest on the block at a recent gig in Lapland! This saw them exposed to one of the toughest environments in the universe including temperatures down to minus 31 – excluding wind chill. The Robe’s were run for three-and-a-half days, and worked continuously.
UK-based lighting rental company Siyan was asked to design a lighting scheme for Lynx Base 24-7, “the ultimate dating challenge”, a surprise 24-hour party staged at Kiruna in the Arctic Circle, Northern Sweden for 300 lucky Lynx competition winners. Bryan Leitch devised the lighting scheme and Siyan supplied lighting gear and crew to production company Cake and also worked closely with TV production company Done & Dusted, who recorded it for a Channel 4 broadcast.
Live performances included Faithless, The Thrills and Shaznay Lewis plus an assortment of DJs, and Leitch was lighting it for the live event as well as for camera. He used six Robe 1200 Washes for throwing beams across a vast frozen river adjacent to the stage, and eight Robe 575 Washes on the stage itself along with other lighting units. The 1200s were the only fixtures that were seriously bright enough to blast right across the half a kilometre wide river explained Leitch. This was also the coldest part of the site!
Much of the site infrastructure was made out of ice, including the crowd barrier and set which weighed approximately 8 tonnes - and the main bar – all constructed with igloo technology. There was also a Teepee warm up area, VIP and all the facilities you’d expect of a 21st century festival. Being white and reflective, it was a beautiful surface and landscape to light.
“The ColorWash’s were just incredible”, states Leitch, “They didn’t flinch at all, they just kept working away solidly for the whole time.” They were monitoring the internal circuit boards which went down to minus 15 at certain points, but the fixtures still kept going strong. “The Robe’s worked like clockwork throughout the set up, rehearsal and show periods,” Says Leitch.
The river lighting provided atmospherics for filming guests having fun on skidoos, snowboards, dog and reindeer sleds, etc. Leitch set them running on a slow pan-and-tilt chase all day to help them not to seize up during pauses in the filming schedule.
Lighting was operated by Nick Whitehouse via an Avolites Pearl 2004. Additional lighting support was supplied by locally based Sam-Ijus, who were so impressed with the reliability of the ColorWash’s performance that they’re considering buying some for their hire stock.
21st December 2004
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