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MAC 250s shine for GMTV
Arriving at London studios with Chris Patton from Stage Electrics, we were met by Matt Carter, senior lighting director and Leela Usher, console operator/electrician from the GMTV production team who were surprisingly enthusiastic bearing in mind that their day starts at 3.30am!
Matt and Leela took us into the studio and while it was being swiftly transformed from GMTV to the childrens’ TV programme, Toonattik, we took some photos and had a good look at the lighting rig which consisted of 25 x MAC 250 Entours and 6 x MAC 250 Washes alongside parcans all controlled by a Congo Jr.
Up until February this year, GMTV has been hiring in all lighting on a long-term basis. They realised that this was costly, and as the lights didn’t change very much, they decided to buy the kit themselves.
The aim was to make a direct replacement of the hire kit. They originally had old MAC 250s which are now discontinued and replaced with the new MAC 250 Entours and washes. This meant that instead of a direct replacement, they had actually acquired a massive upgrade.
Matt comments: “Noise is one of the main issues, because we have a compact studio, you can hear the fans easily. The studio is a space which makes the size of equipment an issue. This is why MAC 250s were chosen over something like the MAC 700s, and the fact that their fans are quieter because they are smaller units.”
As well as the size, the functionality of the MAC 250 made it the best choice for a moving head. Matt was enthusiastic about the functions, saying: “The colour wheel is great, you can do so much. The colours are so much stronger than the old MAC 250. To be able to use red and green is especially exciting as they are not normally good colours for TV and because the MAC 250 is so punchy, they work out really well.”
The gobo wheel has been well used too. Matt explains: “You can do so much with the new gobo wheel, there are so many on there, so you can play around much more. We were impressed that we managed to use the shaky gobo as well, which we never thought we would. We were lighting an act whose music suited the effect and it was great to be able to tick that box!”
Matt and Leela agree that the new MACs have really changed the way that they light the show and the visual effects have improved the image of the live acts no end. The MAC 250s have done very well Matt explains: “They have also held up very well and have stood up to accidents and abuse! They are well built. The lamp life was a good surprise too, it’s nice to know you’ve got that kind of time and so far they are still looking nice and bright.”
All the kit was put in over one weekend, starting on the Friday night, they had two days to install and learn how the new equipment worked before the beginning of shooting on Monday morning. Matt and Leela were joined by their colleague Jo Hornagold, lighting director to make sure that everything got installed correctly and in time. Matt recalled that everything behaved itself quite well: “there were a few hiccoughs on the first day, but by the end of the week everything was sorted out.” Leela adds: “The MACs have been the most reliable of all the fixtures.”
All the lighting was bought from Stage Electrics, and Matt was pleased with their support, “We have had full support from Chris Patten at Stage electics. He’s only round the corner so he’s come straight round when we’ve needed him and is happy to get his hands dirty!”
Photo courtesy of Robert Hollingworth
23rd July 2007
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