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Culture and Competition: grandMA and Schnick-Schnack-Systems Fuse Art with Entertainment
The TV show ‘Millions Poet' is a kind of Pop Idol for poets where the winner walks away with one million UAE Dirhams (about 180,000 euros). The show, held at the 2,000-seat Al Raha Theatre in Abu Dhabi began in 2006 and has been such a phenomenal success it starts its fourth season in 2008; the last series peaked at 26 million viewers across the Arab region.
Lighting designer Paul Nancollas used one grandMA full-size, one grandMA light and five MA NSPs. "The grandMA is the only desk capable of controlling something so complex, the choice was obvious," he says. The show also used two grandMA video servers and was visualised via grandMA 3D. The design integrated over 2500 LED strips of various types from German manufacturer Schnick-Schnack-Systems. "I had used the B25 and B12 strips in previous shows to great effect so I was very excited when the C25 arrived. The set has to be both dramatic and ‘rock and roll', to emphasise the competitive element, and then subtle, so as to not overpower what is essentially someone sitting down to tell a story. Because the LED strips are so small it is very easy to integrate them into a set design successfully and because they are so inexpensive my budget goes a long way."
The strips and the other LED elements including 32 Schnick-Schnack-Systems LED-Paneel C100 are controlled via Art-Net from the grandMA. "Usually flexibility means complexity but not in this case. The installation was amazingly easy which is very important when not everyone speaks English," says Paul. "We programmed with the grandMA video Pixel Mapper. It's really simple and powerful, which means I can do a lot of the work myself so I don't lose control of the workflow."
During the pre-programming the grandMA full-size was configured for programming the moving lights. With several different types of fixtures the large control surface area allowed fast and efficient assembly of the looks and scenes that would be needed. Meanwhile the grandMA light was set up to handle the grandMA video media server controlling the C25 strips and C100 panels. Once the series got under way the grandMA full-size became the main playback controller for all the moving lights, LEDs and video. The grandMA light was used to give instant adjustment for the keylights and other generic dimmer fixtures.
The desks came from Entec Sound and Light in the UK and the LEDs were purchased through MA Lighting Middle East / India in Dubai, which also provides regional support.
1st July 2008
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