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DK Design Lights Jamie Foxx
Oscar winning actor Jamie Foxx recently completed his second arena tour with production designer Daunte Kenner. Foxx's charismatic show opened with a video montage celebrating his resumé followed by an eclectic mix of music and comedy.
The design focused on hiding production elements. Except for the set, every other metallic object was black. The lighting rig featured 18 Studio Beams, 15 Mac 2K washes, 12 VL 3K profiles, four ShowGuns and eight PixelLine 1044s. A 90' fibre optic curtain provided the backdrop alongside a FlexiFlex video wall.
Kenner explains: "Foxx wanted to recreate some of the same elements of the previous tour - as with the economy in its current state - he wanted to keep costs low in order to keep the ticket price low. So we gave him a similar design updated with the latest smart technologies that allowed us to slightly downsize our control crew - while still delivering a solid visual show."
The video system concept was created by Dunnaway Designs and the operator was Warren Flynn.
Adam Dunnaway says: "Because of budgetary limits, Kenner asked me to work out a video system idea where the media server would be used to display live camera feeds to the Flexi-Flex LED wall, one centre IMAG screen and two outboard projection screens either independently - or in unison. I was certain Flynn could handle the task of both video director and media server programming."
"The system featured a Green Hippo Stage SDI primary media server with a fully tracking switchable backup system. We used a Panasonic MX70 SDI switcher to route the static and roaming cameras into that Flynn would monitor and shade and balance from a compact multi-view monitoring system - also living beside the Chamsys Magic-Q lighting board. Flynn picked up the task quickly - communicating to the camera operators for camera shots he could then take to each of the separate display systems as live feed or mixed live video through the Hippo system."
Flynn enthuses: "It was my pleasure to be part of such an innovative design. The system made it very easy for me to program the media looks and custom video content through the Hippo media server and the Flexi-Flex. It was the first time I had used a Magic-Q console by Chamsys and found it to be dynamite in a small package. Creative Technology made the video side a breeze and once we were up and running it was a fun show to run and it looked good!"
FlexiFlex made its touring debut and provided an economical solution for the design. The mesh-like screen blends seamlessly with anything behind it - and makes an excellent video wall even with the medium resolution version.
The creative was a collaboration between designer Daunte Kenner and production manager Alan Thompson. The ‘dynamic duo' created a concept that encompassed Foxx's variety performance and allowed the adoring fans to interact. The versatile touring system allowed the show to play in both arenas and theatres - creating an intimate theatre environment perfect for Foxx's individuality.
The lighting was supplied by Performance Lighting and Mainlight - in control was an AVO Diamond 4. The video was supplied by Creative Technology and RGB Lites. Media servers by Dunaway Designs and the set constructed by Accurate Staging.
DK Production Design L.L.C. is a Chicago based performance environment design company that frequently features the designs of creative designer Daunte Kenner.
photo Daunte Kenner
1st March 2010
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