I Can See Clearly Now

Apr 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Ellen Lampert-Gréaux

Photo: Pyrotek

Lighting director Noah Mitz elaborates: “Each stage had three scenic elements with VersaTubes. Two were rolling curved walls mounted facing each other so the camera and the viewers could see the tubes. The third section rolled away for band access and getting gear on and off each stage.” The upstage tubes were mounted on light boxes with Color Kinetics LED ColorBlast^® fixtures behind them for another layer and another look, adding a solid color behind the VersaTubes. The light boxes were made of mirrored Plexiglas^®.

The set and lighting interplayed nicely, with a row of truss between the VersaTubes and below the RP screens and a second row of truss above the screens. “There was also a scenic header and the overhead rig,” notes Mitz, who points out that the first level of truss has a combination of VL5s, VL6s, MAC 2000 Washes, and Atomic Strobes tucked in behind the fixtures, while the upper row of truss had MAC 2000s, VL5s and VL3500s.

Some of the numbers this year were out of the ordinary, including Cirque du Soleil's “A Day In The Life” tribute to The Beatles. “This was a very atypical performance for the Grammys,” says Dickinson. “In rehearsal, I tried to use crosslight, but for television, that isn't very practical. So I turned everything off and started over with just backlight. That's all I wanted — a bare minimum. The bold theatrical makeup was too much with too many lights. It turned out to be very visual with just the powerful backlight from the Xenons and MAC 2Ks.”

The Foo Fighters performed on a stage outside, using the façade of the Staples Center as a backdrop. “They brought in their tour rig, and then Ted Wells from our staff worked with the band's LD, Nathan Wilson, to modify the cues for TV,” Dickinson notes. “It was an interesting way to incorporate a different environment.” To complete the look, Mitz adds, “We lit the Staples Center and the audience and provided extra followspots balanced for the cameras.”

Perhaps the most interesting act — from a visual point of view — was rapper Kanye West, who performed with the French electronic duo Daft Punk. “Kanye was very proactive and involved in the decisions,” says Dickinson, who spoke frequently to West's LD, Jonathan Goldstein of Starlight Visual. “His look was very surreal and ‘Tron-like.' There was extreme color and contrast, with very little frontlight. He was silhouetted against the color.” The palette started out as red and white, with strong red backlight in the Falcons, VL3000s, and MAC 2000s, but Dickinson notes, “We needed more dynamics and contrast, so we added blue in the VersaTubes for a shift in look during the song. The use of color is more effective when you use it sparingly but dramatically. It can really make an impact. In fact, the lack of color can be powerful, as well. You have to be disciplined in its use to make it powerful and not overuse it.”

“There was nothing generic about Kanye's lighting,” explains Mitz. “It was all tailored to his needs and the camera.” Adding to Dickinson's lighting was a pyramid set piece for Daft Punk, outlined in red NeoFlex from Rose Brand, while their costumes were outlined in red electroluminescent tape. To add to the visual barrage, West wore electroluminescent goggles and had electroluminescent tape on his custom-designed jacket, which also sported a flexible LED screen for scrolling text and images. The icing on the cake was a series of special effects by Pyrotek Special Effects, including 18 cryo jet heads with high-pressure CO₂ cylinders and LEDs for color — in this case, red. The song opened with the singer silhouetted behind a bank of six red flame effects shooting over 15' into the air. Doug Adams, president, and Lorenzo Cornacchia, vice-president of Pyrotek, created the effects for West as well as a waterfall effect for Rihanna and accents for the Cirque du Soleil number.

The show was programmed on two PRG Virtuoso^® consoles by lighting directors Andy O'Reilly and Matt Firestone, and Dickinson refers to them as “the best television operators in the industry.” A third Virtuoso console ran the Coolux Pandoras Box media server, provided by IG Designs and programmed by the company's president, Eli McKinney. An ETC Obsession II was used for conventional and accent lighting, including ETC Source Fours for audience lighting (VL5 Arcs and MAC 2000s were also used to illuminate the audience).

“The Grammys had a mix of high-res and low-res elements,” says McKinney, who provided the Pandoras Box to feed content to the VersaTubes, while most of the content for the various screens was provided by UK-based Lee Lodge and played back via the Grass Valley Profile server/storage system. “We worked hand in hand with the set and lighting designers to find content that matched the video and lighting,” notes McKinney, who maintains a library of original content. “The goal is to give the VersaTubes the same energy you're getting from the higher-res projections. Pandoras Box allows for an unlimited amount of flexibility, and you can cue the show along with the lighting,” he says. “It helps create a really powerful look.”