Nearly
100 Claypaky Sharpys were exclusively selected to deliver an immersive eight-hour
light show to 2,000 partygoers at an underground club night that was hosted by
trailblazing Dutch techno music agency Claydrum at Complex nightclub,
Maastricht for their New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Dutch
production designer Joël Lemmerling, from Maastricht-based production company, Stöd,
selected 96 of the multi-award winning Sharpy fixtures to create a fastidious
design formulated by gridded white, coloured and UV light beams and clever
manipulation of angles. The fixtures were
supplied to Stöd by Claypaky’s Belgium distributor AED.
“We
wanted a fixture that could deliver perfect beams of light that were easy to
see, even with colours that are normally less visible, like red and UV,” says
Lemmerling, who utilised the Sharpy’s 14 option colour wheel in conjunction
with its interchangeable gobo wheel, strobe effect system and eight-facet
rotating prism in the design.
“The
Sharpy offers an impressively high output and has always proved reliable,” explains
Lemmerling. “The fixture provides a very precise, very tight beam with almost
no spread; this helped us to achieve the angular effects we wanted for the dance
event.”
To
create lighting looks that fitted with the fast beats of the night’s popular
DJs, Lemmerling rigged a series of eight flown trusses hosting a grid of 12
Sharpys each to ensure a tight, uniform formation of beams. Using the Sharpy’s
super quick PAN (540°at max 2.45 sec) and TILT (250° at 1.30 sec) movement
Lemmerling created a dynamic, interweaving light show that, through the clever
use of mathematics, at times appeared to bend the the Sharpy’s 0°- 3.8° adjustable
light beam.
“We were able to achieve
the light show’s precise geometry by focusing on the rigging and the placements
of the fixtures,” reveals Lemmerling. “We drew a grid on the floor to get the perfect
alignment for the Sharpys and every one of the 96 fixtures was adjusted by
hand. It took some effort but was absolutely worth it. I must credit Lars Aarts
from TYS Productions for his determination in getting everything aligned
impeccably.”
Using such a large number
of high-performance fixtures in a relatively small nightclub space meant temperature
was a concern for the Stöd team. Lemmerling
relied on the inbuilt cooling system on the Sharpy to confidently use the
fixtures continuously all night without worry of them overheating or making the
dance hall too hot for audiences.
The NYE Complex club night was hosted by Dutch
music agents Claydrum and took place on the 31st of December 2016.
The evening featured sets from acid house and techno DJs Floorplan (M-Plant
USA); Tommy Four Seven (47 Berlin); Marco Resmann (Watergate Berlin) and STØRM
(Claydrum Maastricht).
