Among
the things that have made The Voice such a runaway international hit is that
every country seems to find its own unique way of enhancing the show, adding a
local feeling to what has become a global phenomenon. This is very evident looking at A Voz de
Portugal, the Portuguese version of The Voice. In 2011, it introduced a rule
change that allowed viewers to vote back losers of battle rounds for live
shows. This year the Lisbon-based show raised its game again, by taking pixel
mapping on its set to a new level with the Nexus 4 x4 LED panel from CHAUVET
Professional.
Marco
Silva, LD and programmer for A Voz de Portugal, used 28 Nexus 4 x 4 panels to
create a stunning front stage façade, which he had pixel mapped by João Canoso of
FX – Road Lights. Working with an Mbox Studio media server, Canoso created a
stunning design that coordinated with the 6 mm LED upstage video wall.
“The
pixel mapped Nexus panels created a bold and attractive look that fit the
spirit of A Voz de Portugal,” said Silva. “This program celebrates the talent,
effort and passion of the participants, and the lighting display helped us add
to that celebration; it created an aura of stardom on the set. Sometimes we used the same video images on the
LED wall and the Nexus panels, which really achieved this aura effect thanks to
the LED projection on the unit’s reflectors. We really liked that!”
Silva
was also impressed with the versatility of the Nexus panels. “We fit them on
the rig, like we did with other fixtures, so that each had its own job and its
own look,” he explained.
There
are several different segments on The Voice, and the Nexus panels play a specific
role in each of them, according to Silva. On the “blind” segments, the panels
serve as bright horizontal stage borders; on the “battle” and the “knock out” segments
the panels are positioned on the floor.
Perhaps
the most dramatic use of the panels comes on the live segment of the show. “We mount the panels vertically for the live
shots,” said Silva. “They’re mounted on two 7-meter towers on both sides of the
stage. This gives us a great looks for the close-ups of the contestants. Then when we go for wider shots, the Nexus creates
this impressive gigantic blinder effect.”
On
the live segments of the show, Silva complements the 28 Nexus 4×4 panels with 48
COLORdash Batten-Hex 8 linear wash fixtures and 48 COLORado 1-Quad Tour RGBW
LED par-style fixtures, also from CHAUVET Professional. The Chauvet fixtures
were supplied by Garrett Audiovisuais of Carnaxide, Portugal.
“The COLORdash is excellent for helping us
built scenes, and the COLORados are superb backlights,” said the LD. “We’re
very pleased with the output and color rendering of both products.” Powered by eight hex-color RGBAW+UV LEDs, the
COLORdash Batten-Hex 8 produces a wide variety of whites, bold colors and
brilliant ultraviolet, which make it ideally suited for this multi-faceted
broadcast application.
When
asked how he transitions from segment to segment on A Voz de Portugal, Silva
described the process this way: “During
the blind audition segments we want to be low keyed with the light, because we don’t
want to distract from the mentors and their interaction with the singers, so
there is no movement from the moving lights, but at the same time we want to
create subtle cues to distinguish each performer. Once we get into the live
segment, we want our lights to capture the high energy enthusiasm of the
program.”
The
lighting display designed by Silva succeeded in supporting the different
segments of the program. “Our producers were very pleased with what we
accomplished,” said the LD. “Portugal may not be big in terms of audience
numbers, but we take pride in having a creative impact on The Voice.” Based on
the stunning visuals achieved by Sliva and his team, no one would question
that.
