The 2016
South African Music Awards (SAMAs), one of the highest profile events on the SA
music calendar, was again staged at the Durban ICC Arena, broadcast live on
SABC1 and enjoyed by an audience of 3000. For the first time, lighting was
designed by Robert Grobler who
incorporated over 200 Robe fixtures on the rig which was supplied by Gearhouse
South Africa.
The set
was designed by Michael Gill from MGD and based on a collection of different
sized LED screens, shaped into a multi-media environment giving everyone,
wherever they happened to be seated in the auditorium, a clear and three
dimensional view of the stage.
Robert’s
challenge was to light all these different sections of stage separately so they
could work as stand-alone elements and punctuate the overall sight lines or
work together as one large overall set piece.
The Robe
elements included 24
x Robe DLF Washes, 48 x Pointes, 48 x LEDWash 600s, 48 x LED Force 18 PARs and 16 x CitySkape Xtreme
LED flood, plus a host of other lights.
A
series of lighting trusses were flown in the roof to co-ordinate and compliment
the set ‘blocks’ as well as to give optimum lighting positions for the main
sections of the stage which featured some great live performances and
collaborations from leading artists including AKA, Code Red, Dumi Mkokstad,
Karlien van Jaarsvel, Khuli Chana, KID X, Kwesta and many more.
Robert
thinks the DLF LED wash is “A great light”, and these fixtures are specified on
most of his jobs, which include top TV shows like “Strictly”. Here they again
proved to be great for key lighting and producing
excellent flesh tones on camera.
The
Pointe is another fixture he uses frequently.
On the
SAMAs, Pointes were dotted around the set in clusters of three in keeping with
the context of lighting the set in sections. They gave a “nice, slick look” in
their own groups and could also deliver multiple big, bold looks as required.
The
most challenging aspect of lighting the overall event for Robert was the
programming deadlines with all the live performances, plus making sure that
each had a fresh and different look.
Once
the basic building block looks were established and programmed in the desk, he
went over all the cues again thoroughly, fine-tuning and making sure they also
worked efficiently on camera. Apart from that, the scope and scale of the event
piled on the pressure to get it spot on first time for such a high profile live
broadcast.
Robert
has used Robe products regularly in his work for around 10 years since the
first ColorSpot 700E ATs arrived in South Africa.
He
currently thinks that the quality of Robe’s various ranges assert “the brand’s
position as industry leader in innovation and effectiveness”.
Photos
: Siyab Beyile – The Threaded Man
