Robe
moving lights were once again specified by Lighting Designer Manuel da Costa
for the most recent series of the popular TV singing contest, The Voice of
Germany (VOG).
The series
was recorded at Studio Berlin and
produced jointly by a Dutch German collaboration between Taipa and Schwartzkopff
TV. It was broadcast on Pro7 and Sat 1 channels where it was again a big hit
with viewers.
Da Costa has lit all three editions of VOG to date, and once again he
worked closely with set designer Florian Wieder of Wieder Design and Video
Content Producer Falk Rosenthal to create an elegant visual environment.
All of them drew on their previous VOG experiences to produce a
different aesthetic from the last series, and within that framework, to ensure
that each of the artists would receive a diversity of visual treatments that
ensured that they all looked different, and the mood of their songs was
encapsulated for viewers and live audience.
A total of 188 Robes were supplied by Magic Lighting & Sound from
Cologne, comprising 98 x ColorSpot 2500E ATs, 62 x ColorWash 2500E ATs, two
ColorBeam 2500E ATs and 26 x ColorWash
1200E ATs.
The ColorSpot and ColorWashes were the backbone of the lighting system.
They were used to create all the major effects
and specials, while the ColorWash 1200s were positioned at the back of the
audience and used for colouring and texturing the crowd and for filling any
gaps in the wide angle reverse shots.
Da Costa has used Robe units in his work for several years and chose
them again for VOG because the 2500 series is extremely powerful, and this is
what he needed to work best with the set and in the studio space.
“The reliability, light-output and colour are all excellent,” he
comments, adding that the movement is impressively fast for a large fixture and
he also likes the smooth dimming.
“The 2500 series delivers a very strong and punchy beam, and you can
create great looks with the rotating gobos and prisms. Introducing the variable
frost enables the Spots to become a good wash light too!” As well as all these
features, he is also a big fan of shutter and iris chases and effects.
He believes that Robe has listened, developed and adapted to the need of
LDs over the years and “Progressed hugely in product development especially in
the last three years”. He also enjoys the close communication that he has with
the brand through German distributors LMP.
For the VOG he worked with a team of four lighting operators using
grandMA2 control.
The Voice of Germany 2013 was won by Andreas Kümmert.
