Connolly Wedding, Lancashire
This weekend saw James back with Lightech, this time at a wedding reception in Lancashire.
James was there to help with the finishing effort and to operate the lighting in the disco area, which was hidden from view until a grand reveal.
Fireworks also provided by Lightech added an extra 'bang' to the night, followed by band and DJ music until the early hours.
Catering was provided by With a Twist with Nicola and Catherine on the front lines ensuring the excellent food was served with efficiency and style.
Unilever Christmas Party 2009
Based on the success of the Catalyst and Barco iLite 12 combination at Paul Hogarth's birthday party, James was asked by CSP to reproduce the spaced screen effect for Unilever's Christmas party in a marquee at Chester Rugby Club. The event had a strong Hollywood/Oscars theme with lighting designed and implemented by James to enhance this.
Jeremy from Unilever asked that as the guests arrived, it would look as if he had spent no money on the event and as such all screens were off, intelligent lighting was off and the room left dark with only a hint of colour. After the guests had all arrived, an intro video was played on the iLite screens and projection surfaces mounted on the gable ends of the marquee (also fed by Catalyst). After this intro video, the full lighting effect was revealed and film trailers were played on the iLite pillars, a different one on each.
As the evening progressed and entertainment from the band began, stock content from Basic Monkey's large library was played on the iLite pillars along with lighting effects from the array of LED and moving fixtures to support the performance.
The night was real show piece, demonstrating the benefits of combined lighting and video design. Ideas brewing for next year already...
James to de-rig Sting’s Durham Cathedral DVD Record
HSL have asked James to assist with the de-rig at Durham cathedral of Sting's new show recorded for DVD.
Not sounding a very glamorous role, it did involved working in the bowels and heights of one of the most beautiful buildings in the UK. 100x Robe ColorWash moving lights in both 1200 and 2500 models were used on specially built rigs strapped to columns, on cases around the organ, or high up on the cathedral's walkways. Also, 9x A&O Falcon 7000 moving lights were used, in both beam and flower varieties with 2x hung from a truss suspended from the bell tower, a 200ft drop!
Harnessed up, James and Paddy spent most of the night lowering the wash moving lights from the high walkways on a builder's wire hoist. Then they made their way to the bell tower to drop the two huge falls of wire and motor chain.
James to rig for Kooks in Blackpool
The Kooks are playing tonight in an old ballroom in Blackpool, not suited to touring bands and their production requirements. To adapt for this, Ian from HSL created a ground support truss system to accommodate the band's lighting and PA rigs.
Since this installation is done overnight, Ian would be in no fit state to go climbing all day to pull the motor chains up. James was asked to spend the day on site to cover Ian's responsibilities. This involved positioning the rigging points on the GS truss, pulling and attaching motor chains and rigging the two house points for the audience truss.
