Astera Titans for Tense Lord of the Flies Production posted: 31/10/2019
Daniel Monks, Justin Amankwah Contessa Treffone, Nyx Calder and Yerin Ha in STC's Lord of the Flies, 2019. Photo Zan Wimberley
Lighting designer Alex Berlage used 36 x Astera Titan Tube battery-powered wireless LED fixtures, each rigged on two individual winches, to produce a range of lighting, location effects, architecture and scenic elements for a compelling and edgy new production of Lord of The Flies' staged at Roslyn Packer Theatre by the Sydney Theatre Company.
Directed by Kip Williams, the production has been acclaimed for many aspects including its diverse mixed gender 11-person adult cast who brought new energy and insight into William Golding's tense psychological novel that explores some brutal, uncomfortable and uncompromising issues related to chaos, power and human behaviour.
The cast of STC's Lord of the Flies, 2019.
Alex is a theatrical director as well as a lighting designer and he's constantly looking at different and more spatial ways to use lighting for building dramaturgic foundations and challenging some of the more traditional rules of lighting.
Lord of The Flies presented an ideal opportunity for an alternative and experimental approach that blurred and blended the roles of lighting and space ... which enabled the Titan Tubes to help create the scenography.
The Tubes were almost like cast members, he explained, transcending the set, lighting and direction.
Each tube was flown on the two individually controlled Orbisfly winches so they could be used to change shape and definition of the space and interact with the cast. Towards the end of the play, eight were unclipped from their catenary flying wires and used as luminous sticks by the cast.
The cast of STC's Lord of the Flies, 2019.
It's the first time that Alex has utilized Astera products in one of this shows, and the decision came when he, Kip and set designer Elizabeth Gadsby had all decided that a wireless kinetic lighting element would assist in creating the specific desired aesthetic.
They started looking around for suitable options together with Corinne Fish, full-time lighting supervisor for the Sydney Theatre Company and chief LX on Lord of the Flies. It was also the first time that Corinne had worked with Astera.
Her role was working closely with Alex, taking care of all the non-design lighting aspects of the show including managing any hires, managing the lighting budget, running the crew and technical schedules, plus organising, planning and overseeing all rigging / power / data schematics, etc.
Mia Wasikowska in STC's Lord of the Flies, 2019. Photo Zan Wimberley
On this production, Corinne had the additional responsibility of delivering the kinetic system, which involved everything from sourcing appropriate equipment for the budget and ensuring this could meet the design brief.
Chameleon lighting were the main lighting suppliers, so Corinne and Alex gave them a brief for the tubes and winches in terms of what they needed to achieve. This included fixtures bright enough to punch through fully lit scenes, and with enough battery life not just for the two-hour show, but also to last for hours of extended technical rehearsals without having to be recharged and Chameleon came back with some fixture options to consider.
Alex, Corinne and the rest of the creative team then visited Chameleon for a demo session of the various fixtures, and it was here that the Titan Tubes stood out as the best option states Corinne.
Alex immediately loved the quality of the Titan Tube output, plus the colours and intensity. As the show lighting started to evolve, he enjoyed changing the rhythm and pace of the action with the Tubes and having the ability to suddenly flip into bright, rich colours or mesmeric flashing and chasing effects, WOW'ing and surprising the audience.
Working with the Titan Tubes was a thoroughly enjoyable process, he says. The more we used them the more we discovered their versatility.
The kinetic system comprised the 36 Titan Tubes, which were picked up at each end by a total of 72 winches.
Custom brackets were 3D printed for either end of the tube which allowed a more slimline fixing point, and also enabled the Tubes to transition from hanging horizontally to vertically via a 90-degree hinge.
Small clips (similar to carabiners, but easier for the cast to release) were attached to the brackets for the scene where the eight Tubes were unclipped from the winch system.
When attached to the winches, paracord was used to tie them to the clips, extending 9 metres. The paracord also tied onto a swivel / weight assembly to counteract twisting or spinning as the Tubes flew in and out vertically. The weight also ensured that the load on the winches didn't drop below the minimum required to keep tension on the lines. When the tubes went vertical, one of the two pick-ups effectively became a slackline.
The DMX controlled winches were positioned across four house fly lines, with 9 tubes / 18 winches per bar. They were also supplied by Chameleon, and picked for their small size, quiet operation and smooth running.
All the winch positional moves and the Titan Tubes were programmed into the house ETC Gio console by Corinne. As the show was so complex, the general lighting rig was programmed and run an EOS Ti console by Blake Garner, a setup that left Corinne to focus on the Tubes and kinetics.
The whole Tube / Kinetic system was a huge undertaking and a collaboration that took considerable planning, research and testing to eventually arrive at the setup utilised in the show. Set designer Elizabeth was also involved in the imaginative side of how the kinetics were used to enhance the locations for each scene.
Corinne really enjoyed using the Titan Tubes. Th
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
02/06/2024
AE add 3D motion to still photographs
Brie Clayton June 2, 2024
0 Comments
AE add 3D motion to still photographs
May 30, 2024COW Featured Resume: Pa...
01/06/2024
Dustee Jenkins, Chief Public Affairs Officer, Spotify
With billions of people from over 50 countries heading to the polls to cast their vote, 2024 is shaping u...
01/06/2024
Busy this week catching up from the Memorial Day holiday? Our TV Tech weekly wrap-up of all our coverage of new products, services and deployments will get you ...
01/06/2024
Young Sherlock, with Guy Ritchie directing and executive producing, is a go at Prime Video. Hero Fiennes Tiffin plays Sherlock. Prime Video calls it the origin...
01/06/2024
The Los Angeles Sparks-Indiana Fever game on Friday featuring the top two WNBA draft picks, Caitlin Clark and Cameron Brink, was the most watched WNBA game on I...
01/06/2024
Lionsgate, which increased its majority stake in 3 Arts Entertainment in January, said it named Brian Weinstein co-CEO of 3 Arts....
01/06/2024
Netflix is launching four video games based on unscripted series this year. They...
01/06/2024
ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates switched from their regular programming to carry live coverage of the verdicts in the porn star hush-money trial of former Pres...
31/05/2024
A U.S. Marine fires an FIM-92 Stinger missile during a training exercise in Yuma...
31/05/2024
NEW YORK The global body that sets technical standards for digital advertising h...
31/05/2024
In a new analysis of what services might make up a good bundle and what services might benefit the most from bundling, Antenna has released new data that highli...
31/05/2024
Global SVOD revenues will increase by $116.6 billion by 2031, a growth rate of 13.3% per year over the next eight years, according to a new report from MIDiA Re...
31/05/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. The FCC Media Bureau has announced that effective August 1, 2024 the Commission's TVStudy software will incorporate the most recent U.S. Ce...
31/05/2024
NBCUniversal has announced that its FAST channel TNBC will be rebranding to NBC Comedy Vault on June 1 and that the free streaming service will officially launc...
31/05/2024
PARIS Ateme has announced that the Indonesian public broadcaster TVRI is making the transition to 4K UHD OTT streaming using Ateme technologies....
31/05/2024
The proposal had received support from James Cameron, Andy Serkis, Paul Greengrass, Richard Curtis, and Jeremy Irons
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: May 31, 2...
31/05/2024
According to multiple reports, the new bid from Skydance offers a better deal to Paramounts Class B shareholders, who were said to be unhappy with the companys ...
31/05/2024
The awards recognise women and companies who are stand-out performers, innovators and leaders in the broadcast media technology industry
By Matthew Corrigan
...
31/05/2024
NEW YORK The global body that sets technical standards for digital advertising has expanded the reach of its measurement software development kit to include Sam...
31/05/2024
The rise of digital platforms is fundamentally changing the broadcast newsroom and its investment in technology according to Jon Roberts, director of technology...
31/05/2024
In a new analysis of what services might make up a good bundle and what services might benefit the most from bundling, Antenna has released new data that highli...
31/05/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. Fifty state broadcasters associations, including the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, have sent a letter to Congressio...
31/05/2024
EVS has announced the appointment of Richard Katz as senior vice president of operations for the North and Latin American (NALA) region. This appointment is par...
31/05/2024
CommScope has announced that it was selected by Casa Systems, Inc. as the highest to acquire Casa's cable business assets and that the two companies have en...
31/05/2024
Robert De Niro won't be receiving the Service to America Leadership Award from the NAB Leadership Foundation after all....
31/05/2024
Viant Technology said it formed an integration with Google Cloud's BigQuery data clean rooms...
31/05/2024
The CW said it will broadcast the 2024 Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop Last year, The CW aired the game when it was called Bar...
31/05/2024
Allen Media Group said it made a deal with Amazon's Fire TV Channel that will make content from several of Allen's outlet available via Fire TV and Echo...
31/05/2024
Robert De Niro, announced as the winner of the NAB's Leadership Foundation's Service to America Leadership Award on May 28, will not get the award. The ...
31/05/2024
Comcast Technology Solutions was selected by AccuWeather to create, manage and distribute linear and over-the-top video channels....
31/05/2024
Connected TV is becoming a bigger deal for consumers and advertisers, according to a new report from TVision....
31/05/2024
By Craig Anderton
Let's get right to what this sounds like. It's not quite feedback or tape reverse, it's well, listen to what it does in this blue...
31/05/2024
31 May 2024
VEON discloses April YTD trading update at its AGM Amsterdam, 31 May 2024 07:00 CEST -
VEON April YTD 2024 Highlights
Total revenue of USD 1,278 ...
31/05/2024
31 May 2024
VEON Announces Its New Board, Names Founder Augie Fabela as Chairman Amsterdam, 31 May 2024, 16.00 CET: VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON, Euronext Amsterdam...
31/05/2024
May 31st, 2024
TRIBECA FESTIVAL AND OPEN AI ANNOUNCE SORA SHORTS'
Five Commissioned Short Films Created Using Sora Debut at 2024 Tribeca Festival
New ...
31/05/2024
In-Venue Technology Wrap-Up: How 4K, IP, and More are Changing the Game Pres Gam...
31/05/2024
UEFA Champions League Final 2024: The host broadcast facts and figures for Real ...
31/05/2024
UEFA Europa Conference League Final 2024: Bringing the broadcast to global TV sc...
31/05/2024
Willow Offers Free 2024 ICC T20 Cricket World Cup Preview via DirecTV, Verizon, ...
31/05/2024
Women's College World Series: ESPN Brings Live Drone, Two-Point Cabled, and ...
31/05/2024
SVG College Summit Brings Video-Production Industry Together in Atlanta in the M...
31/05/2024
UEFA Champions League Final 2024: CBS Sports' UCL Today Studio Show Is Pitch...
31/05/2024
Back to All News
Master of the House' Unveils a Scandalous Tale of Power and Greed on July 18
Entertainment
31 May 2024
GlobalThailand
Link copied to ...
31/05/2024
Back to All News
JEEtu Bhaiya is Back: Kota Factory' Season 3 Arrives on Netflix June 20
Entertainment
31 May 2024
GlobalIndia
Link copied to clipboar...
31/05/2024
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
With around 9,000 employees, Ground Transportation Systems is a global leader in Rail Signaling and Train Control Systems, Telec...
31/05/2024
RT 2FM is the home of music this summer, entertaining listeners across the day and night, with the best music, chat and interviews providing the soundtrack to ...
31/05/2024
After the 2008 financial crisis and increased risk-management regulations that f...
Astera Titans for Tense Lord of the Flies Production posted: 31/10/2019 
