28 September 2008
Margate, a holiday village on the South Coast of South Africa, becomes a bustling attraction when the Loeries comes to town. While the Loerie Awards were first held in 1978 in an attempt to encourage television advertising, it now focuses on every possible form of brand communication. Celebrating its third decade, the Loerie Awards were held from 25 to 28 July, drawing in South Africa’s most creative minds… who wouldn’t dare miss this party of a lifetime.
Rental company Gearhouse played a major role in providing everything from technical crew to the massive six-pole Tensile 1 structure that took two weeks to install, AV, LED Screens, the stage, seating stand, lighting, sound, set and generators. Making their appearance at the event were some 60 Robe units, half a dozen Strong Truss Troupers and 18 x i-Pix Sateliteunits.
In addition, for the second consecutive year, Gearhouses’ Phillip Chames was asked to come back as Lighting Designer for the Loerie Awards, this year titled, “Make Your Mom Proud”.
The Awards Shows were organized by H-Factor Event Agency. Production Manager Heloise Fourie and Production Designer Andrew Shelly asked Phillip to once again cater for the Lighting Design. Along with Set designer Leon Erasmus of Leg Studios numerous planning meetings were held to achieve the required balance between set, AV and lighting.
“I took my surfboard along, just in case,” teases Phillip, “But for the second year in a row I was unable to catch a few waves. The show and the event was number one priority for me. It was a privilege to be part of this.”
The lighting rig was set up on A-type trusses suspended off a super truss mother grid, which was suspended between the king poles. The weight of all the lights and LED screens were close to the safe working limit of the entire structure and Phillip commended Kendall Dixon (Head Rigger), Jesse Wang (Project Manager) and Chris Loeijis (Tensile 1) for making safety the number one priority on the event.
A Whole Hog 2 ran the lighting rig consisting of 12 x Robe 2 500 Washes and 48 Robe 700 Washes, 18 x MAC 2000 Profiles, 18 x MAC 2000 Washes, 24 x Atomic 3000 Strobes, 12 x Mac 250 Washes, 18 x i-Pix Satellite units, 6 x Strong Truss Troupers, 24 x 2 Cell Moles, 12 x 5k Fresnels, 12 x S4 15-30 degrees, 48 single par 64s, 6 x Bars of 6 and 18 x single cell CYC lights.
“I love the Robe fixtures,” commented Philip. “I used them to do all my washes on stage and in the auditorium, making my focusing and stage “looks” very quick to create. Gone are the days of focussing parcans late into the night! I also needed a fixture with some punch, due to all the LED screens, and that is why I chose the 2500 Wash lights, being the brightest units Gearhouse own.
“All went extremely well and I think the show looked great. I had an amazing lighting team from Johannesburg with me and they took care of the rig while I could take care of designing and operating the show. Having a reliable rig and crew really makes for a solid foundation for which to build a show.”
Performances to entertain the revellers included amongst others The Parlotones, Sonja Herholdt, Malik, Travista, comedians John Vlismas and Riaad Moosa as well as acrobats and a list of other acts.
