03 December 2008
If you’ve ever stumbled onto SABC 2 on a Friday night at 19h30, it’s very likely that you didn’t change channels for the next hour. The lighting and effects on the musical series titled Sweepslag are absolutely phenomenal and combined with a live performance of local artists, mainly Afrikaans, the recipe lends itself to excellent viewing.
“We had to create something that looked good in at least 90% of the camera shots yet still maintain its live feel even though it was shot in a studio,” said Lighting and Set Designer Robert Grobler from Global Events. “It’s always fun working with Andre from Blixem Productions and after so many gigs we both have the same idea of what type of picture we want to see on camera.”
Robert had a generous supply of Robe units at his disposal as well as the use of a grandMA full size. In total the impressive rig consisted of 24 x Robe StageQube 324 Panels, 13 x Robe 1200AT Washes, 11 x Robe 1200 AT Spots, 1 x Arkaos Media Server, 40 x 5KW Fressnells, 2 x Par 64s, a DF50, 100 x 20m Fairy Lights and 19 x Florescent red tubes.
“The whole design revolved around the set seeing that half of the set consisted of Robe Cube Screens,” he said. “So all that was left over was to light up flats and create depth with fairy lights and the florescent tubes. The rest of the lights we rigged on the existing lighting grid.”
Sweepslag, currently enjoying it’s second season, is presented by radio personality Maurice Carpede and includes personalities such as Eden, Lianie May, Guillaume & Coleskes, Steve Hofmeyr and Dana Winner. Each show comprises of 20% interviews and 80% music. Every show features two mainstream Afrikaans artists, along with two newcomers on the music scene. The two mainstream artists or bands each perform three songs and the newcomers each one song with the 8-piece Sweepslag band which is lead by Jaconell Mouton from Noot Vir Noot fame.
