01 March 2010

  When your imagination surpasses your equipment list, then you’re on the road to becoming a talented lighting designer. Kagiso Moima from Blackmotion will be sure to tell you that his equipment list for every gig is pretty standard:

● 6 x Robe Colorspot 250ATs

● 12 x LED Par64

● 8 x 2Kw Fresnel

● 1 x 12 by 4m Star Cloth

● 1 x Jands Hog 500

●1 x MVS Haze Machine

Considering what they have, Blackmotion have done some fantastic studio work, their latest shoots including Tyrannus Apostolic Church, aired on SABC 2, Soweto TV and e-TV, as well as Coca-Cola Big Time, a television promotion for Coca-Cola produced by Red Cherry.

Coca-Cola

Black Motion did the Coca-Cola ‘Summer Yama SummAHHH’ promotion, which started in September 2009 and ended in January 2010 for Red Cherry. This TV promotion was also filmed at ZSTV – Stage 5, usually reserved for soapies like Egoli, as sufficient space was required for the promotional give away of two cars.

  The client required minimal mobility from the moving lights and the whole look had to be vibrant, keeping with the Coca-Cola themes. Obviously this included using many reds and greens,” he says. The Fresnel’s were used for skin tone, with four of them at the back with red (132) colour gels on a chase sequence.

“The speed of the ColorSpot and lack of noise during a chase sequence is the best,” says KG, “Especially as the presenters are equipped with sensitive microphones. We placed a lot Par 64 LEDs to highlight the cars, with 2KW Fresnels hanging from the gantry. Some of the 2Kw’s had to be placed as colored backlights. “Our Key and Fill Lights were rigged strategically because the presenters were everywhere on set. We also placed four moving lights on the floor to project onto the set walls-with an open rotating prism that looked like bubbles.”

For this TV Shoot, KG used additional equipment from MJ Event Gear including 4 x Zip Strips, 2 x 65” Plasmaview Screens and crew.

Tyrannus Apostolic Church

Tyrannus Apostolic Church, a House of Worship and talk show, was shot at ZSE Studio B at the start of January. The spec was to create a moving water effect. “The prism helped to make a voluminous effect on the floor. One moving light was used exclusively to project the logo of the church while the other five were utilized for colour and movement “explains KG. “For the opening, I also wanted to create a halo effect behind the presenter’s (the Apostle’s) head. The LED Par 64s were used to highlight the furnishers and the floor, and I did not leave home without his MVS Haze Machine!

 “We rigged all of the 2KW Fresnel’s on the roof using monopoles to gives us the right height. Effects are good to have on set, without losing the skin tone of your subjects, the presenter and guest. The LED cans were placed on the stage floor with some used to as highlighters. Moving lights had to be on the back bar to give us a nice sweep and distance for greater visibility. “

 “Slowly but surely we are creating a certain impression of quality in TV Lighting,” he adds. “It’s not the amount of lights you have, but how creatively you can use them to get results to make the client happy.”