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4Wall and Chauvet support iHeartRadio Music Awards

Felix Peralta served as lighting director and programmer for the tenth annual iHeartRadio Music Awards, a concert-television program held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Marked by dazzling pixel effects, bold aerials, and rich, immersive washes, Peralta’s design animated the entire room right up to its balcony railings.

Lighting designer Allen Branton also contributed to the show’s design. “Allen is a great designer, editor, and collaborator”, says Peralta. “Early in the design phase, we had a series of discussions on the philosophical approach we wanted to take with his design. After that, we had regular meetings to go over the plot, and confirm that everyone was happy with fixtures placements and such. His vast experience is always priceless throughout the process.”

As one of the lighting directors and programmers for the event, Peralta and the rest of the lighting team turned Branton’s vision into a lightshow that aimed to reflected the styles and personalities of a wide range of artists. Branton, Peralta and the rest of the design team had to ensure that the lighting translated well onto television, while also keeping things looking good for the large VIP audience. The 42 Chauvet Professional Color Strike M fixtures in the rig, which like the rest of the lighting was supplied and installed by 4Wall Entertainment, played a key role in helping them accomplish this goal.

“In my work, I tend to treat the Color Strike M as three separate fixtures: a full face strobe, a 14-pixel CMY light, and 28-pixel beam light”, he explains. “We relied very heavily on the Color Strike Ms to serve as a ‘scenic lighting’ element. They were positioned on six vertical towers that wrapped around the stage. This helped us anchor the production design.”

Lighting for the camera was the top priority for the lighting team. “We’re lighting the show for multi-cameras and have to ensure that all angles are properly covered”, confirms Peralta. “The main difference in the viewing experience is actually not that apparent to the live and TV audiences. The energy-level of the visuals is similar for both audiences. At times, it may feel a little B-Flat to the live viewer, because we’ll have to apply broader strokes of nuance for the broadcast. The ultimate goal is to achieve a great balance for both experiences.”

Contributing to these looks, in addition to the Color Strike M units, were 36 Rogue R1 BeamWashes, which were positioned on the venue’s balcony rails and opera boxes, 18 Rogue R2X Washes, arranged on the same vertical towers as the motorized strobes, and 36 Colordash Accent 3 fixtures. Speaking of the latter, Peralta notes, “The Accent 3s made a big contribution to the design. They helped us define the three layers of balcony rails at the Dolby Theater.”

Setting up the show for the iHeartRadio Music Awards took over a week, with a day of load-in lost because another event was scheduled for the venue at that time. “Kevin Lawson, my fellow lighting director, and current professor of lighting at the University of Cincinnati, programmed the show with me”, reports Peralta. “We did a couple days of pre-viz over at the 4Wall offices prior to being on site. He did a great job as did Jason Uchita, our other lighting director, John Cox, our head gaffer, Alen Sisul, best boy, and Dennis Sisul, production electrician. Production design was by John Calkins. Screens visual content was by Darmah.”

(Photos: Chauvet Professional)

www.chauvetprofessional.com

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