UK - Clothes Show Live returned to the NEC,se Birmingham in December for another ason. Once again the centrepiece of this annual expo was a spectacular 45 minute catwalk performance featuring the latest fashion collections.
There was certainly a lot to pack in in 45 minutes - 350 outfits, eight scene changes, and dozens of models and dancers. And all this took place seven times per day for five days.
Lighting designer Nigel Catmur, now in his fifth year of lighting the show commented, "This has been the smoothest and best executed production to date. It's always a very intense schedule but this time we managed to pre-programme on Wysiwyg and therefore arrived on site with a lot of the show already in the desk. We used my Wysiwyg studio for two-three days before arriving on site and that made a wealth of difference.
"The show is a multimedia production with LED wall, projection mapping and LED floor with content created by the brilliant Colin Rozee, but we didn't get the imagery until on site so there is still a lot to tie in to the graphics but all in all we must have been a day ahead which meant less overnights."
The LD also pointed to the collective experience of the creative team and the ELP crew working together on the project. Choreographer Andy Turner, set designer: Patrick Donahue, visuals: Colin Rozee, production manager: Paul Devine, crew chief Mark Gardiner and the running crew which included Matt Lee, Colin Jones, Shane Aldred and John Murray.
Previous years' shows featured LED walls as the stage backdrop but this time around there were eight different and very specific scenes showing 'a day in the life of a fashion editor' which benefited from a high level of detail created by the projection and LED combination. With scenes ranging from 'beach', 'office', 'high street', 'Sicily', 'music video' and 'after-show-party'. Each change provided an opportunity for a different lighting look and of course an accompanying clothing collection.
"The level of scenic detail from the projection was stunning" enthused Catmur. "Projection technology is getting better, brighter and simply more affordable." The projection and LED wall/floor were supplied by XL Video.
The lighting design needed robust beams to cut through the brightness of the projection and this was provided by 33 of ELP's Clay Paky Sharpys which, when pointing downwards created a cage like effect around the catwalk. Nigel also praised the Vari*lite VLX LED wash lights for their stunning colours and intensity which stood up well against the projection.
Nigel worked closely with ELP's hire manager Barry Denison to get the best possible equipment list for show owner Haymarket's lighting budget.
Dimming was supplied via ELPs range of AVO ART dimmers while all the controls ran through Catmur's own Full Boar lighting desk.
Catmur concluded, "At the end of the day we are here to light and sell the clothes by presenting them in the most flattering way. The rig that ELP supplied enabled us to capture the perfect balance of catwalk and theatrical lighting with a bit of rock 'n' roll thrown in."
