PRG (Production Resource Group) has stepped up its use of CAST Software's wysiwyg in the programming of world-class productions, among them, the recent Superbowl XLVII Halftime Show.
R&B star Beyoncé's performance for the show was watched by over 70,000 people at the New Orleans Superdome and broadcast to 108m viewers, with its breathtaking visual design by Al Gurdon, known for his work with Madonna and The Who. It was Gurdon's fourth year on the Superbowl and the fifth for wysiwyg, however, this year, around 90 per cent of the design was programmed virtually using the latest release of the suite, R30, more than a month in advance of the show, at PRG's purpose-built pre-visualisation studio in London.
Lighting director Rich Gorrod worked with Gurdon to design a system in AutoCAD, before uploading it to wysiwyg with the help of previz expert, Chris Burnage, and patching the show with programmer Michael "Oz" Owen, on a PRG V676 console.
"This year we spent a lot of time programming at the PRG offices in London before we actually went out on site," recalls Gorrod, "so we had a very good idea of what it was going to look like when we got to New Orleans. A lot of the other shows we do are not so organised, so we end up doing a lot of programming onsite, but with shows like the Superbowl, it's possible to sit in a studio somewhere and plot most of it on wysiwyg."
For the first time this year, after completing most of the wysiwyg plot in London, Gorrod, together with Owen and Gurdon, took the system to New York and set up at the Alvin Ailey dance studios where Beyoncé was rehearsing, affording the artist and her crew an advance preview of the lighting design before they even left for New Orleans. Beyoncé had requested the presence of Owen and Gurdon during rehearsals, so with the help of wysiwyg, the pair were able to reassure the star that their production would be a spectacular complement to her performance. This was also the first year that wyg was taken to the actual venue, for fine-tuning of the pre-visualisation right up the 11th hour.
"wysiwyg allowed us to do a lot of pre-programming with the music, in advance of having the rig," comments Gurdon. "We also took it onsite because we had very limited access to the set on the field, so it meant that we could programme virtually to make up for that."
Owen continues, "Much of the show this year came together a little later than usual, so for the first time we took the wyg system to the venue and set it up in our lighting office portacabin. Chris and Richie had designed such an accurate model that most of the focuses were close enough to work straight away in rehearsals. The position - and even the framing and zoom parameters in the VL3500 spot key lights - would only need a quick tweak. This all saved a lot of the very limited time, allowing me to focus on the notes flying in from all directions."
