South Africa - For almost two decades, Johan Stemmet has presented the much-loved South African music game show, Noot vir Noot. When he contacted technical company Blond Productions, it was to tell them of a new thought - the creation of a fresh game show called Musiek Trivia which would be aired on Kyknet, DSTV.
The quiz show would have two contestants competing against each other not unlike the popular Weakest Link, but strictly focussing on music trivia. It was important to have a polished production with a 'wow' factor.
Blond Productions' Pieter Rieck and Christian Ballot worked on ESP Vision to present three potential designs. In fact, Blond were requested to come up with the technical and set design. They worked on their faithful grandMA.
The television studio at ZSE from which Musiek Trivia is broadcast, is a small, compact area. Blond Productions came up with a plan to utilise truss pillars or totems (six pieces). The lighting fixtures, 12 Robe MMXs and six Robe 600 Beams, were rigged on the totems. "The MMXs are brilliant," said Rieck. "I saw them at Mediatech for the first time last year and said I wanted 12." As for the Robe 600s, Rieck used them at full level. The set also included 24 x Bright Q LED Panels and 10 Source Fours.
Pieter Rieck grew up in the industry doing television work, and to work with a client, who was still very 'old school', was refreshing for him. Musiek Triva is a show with depth and professionalism, where attention to detail is the overriding discipline. "Lighting for television is a totally different ball game," said Rieck. "I didn't want to flood with white light but wanted to create mood. This is also one of those game shows where if you skip a cue you've missed it and have to start all over again . . . I was working for a change! And that is where ESP came in. My only request is to have a grandMA2 please."
