Mike Farrand of MJF Lighting has had great satisfaction dragging the Royal New Zealand Ballet into the modern day by transforming their generic lighting rig to 80% LED, with the balance being tungsten from FOH position.
MJF was recently awarded a four-year contract with the RNZB to supply their touring systems and Mike was on a mission to have the company embrace modern technology.
“We put forty ShowPro full colour LED Profiles onto the booms so all the side light positions are LED,” he said. “That means they can change the colour of the booms from the console eliminating the need to re-gel fixtures during the scene or act changes. ShowPro LED Profile maintained the intensity – if not more – than what the previous halogen fixtures were delivering.”
Mike reports that the client is very happy to have huge amounts of cabling and equipment accessories reduced.
The overhead rig is now all Martin with MAC Viper Wash DX and MAC Viper Performances, chosen primarily for their reliability.
“We’ve had Martin products in our rental house for over twenty years and it’s just been a true and tested product for us,” added Mike. “They are hassle free and we had 0% failure on their first tour with RNZB which lasted eight weeks.”
Lighting designer Jeremy Fern used the new rig to light the RNZB’s world premiere of a full length ballet adaption of Jane Campion’s film The Piano.
“The ShowPro LED Profiles were great although initially I was concerned about their output,” he remarked. “But during the show, the most I ran them at was 60% for a particularly bright scene and generally I ran them around 40%. The colours were good, the dimming curve was OK and we had no issues with them.”
Jeremy utilized twenty-two MAC Viper Wash DX and twenty-four MAC Viper Performances describing them as really good.
“Their intensity was great and the shuttering was good in fact they were perfect for this show,” he added. “I had to have some shutter fixtures which make focusing time negligible and a lot of labour saving on the pack in and out.”
The MAC Viper Wash DX is a full-feature, full-range wash luminaire with a unique internal barndoor system (shutters) that enables designers to shape and control light projection onto stages, performers, scenery, scrims or any set element with great precision.
Unlike other fixtures in this class, the MAC Viper Performance does not forgo an iris or animation wheel as they are both included along with a framing system and rotating gobos.
