Deal for Robe ESPRITES at Atlantic Studios in Cape Town
Atlantic Studios, Cape Town, South Africa, is a cutting‐edge multi‐stage film and television production facility and a bustling hub of creative activity serving the Western Cape and far beyond. One of its current productions (produced by HBC Broadcasting Solutions) is the South African edition of Deal or No Deal (DoND), and Lighting designer Daniel Louw is using some brand‐new Robe ESPRITES which were purchased by HBC for this show and delivered by Robe’s South African distributor, DWR.
Dan is a freelance lighting designer / director and has worked on several projects at the studios which also has other Robe moving lights – Pointes, miniPointes, LEDBeam 100s and ParFects. When he created the original lighting design and specification for Deal or No Deal, he wanted some moving lights to add dynamics and movement to the overall pictures and shots. Dan wanted a light that was versatile, with a good CRI, a great selection of CT whites and that was available at short notice as the investment was green lighted with only weeks to spare before shooting commenced! Luckily, DWR had some ESPRITES in stock, the deal was done, and the units were delivered to Cape Town, where Dan, series director Geoff Butler and producers Paul Venter & Jaco Loubser, are delighted with the results. The four ESPRITES are all positioned on the studio floor where they can be easily accessed and moved to new positions as needed. They are used for beam work, eye candy and for cool back‐of‐camera effects and gap filling as well as to create interest and movement and help to build the tension at appropriate times.
They are the only moving lights on the rig and Dan is delighted with the results. “We knew we would be shooting at high light levels generally, so I wanted something that could punch through for the cameras which they do brilliantly! They are consistent, the shutters are accurate, the colours from the LED engine are excellent and they are a robust and sturdy fixture." In addition to the high light levels from the 48 profile fixtures on the overhead rig used for key and back lighting, Michael Gill’s slick modern set contains a lot of integral LED, making the whole environment even brighter! Dan adds that the ESPRITES really “hold their own” in this context and will be great for other productions once DoND wraps up! “They are a solid overall asset,” he concluded. He is running the lights using a grandMA3 console.
Photo © Louise Stickland
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