Innovative and dynamic events company Rizer were responsible for the stunning Myer 2016 Spring/Summer collection fashion show recently held at the Hordern Pavilion, Sydney.
Paul Collison designed ethereal and sophisticated lighting to compliment the stark yet beautiful set with Resolution X supplying the equipment. Paul’s rig included 30 x Martin MAC Viper Profile, 49 x MAC Quantum Wash, 14 x MAC Viper Performance, 26 x MAC Aura and 4 x Atomic 3000.
On top of that, Show Technology lent Paul four of the new Clay Paky Scenius Profile fixtures which were in the country about five minutes before making their way to the Hordern Pavilion.
The theme of the event was ‘ombre’ (a fancy name for shaded) so there was to be no blocks of colour only gradients of col
our and Paul was given a fairly strict palette of pastel colours to use.
“Having an all-white set was like being a kid in a candy store, you could throw a light anywhere and it was a lot of fun to light!” commented Paul. “The catwalk was massive (eight metres wide and thirty metres long) so it was quite a large space to light.”
Paul immediately thought of the MAC Quantum Wash as the most suitable solution, not only for its powerful output but also its presence as a light source.
“Their big fat faces gave the whole room substance,” he said. “What I find really impressive with the MAC Quantum Wash is its’ colour rendering; they render faces and material beautifully and the catwalk came up gorgeously.”
The MAC Quantum Washes were rigged down the length of the runaway, left and right, and were also used as a primary light source lighting down the runway. MAC Auras were rigged down the middle of the catwalk and were also used to ‘fill in holes’.
Paul worked closely with the show’s main photographer Lucas Dawson looking at the different colour variations the MAC Quantums could deliver ultimately using their standard 6K colour temperature.
“I couldn’t get over the amount of people who commented on how clean and vibrant the light was,” Paul remarked. “In fact I’ve never had so many people comment on how a runway looked so I think it’s safe to say that the MAC Quantum Wa
sh will be my go-to light in fashion now.”
As the runway was so wide and the bulk of the audience was seated on the sides of it, Paul needed to fill the outer edges using MAC Vipers Profiles to do so. The MAC Viper Performances lit most of the set and the band who appeared behind a reveal.
Paul was very excited to have the Clay Paky Scenius Profiles available but did not want to assign them a set role preferring to be able to play with them. However, he ended up leaning on them quite heavily to fill in parts of the set he couldn’t get to from other areas as well as to light the upstage aperture for the models at given times.
“The thing that really stood out about the Scenius was their overall power,” said Paul. “They really are quite a grunty fixture! They are definitely brighter than any other framing fixture I’ve used. The 95 CRI from its lamp is beautiful – it’s the first time I’ve seen a discharge lamp light a person and I’ve thought it looks really good.”
The 24 x custom built LED tubes supplied by Above and Beyond, were on two motor points controlled by the MA Lighting MA2. They provided shape and colour to the catwalk filling an area that normally would be devoid of any technology or infrastructure.
As well as the MA2, Paul had coolux Pandora’s Box but this time to run the audio, taking time code from it!
“It was such a cue heavy show we thought it would be good to have time code and this was the most efficient way to do it,” Paul said. “It works really well playing audio off the time line.”
Photos: Lucas Dawson / Danielle Castano
