What do you get when you add a 400 cubic metre temporary scaffold stage, 200 fixtures, a 100KVA generator, 10 eager new crew and event management, 1000 18-26 year olds, 3 nights of entertainment, a bit of rain, a bush fire and heaps of dust?
You get Surfmoot 2013, a 4 day event run by the Scout Association of Australia, Victorian Branch, Rover section over the Australia Day weekend. Held annually at Camp Eumerella near Anglesea, the camp featured dozens of daytime activities with the evenings activities centered around the main stage and arena. These included DJ’s, a cover band, acoustic performances, physical challenges and presentations.
The Scout Technical Activity Group Entertainment (S.T.A.G.E.) provided the volunteer crew of Scouting members and arranged the lighting and sound equipment hire.
The lighting brief was simple. Face light and a bit of colour and movement. The team from S.T.A.G.E. saw it as an opportunity to provide their young crew with a wide variety of learning experiences. The areas taught included LX design, paperwork, gear prep, rigging, 110V patching, data distribution, cabling, load balancing, dome opping and programming.
The gear list included 40 x 110V PAR64, 42 x LED PARs, 36 x Pinspots, 3 x 1200W PC, 12 x QI’s, 10 x Mole Fay Duets, 4 x Martin EFX700, 1 x Selecon Pacific Followspot, 30 x Fusion Bars, 6 x MAC700 Profiles, 6 x ClayPaky Miniscans, Giga Strobes, JEM ZR44 Fogger, DF50 hazer, LSC Dimmers, Distro and data splitters, Pathport and a new LSC Clarity LX600 Console.
The equipment was generously supplied by long term supporter of Scouting, Resolution X. The Clarity console was donated by LSC Lighting. LD Peter Gray commented, “Clarity was chosen as we needed a console suited to busking. The PC version allowewd our team to have hands on experience of this new console prior to the event . At the gig several unexpected operators from Stagepass Production Systems were able to learn it within minutes. Even with the large amount of dust in the air, the console and all other gear performed well.”
The results were well received by the attendees and the artists. It was essentially four rigs in one. A rock and roll PARcan and pinspot rig, an LED colour wash, Fusion bars for eye candy and a moving light rig. To add a further challenge, parts of the rig were rehung to a second design for the final night. There’s no doubt that attempting such a gig with so many onsite challenges and limitations may be seen as foolish. To the Scouts it was a challenge worth accepting. To the credit of all who worked tirelessly on the show including the organizing committee and audio teams, the visual results and the knowledge learnt show that it was a huge success.
LD: Peter Gray
Associate LD: Callum Walker
S.T.A.G.E: Mark Hopkins
Surfmoot Liaison: Dale Sheehan
Resolution X: Nick Rutherford
LSC: Richie Mickhan
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