Clare Springett, Darebin Arts Centre
Darebin Arts Centre, Preston, is a vital piece of performing arts infrastructure in Melbourne’s creative north. Its proscenium arch fly-tower theatre, foyer, exhibition space and five multipurpose rooms provide a combined capacity of 1,500. Like most arts centres, it hosts everything from dance recitals, to touring acts, to community events. Like all of its equipment, flexibility is key. Any haze and fog solution they employ has to provide subtle mist one minute and heavy smoke the next. That’s why they’ve chosen to update their inventory with a Swefog Duramax Intellahazer 1k8.
“John McKissock from Clearlight Shows came down and demoed the Swefog Duramax for us and I was instantly impressed,” said Clare Springett, Supervising Technician at the Darebin Arts Centre. “As soon as our budget allowed it, we purchased it, and it’s one of the best things we’ve ever done.”
A water-based haze generator, the Swefog Duramax Intellahazer 1k8 can use three types of fog fluid; XTR (extra light), MD (medium), or HD (high density), with no manual settings required to change between the different types. It’s ‘Bag-in-box’ fluid container, inspired by the humble Australian wine cask, is 100% leak-proof, so the unit can be stored and shipped in any position. The LED illuminated fluid compartment allows for easy assessment of the fluid level in the bag.
“The fog and haze generated by the Duramax ranges from light, to medium, to heavy, so it can work on all of the different types of productions we stage,” Clare continued. “The medium fluid suits most shows, the light is perfect for a fine mist in the air that hangs beautifully, and the heavy fluid is great for big smoke machine puffs and dramatic effects.”
“Compared to our last hazer and fogger, the Swefog is smoother, quieter, produces much thicker haze, and has ten times the functionality,” observed Clare “The fluid casks last a long time, and we do five or six gigs before we even think about changing them. Its programmability is really useful; we can set an eight step sequence, and control duration and delay between outputs. And the water based fluid hasn’t affected anyone’s allergies or our other equipment.”
Swefog products are ably represented and serviced in Australia by Clearlight Shows, based in Melbourne and this year celebrating their 40th year in business. The products they import are known internationally for their quality and reliability and are fully supported by Clearlight’s in-house technical staff.
