As another season of The X Factor draws to a close, it has to be said that lighting designer Ian Anderson has excelled himself creating an endless succession of inspired lighting scenarios.
Helping him to do so is a variety of Vari-Lite and ETC fixtures; in particular the forty-eight VL3000 Spots.
“I have used these on X Factor for a few years now and they are a great workhorse,” commented Ian. “They are great for covering the entire stage with a soft gobo, using as key lights for those special FX moments or just filling in the gaps the cameras seem to find! I still have my favourite custom set of gobos that have done wonders over the years.”
Ian also has sixteen VL2500 Spots and sixteen VL2000 Washes which he describes as a nice small fixture that will fit into most places.
“I have them all in between the side LED screens to give that extra kick to dances and to take away the flatness that you can get on camera with LED being in such a small studio,” he explained. “I also have twenty-eight VLX LED wash fixtures – a solid moving light that we have no problems with at all! They are bright and act and feel like a bigger wash light.”
The rig contains thirty ETC Source Four Revolutions, the high-performance, 15-35° Zoom Ellipsoidal equipped with motorized pan, tilt, zoom, on-board dimming, and gel scroller.
“These units may have been around for a few years now but there is still not another fixture on the market that can light a person for camera as well as a Source Four Rev,” remarked Ian. “Keylights, kickers, backlights …. every unit in the system would have a go at each of those tasks probably several times per show! We are working on shows now more than ever with 360deg views of the entire studio, hosting positions constantly being tweaked to get the best angles and grids that we can’t get to for quick focuses. In fact, I believe that you can’t light a show like X Factor without them!”
Lighting was supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems.
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