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RADlite for
Jools
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Entec's newly purchased RADlite
system went straight out on
tour with LD Simon Honnor and
the Jools Holland Rhythm and
Blues Orchestra on their current
"Jack O' The Green" UK tour.
Entec consulted digital media
server and content specialists
Projected Image Digital when
they decided to launch their
new 'Visual' department. PID's
Rob Fowler demonstrated the
various alternative systems
available at Three Mills Studios,
before Honnor chose a RADlite
as the best option for the Jools
tour.
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Honnor has
lit Jools for the last 4 years. He's
used video previously, but this year
everyone - including Jools himself,
and production manager Andy Salmon -
was very keen to push the 'visual' envelope
further, letting the video make a large
aesthetic impact.
Honnor looked at the various digital
media servers available and decided
that RADlite was their most flexible
choice, as they wanted to run a combination
of live cameras, film and stills footage
and computer graphics throughout the
whole show. |
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A 30
ft wide by 23ft high upstage projection
screen forms the set backdrop
to the 18 piece band, headed up
by Jools on piano, and joined
by a series of talented guest
singers including Sam Brown and
Ruby Turner.
Lighting a rhythm and blues act
like this is very different from
rock 'n' roll! R It requires a
precise balance of illumination
and visual interest, and much
time, and attention to detail
is given to getting it right.
Judging by the results, they have
the winning formula! |
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On
one hand, the band need lighting
at all times, but it can never
disintegrate into a distracting
and inappropriate 'light-show',
explains Honnor, so flashing and
glitzy effects are definitely
out!. On the other hand, the visual
ambience needs to be spot-on,
enhancing the jazzy vibe and fantastic
musicianship ... which is a lot
more challenging than dazzling
everyone with a collection of
gratuitous, swirling ravey patterns
onscreen! |
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Every scene produced from the various
video elements of the Jools show is
carefully considered and thought-about.
Running for 98 per cent of the 2 hour
show, the screen features an eclectic,
perfectly timed collage of IMAG with
assorted film and graphic playback
material, sometimes running alone,
and sometimes overlaid and treated.
There's never a dull - or repetitive
- moment.
Projected Image Digital also supplied
a selection of their new Beacon Digital
Gobos to Entec with the RADlite system,
some of which Honnor incorporates
into the set as the graphics elements.
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The wide selection of effects
includes colour blocks, chequerboards,
clouds and an assortment of
'natural' images, plus shapes
and patterns, all of which can
be mixed up, manipulated and
completely changed and reinvented
using RADlite computer.
Archive footage stored in the
RADlite runs during some numbers,
including clips of the old London
to Brighton train run, and couples
jitterbug dancing at Madison
Square Gardens and Glasgow Barrowlands
in the 1950s.
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There's also a slightly surreal
home movie created by Jools and
MD Pete Long, shot in and around
Jools' extensive model collections.
The live camera mix is cut by
Richard Hutton using a 4-channel
Panasonic MX50 mixer at side stage.
Camera sources are two strategically
placed lipstick cameras onstage
- one focussed on Jools' hands
on the keys, and one on the drummer,
plus two Dome surveillance cameras
on the front truss.
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The latter are used to
zoom in and out on the rest of the band
and the soloists as they do their stuff!
The 10,000 lumen Sanyo XF45 projector,
is rigged on the front truss. It's from
Nottingham-based Quadrant, who also
supplied all AV hardware other than
the RADlite.
Honnor works closely with Richard Hutton
and third visual crew member Steve Major
to produce the show, which contains
day-to-day improvisation, combined with
specific cueing, and varies according
to the set and mood of the moment, "It's
a very 'live' and organic creative process"
explains Honnor. |
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It's a process
that's also allowing them all
the chance to experiment with
the RADlite which is activated
via Honnor's Avolites Diamond
3 lighting console. At the outset,
it was important that one operator
had control of lighting and
video, and Honnor comments,
"RADlite has definitely achieved
what I wanted, which is essentially
to help create a dramatic and
different theatrical impact".
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| He adds that the back
up from Projected Image Digital, Simon
Carter of IRAD and Entec has been phenomenal.
With no production technical rehearsals
- such is the nature of the music - it
was straight into the first show in Nottingham
- and so the pressure really was on to
get the show up and running with the new
technology. Andy Salmon's audio rental
company Midland Sound & Light is supplying
audio equipment. FOH engineer is Ronnie
Box and monitors are mixed by John Shaw.
The aesthetic results are getting a great
response from performers and public, and
the sold-out tour continues till December.
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