INDUSTRIAL REVELATION - ECO FEST
LIGHTING DESIGNER/LX
PROJECT & EVENT DESCRIPTION FROM ELAINE SAMUELS (ORGANISER)
Since the start of the industrial revolution in the 19th Century, the rise of the machine has been held partly responsible for the increase in carbon emissions, the acceleration of climate warming as well as using up the Earth’s natural resources faster than they can grow back.
Part of Hounslow Council’s “Summer of Culture,” Industrial Revelation is a day long eco festival for all the family featuring a special evening rock concert!
Inside the cavernous metal and stone structure of this fascinating museum (LONDON MUSEUM OF WATER AND STEAM), amongst the huge and impressive steam machines, some curious, organic, wooden sculptures have been appearing, as if trying to reclaim the territory on behalf of Mother Earth!
PROJECT
This project was a major labour of love for both myself and the other parties involved. With the space needing lighting facilities rigged in awkward positions in a small time frame, along with ensuring no damage is done to any of the stunning victorian machines on display, a key aspect of this project and design was working alongside Ambersphere Solutions. Ambershere Solutions being the stage and event lighting giant they are, with brands such as Aryton, MA and Astera to their name, having their support in both my design and the project as a whole was key. Brands such as Aryton provide low-power consuming industry-standard automated luminaires and Astera offers a wide range of versatile, wireless, battery-powered wash solutions. This allowed for a lighting rig that both played to the eco nature of the event but also minimized disruption to the space by utilising such things as magnetic rigging points meaning no part of my design suffered as a result of the tight time frame and bizarre nature of the space.
THE DESIGN
The design for this event had a heavy aspect of freeform and flexibility from the beginning as it was a busked event with a relaxed atmosphere. My design went through multiple iterations from both a plan and MA3 show file perspective. It was key that my design allowed for a highly flexible busking show file as the acts varied somewhat in style throughout. Furthermore, the entire venue needed to feel part of the design and not just the tight stage area in front of the large steam machine. As such, the small, magnetised and versatile AX3's and renowned Helios/Titan tubes at my disposal were integrated into any and all steam machine exhibits around the space, bringing the venue to life and allowing maximum flexibility in controlling atmosphere, feeling and mood in the room as a whole rather than having any separation from the performance space. Levante moving lights were used as a rudimentary overhead by rigging them on the steam machine's integrated gallery that overlooked the stage area. In addition, Karif and Diablo moving lights were utilised as part of a versatile ground package. Including backlighting the main steam machine in a multitude of ways depending on position and zoom parameters, allowing for a wide range of pre-programmed design choices to be called up on the fly. This then incorporates the machine in both subtle or dynamic effects depending on in-the-moment choices. Despite this event being busked and the evening, itself feeling fairly relaxed, there were multiple key design choices that remained a constant as a means of maintaining a recognisable continuity between the lighting design itself, the machines and the purpose of the evening. Such things as harsh cold and somewhat organic textures and colour palettes were a key part of this to reflect the nature of the event and the lyrics in many of the songs. However, regular stark contrasts were a key design choice to wake the room up and allow for a defined feeling of change in the room. Furthermore, some key aspects of music were pre-designed and pre-programmed, including pixel-based fire effects and other key defined aspects of some of the music that were discussed with the artists. All in all, this was a very successful design in fulfilling its purpose as a reflection of the event and I am very happy indeed with the final outcome. Please feel free to look below at the photos taken of the event.
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Reference from The Director
I am the director of the “Industrial Revelation Eco Festival” (http://www.elainesamuels.co.uk/industrial-rev-h.htm) which was held, in the main steam hall amongst the huge machinery, at “The London Museum of Water and Steam”, in Brentford Middlesex. The evening part of the event required lighting for two main functions. The first was to illuminate one of the huge machines, situated as a backdrop to the stage area, making it look like it was battling with nature as well as trying to come to life. The other function was to light the three rock bands performing in front of it. Charlie Powell was recommended to me, as an 'up-and-coming' lighting designer. He was very easy to work with and provided a stunning and professional job for us. He was able to use a large range of very 'high-end' lighting units, kindly provided by local lighting company Ambersphere Solutions, which has global customers like Ed Sheeran and Beyonce. On the night, Charlie was the creative lighting director of an Ambersphere Solutions team of around 6 lighting engineers, technicians and helpers. He used his software to dynamically alter the many lighting units placed on the machine and the stage to give a really exciting display, sympathetic to the music in real time. We were extremely pleased with his work and would definitely book him again in future.
Elaine Samuels
(Kindred Spirit Band)
