Held Nov. 21-30 at the L.A. Convention Center, the Los Angeles Auto Show (LAAS) is one of the most influential auto shows in the world. Production companies TLS Productions, Inc. and Christie Lites client Creative Technology played a major role at the event, using nearly 2,000 Elation Design PARs to light cars and scenic elements for some of the world’s top car brands.
High quality output is a big priority for auto show LDs, who have traditionally relied upon standard 575W daylight PARs for these events.
More recently, however, LDs have been turning to Elation’s Design PAR 575 opti par moving head as a substitute, in Los Angeles and at other shows around the world, for one simple reason: the fixtures can be controlled with a console to move the light where it’s needed.
That remote focus capability is a big plus, and it is especially useful for exhibits that operate on a tight focus window. The auto show industry is notorious for clients who decide to move the positions of the cars in their booths after the lighting team has spent days focusing a fixed lighting rig on their product.
TLS Productions, Inc.
TLS Productions, Inc. (TLSP) has supplied gear to meet the lighting needs of the automotive industry for nearly 60 years and now relies heavily on the Design PAR 575. In Los Angeles, they used the moving lights for the Toyota booth (with 273 of the moving lights), Lexus booth (145 units) and Scion booth (102).
“The Elation Design PAR 575s are an integral part of what we do at any of the auto shows we are a part of,” said Carl Kedzierski, TLSP’s head of marketing and new business development. “They are a must for us due to their ease of use, the endless benefits of their remote-focus capabilities, and their high lumen output, which is paramount to the work we do at auto shows such as LAAS.”
In addition to their lighting production work, TLSP also provided the audio for those booths and corresponding press events. TLSP also provided audio support for the Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Chrysler, Dodge and Ram booths at LAAS.
For the Toyota, Lexus and Scion booths, Arnold Serame provided the lighting design. “When it comes to automotive lighting, there are so many different body types and so many different amounts of reflective flake in the paint that, at times, to optimize the way a vehicle looks, you want to take sharp angles on the vehicle,” he says. “Other times, you want flat lighting. On the show floor, the Design PARs let you try different approaches in a really efficient amount of time.”
The Design PAR combines a 575W MSR lamp with lenses comparable to a Source Four PAR and a reliable moving yoke. From a design point of view, Serame says the Design PARs fill that perfect role of a remote focus Daylight PAR. “Focuses that used to take days, literally, now take a day,” he says. “More than that, we have much more flexibility with the Design PARs to really fine-tune the focus on the vehicles.
“For exhibit and automotive lighting, what’s great about them is that what’s on the fixture is only what you need,” Serame adds. “There isn’t a dimmer, there’s no remote variable beam. The client only pays for the parts of a lighting fixture that’s needed for exhibit lighting. There aren’t parts of an automated fixture that can break, parts that aren’t needed for a remote focus exhibit PAR.”
Christie Lites and Creative Technology
Christie Lites client Creative Technology again played a big role at LAAS, using Christie Lites’ extensive inventory of Design PARs to light many of the top automakers’ booths.
“The fact that the Design PAR allows you to remotely focus the booth from a console is a huge advantage,” says Chris Wasilauskas, Creative Technology’s lighting division technical director, who used the Elation fixtures to light the Kia booth (136 fixtures) and Audi booth (140 fixtures).
“It has become popular at auto shows for booths to have raised floors, and getting lifts up onto those floors is difficult and usually requires a forklift and chasing 4×8 sheets of plywood around the floor to drive the lift on,” Wasilauskas notes. “This means that to focus lights, you must have more labor on call to chase wood around. The entire process takes much longer. Additionally, vehicles are frequently moved and swapped around multiple times during press week. The Design PAR’s ability to touch up focus from a console is very valuable.”
While Creative Technology has been using the Design PARs on the Kia booth for several years, they are new to Audi. “We first used them in Audi at the NY show last April, where they were a hit, and they are now the standard for that booth in the U.S.,” says Wasilauskas. “Previously, we were using conventional 575W daylight PARs. I was able to convince the client to make the swap to the Design PARs because of how difficult the press changeovers had become.”
Simply put, a press event on the booth makes for a tighter schedule. The night after a press event the press gear, lights, sound, scenery, video, chairs, control risers, etc., must be taken down and then info counters, color and trim displays, and engine displays installed. Vehicles are then moved into the booth and set in their correct positions before light focusing can begin.
“Sometimes, none of that process can start until 10pm,” Chris says. “You only have 8 or 9 hours to complete the changeover from press day to public exhibit before all equipment has to be clear of the building. For Audi, we were cutting it very close in finishing the focus because of how long it took to get the press gear out and the public cars into place. We made the swap to Design PARs because even though you hit the hour where equipment has to be clear of the building you can still be focusing lights from a console. This greatly reduces the stress on everybody to get things done.”
Other Christie Lites Clients
Besides the Design PARs used by Creative Technology on the Kia and Audi booths, Christie Lites client Seibo LLC used them on the Maserati (70), Chrysler (425), Honda (217) and Acura (93) booths, with lighting design by Chris Wojcieszyn. Seibo also had Design PARs on the Infinity (117) and Nissan (240) booths with design by Chris Medvitz of Light Switch. Finally, Christie Lites client Gorilla Productions used 90 Design PARs on the Mercedes Benz Booth.
