In ten short years, Vianney has already compiled a lifetime of achievements, including three Victoires de la Musique (two as male artist of the year), multiple platinum albums, and even a tenure as a judge on The Voice. Still, even though the 33-year old singer-songwriter has performed before close to two million in his young career, he admitted being a bit awestruck when he headlined the 25th annual Fous Chantants this year. “At first I was hesitant, but it was just a reflex,” he told a local media outlet. “Then I was overwhelmed by the idea and by the fact that they had thought of me. It’s me who is lucky to be the guest of the Fous Chantants.”
Such is the magic of this week-long event that draws amateur singers from all over Europe to celebrate choral music. Fous Chantants is, as its own website notes, a phenomenon “driven by passion.” This passion was beautifully evident when one thousand choristers joined Vianney in a performance at Les Arènes du Temperas, Alès.
Reflecting the intense emotions of Fous Chantants throughout the popular event was a bold and dynamic lighting design by Victor Lagiewski and Guillaume Fournier of Chromatik that featured 146 CHAUVET Professional projectors supplied by SGroup.
Featured in the collection were 32 Maverick Storm 2 BeamWashes, 10 Rogue Outcast 1 BeamWashes, 48 COLORado PXL Curve 12 motorized battens, 12 PXL Bar 16 units, and 44 Color STRIKE M motorized wash binders. All of the projectors are IP65 rated, a feature that came in handy, given that it rained on the two days when Vianney’s performances took place.
Rain or shine, however, the projectors in the Fous Chantants kit delivered an excellent performance. Guillaume Fournier explained how these products contributed to the vision that he and Victor Lagiewski shared for the design.
“We designed a timecoded intro as usual, with new constraints compared to previous years, with the introduction into the show of the video installed in the form of a monolith,” said Fournier. “A 25-year retrospective video was created for the occasion, during which we brought in the choristers. We used semi-blind lighting to focus the audience’s attention on the video, associating the colors in the media with the paint explosions in the visuals.
“Between the moment when the intro begins and when Vianney arrives on stage, there are about 20 minutes when we build up the audience’s mood and adrenalin,” continued Fournier. “In particular, we created a key moment with a sharp tilt of light, using Color STRIKE M, just as the choir began to sing — a truly powerful and moving moment when the whole arena was revealed. We’ve been working with this projector for several years now, and we appreciate the evolutions in the software that allow us to work in low intensities without compromising on the quality of the output.”
Most of the Color STRIKE M units were arranged around the screen, with an additional four of them used to illuminate the audience. Complementing the Color STRIKE M were the Maverick Storm 2 BeamWashes, which were relied upon for side lighting, with six on each side of the stage.
“With the 12 Maverick projectors we could light the 1000 people on stage without any problem,” said Fournier.
Also receiving praise from Fournier was the COLORado PXL Curve. “I really appreciated all the possibilities offered by the PXL Curve and the power of the sources, even when used individually,” he said. “We created some fan effects, with beautiful gradations, and I really appreciated the intensity of the color obtained when zoomed in very tightly.”
Fournier and Lagiewski based some effects on the interplay between zooms, with a very tight zoom to illuminate overhead more visually and sharply, and a wider zoom downwards. These and other inspired lighting displays, flowed in harmony with the work of Artistic Director Fabrice Schwingrouber, Music Director David Vincent, Choir Director Emmanuel Paterne, Technical Director Didier Martin, Sgroup, and Ruggieri pyrotechnics.
Together they created a memorable experience for those who gathered to celebrate the unifying joy and passion of choral music.
Further information from CHAUVET Professional: www.chauvetprofessional.com
Photos: Cyril Tondut
